Nvidia Tegra 250 User manual

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January 2010
Harmony Developers’ Kit Hardware
Introduction and Setup
Version 100106.01

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January 2010
Contents
INTRODUCTION 3
GETTING STARTED: OVERVIEW 4
UNBOXING 5
HOST PC CONFIGURATION 9
CONNECTING THE HARMONY HW 9
“FLASHING” (INSTALLING OPERATING SYSTEM IMAGES ONTO THE HARMONY 11
USING YOUR BOOTED HARMONY DEVKIT 17
CONNECTING THE MINI SATELLITE BOARD 18

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January 2010
Introduction
This manual describes the basic, initial setup of a Harmony Te ra 250 developers’ kit (devkit), and is
desi ned to assist a new user in understandin the hardware, selectin an operatin system to install to
the devkit, and connect and confi ure the hardware to boot that operatin system. Very little operatin
system-specific information will be found in this manual, as each operatin system supported by the
Harmony devkit includes its own support pack with software and documentation. This manual covers
the details that tend to cross over all supported operatin systems.
What is “Harmony”?
The NVIDIA Te ra 250-based “Harmony” devkit is a compact, Smartbook-motherboard form factor
computer-on-a-board with the followin specifications:
-Dual ARM Cortex A9 CPU @1GHz
-1GB of RAM
-Hi h-performance, shader-based 3D acceleration
-HD video encode and decode
-512MB of Flash memory
-Onboard wired Ethernet
-WiFi
-Bluetooth
-Analo stereo audio in/out
-USB keyboard/mouse/stora e support
-HDMI/DVI-D and VGA/CRT display support
-Onboard SD(HC) slot

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Getting Started: Overview
There are a few basic steps required to be in developin for the Harmony devkit:
Unboxing:
1) Unpack the Harmony devkit components
2) Familiarize yourself with the components
Host PC Configuration:
1) Select your desired Harmony operatin system
2) Download the support pack for that operatin system from the NVIDIA Te ra developers
website
3) Read the documentation provided with that support pack and install it to the appropriate host
PC
4) Download and install any host PC support SW as required by the platform support pack’s
documentation
Connecting the Harmony HW:
1) Locate/procure the required hardware accessories for the Harmony (somewhat dependent
upon the selected Harmony operatin system ima e)
2) Select the desired video output based on your available display devices and the operatin
system ima e
Installing the Operating System to the Harmony:
1) Follow the operatin system ima e installation instructions provided with the support pack
2) Boot the Harmony

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Unboxing
Devkit Contents and Hardware Requirements
As shipped, your Harmony devkit should contain the followin items:
•Harmony main board (rectan ular circuit board containin the Te ra chip and connectors for
networkin , USB peripherals, stora e and display devices)
•15V power adapter (USA 120V mains power connection)
•Adjustable, foldin , threaded WiFi antenna
•Expansion board (smaller, square circuit board containin a serial port, LEDs and a few buttons)
Also required to use the Harmony devkit, but not supplied (developer must provide these):
•Host PC with USB ports. The exact OS that this host PC must be runnin may differ dependin
upon the devkit OS to be used, but is most frequently Microsoft Windows.
•USB mini (NOT micro, as with previous Te ra devkits) to USB cable (for device setup and
connectivity)
•External display supportin VGA (15-pin D-Sub), HDMI or DVI (via HDMI-to-DVI adapter)
•SD card or USB-based “thumb drive” for additional stora e
•USB mouse
•USB keyboard
Stron ly recommended to use the Harmony devkit, but not supplied (developer should provide these):
•Powered USB hub

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January 2010
Getting Familiar with the Devkit
Main Board
The followin dia ram shows a Harmony main board with power connected. Important connectors are
annotated:
The annotated items include:
•15 Power jack. Supplies the main power to the devkit (the Harmony devkit as shipped to
developers does not directly support battery power)
•GA (CRT) jack. Support for 15-pin D-Sub analo display output
•HDMI jack. Support for di ital display output
•WiFi antenna jack. Connection point for supplied (or 3
rd
-party) WiFi antenna
•Tegra 250 chip. The heart and soul of the Harmony devkit
•USB-A jacks (3). Support for common peripherals (use of a powered USB hub is stron ly
recommended)
USB mini
jack
Dual USB
-
A
jacks
Ethernet
jack
SD Card
slot
Headphone
jack
Microphone
jack
VGA (CRT)
jack
15V power
jack
HDMI
jack
WiFi Antenna
jack
USB
-
A
jack
Expansion board
connectors
Power
button
Recovery
button
Reset
button
Te ra chip
“ACOK”
confi uration switch
Power
LEDs

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January 2010
•Expansion board connectors. “Header” connections for an expansion board (supplied) that
adds status LEDs, copies of the power, reset and recovery buttons, and a serial port.
•“ACOK” configuration switch. A confi uration micro-switch that is used to adjust the power
behavior of the devkit. In the left (BATT) position, the AC adapter simulates a battery, and the
soft power button functions normally. In the ri ht (NORM) position, applyin power causes the
device to turn on, without pressin the power button. The left (BATT) position is preferred for
developers.
•Power button. Pressin this switch will to le the power to the device on and off
•Recovery (flashing) button. Used to place the devkit in a special mode that leaves it ready to
receive a new operatin system ima e via USB (“recovery” mode)
•Reset button. Soft reset
•Microphone jack. Stereo microphone input as a 1/8” phone jack
•Headphone jack. Stereo headphone output as a 1/8” phone jack
•Ethernet jack. Wired networkin if supported by the OS
•SD card slot. Supports normal and hi h-capacity SD card stora e
•USB-mini jack. USB jack for flashin the device (updatin OS ima es) and connectin the device
to a host PC.

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Mini Satellite Board
In addition, most Harmony devkits include the “mini satellite board”, which replicates the main power,
reset and recovery buttons, adds a UART serial port for low-level debu in on some OSes, and switches
and LEDs for common “smartbook” features like lid close, wifi on/off, etc. An appendix at the end of this
document provides connection instructions. The board is pictured below:
•UART serial port. Standard serial port for use with some OS ima es for low-level lo in and
debu in
•Power, reset, recovery buttons. Replicated from the main board so that all controls may be
found on the satellite board. Useful if the main board is somehow packa ed
•Simulated lid switch. On some OS ima es, settin this switch causes the device to sleep
•Dual ribbon cables. Connection to the main board
•Wifi, BT, etc status LEDs. Provides activity status of major peripherals
•WiFi switch. Enables/disables WiFi radio
UART
serial port
Dua
l ribbon
cables to
main board
WiFi switch
Wifi, BT, etc
status LEDs
Power, reset,
recovery
buttons
Simulated lid
switch

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January 2010
Host PC Configuration
Selecting and Downloading a Platform Support
Pack
Currently, there are several packs available for use with the Harmony devkit, includin OS support packs
and sample application SDKs. A Harmony OS support pack must be installed (or “flashed”) to the
Harmony devkit in order to boot it and use it. The set of supported packs include:
•An Android Éclair OS support pack. This includes scripts to install the Android OS ima e and
associated “ ettin started” documentation.
•A Windows CE 6.0 OS support pack. This includes a script to install the CE 6.0 operatin system
ima e onto a recovery-mode Harmony as well as Khronos headers and libraries to allow
developers to use Microsoft Visual Studio 2005 and 2008 to develop and debu applications on
Te ra usin OpenGL ES, OpenMAX, OpenKODE, etc.
•An Ubuntu-based Linux OS support pack.
These and other packs may be found on the Te ra developers’ website. Developers should select the
tar et operatin system that best matches their intended market, feature set and development
environment requirements, as each of these operatin systems differ si nificantly on all of these fronts.
The developer website information for each OS support pack can assist in the decision. However, OS
ima es may be re-flashed to the Harmony devkit at will, so a sin le Harmony devkit can chan e between
operatin systems in minutes.
Download the desired platform support pack for the Harmony OS you wish to use. At this point, you
should transition away from this documentation temporarily and into the documentation supplied with
the selected OS ima e. That documentation will, as needed, provide pointers back to this manual when
it is time to connect and “flash” the device. Ensure that all of the selected OS ima e’s host PC
prerequisites are satisfied by your selected host PC before continuin .
Connecting the Harmony HW
While use-cases will differ, there are a few basic items that must be connected to the Harmony devkit to
install an operatin system and boot the device. Items common to all operatin systems are included in
this documentation. Additional items such as serial connections, network connections, and stora e
devices may be required to install and boot some operatin systems. These will be documented alon
with the particular operatin system. The common requirements include:
1) Display connection. One of the followin display devices should be connected. For best results,
do not connect more than one of these options at a time unless directed to do so by a particular
operatin system pack. Be sure to check the documentation for your selected OS support pack,
as some OSes may not support all of these display connections:

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a. Analo “VGA” display (LCD or CRT monitor) connected via the devkit’s VGA 15-pin D-sub
connector.
b. HDMI display (LCD screen or compatible television) via the devkit’s HDMI port and an
HDMI cable. Note that on many OS ima es, usin HDMI as the display connection will
route audio to the HDMI port as well, disablin the headphone jack.
c. Di ital DVI-D display connected via the devkit’s HDMI port and an HDMI-to-DVI cable or
cable-adapter pair.
2) “Recovery” (or flashing) USB connection. A USB cable must connect the USB-mini jack on the
left-rear corner of the devkit to a USB jack on the host PC. The OS that the host PC must be
runnin will depend on the OS bein installed on the devkit, and will be documented in the
platform pack for that particular OS.
3) Power. The supplied 15V power supply should be connected to the power jack on the rear ed e
of the Harmony main board. Dependin on the settin of the “ACOK” switch described
previously, applyin power to the board may cause it to switch on automatically. Earlier Te ra
devkits used a 12V power supply with a similar connector: this 12V power supply is not
compatible with the Harmony devkit and must not be used.
Additional items that should be connected to the Harmony for eneral post-install interaction with the
devkit include
1) Powered USB hub. As a mobile development kit, the Harmony is not desi ned to provide lar e
amounts of power to external devices. Thus, external devices other than the most basic mice
and keyboards should be connected to a powered USB hub. This powered hub should be
connected to one of the two stacked USB jacks on the left-front ed e of the Harmony main
board.
2) USB keyboard and mouse: both of these should be connected to the powered USB hub. If
required, a basic USB keyboard and mouse pair can be connected to the two stacked USB jacks,
but if possible, a powered hub is recommended.
3) WiFi Antenna. The threaded end of the WiFi antenna should be firmly screwed onto the WiFi
antenna connector on the rear ed e of the Harmony board.
Some Harmony operatin system ima es may also require additional items to be connected, includin :
1) Expansion board. If required, the two ribbon cables connected to the small expansion board
should be connected to the matchin pair of headers on the Harmony main board’s front ed e.
Take care to ensure that all of the pins ali n.
2) Ethernet. An Ethernet cable can be connected to the Ethernet jack on the left ed e of the
Harmony main board.
3) External storage. Operatin systems requirin lar e file systems may require external stora e,
either a USB “thumb drive” or a USB hard drive. In either case, these stora e devices should be
connected to a powered hub that is in turn connected to the Harmony main board.

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“Flashing” (Installing Operating System Images onto the Harmony
This documentation does not include OS-specific install instructions. Each operatin system ima e ships
in its own distribution pack, and developers should consult the documentation for that operatin system
ima e for details on how to install it. However, all of the OS support packs require the Harmony device
to be in recovery mode as a first step. The operatin system ima e packs will in turn reference this
documentation with re ards to placin the device into “recovery mode”. Recovery mode is a special,
low-level bootin mode that leaves the device ready to receive a new operatin system ima e over USB.
Placing the Harmony into Recovery Mode
To place the devkit into recovery mode:
1) Connect the 15V power supply to the Harmony and to mains power.
2) Power on the device
a. If the device turns on immediately (i.e. the red and reen power LEDs near the center of
the main board turn on), you may wish to ensure that the “ACOK” switch on the front
ed e of the main board is in the leftmost (BATT) position for future use.

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b. If the board does not spontaneously turn on, then press and hold the power button until
the power LEDs li ht to turn on the device.
3) Press and hold the recovery mode button (marked “F.R.” on the main board) alon the front
ed e of the Harmony main board
Press until power
li hts turn on
Press and hold

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4) While continuin to hold the recovery mode button with one fin er, use another fin er (or
another hand) to press the adjacent reset button. Hold the reset button down for 1-2 seconds.
5) Release the reset button while still holdin the recovery button.
Continue holdi
n
Press and hold
for 1
-
2 seconds
Continue holdin
Release

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6) After a further 1-2 seconds, release the recovery button
7) Connect a mini-USB to USB-A cable between the host PC and the mini-USB jack on the rear-left
corner of the Harmony main board.
8) If this is the first time that the host PC has been used to flash a Harmony device, then you may
be prompted to install the USB driver for the newly-found device. This driver should have been
supplied with the operatin system ima e, as it is dependent upon the host PC OS used to flash
the device. See the followin section for a discussion of this process on Windows XP.
9) Once the driver is confirmed to be runnin , the device is in recovery mode. Continue followin
the platform pack’s OS install instructions to complete the OS installation.
Release

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Recovery Mode Host PC USB Driver
While each OS support pack may require its own host PC OS, the most common host OS for Harmony is
Windows. This section describes how to install the recovery mode driver onto a Windows host PC. If an
OS support pack requires a different host PC OS (such as Linux), that pack’s documentation will describe
how to install the recovery mode driver.
The documentation for the support pack will indicate the location of the PC recovery mode driver to be
used.
In the case of an OS that is flashed usin Windows as the host PC OS (e. . Windows CE 6.0), the method
is to install the driver usin the “install from a specific location” option in the “New Device Wizard”
dialo box. This dialo box will pop up automatically (if required) when the Harmony devkit is
connected to the host PC while the devkit is in recovery mode. Note that the driver can take a long
time to install (in some cases, as long as 5 minutes . Durin the install process, you may see the
followin dialo box (under XP):
Click “Continue Anyway” to install the driver. If the host PC OS bein used to flash the device is
Windows, then to verify that the Harmony is connected to the host PC, open the Device Mana er via:
Start Menu : Control Panel : System : Hardware : Device Mana er
Verify that you see a device called
"Nvidia USB Boot-recovery driver for Mobile devices"
under the headin

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Device Mana er -> Universal Serial Bus Controllers
in the device mana er as follows:
If you don't see this device, disconnect the Harmony devkit from the host PC, place it into recovery
mode a ain, and restart this procedure from the be innin , as the lack of an active device in the panel
indicates that the connection has not been made or that the device was not actually in recovery mode.
Do not continue with the followin steps until the NVIDIA device appears in the device list. Check the
NVIDIA Te ra developers’ website for troubleshootin tips.

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January 2010
Using Your Booted Harmony Devkit
Once you have installed a host OS onto your Harmony devkit, the platform support pack’s
documentation will describe how you can develop for that Harmony OS usin the already-confi ured
host PC. The platform support pack documentation for your selected OS ima e should also include
useful information on developin for that Te ra platform. Consult it for additional details on the
development process.
In addition to the platform support packs, other optional packs are available to assist in development for
the Harmony devkit, dependin on OS:
•A Windows XP/Vista/7 OpenKODE and OpenGL ES2.0 emulation wrapper, which allows cross-
platform application development. Code written to compile and run on this PC-based, HW
accelerated emulation “wrapper” can also be compiled and run on the Harmony devkit usin the
aforementioned Windows CE 6.0 Harmony platform pack.
•A cross-platform application-level samples SDK includin documentation, support libraries and
demos as source code, shader code, and art assets. These libraries and demos can compile for
the Harmony under most Te ra operatin systems, includin Windows CE 6.0, Linux and for the
Windows desktop PC ES2 emulator as well, and show how the Te ra’s multimedia capabilities
can be unlocked via the Khronos media APIs.

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January 2010
Connecting the Mini Satellite Board
If the OS ima e requires it, the mini satellite board can be connected to the main board to add serial
port and accessory switch functionalities. The mini satellite board can be connected as follows:
1) Disconnect power to the main board!
2) Place the satellite board so that the pair of ribbon cables on the back ed e of the satellite board
rou hly match the pair of multi-pin headers on the front ed e of the main board
3) Connect the lower (shorter) ribbon cable to the frontmost header on the main board as shown
in the followin fi ure. Be very careful to ali n the pins. Minimal force should be required to
insert the plu , and it should insert symmetrically:

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4) Connect the remainin (upper, lon er) ribbon cable to the rearmost of the two headers on the
main board. Insertion should be similar to the previous ribbon cable and should look like the
followin fi ure:
5) Reconnect power to the main board. Assembly is complete.

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