CL-SOM-AM57x: Linux: Debian
Contents
Overview
The example run-time Linux filesystem image for the CompuLab CL-SOM-AM57x System-on-Module / Computer-on-Module is based on Debian 8.2 GNU/Linux Jessie (armhf).
The default Debian Jessie Linux image includes more than 400 software packages. Among them:
- Core system
- Debian package management system
- X11 Windowing System
- Fluxbox desktop manager
- Netsurf browser
- Apache web server
- Samba connectivity suite
- SSH server and client
- ALSA configuration and usage utilities
- Bluetooth tools and daemons
The Automatic Installation page provides a brief introduction on how to install the run-time Linux image.
Using Debian Linux on CL-SOM-AM57x
Connection and Logging In
Use the following username and password to login:
Account with administrative privileges:
cl-debian-armhf login: root Password: 111111
Regular user account:
cl-debian-armhf login: user Password: 111111
To login into the Linux system, you may use a serial console (ttyO2) at 115200 bps, or connect through the network, or use a keyboard and HDMI display.
X Windows system
CompuLab DEMO root filesystem image contains fully featured X server system with Fluxbox window manager. Before starting X server, connect USB mouse and keyboard to the system. You can run X server and Fluxbox window manager by typing startx.
Fluxbox window manager
CL-SOM-AM57x Debian Linux features installed Fluxbox package - a lightweight window manager for the X server system.
- Fluxbox provides configurable window decorations, a root menu to launch applications and a toolbar that shows the current workspace name, a set of application names and the current time. There is also a workspace menu which allows you to add or remove workspaces. The slit can be used to dock small applications, e.g. most of the bbtools can use slit.
- Fluxbox can iconify windows to the toolbar, in addition to adding the window to the Icons submenu of the workspace menu.
Visit Fluxbox Wiki and Official home page for more details.
Software Management
Debian Linux image for CL-SOM-AM57x includes all the information required to use Debian package management utilities. You can use apt-get and dpkg out of the box.
Display options
CL-SOM-AM57x evaluation platform has four video output interfaces: HDMI, LCD, DVI, and LVDS. Default configuration of Debian Linux for CL-SOM-AM57x uses HDMI (SB-SOM-AM57x J4 connector) as primary video output.
Touchscreen
CL-SOM-AM57x Evaluation Kit is equipped with Startek KD050C LCD 800x480 LCD touch panel. The touchscreen driver is modularized if you use default CL-SOM-AM57x configuration and is loaded by udev automatically on Linux boot. If the touchscreen driver is not loaded, the following command will load the touchscreen driver:
modprobe ads7846
Touchscreen calibration
A touchscreen device can be calibrated using xinput_calibrator utility.
To calibrate the touchscreen:
- Run X Server by issuing startx command
- Make sure the touchscreen driver is loaded
- Set the DISPLAY environment variable:
export DISPLAY=:0
- Run xinput_calibrator utility. For proper calibration you are required to touch the touchscreen corners and center in the following order: top-left, top-right, bottom-right, bottom-left, center.
- Create a file /usr/share/X11/xorg.conf.d/99-calibration.conf and paste there a snippet with the calibration results:
root@cm-debian:~# xinput_calibrator Setting calibration data: 0, 4095, 0, 4095 Calibrating EVDEV driver for "ADS7846 Touchscreen" id=6 current calibration values (from XInput): min_x=0, max_x=4095 and min_y=0, max_y=4095 Doing dynamic recalibration: Setting calibration data: 289, 3781, 3887, 227 --> Making the calibration permanent <-- copy the snippet below into '/etc/X11/xorg.conf.d/99-calibration.conf' (/usr/share/X11/xorg.conf.d/ in some distro's) Section "InputClass" Identifier "calibration" MatchProduct "ADS7846 Touchscreen" Option "Calibration" "289 3781 3887 227" Option "SwapAxes" "0" EndSection
WiFi
CL-SOM-AM57x features 802.11b/g/n wireless connectivity solution, implemented with the TI WiLink 8 WL1801 Wireless controller module.
WiFi Initialization
WiFi requires no user interaction for being configured. The driver gets loaded automatically.
- Make sure that the WiFi driver is loaded:
root@cl-debian-armhf:~# lsmod | grep wl wl18xx 89863 0 wlcore 183512 1 wl18xx mac80211 606845 2 wl18xx,wlcore cfg80211 491510 3 mac80211,wl18xx,wlcore wlcore_sdio 6495 0
- iwconfig command from wireless-tools package can be used to retrieve detailed information about the WiFi interfaces:
root@cl-debian-armhf:~# iwconfig wlan0 wlan0 IEEE 802.11abgn ESSID:off/any Mode:Managed Access Point: Not-Associated Tx-Power=0 dBm Retry short limit:7 RTS thr:off Fragment thr:off Encryption key:off Power Management:off
- Enable WiFi interface
root@cl-debian-armhf:~# ifconfig wlan0 up [ 180.395059] wlcore: PHY firmware version: Rev 8.2.0.0.232 [ 180.504299] wlcore: firmware booted (Rev 8.9.0.0.48)
- Sample WiFi scanning:
root@cm-debian:~# iwlist wlan0 scan
The output will show the list of Access Points and Ad-Hoc cells in range. For more information about connecting to wireless networks and tuning WiFi interfaces refer to “wpa_supplicant” and “wireless-tools” man pages.
Controller–area network (CAN)
The CL-SOM-AM57x features a Dual Controller Area Network (DCAN) Modules integrated into Sitara AM57x SoC. The DCAN implements full CAN protocol version 2.0B. It supports both the base (standard) and the extended frame format as well as a programmable data bit rate with maximum of 1Mbit/s.
Loading CAN modules
If the DCAN driver and/or Raw CAN protocol compiled as module(s), they must be loaded prior to enabling CAN interface.
- Load Raw CAN protocol module:
root@cl-debian-armhf:~# modprobe can-raw can: controller area network core (rev 20120528 abi 9) NET: Registered protocol family 29 can: raw protocol (rev 20120528)
CAN interface configuration
It is recommended configure the CAN interface, with the iproute2 utilities.
- To make sure the right ip utility is used, run:
root@cl-debian-armhf:~# ip -V ip utility, iproute2-ss140804
- Configure the CAN interface bit-rate to 125 Kbits/sec (values of up to 1Mbit/sec are supported):
root@cm-debian:~# ip link set can0 type can bitrate 125000
- Enable the CAN interface:
root@cl-debian-armhf:~# ip link set can0 up net can0: c_can_hw_raminit_wait_syscon: time out c_can_platform 4ae3c000.can can0: setting BTR=1c09 BRPE=0000
Send/Receive packets
Use cansend and candump utilities to send and receive packets via CAN interface.
- Send standard CAN frame (on the first device):
root@cl-debian-armhf:~# cansend can0 111#1122334455667788
- Send extended CAN frame (on the first device):
root@cl-debian-armhf:~# cansend can0 11111111#1122334455667788
- Dump all received data frames as well as error frames (on the second device):
root@cl-debian-armhf:~# candump any,0:0,#FFFFFFFF can0 111 [8] 11 22 33 44 55 66 77 88 can0 11111111 [8] 11 22 33 44 55 66 77 88
MMC/SD
The support for MMC/SD card on CL-SOM-AM57x is built into the Linux kernel. To mount the memory card, monitor /proc/partitions to see what partitions were detected on the MMC/SD card. For example, suppose MMC/SD partition you'd like to mount is mmcblk0p1 then:
mkdir -p /mnt/mmcblk0p1 && mount /dev/mmcblk0p1 /mnt/mmcblk0p1
USB 3.0 Dual-Role-Device
CL-SOM-AM57x has USB DWC3 (XHCI) based controller. It features SuperSpeed (SS) USB 3.0 Dual-Role-Device (DRD) subsystem with integrated SS (USB3.0) PHY and HS/FS (USB2.0) PHY. Current Linux kernel support of DWC3 features does not allow dynamic role (host/device) switching in runtime. By default, host role is assigned to CL-SOM-AM57x USB 3.0 port.
RTC
To set the date and write it into the RTC do the following:
root@cm-debian:~# date -s "31 JUL 2015 10:00:00" Fri Jul 31 10:00:00 UTC 2015 root@cm-debian:~# /sbin/hwclock --systohc root@cm-debian:~# hwclock -w Fri Jul 31 10:00:13 2015 -1.066224 seconds
To access the RTC time and date run:
root@cm-debian:~# hwclock Fri 31 Jul 2015 10:00:24 AM UTC -0.083102 seconds