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* The [[http://imx.solid-run.com/forums/|CuBox-i discussion forum]] * The [[http://imx.solid-run.com/wiki/|CuBox-i wiki]] |
CuBox-i support in Debian
This page exists to collate information about the status of support in Debian for the CuBox-i family of devices by SolidRun (CuBox-i1, CuBox-i2, CuBox-i2Ultra, CuBox-i4Pro).
General information
The CuBox-i devices are a series of small-footprint, always-on computers based on the FreeScale i.MX6 chipset.
Bootloader support
The CuBox-i uses U-Boot as a bootloader. As of 2014-03-09, upstream provides a git tree based on U-Boot 2013.10. A port of upstream U-Boot support to 2014.01 (the version in jessie/sid) is available here and has been submitted for inclusion in the Debian package in 741127.
The CuBox-i U-Boot uses SPL (allowing the same U-Boot image to be used across multiple models), and should be installed to the SD card using the layout described here. Note that this version of U-Boot will also support reading the second-stage bootloader from a FAT filesystem on the first partition of the device; however, since U-Boot also reads its environment from an offset of 384K on the SD card, there is 342K of reserved space at the front of the disk which will be otherwise unused. It is therefore recommended to install U-Boot to the embedded space at the front of the disk, and not to set up a dedicated boot partition on the SD card.
Kernel support
The i.MX6 chipset should be supported by the upstream Linux kernel at version 3.13 (the current version in jessie/sid as of 2014-03-09), using the armmp kernel flavor available in the Debian archive. However, the device tree definition for the CuBox is not available upstream in 3.13. Although the device tree definitions are kernel-independent, they are built as part of the kernel source. To get a kernel for the CuBox, you will need to do one of the following:
Apply the enablement patches to your linux 3.13 source.
Build a kernel from the SolidRun 3.10 stable kernel branch.
Download a pre-built dtb file for your device from people.debian.org.
Use a pre-built binary kernel image from SolidRun, available here. (Note: these kernels are based on a Linux 3.0 Android BSP.)
Note that while recent Debian kernels will be able to boot on the CuBox with the simple addition of the .dtb file, full support for all devices (e.g., video) requires enablement patches which are not yet included in the Linux mainline.
Further info
Gunnar Wolf's blog entry about bootstrapping a CuBox-i4
The CuBox-i wiki