Logo Linux
You should read our page for the BSP Layers and Reference Images for the Yocto Project on the main Toradex website before reading this article.
Linux, developed as an open source operating system for IBM computers, was ported to Arm in the early days. Today, Linux holds a significant market share in the embedded world, mainly on Arm devices. The advantages over proprietary embedded operating systems include no royalties or licensing fees, a stable kernel, a vast number of tested drivers, a support base that is not restricted to the employees of a single software company, and the ability to modify and redistribute the source code.
Toradex provides embedded Linux BSPs (Board Support Packages) and reference images for all our current computer on modules. Those BSPs are provided by an in-house development team working side-by-side with the hardware team. This enables us to provide a high-quality Linux port. When it comes to solving issues, the customer can rest assured that they will not be the play ball between different hardware and software providers.
Toradex provides and supports Embedded Linux BSPs based on the Yocto Project/OpenEmbedded. We maintain our production-quality OpenEmbedded BSPs and reference distribution layers, meant as a great starting point for our customers. Learn more about the relationship between Toradex and the Yocto Project/OpenEmbedded:
Toradex provides two options for embedded Linux development. Our main website presents the offerings, and our developer website has pages used as entry point for related technical articles:
Relationship between TorizonCore, BSP Layers and Reference Images
While TorizonCore and the Reference Images are built on top of the BSP layers, they have fundamental differences. Learn more about them in our Embedded Linux page on the main Toradex website.
This page focuses on the Toradex BSP Layers and Reference Images for Yocto Project. For Torizon, please refer to the Torizon software page.
Toradex defines a release cycle for the BSP Layers, Reference Images for Yocto Project and TorizonCore.
To learn more about them and which one you should choose, read our support strategy:
The currently active releases are:
The BSP Layers And Reference Images for Yocto Project Release Notes contains a list of new features and bug-fixes that are planed, and also known issues and limitations.
The rest of this page is split in tabs for each release. Choose the one you are interested at from the tabs below:
Toradex provides BSP Layers and Reference Images for Yocto Project.
They are:
They are not:
Toradex provides binary images of the Reference Images for Yocto Project for your convenience and ease-of-use during your first steps with Toradex hardware. Nevertheless, if you want something that is ready to be used in production, learn more about the differences between the Reference Images for Yocto Project and Torizon and consider starting with Torizon.
Toradex provides several distribution policy files based on the Poky one. We provide distro variants for different kernel configurations, summarized in the table below. Even though all distributions set the policy for the graphics stack, for example Weston/Wayland + XWayland, not all images include the graphics libraries: for instance, the Reference Minimal Image is a console-only image.
If you want to know exactly what is defined for each distro, follow the links as they point to the relevant configuration files.
| Distro | kernel base | kernel config |
|---|---|---|
| tdx-xwayland | Downstream kernel from SoC vendor (NXP) | Default (without the PREEMPT_RT patch) |
| tdx-xwayland-rt | Downstream kernel from SoC vendor (NXP) | Fully preemptive (real-time Linux PREEMPT_RT patch) |
| tdx-xwayland-upstream | Mainline kernel | Default (without the PREEMPT_RT patch) |
| tdx-xwayland-upstream-rt | Mainline kernel | Fully preemptive (real-time Linux PREEMPT_RT patch) |
Toradex provides two reference image variants built on top of the distribution variants. Below we list the image variants and their description and some remarkable features. If you want to know exactly all the features, follow the links as they point to the relevant Yocto recipes.
| Image | Description |
|---|---|
| Reference Minimal Image tdx-reference-minimal-image |
Minimal image without graphical interface that just boots - Network manager: connman - Init system: systemd - Base command-line packages included in packagegroup-tdx-cli.bb |
| Reference Multimedia Image tdx-reference-multimedia-image |
Image for BSP verification with Qt and multimedia features - All that is included in the Reference Minimal Image - Graphics stack: Weston / Wayland + XWayland - Graphical User Interface framework: Qt - Camera and Video framework: V4L2 and Gstreamer - All command-line packages included in packagegroup-tdx-cli.bb - All graphical packages included in packagegroup-tdx-graphical.bb - All Qt5 packages included in packagegroup-tdx-qt5.bb |
The Linux kernel and U-Boot bootloader source code as well as the Toradex OpenEmbedded layers can be cloned from our GIT server. Sources of our current Linux images are available at git.toradex.com:
Check out the versions of U-Boot, kernel and Yocto/OpenEmbedded in our Embedded Linux Release Matrix.
Artifacts are binaries resulting from Yocto builds, such as pre-built images.
We don't maintain or provide SDKs for the reference images. You must build your own Linux SDKs using OpenEmbedded.
The pre-built binary images are provided by Toradex for your convenience and ease-of-use during your first steps with Toradex hardware.
Before installing an image, you must make some choices:
This article goes on about all of those parameters. If you are still in doubt, we suggest that you browse through it again. If you still have questions, we are happy to help through our support channels.
The Toradex Easy Installer allows you to install all of our pre-built images directly from the internet into the Computer on Module internal flash memory. You don't need to download them for offline installation using an SD Card or USB stick, unless you have strong reason to do so, for instance, if your company network blocks our Toradex Easy Installer online feed.
Note: you don't need to download an image, except on special occasions. Read the previous section Online Versus Offline Installation to learn more.
Download pre-built images from the Reference Images for Yocto Project Software Downloads.
First, check under which category you fall:
Use the Toradex Easy Installer to flash the image into the Computer on Module.
You will need to customize our Reference Images for Yocto Project. We provide documentation on reproducing our pre-built images with Yocto, and how to build the U-Boot and Linux kernel directly from the source code.
For further information on how to recreate and customize our BSPs refer to the article Build a Reference Image with Yocto Project.
For further information about what Linux kernel and U-Boot branch are valid for which module hardware refers to the Build U-Boot and Linux Kernel from Source Code article.
Please refer to the BSP Layers and Reference Images Documentation for a full list of resources on how to use the Toradex Linux features.
Toradex provides BSP Layers and Reference Images for Yocto Project.
They are:
They are not:
Toradex provides binary images of the Reference Images for Yocto Project for your convenience and ease-of-use during your first steps with Toradex hardware. Nevertheless, if you want something that is ready to be used in production, learn more about the differences between the Reference Images for Yocto Project and Torizon and consider starting with Torizon.
Toradex provides several distribution policy files based on the Poky one. We provide distro variants for different kernel configurations and graphics stack, summarized in the table below. Even though all distributions set the policy for the graphics stack, for example Weston/Wayland + XWayland or X11, not all images include the graphics libraries: for instance, the Console Image is a console-only image.
If you want to know exactly what is defined for each distro, follow the links as they point to the relevant configuration files.
The X11 variants are supported for the modules based on NVIDIA Tegra K1 and NXP i.MX 6/6ULL/7 SoCs. The Weston/Wayland + XWayland variants are supported for the modules based on NXP i.MX 8/8X based SoCs.
| Distro | kernel base | kernel config |
|---|---|---|
| tdx-xwayland | Downstream kernel from SoC vendor (NXP) | Default (without the PREEMPT_RT patch) |
| tdx-xwayland-rt | Downstream kernel from SoC vendor (NXP) | Fully preemptive (real-time Linux PREEMPT_RT patch) |
| tdx-x11 | Downstream kernel from SoC vendor (NXP) | Default (without the PREEMPT_RT patch) |
| tdx-x11-rt | Downstream kernel from SoC vendor (NXP) | Fully preemptive (real-time Linux PREEMPT_RT patch) |
BSP 3 is the last release for which we provide binary images based on X11. From BSP 5 onwards they are replaced with Weston/Wayland + XWayland.
Learn more about the PREEMPT_RT patch on Real-Time Linux.
Toradex provides a reference image built on top of the distribution variants. Below we list the image variants and their description and some remarkable features. If you want to know exactly all the features, follow the links as they point to the relevant Yocto recipes.
| Image | Description |
|---|---|
| Console Image console-tdx-image |
Image without graphical interface - Network manager: connman - Init system: systemd - Base command-line packages included in packagegroup-tdx-cli.bb |
The Linux kernel and U-Boot bootloader source code as well as the Toradex OpenEmbedded layers can be cloned from our GIT server. Sources of our current Linux images are available at git.toradex.com:
Check out the versions of U-Boot, kernel and Yocto/OpenEmbedded in our Embedded Linux Release Matrix.
Artifacts are binaries resulting from Yocto builds, such as pre-built images.
We don't maintain or provide SDKs for the reference images. You must build your own Linux SDKs using OpenEmbedded.
The pre-built binary images are provided by Toradex for your convenience and ease-of-use during your first steps with Toradex hardware.
Before installing an image, you must make some choices:
This article goes on about all of those parameters. If you are still in doubt, we suggest that you browse through it again. If you still have questions, we are happy to help through our support channels..
The Toradex Easy Installer allows you to install all of our pre-built images directly from the internet into the Computer on Module internal flash memory. You don't need to download them for offline installation using an SD Card or USB stick, unless you have strong reason to do so, for instance, if your company network blocks our Toradex Easy Installer online feed.
Note: you don't need to download an image, except on special occasions. Read the previous section Online Versus Offline Installation to learn more.
Download pre-built images from the Reference Images for Yocto Project Software Downloads.
First, check under which category you fall:
Use the Toradex Easy Installer to flash the image into the Computer on Module.
You will need to customize our Reference Images for Yocto Project. We provide documentation on reproducing our pre-built images with Yocto, and how to build the U-Boot and Linux kernel directly from the source code.
For further information on how to recreate and customize our BSPs refer to the article Build a Reference Image with Yocto Project.
For further information about what Linux kernel and U-Boot branch are valid for which module hardware refers to the Build U-Boot and Linux Kernel from Source Code article.
Please refer to the BSP Layers and Reference Images Documentation for a full list of resources on how to use the Toradex Linux features.
Toradex provides BSP Layers and Reference Images for Yocto Project.
They are:
They are not:
Toradex provides binary images of the Reference Images for Yocto Project for your convenience and ease-of-use during your first steps with Toradex hardware. Nevertheless, if you want something that is ready to be used in production, learn more about the differences between the Reference Images for Yocto Project and Torizon and consider starting with Torizon.
Toradex uses the Angstrom distribution and helps to maintain it. To learn more about features please check the meta-angstrom layer.
Toradex provides a reference image built on top of the distribution. Below we list the image variants and their description and some remarkable features. If you want to know exactly all the features, follow the links as they point to the relevant Yocto recipes.
| Image | Description |
|---|---|
| Angstrom LXDE angstrom-lxde-image |
Angstrom-based image with the LXDE desktop environment - Network manager: connman - Init system: systemd - Desktop environment: LXDE |
The Linux kernel and U-Boot bootloader source code as well as the Toradex OpenEmbedded layers can be cloned from our GIT server. Sources of our current Linux images are available at git.toradex.com:
Check out the versions of U-Boot, kernel and Yocto/OpenEmbedded in our Embedded Linux Release Matrix.
Artifacts are binaries resulting from Yocto builds, such as pre-built images.
We don't maintain or provide SDKs for the reference images. You must build your own Linux SDKs using OpenEmbedded.
We did provide SDKs as-is, without any support or tests, for the Quickstart Guide. Those were only provided for BSP 2.8, the only use case supported was the hello world application provided in the Quickstart and nothing more! Currently, the BSP 2.8 is used on the Quickstart only for SoMs that are not supported by Torizon.
The pre-built binary images are provided by Toradex for your convenience and ease-of-use during your first steps with Toradex hardware.
Download pre-built images from the Reference Images for Yocto Project Software Downloads.
If your module is supported by Toradex Easy Installer - this is the preferred method:
If your module is older and not supported by the Toradex Easy Installer:
To use the legacy Bash/U-Boot flashing scripts variant over Ethernet:
You will need to customize our Reference Images for Yocto Project. We provide documentation on reproducing our pre-built images with Yocto, and how to build the U-Boot and Linux kernel directly from the source code.
For further information on how to recreate and customize our BSPs refer to the article Build a Reference Image with Yocto Project.
For further information about what Linux kernel and U-Boot branch are valid for which module hardware refers to the Build U-Boot and Linux Kernel from Source Code article.
Please refer to the BSP Layers and Reference Images Documentation for a full list of resources on how to use the Toradex Linux features.
