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PROFINET® Quick Start Guide on Linux®

Last modified by Microchip on 2026/03/30 13:13

Introduction

Thank you for taking the time to evaluate our PROFINET® solution on Linux®.

This guide provides instructions on how to:

  • Run a pre-built PROFINET device demo application
  • Use a diagnostic tool to view the PROFINET device
  • Establish an IO connection between CODESYS® SoftPLC® and the PROFINET device
  • Build the demo application
Information

Pre-Requisites:

  • Hardware
    • One of the following Microchip development boards:
      • SAM9X75 Curiosity LAN Kit (P/N: EV31H43A)
      • SAM9X60 Curiosity Kit (P/N: EV40E67A)
      • SAMA7D65 Curiosity kit (P/N: EV63J76A)
      • SAMA7G54 Evaluation kit (P/N: EV2118A)
    • Serial-to-USB adapter
    • Ethernet® cable
  • Software and tools
Warning

Please refer to the "Troubleshooting" section of this page for assistance.

Setup Instructions

Board setup.

Please refer to the board-specific section below as needed to connect the peripherals described in the following steps.

SAM9X75 Curiosity LAN Kit (EV31H43A)​​​​​​

  • Connect the LAN8840 EDS2 Daughter Card to the Gigabit Ethernet J17 connector.
  • Attach an Ethernet cable to the RJ45 connector on the LAN8840 EDS2 Daughter Card.
  • Plug the other end of the Ethernet cable into the PC.
  • Connect a serial-to-USB dongle (FTDI-like) to the UART DEBUG J35 header on one side and to the PC on the other.
  • Ensure that jumpers J9 and J10 are open to prevent booting from NAND and Quad Serial Peripheral Interface (QSPI) Flash.
  • Use a USB Type-A to Micro-USB cable to connect the J2 Micro-USB port for power.
  • Press the START pushbutton.

SAM9X75 Curiosity LAN Kit

 

SAM9X60 Curiosity Kit (EV40E67A)

  • Connect an Ethernet cable to the RJ45 connector J6.
  • Plug the other end of the Ethernet cable into the PC.
  • Connect a serial-to-USB dongle (FTDI-like) to the Universal Asynchronous Receiver/Transmitter (UART) DEBUG J11 header on one side and to the PC on the other.
  • Ensure that jumper J4 is open to prevent booting from NAND Flash.
  • Use a USB Type-A to Micro-USB cable to connect the J1 Micro-USB port for power.
  • Press the START pushbutton.

SAM9X60 Curiosity kit

 

SAMA7D65 Curiosity kit (EV63J76A)

  • Connect an Ethernet cable to the RJ45 connector J14.
  • Plug the other end of the Ethernet cable into the PC.
  • Connect a serial-to-USB dongle (FTDI-like) to the UART DEBUG J35 header on one side and to the PC on the other.
  • Ensure that jumpers J36 and J39 are open to prevent booting from NAND and QSPI Flash.
  • Use a USB Type-A to USB Type-C® cable to connect the J3 USB Type-C port for power.
  • Press the START pushbutton.

SAMA7D65 Curiosity kit (EV63J76A)

 

SAMA7G54 Evaluation kit (EV2118A)

  • Connect an Ethernet cable to the Gigabit Ethernet RJ45 connector J5.
  • Plug the other end of the Ethernet cable into the PC.
  • Connect a serial-to-USB dongle (FTDI-like) to the UART DEBUG J20 header on one side and to the PC on the other.
  • Use a USB Type-A to USB Type-C® cable to connect the J7 USB Type-C port for power.
  • Press the START pushbutton.

SAMA7G54 Evaluation kit

 

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Serial terminal setup.

On your PC, open a serial terminal and configure it with the following settings:

  • Baud Rate: 115200
  • Data: 8-bit
  • Parity: None
  • Stop Bits: 1
  • Flow Control: None

To set up the serial terminal on a Windows PC with PuTTY:

  • Open Windows Device Manager to identify the correct COM port.
  • Connect and disconnect the serial-to-USB dongle, and note which COMxx port appears and disappears (for example, COM10 is used in this guide; please use the COM port that matches your setup).  
  • Open PuTTY and go to Category > Connection > Serial.
  • Configure the serial connection parameters as shown in the accompanying image, making sure to select the COM port that corresponds to your local setup.

PuTTY Configuration window

  • Go to Terminal and enable the Implicit CR in every LF option.

PuTTY Configuration window

  • Go to Category > Session and choose Serial for Connection type, then press Open.

PuTTY Configuration window

​​​​​​

To set up the serial terminal on a Linux® PC with picocom:

  • Identify the serial USB connection by monitoring the last lines of the dmesg command (may need sudo rights).
  • The /dev/ttyUSBx number will be used to configure the terminal emulator.

dmesg output

  • Assuming the serial USB interface is /dev/ttyUSB0, run the following command:
sudo picocom -b 115200 /dev/ttyUSB0  (sudo rights may be needed)
Success

Congratulations!

Setup is completed.

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Running the Pre-Built Demo Application

Information

Note: This section provides instructions on how to program and execute the pre-built PROFINET device demo application.

Download the ZIP release package file from SW70F56A and extract its content.

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Flash the extracted image onto the SD card.

Open balenaEtcher.

balenaEtcher window

Click on Flash from file and select a pre-built image from the SW70F56A/bin/ folder.

  • Files with the *.wic extension are Yocto Project® images.
  • Files with the *.img extension are Buildroot™ images.

Click on Select target and choose the mounted SD card. Then, click Flash to begin the installation process.

After the flashing process is complete, insert the SD card into the on-board SD card slot.

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Press the RESET button on the board to initiate a reset.

The Linux image will boot, and a login prompt will appear in the serial terminal.

If you are not automatically logged in, enter "root" as the username.

Information

Note: No password is required.

login prompt

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The PROFINET demo application operates as a systemd service.

You can check the status of the application by running the following command:

systemctl status pnet-demo
Information

Note: systemctl is the primary command-line tool used to interact with the systemd system and service manager on Linux systems.

systemctl

 

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You can view the console log by executing the following command:

journalctl -u pnet-demo.service
Information

Note: journalctl is a command-line utility used to query and display logs collected by the systemd journal service on Linux systems.

journalctl

Success

Congratulations!

The PROFINET device demo application is now running successfully.

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Using a Diagnostic Tool to View the PROFINET Device

Information

Note: This section explains how to view and configure the PROFINET device demo application using the PRONETA® diagnostic tool.

PRONETA is a Siemens® diagnostic tool designed for analyzing and configuring PROFINET networks.

In PROFINET terminology, PRONETA acts as a PROFINET IO Supervisor. It's neither a PROFINET IO Controller, nor an IO Device.

Therefore, PRONETA works without the need of a PLC (PROFINET Controller) and allows to access PROFINET Devices during commissioning.

Warning

Since PRONETA is compatible exclusively with Windows OS, this section can only be completed on a Windows-based PC.

Download PRONETA BASIC 3.8 (or higher) from Siemens by logging in with a free account.

Locate the ZIP file in the downloads section, download it, and extract its contents.

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Run PRONETA.exe. If prompted to install the Npcap driver, click Yes to proceed.

Once the PRONETA window opens, navigate to the Settings menu.

PRONETA window

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In the Network Adapter menu, select the network adapter that is connected to the PROFINET device.

PRONETA - Siemens window

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Navigate to the Network Analysis menu and select the Online tab.

The PC running PRONETA and the device running the PROFINET demo application will be displayed.

PC running PRONETA and the device running the PROFINET demo application

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 Right-click on the device and select Start Flashing LED.

The LED on the development kit will blink three times at a frequency of 1 Hz and will continue blinking with a short pause between cycles until you right-click on the device and select Stop Flashing LED.

Start Flashing LED

Warning

Set/Reset Network Parameters options are functional: they allow to set/reset the IP address, which is used to uniquely identify devices within the Ethernet network, allowing controllers (such as PLCs) to communicate with specific devices. This step is not required.

The Open Web Browser option is not supported by the demo application.

Success

Congratulations!

You are now able to view your PROFINET device using PRONETA diagnostic tool.

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Establishing a PROFINET IO Connection

Information

This section outlines the procedure for establishing a PROFINET IO connection between a CODESYS Soft PLC and the PROFINET device demonstration application.

A SoftPLC is a software‑based PROFINET IO Controller, which acts as a hardware PLC.

Warning

This section is performed on a Windows-based PC as a continuation of the previous section.

As shown in the CODESYS documentation, configure a static IP address for the Windows PC Ethernet interface connected to the PROFINET device.

Configuring the PROFINET Controller Tip

IP Address for Ethernet Adapter

  • Go to Windows Settings > Network & internet.

  • Select the appropriate Ethernet interface, change the IP configuration to Manual, and configure the IP address and subnet mask accordingly.

Edit IP Settings

Download CODESYS Development System V3 and install it on the Windows machine.

Information

This guide is based on CODESYS V3.5 SP21 Patch 5.

Please note that menu names and layouts may vary if you are using a different version. We recommend using the latest version of all software components whenever possible.

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In the Windows taskbar system tray, right-click the CODESYS Control Win Systray icon and select Start PLC.

Start PLC

Click OK if the following window appears.

Click OK

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Launch CODESYS from the Start menu.

Navigate to Tools > CODESYS Installer, and install the CODESYS Control Win add-on.

CODESYS Control Win add-on

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Navigate to Tools > Device Repository.

Click Install and select the GSD file located in SW70F56A/src/p-net/share to load it.

GSD file located in SW70F56A/src/p-net/share

Information

The PROFINET General Station Description (GSD) file is a description of a PROFINET device provided by the device manufacturer in xml.

The GSD file is now successfully installed.

GSD File

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Navigate to File > Open Project and select SW70F56A/codesys/pn_demo_controller_win.project to load the project.

SW70F56A/codesys/pn_demo_controller_win.project

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Double-click on Device (CODESYS Control Win…).

In the Communication Settings section, click Scan Network and select your PC from the list.

Communication Settings section

This will display the following result:

Resulting Display

 

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Double-click on Ethernet. Then, in the General tab, click Browse and select the network adapter connected to the PROFINET device.

Network adapter connected to the PROFINET device

Warning

When performing this step for the first time, you may be prompted to create a username and password.

User name and password prompt

Click Yes and ensure you record the username and password for future reference.

If you are asked to log in, enter the username and password you just created:

Device User Logon

Configure the IP address and subnet mask to match the values originally defined in the Windows Network & Internet settings.

Configure the IP address and subnet mask

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Double-click on PN_Controller.

In the General tab, click Adjust to set proper values for Default Slave IP Parameter.

Default Slave IP Parameter

This configuration should result in the following:

Default Slave IP Parameter

Double-click on P_Net_multi_module_sample_app.

In the General tab, set an IP address for the PROFINET device. In this guide, we use 192.168.0.50.

IP address for the PROFINET device

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Go to the Online menu and select Login.

If prompted by a confirmation window, click Yes.

Confirmation Window

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Go to the Debug menu and select Start.

Debug menu

The PROFINET controller on the Windows PC will be in RUN mode, as indicated in the status bar at the bottom of the CODESYS window.

Status bar at the bottom of the CODESYS window

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Double-click on P_Net_multi_module_sample_app. Then, in the General tab, the Status will be OK if a PROFINET connection is established to the PROFINET device.

General tab Status

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Double-click on PLC_PRG to look at the project code.

Information

The out_pin_LED variable is a PLC output that controls the LED on the PROFINET device, while in_pin_button_LED is a PLC input that provides the status of the User button on the PROFINET device.

The flashing bit will toggle when the on-board USER push button is pressed.

If the flashing bit is set to TRUE, out_pin_LED will toggle continuously, causing the LED on the PROFINET device to blink.

Project Code

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The User LED should toggle continuously based on the state of the flashing bit controlled by the USER push button.

Press the USER push button to stop or restart the LED toggling.

 

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You can check under PRONETA that the right IP Address is now assigned to your PROFINET device:

IP Address

 

Success

Congratulations!

You have successfully established a PROFINET IO connection.

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Building the Demo Application

Information

Note: This section provides instructions on how to build the PROFINET device demo application from source and run it.

The demo application includes:

  1. A pnet meta layer, which can be integrated into a Yocto Project build
  2. A pnet Buildroot package that can be incorporated into a Buildroot build

Yocto Project build.

Install the following packages on your Linux PC:

sudo apt-get install gawk wget git-core git-lfs diffstat unzip texinfo gcc-multilib \
     build-essential chrpath socat cpio python3 python3-pip python3-pexpect \
     xz-utils debianutils iputils-ping python3-git python3-jinja2 liblz4-tool xterm repo

Clone the required repositories.

  • Create an empty directory to serve as your workspace:
mkdir yocto-dev
cd yocto-dev
  • Set the language settings environment variable:
export LC_ALL=C
  • Set git email and user:
git config --global user.email "Your email"
git config --global user.name "Your Name"
  • Use the repo tool to download all the required repositories:
repo init -u https://github.com/linux4microchip/meta-mchp-manifest.git -b refs/tags/linux4microchip-2025.04 -m mpu/default.xml

repo sync

Copy the SW70F56A/meta-pnet directory to the yocto-dev directory.

Modify the EXTERNALSRC path in yocto-dev/meta-pnet/recipes-pnet/pnet-demo/pnet-demo_1.0.bbappend to reference the absolute path of SW70F56A/src.

Initialize the build environment.

The meta-mchp repository includes sample configuration templates to help set up BitBake layers and key configuration files in the Yocto Project build directory.

  • Set the TEMPLATECONF environment variable to the appropriate configuration template before initializing the build environment:
export TEMPLATECONF=${TEMPLATECONF:-../meta-mchp/meta-mchp-mpu/conf/templates/default}
  • Navigate to the yocto-dev directory and initialize the Yocto Project build environment:
source openembedded-core/oe-init-build-env
  • To enable the meta-pnet layer during the build, edit yocto-dev/build/conf/bblayers.conf and add the meta-pnet layer:
BBLAYERS ?= " \
/<path-to-yocto-dev>/yocto-dev/openembedded-core/meta \
...
/<path-to-yocto-dev>/yocto-dev/openembedded-core/../meta-pnet \
"
  • To include the PROFINET demo application and SNMP server in the image, add the following line at the bottom of yocto-dev/build/conf/local.conf:
CORE_IMAGE_EXTRA_INSTALL += "pnet-demo net-snmp-server-snmpd"

Build the image.

  • Depending on your target machine, execute one of the following commands:
export MACHINE=sam9x75-curiosity-sd
export MACHINE=sam9x60-curiosity-sd
export MACHINE=sama7d65-curiosity-sd
export MACHINE=sama7g5ek-sd
  • Navigate to the yocto-dev directory and build the project:
bitbake mchp-headless-image
  • After the build completes successfully, please follow the steps outlined above to run the newly built demo application.
Information

Note: The SD card image with the .wic extension is located in the yocto-dev/build/tmp-glibc/deploy/images/"MACHINE" folder.

 

Success

Congratulations!

You have successfully rebuilt the PROFINET device demo application using Yocto Project build system.

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Buildroot build.

Install the following packages on your Linux PC:

sudo apt-get install subversion build-essential bison flex gettext \
libncurses5-dev texinfo autoconf automake libtool mercurial git-core \
gperf gawk expat curl cvs libexpat-dev bzr unzip bc python3-dev \
wget cpio rsync xxd bmap-tools

Clone the required repositories.

  • Create an empty directory to serve as your workspace:
mkdir buildroot-dev
cd buildroot-dev
  • Clone the required repositories:
git clone https://github.com/linux4microchip/buildroot-mchp.git
git clone https://github.com/linux4microchip/buildroot-external-microchip.git
  • Check out the following release branch:
cd buildroot-external-microchip/
git checkout linux4microchip-2025.04 -b linux4microchip-2025.04
cd ../buildroot-mchp/
git checkout linux4microchip-2025.04 -b linux4microchip-2025.04

Copy SW70F56A/pnet-br folder to buildroot-dev/buildroot-external-microchip/package folder.

Add the following line to buildroot-external-microchip/Config.in:

source "$BR2_EXTERNAL_MCHP_PATH/package/pnet-br/Config.in"

Initialize the build environment:

  • Navigate to the buildroot-mchp directory and set up BR2_EXTERNAL:
export BR2_EXTERNAL=../buildroot-external-microchip/
  • Run the defconfig for your board by executing one of the following commands:
make sam9x75_curiosity_headless_defconfig
make sam9x60_curiosity_headless_defconfig
make sama7d65_curiosity_headless_defconfig
make sama7g5ek_headless_defconfig
  • Open the Buildroot configuration menu:
make menuconfig
  • Enable the following packages:
    • p-net:
      • Go to External Options > pnet and press y. This will display the pnet repo path or URL option.
      • Enter the full path to the SW70F56A/ folder:
    • SW70F56A/ folder path
    • snmp:
      • Exit External Options > pnet to come back to the main menu.
      • Go to Target packages > Networking applications > netsnmp and press y.
  • Save and Exit the configuration menu.

Build the image.

$ make

After the build completes successfully, please follow the steps outlined above to run the newly built demo application.

Information

Note: The SD card image is located in buildroot-mchp/output/images/sdcard.img folder.

Success

Congratulations!

You have successfully rebuilt the PROFINET device demo application using Buildroot lightweight build system.

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Next Steps

For detailed instructions, please refer to the PROFINET User Manual located in the SW70F56A/ folder. The user manual provides guidance on setting up a CODESYS SoftPLC on a Raspberry® Pi or a Siemens PLC to communicate with the PROFINET device demo application, utilizing the board’s button and LED as input/output devices.

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Troubleshooting

The serial terminal is not displaying any output.

If the terminal does not display any output, consider the following possible causes:

  • Ensure that the RX and TX signals of the serial cable are correctly connected to the corresponding RX and TX signals on the board.
  • Confirm that the ground signal is properly connected.
  • Verify that the SD card contains the correct files.

The terminal only displays RomBOOT message.

  • Ensure that the SD card contains the correct files and is inserted properly.

The image on the SD card is not booting.

  • Confirm that the jumpers for Quad Serial Peripheral Interface (QSPI) Flash and NAND Flash are open to prevent the system from booting a different image.

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