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SAMA7D65-Curiosity – Booting Demo Linux® Image

Last modified by Microchip on 2024/10/03 15:40

Introduction

This training topic lists step-by-step instructions for booting a demonstration Linux® image written to a microSD memory card on the SAMA7D65-Curiosity Development Board. 

There are several pre-compiled demonstration Linux images available from the Linux4sam website. 

What you will need: 

  • SAMA7D65-Curiosity Development Board (P/N: EA89C15A) 
  • Personal computer (Windows®, macOS®, Linux) running a terminal emulation program 
  • USB-to-Serial 3.3 or 5.0 VDC TTL Level adapter with a 6-pin single-in-line 0.1” pitch connector 
  • To power the SAMA7D65-Curiosity you will either: 
    • Connect a USB Type-C cable to USB-A port (J3) (included), or 
    • Connect an external 5 VDC power supply to DC Jack (J1) 
  • microSD memory card (1 GB or larger) 

Prerequisites

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Hardware

For this training, you will use the SAMA7D65-Curiosity Development Board (P/N: EV07R15A) .

SAMA7D65-Curiosity Demonstration Board

Setup the SAMA7D65-Curiosity as listed below: 

Jumpers

  • Set the jumpers to their default positions as shown in the “Jumper Summary” section of the “SAMA7D65-Curiosity – Features” page
  • OPEN Jumper J39 to disable Serial Quad I/O™ (SQI™) Flash Boot 
  • OPEN Jumper J36 to disable NAND Flash Boot 

Power

  • Apply power to the development board by connecting either : 
    • USB Type-C connector to USB-A port (J3), or 
    • Applying 5.0 VDC to DC Jack (J1)

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Download a Demonstration Image

The latest images for the SAMA7D65-Curiosity are available at linux4sam . There you will find two sets of images created from the following build systems: 

Screen capture from Linux4SAM showing demo archives

You will find headless and graphics versions. The headless versions only require serial communications between a host computer running a terminal emulation program and the target console. The graphics version works with displays such as the 5" WVGA LCD Display w/ LVDS i/f and maXTouch® (Part Number: AC69T88A) and 5.5" MIPI 720p LCD Display Module with maXTouch (Part Number: AC40T08A). 

For this training, we will use the Buildroot headless version. Download the image and follow the steps below. 

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Load image onto SD Memory Card

To boot Linux from a microSD memory card, perform the following steps.  

You will write the image to the microSD memory card using the balenaEtcher utility program. balenaEtcher is a cross-platform utility program used for writing image files onto storage media.  

Select Image 

Locate the directory where the image has been stored. There is no need to un-compress the image file. The balenaEtcher utility program can handle compressed image files.  

balenaEtcher Select Image screen

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Select Target

Select the microSD memory card. 

balenaEtcher Select Target screen

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Flash

Finally, write the image to the microSD memory card. This will take some time. Be patient. 

balenaEtcher Flash! screen

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Insert the SD Memory Card

Insert the SD memory card into the slot (J10) located on the bottom side of the development board. 

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Terminal Emulation Program

Download, install, and configure a Terminal Emulation program onto your host computer. There are several choices for terminal programs for Windows, macOS, and Linux.  

For more information see the "SAMA7D65-Curiosity – Console Serial Communications" page. 

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Jumpers

Ensure that the Serial Quad I/O (SQI) Flash Boot jumper (J39) and NAND Flash Boot jumper (J36) are OPEN. 

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Connect to UART Debug Port

Connect the USB-to-Serial 3.3 or 5.0 VDC TTL level adapter to the Serial Debug connector (J35) and the host computer. Take care to align Pin 1 (GND) of the Curiosity board to the adapter Pin 1 (look for an arrow on the connector and a black wire). 

For more information see the "SAMA7D65-Curiosity – Console Serial Communications" page.

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Serial Communication Established

Once you connect the USB-to-Serial adapter to the Host PC, locate the COM Port, open the terminal emulation program, and enter the settings: 

  • Com Port: as indicated 
  • Baud: 115200 
  • Data Bits: 8 
  • Parity: None 
  • Stop Bits: 1 

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Apply Power

Apply power to the development board by either: 

  • Connecting a USB Type-C cable to USB-A port (J3) (included), or 
  • Connecting an external 5 VDC power supply to DC Jack (J1)

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Boot

Press the START push button (SW3).  

Pressing the START push button (SW3) will initiate the PMIC start-up sequence if the buck converters are off. The PMIC will also assert the SAMA7D65 wakeup (WKUP) signal to wake the MPU from a low-power state. 

Observe the boot log scrolling on the Console. At the end, the command line will prompt the user to log in. Log in as ‘root.’ No password is required. 

Log in for the linux4sam-buildroot-sama7d65_curiosity-headless-sama7d65-ea-1.0.img: 

Console: Linux login

Observe the RGB LED (D11) flashing blue (heartbeat). 

Congratulations! Booting of the demo Linux image on the SAMA7D65-Curiosity is complete. 

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Summary

In this training, you booted a demonstration Linux image written to a microSD memory card on the SAMA7D65-Curiosity Demonstration Board. 

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Learn More

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