The Starterkit STKa8Mx consisting of the TQMa8Mx module and MBa8Mx mainboard is intended as evaluation platform for the TQMa8Mx. To bring up the board a comprehensive set of accessories is supplied with the kit. The STKa8Mx is delivered preconfigured to boot the latest released Linux BSP revision at the time of delivery, so only the Host Computer has to be set up properly to bring the STKa8Mx up. This page guides through the first steps with the STKa8Mx Starterkit.

The TQMa8Mx debug UART is connected via a Silicon Labs USB-to-Serial converter to X16 (micro-USB) on the MBa8Mx. A micro-USB/USB-A cable is part of the STKa8Mx accessory set. Depending on the host operating system, a driver may need to be installed.

Linux

The driver is maintained in the Linux Mainline Kernel, please check that the following options are activated in the Linux Kernel configuration.

  • CONFIG_USB_SERIAL
  • CONFIG_USB_SERIAL_CP210X

Windows

The driver can be downloaded from the Vendor website:
https://www.silabs.com/developers/usb-to-uart-bridge-vcp-drivers

Linux

Minicom

Minicom is a command line based serial terminal for serial communication with hardware like our starterkits.

Install Minicom using APT(Debian/Ubuntu)
$ sudo apt install minicom

In order for the terminal to work properly with full rights you need to add your user to the dialout group:

$ sudo usermod -a -G dialout $USER


Connect Starterkit to Host

To determine the serial device name under linux you can use dmesg. Just run the command below and then plug in the starter kit to see the new detected interface names:

$ dmesg -w

once the interface name is clear you can abort dmesg with ctrl + c.
Now you can start minicom via the command line interface:

$ minicom -D /dev/ttySx
Make sure to replace /dev/ttySx with the serial interface you found out before with dmesg.
Configure minicom

The serial configuration should be correct by default. However, hardware flow control must be disabled for some starter kits, otherwise the communication works only in one direction.

  1. Press CTRL + A, then press O to open the configuration menu
  2. Go to Serial port setup
  3. Press F to change Hardware Flow Control to No
  4. Hit Return key
  5. Select Save setup as dfl to save this configuration as default
  6. Press ESC to exit the menu

Now you should be able to communicate with the starter kit

Windows

TeraTerm

TeraTerm is an open source terminal emulator for windows. it can be downloaded here.

Configure TeraTerm
  1. Download and install TeraTerm
  2. Start TeraTerm and open the Serial Port Settings
  3. select your serial port and configure it with the values defined in the chapter Serial Configuration
  4. after passing the values click on the button new Setting

Now TeraTerm should be ready for use with our starter kits.

The serial port which connects the STKa8Mx to the Host PC must be configured as follows:

Bautrate: 115200
Data bits: 8
Parity: none
Stop bits: 1
Handshake : XON/XOFF

Please follow the quick start guide delivered with the kit, or open it from the following link: Quick start guide


As soon as logging in on the Linux shell for the first time, the question about the login credential comes up.
By default the user root is used to log into the Linux shell, no password is set for user root.

tqmaxx-mbaxx login: root

To get familiar with the interfaces of the STKa8Mx we recommend to work through the interface tutorials first.

The Board Support Packages provided by TQ may not contain all software packages to evaluate the STKa8Mx, therefore TQ provides some guides how to build the BSP and customize it for your needs,

In addition to the BSP documentation, the Yocto SDK build and Eclipse IDE setup for the STKa8Mx is also documented.

The STKa8Mx can be setup to boot from different sources please see the DIP switch settings below to change the boot source.

The following boot modes of the i.MX8M can be selected by the DIP switches S5, S6, S7, S8, S9 and S10 on the MBa8Mx.

If you have a MBa8Mx Rev.020x the boot switches may be different from Rev.030x.

MBa8Mx Rev.030x/Rev.020x

TQMa8Mx

Default positions of DIP switches S7, S8, S9 and S10 when using a TQMa8Mx:

S7

S8

S9

S10



DIP switch S5 and S6 are used to select the boot medium for internal boot:

SD-Card boot


S5

S6

eMMC boot


S5

S6

Default positions of DIP switches S7, S8, S9 and S10 when using a TQMa8Mx:

S7

S8

S9

S10



DIP switch S5 and S6 are used to select the boot medium for internal boot:

SD-Card boot


S5

S6

eMMC boot


S5

S6

TQMa8MxML

Default positions of DIP switches S7, S8, S9 and S10 when using a TQMa8MxML and Internal Boot Mode:

S7

S8

S9

S10



DIP switch S5 and S6 are used to select the boot medium for internal boot:

SD-Card boot


S5

S6

eMMC boot


S5

S6

Flex SPI Boot


S5

S6

Default positions of DIP switches S7, S8, S9 and S10 when using a TQMa8MxML and Internal Boot Mode::

S7

S8

S9

S10



DIP switch S5 and S6 are used to select the boot medium for internal boot:

SD-Card boot


S5

S6

eMMC boot


S5

S6

Flex SPI Boot


S5

S6

TQMa8MxNL

The switches S5 and S6 have no effect on the TQMa8MxNL! Default positions of DIP switches S7, S8 and S10 when using a TQMa8MxNL:

S7

S8

S10



The switches BOOT MODE 2 (BM2) and BOOT MODE 3 (BM3) are located on the module adapter! DIP switch S9, BOOT MODE 2 and BOOT MODE 3 are used to select the boot medium:

SD-Card boot


S9

BM 2

BM 3

eMMC boot


S9

BM 2

BM 3

FlexSPI / 3B Read


S9

BM 2

BM 3

The switches S5 and S6 have no effect on the TQMa8MxNL! Default positions of DIP switches S7, S8 and S10 when using a TQMa8MxNL:

S7

S8

S10



The switches BOOT MODE 2 (BM2) and BOOT MODE 3 (BM3) are located on the module adapter! DIP switch S9, BOOT MODE 2 and BOOT MODE 3 are used to select the boot medium:

SD-Card boot


S9

BM 2

BM 3

eMMC boot


S9

BM 2

BM 3

Module Rev100: eMMC Boot currently not supported!



Detailed DIP Switch Settings

S5

# Feature ON OFF
1 BOOT_CFG0 0 1
2 BOOT_CFG1 0 1
3 BOOT_CFG2 0 1
4 BOOT_CFG3 0 1
5 BOOT_CFG4 0 1
6 BOOT_CFG5 0 1
7 BOOT_CFG6 0 1
8 BOOT_CFG7 0 1

S6

# Feature ON OFF
1 BOOT_CFG8 0 1
2 BOOT_CFG9 0 1
3 BOOT_CFG10 0 1
4 BOOT_CFG11 0 1
5 BOOT_CFG12 0 1
6 BOOT_CFG13 0 1
7 BOOT_CFG14 0 1
8 BOOT_CFG15 0 1

S7

# Feature ON OFF
1 unused unused unused
2 unused unused unused
3 UART 2 USB Debug Output Pin Header (X17)
4 UART 1 USB Debug Output Pin Header (X17)

S8

# Feature ON OFF
1 TQMa8M_ONOFF
2 TQMa8M_SYS_RST#
3 I2C module select TQMa8Mx TQMa8MxNL / TQMa8MxML
4 SPI_MUX_CTRL Pin Header X34 MicroBUS

S9

# Feature ON OFF
1 EN_VCC_FAN On off
2 BOOT_MODE0 0 1
3 BOOT_MODE1 0 1
4 DSI_MUX_CTRL eDP LVDS

S10

TQMa8Mx TQMa8MxML TQMa8MxNL
1 OFF ON ON
2 OFF ON ON
3 OFF OFF ON
4 OFF OFF ON

  • Last modified: 2022/08/04 15:02