Congatec conga-QMX8-Plus User manual

Copyright © 2021 congatec GmbH QX8P_SDS_q10 1/7
conga-QMX8-Plus
Sample Distribution Set for congatec Qseven® 2.1 Development
Quick Start Guide
Revision 1.0

Copyright © 2021 congatec GmbH QX8P_SDS_q10 2/7
Preface
This quick start guide provides information about the contents of the
conga-QMX8-Plus sample distribution set and how to set it up.
Software Licenses
Notice Regarding Open Source Software
The congatec products contain Open Source software that has been
released by programmers under specific licensing requirements such as
the “General Public License“ (GPL) Version 2 or 3, the “Lesser General
Public License“ (LGPL), the “ApacheLicense“ or similar licenses.
You can find the specific details at https://www.congatec.com/en/licenses/.
Enter the following command “license” in the bootloader to get the
complete product related license information.
To the extent that any accompanying material such as instruction manuals,
handbooks etc. contain copyright notices, conditions of use or licensing
requirements that contradict any applicable Open Source license, these
conditions are inapplicable. The use and distribution of any Open Source
software contained in the product is exclusively governed by the respective
Open Source license.
The Open Source software is provided by its programmers without ANY
WARRANTY, whether implied or expressed, of any fitness for a particular
purpose, and the programmers DECLINE ALL LIABILITY for damages,
direct or indirect, that result from the use of this software.
congatec’s liability with regards to the open source Software is as set out in
congatec’s Software License Information.
Disclaimer
The information contained within this quick start guide, including but not
limited to any product specification, is subject to change without notice.
congatec GmbH provides no warranty with regard to this guide or any other
information contained herein and hereby expressly disclaims any implied
warranties of merchantability or fitness for any particular purpose with
regard to any of the foregoing. congatec GmbH assumes no liability for any
damages incurred directly or indirectly from any technical or typographical
errors or omissions contained herein or for discrepancies between the
product and this guide. In no event shall congatec GmbH be liable for any
incidental, consequential, special, or exemplary damages, whether based
on tort, contract or otherwise, arising out of or in connection with this guide
or any other information contained herein or the use thereof.
Intended Audience
This guide is intended for technically qualified personnel. It is not intended
for general audiences.
Lead-Free Designs (RoHS)
All congatec GmbH designs are created from lead-free components and
are completely RoHS compliant.
Electrostatic Sensitive Device
All congatec GmbH products are electrostatic sensitive devices. They are
enclosed in static shielding bags, and shipped enclosed in secondary
packaging (protective packaging). The secondary packaging does not
provide electrostatic protection.
Do not remove the device from the static shielding bag or handle it, except
at an electrostatic-free workstation. Also, do not ship or store electronic
devices near strong electrostatic, electromagnetic, magnetic, or radioactive
fields unless the device is contained within its original packaging. Be aware
that failure to comply with these guidelines will void the congatec GmbH
Limited Warranty.
Copyright Notice
Copyright © 2021, congatec GmbH. All rights reserved. All text, pictures
and graphics are protected by copyrights. No copying is permitted without
written permission from congatec GmbH.
congatec GmbH has made every attempt to ensure that the information in
this document is accurate yet the information contained within is supplied
“as-is”.

Copyright © 2021 congatec GmbH QX8P_SDS_q10 3/7
Trademarks
Product names, logos, brands, and other trademarks featured or referred
to within this guide, or the congatec website, are the property of their
respective trademark holders. These trademark holders are not affiliated
with congatec GmbH, our products, or our website.
Certification
congatec GmbH is certified to DIN EN ISO 9001 standard.
Warranty
congatec GmbH makes no representation, warranty or guaranty, express or
implied regarding the products except its standard form of limited warranty
(“Limited Warranty”) per the terms and conditions of the congatec entity,
which the product is delivered from. These terms and conditions can be
downloaded from www.congatec.com. congatec GmbH may in its sole
discretion modify its Limited Warranty at any time and from time to time.
The products may include software. Use of the software is subject to the
terms and conditions set out in the respective owner’s license agreements,
which are available at www.congatec.com and/or upon request.
Beginning on the date of shipment to its direct customer and continuing
for the published warranty period, congatec GmbH represents that the
products are new and warrants that each product failing to function properly
under normal use, due to a defect in materials or workmanship or due to
non conformance to the agreed upon specifications, will be repaired or
exchanged, at congatec’s option and expense.
Customer will obtain a Return Material Authorization (“RMA”) number
from congatec GmbH prior to returning the non conforming product
freight prepaid. congatec GmbH will pay for transporting the repaired or
exchanged product to the customer.
Repaired, replaced or exchanged product will be warranted for the repair
warranty period in effect as of the date the repaired, exchanged or replaced
product is shipped by congatec, or the remainder of the original warranty,
whichever is longer. This Limited Warranty extends to congatec’s direct
customer only and is not assignable or transferable.
Except as set forth in writing in the Limited Warranty, congatec makes no
performance representations, warranties, or guarantees, either express or
implied, oral or written, with respect to the products, including without
limitation any implied warranty (a) of merchantability, (b) of fitness for a
particular purpose, or (c) arising from course of performance, course of
dealing, or usage of trade.
congatec GmbH shall in no event be liable to the end user for collateral or
consequential damages of any kind. congatec shall not otherwise be liable
for loss, damage or expense directly or indirectly arising from the use of the
product or from any other cause. The sole and exclusive remedy against
congatec, whether a claim sound in contract, warranty, tort or any other
legal theory, shall be repair or replacement of the product only.
Technical Support
congatec GmbH technicians and engineers are committed to providing
the best possible technical support for our customers so that our products
can be easily used and implemented. We request that you first visit our
website at www.congatec.com for the latest documentation, utilities and
drivers, which have been made available to assist you. If you still require
assistance after visiting our website then contact our technical support
department by email at [email protected]
Revision History
Revision Date (yyyy-mm-dd) Author Changes
1.0 2021-09-03 BEU First release for Rev. X.1
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Copyright © 2021 congatec GmbH QX8P_SDS_q10 4/7
1 Hardware
1.1 Sample Distribution Set
The following items are included in the sample distribution set:
Part # Rev. Name Description Qty
016620/
016621
X.1 conga-QMX8-Plus Qseven®2.1 engineering sample module
with NXP i.MX 8M Plus Quad applications
processor, 32 GB onboard HS400 eMMC,
and 4 GB (016620) or 2 GB (016621) LPDDR4
onboard memory. Note: MP module variants
feature 16 GB onboard HS400 eMMC.
1
016650/
016651
X.0 QMX8-Plus/HSP-T/
QMX8-Plus/HSP-B
Heatspreader for conga-QMX8-Plus . M2.5
threaded or 2.7 mm bore hole standoffs
depending on customer request.
1
007005B B.5 conga-QEVAL/
Qseven 2.0 ARM
Evaluation carrier board for Qseven®
modules.
1
48000023 A RS-232 adapter cable MOLEX 6-Pin PicoBlade to two D-SUB 9 1
10000116 A RS-232 to USB
adapter
USB 2.0 to standard serial port. Based on
FTDI-Chipset.
1
10000413 A SD card SANDISK Ultra 16 GB Class 10 UHS-1 1
011115 B.0 conga-LDVI/EPI LVDS to DVI converter board for digital flat
panels with onboard EEPROM.
1
033331 A cab-LVDV-DAT-34-15 15 cm data cable LVDS to DVI adapter 1
052147 A cab-LVDV-PWR-10-15 15 cm power cable LVDS to DVI adapter 1
500025B B.0 conga-HDMI®
add-on card
HDMI
®
add-on card for the PCIe x16 slot on
the conga-QEVAL/Qseven 2.0 ARM.
1
N/A 1.0 Quick Start Guide conga-QMX8-Plus Sample Distribution Set
Quick Start Guide
1
1.2 conga-QMX8-Plus
The included conga-QMX8-Plus is a Qseven®2.1 engineering sample
module featuring the NXP i.MX 8M Plus Quad applications processor,
32 GB HS400 onboard eMMC¹, and 4 GB or 2 GB LPDDR4 onboard memory
depending on sample availability and customer request.
Note
1. The conga-QMX8-Plus Mass Production (MP) module variants feature 16 GB
HS400 onboard eMMC. For more information about MP module variants, refer
to the datasheet available at www.congatec.com
1.2.1 Pinout Description
The pinout description lists which signals of the NXP i.MX 8M Plus Quad
processor are routed to the Qseven®connector.
Use the link below to directly download the conga-QMX8-Plus pinout as
an Excel file:
https://git.congatec.com/arm-nxp/imx8-family/doc/cgtimx8_pinlist/-/raw/
cgtqx8p_pinlist/cgtqx8p_pin_connection.xlsx
Alternatively, use the link below and follow the instructions to download it:
https://git.congatec.com/arm-nxp/imx8-family/doc/cgtimx8_pinlist
1.3 conga-QEVAL/Qseven 2.0 ARM
The conga-QEVAL/Qseven 2.0 ARM included in this sample distribution
set is an evaluation carrier board based on the Qseven®Specification 2.0.
For information about the conga-QEVAL/Qseven 2.0 ARM, refer to the
User's Guide available at www.congatec.com

Copyright © 2021 congatec GmbH QX8P_SDS_q10 5/7
1.4 Hardware Setup
Follow the steps below to assemble the hardware:
1. Ensure the hardware is protected from the effects of electrostatic
discharge (ESD).
2. On the module, select QSPI as the boot source via DIP switch SW1: 1
SW1 Selected
Boot Source1
#4 #3 #2 #1
OFF OFF OFF OFF Boot from fuse
OFF OFF OFF ON Serial download
OFF OFF ON OFF SDHC3 (eMMC)
OFF OFF ON ON SDHC2 (uSD onmodule)
OFF ON ON OFF QSPI (onmodule)
3. Connect the RS-232 adapter cable to the connector on the module.
4. Connect the USB 2.0 to Serial Adapter to the RS-232 adapter cable
port labeled "CONSOLE".
5. Insert the microSD card into the slot of the module. 2
6. Mount the module and heatspreader onto the carrier board. (Final
torque: 0.4 Nm)
7. On the carrier board, set DIP switch SW9 as desired (USB ports
configuration) 3
8. Optionally, connect the conga-HDMI
®
add-on card to PCIe slot X15.
4
9. Optionally, connect the conga-LDVI/EPI as shown in the picture.
4
10. Connect an ATX Power Supply Unit (PSU) to the carrier board.
11. To start the system, switch the ATX PSU on.
Note
1. Boot source selection via DIP switch will not be implemented on Mass
Production (MP) variants.
2. Refer to section 2.1 "Building the Image" to build the image first.
3. USB 3.0 is only supported on port 0. USB ports 5, 6 and 7 are not supported.
For more information, refer to section 5.2.7 "Universal Serial Bus (USB)" of the
conga-QEVAL/Qseven 2.0 ARM User's Guide.
4. Default device tree supports HDMI®(autodetect) and LVDS (1024x768@75Hz)
video output.
Con-
sole SW2
SW9 X29
X43
X15

Copyright © 2021 congatec GmbH QX8P_SDS_q10 6/7
2 Software
2.1 Building the Image
To build the Linux operating system image for the conga-QMX8-Plus,
follow the instructions described in the website below:
https://wiki.congatec.com
Note
Contact congatec technical support to get access to the repositories.
2.2 Starting Up
The conga-QMX8-Plus uses U-Boot as standard bootloader. The bootloader
is GNU GPL open source software. A serial terminal connection is required
in order to display the boot process and to modify the boot behavior. The
boot behavior is controlled via environment variables.
The included RS-232 adapter cable has two connectors. The RX/TX signals
are already crossed. Therefore, do NOT use a crossover-cable. Use the
connector labeled "CONSOLE" for the U-Boot console output.
To establish a terminal connection, a terminal program such as TeraTerm
or Putty can be used.
Use the following communication parameters:
Baud rate:
Data:
Parity:
Stop:
Flow control:
115200
8 bit
none
1 bit
none
2.3 Boot Process
The conga-QMX8-Plus boot process starts at Power On Reset (POR), where
the hardware reset logic forces the ARM core to begin execution. The
on-chip boot ROM loads the bootloader.
After loading, the bootloader is executed and performs basic system
initialization (serial console, etc.). Afterwards, the environment settings are
parsed and the system boot continues as specified.
Press any key during startup to stop autoboot and to get to U-Boot console.
At the U-Boot console, the environment settings can be displayed using
the “print” command. In addition, useful functionality is available (such as
memory dump, access to the SPI and the I2C system, etc.). The “help”
command will display any command supported by the U-Boot.
If autoboot is not interrupted by pressing a key, the boot process goes
ahead and the module boots the Linux operating system installed on the
microSD card.
2.4 U-Boot Environment Variables
The U-Boot environment is located in SPI flash. One of the benefits of the
U-Boot bootloader is the possibility to specify its run time configuration
using environment variables.
The environment variables of U-Boot can be displayed using the printenv
(or the print) command.
During the boot process, the bootloader evaluates the “bootcmd” variable
and executes it. The boot command tries to load a bootscript or a kernel
from the boot device. If this is successful, the script or kernel will be started,
otherwise a fallback to network boot is performed. The variable “mmcdev”
specifies the mmc boot device. Furthermore, the variable “mmcroot” is
passed to the kernel in order to specify the location of the root filesystem.

Copyright © 2021 congatec GmbH QX8P_SDS_q10 7/7
The following environment variables are predefined for conga-QMX8-Plus:
Name Default value Description
bootcmd Defines the startup command of the bootloader, i.e.
how the system performs the boot process.
fdt_file "imx8mp-cgtqx8p.dtb" The device tree blob, might be exchanged in order
to enhance functionality.
image Image The name of the kernel image file that is loaded
during boot process.
ipaddr not specified Address of the system (used for network boot).
serverip not specified Address of the remote host (used for network boot).
netmask not specified Netmask of the network (used for network boot).
nfsroot not specified The location where the NFS root filesystem is stored
(used for network boot).
mmcdev ¹ not specified
(autodetect)
The boot device number (used for mmcboot).
Default: Automatially set to match the device that
u-boot was loaded from (see mmcautodetect).
mmcpart "1" (first partition) The number of the bootpartiton on the bootdevice
(used for mmcboot).
mmcroot 1not specified
(autodetect)
The root filesystem extends the kernel command line.
Default: Automatially set to match the device that
u-boot was loaded from (see mmcautodetect).
mmcautodetect "yes" Set to "no" in order to manually change the values
for mmcdev and mmcroot.
Note
1.
If SPI is the boot device, compiled default values are set for mmcdev ("1")
and mmcroot ("/dev/mmcblk1p2"). The values can only be changed if
mmcautodetect is set to "no".
Following, some frequently used scripts:
Name Description
mmcboot Boots the system from mmc (with the specified parameters for mmcboot), i.e.
eMMC, microSD card
mmcargs Configures the bootargs for mmcboot
netboot Boots the system from network (with the specified parameters for network boot)
netargs Configures the bootargs for network boot
loadbootscript Used during boot, loads an eventually existing boot script
loadimage Used during boot, loads the kernel
loadfdt Used during boot, loads the device tree blob file
There are several commands to change the behavior of the bootloader and
to customize the boot process. The help command can be used to display
a list of all available commands.
2.5 Linux
By default, the system boots the Linux operating system that is stored on
the microSD card. Booting to the Linux desktop may take some time. To
speed up the boot process significantly, install the root filesystem onto the
onboard eMMC device. In case of questions, contact congatec technical
support.
Note
In order to maintain the integrity of the file system, it is recommended to
always shut down the system by issuing the command “poweroff” in the
console terminal.
2.6 Additional Information
The NXP i.MX 8M Plus Quad processor documentation is available at:
www.nxp.com