AXIOMTEK rBOX630-FL Software User Manual

rBOX630-FL

Linux
Software User’s Manual

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Disclaimers

This manual has been carefully checked and believed to contain accurate information.
Axiomtek Co., Ltd. assumes no responsibility for any infringements of patents or any third
party’s rights, and any liability arising from such use.

Axiomtek does not warrant or assume any legal liability or responsibility for the accuracy,
completeness or usefulness of any information in this document. Axiomtek does not make any
commitment to update the information in this manual.

Axiomtek reserves the right to change or revise this document and/or product at any time
without notice.

No part of this document may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in
any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise,
without the prior written permission of Axiomtek Co., Ltd.

Trademarks Acknowledgments

Axiomtek is a trademark of Axiomtek Co., Ltd.
Windows® is a trademark of Microsoft Corporation.

Other brand names and trademarks are the properties and registered brands of their
respective owners.

Copyright 2016 Axiomtek Co., Ltd.

All Rights Reserved
April 2016, Version A2
Printed in Taiwan

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Table of Contents

Disclaimers ..................................................................................................... ii

Chapter 1 Introduction ............................................. 1

1.1 Specifications ...................................................................................... 2

Chapter 2 Getting Started ....................................... 5

2.1 Connecting the rBOX630 .................................................................... 5

2.1.1 Serial Console ............................................................................................. 6

2.1.2 SSH over Ethernet ...................................................................................... 8

2.2 How to Develop a Sample Program ................................................. 10

2.2.1 Install Yocto Toolchain ............................................................................... 10

2.2.2 Setting Up the Cross-Development Environment ...................................... 11

2.2.3 Write and Compile Sample Program .......................................................... 11

2.3 How to Put and Run a Sample Program .......................................... 12

2.3.1 Via FTP (Default disable) .......................................................................... 12

2.3.2 Via USB Flash Drive .................................................................................. 13

2.3.3 Via TFTP ................................................................................................... 14

Chapter 3 The Embedded Linux ............................ 15

3.1 Embedded Linux Image Managing .................................................. 15

3.1.1 System Version ......................................................................................... 15

3.1.2 System Time .............................................................................................. 15

3.1.3 Internal RTC Time ..................................................................................... 15

3.1.4 External RTC Time .................................................................................... 16

3.1.5 Adjusting System Time .............................................................................. 16

3.2 Networking ......................................................................................... 17

3.2.1 FTP – File Transfer Protocol ..................................................................... 17

3.2.2 TFTP – Trivial File Transfer Protocol ......................................................... 17

3.2.3 NFS – Network File System ...................................................................... 17

Chapter 4 Programming Guide .............................. 19

4.1 librb217 API Functions ..................................................................... 19

4.2 librb217 API Examples ...................................................................... 24

4.2.1 Get Board ID and Power Status ................................................................ 24

4.2.2 COM Port Configuration ............................................................................ 24

4.2.3 Watchdog Timer ........................................................................................ 25

4.2.4 Digital Input and Output............................................................................. 26

4.2.5 LEDs Control ............................................................................................. 26

4.3 CAN Bus ............................................................................................. 27

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4.4 Compile Demo Program ................................................................... 29

4.4.1 Install Yocto Toolchain ............................................................................... 29

4.4.2 Run demo program ................................................................................... 29

Chapter 5 Board Support Package (BSP) .............. 31

5.1 Host Development System Installation ........................................... 31

5.1.1 Install Host System .................................................................................... 31

5.1.2 Install Yocto development ......................................................................... 32

5.1.3 Build and Install Yocto toolchain ................................................................ 33

5.2 U-Boot for rBOX630 .......................................................................... 34

5.2.1 Booting the System with an NFS Filesystem ............................................ 34

5.2.2 Booting the System from eMMC (rBOX630 default) .............................. 35

5.2.3 Booting the System from SD CARD .......................................................... 35

5.3 Additional Information ...................................................................... 36

5.3.1 Create a Bootable SD CARD for rBOX630 ............................................... 36

rBOX630 Linux

Introduction 1

Chapter 1

Introduction

The extreme compact rBOX630 supports the low power RISC-based module (iMX6) processor
with extended temperature range of -40°C to +70°C for using in wide range operating
environments. Multiple built-in serial ports, high-speed LANs and USB 2.0 ports enable fast
and efficient data computation, communication and acquisition. Its digital I/O feature provides
users with the convenience of digital devices connection. Besides, the industrial grade
IP40-rated rBOX630 meets Safety Agency requirements and has passed heavy industrial CE
and FCC testing.

This user’s manual is for the embedded Linux preinstalled in rBOX630. The embedded Linux
is derived from Linux Yocto Board Support Package, which is based on Linux Kernel 3.0.35
and our hardware patches to suit rBOX630.

Software structure

The preinstalled embedded Linux image is located in eMMC Flash memory which is
partitioned and formatted to accommodate boot loader, kernel and root filesystem. It follows
standard Linux architecture to allow user to easily develop and deploy application software that
follows Portable Operating System Interface (POSIX).

To facilitate user program in monitoring and controlling I/O device such as DIO, CAN,
Watchdog Timer, the rBOX630 includes ‘librb217.so’ shared library.

In addition to ext3 and ext4 file system, this embedded Linux kernel is compiled with support
for NFS, including server-side, client-side functionality and ‘Root file system on NFS’. Using an
NFS root mount we have several advantages such as:

 The root file system is not size-restricted by the device’s storage like Flash memory.
 Change made to application files during development is immediately available to the

target device.

For connectivity, this image includes most popular internet protocols, some servers and utilities
not only making it easy for downloading/uploading files (Linux kernel, application program) or
for debugging, but also communicating to outside world via Ethernet, WiFi and 3G.

For the convenience of manipulating embedded Linux, this image includes lots of popular
packages such as busybox, udev, etc.

rBOX630 Linux

2 Introduction

1.1 Specifications

 OS: Linux

 Kernel: 3.0.35 (with Freescale and Axiomtek hardware modified patch)

 Support Protocol Types

 ICMP.
 TCP/IP.
 UDP, DHCP, Telnet, HTTP, HTTPS, SSL, SMTP, ARP, NTP, DNS, PPP, PPPoE,

FTP, TFTP, NFS.

 Shell

 Bash

 File system

 NFS, ext3, ext4

 Daemons

 Telnetd: Telnet server daemon
 FTPD: FTP server daemon

rBOX630 Linux

Introduction 3

 Utilities

 Telnet: Telnet client program
 FTP: FTP client program
 TFTP: Trivial File Transfer Protocol client

 Packages

 busybox: Small collection of standard Linux command-line utilities
 udev: A device manager for Linux kernel
 dosfstools : Utilities for making and checking MS-DOS FAT file system
 e2fsprogs: A set of utilities for maintaining the ext2, ext3 and ext4 file systems
 ethtool: A Linux command for displaying or modifying the Network Interface

Controller (NIC) parameters

 i2c-tools : A heterogeneous set of I2C tools for Linux
 procps : Utilities to report on the state of the system, including the states of running

processes, amount of memory

 wireless-tools: A package of Linux commands (simple text-based utilities/tools)

intended to support and facilitate the configuration of wireless devices using the
Linux Wireless Extension

 Development Environment

 Host OS/ development OS: Ubuntu 14.04 LTS
 Toolchain/ cross compiler: ARM, gcc-4.8.1 (Yocto project 1.5.4 Dora)

 HW’s Lib (Hardware’s Library)

 WiFi (Optional)

- Detect signal strength

- Set AP connection

- Set web, wpa, wpa2

- Support search AP

 Digital I/O

- Read digital input

- Write digital output

 CAN

- Support open/write/read/close functions

 3G

- Set number connection

- Support user name/password

- Detect signal strength

 GPS

- Detect signal strength

- Support satellite positioning

 Watch Dog Timer

- Enable

- Clean

- Set timer

 COM

- RS-232/422/485 mode setting

Note

All specifications and images are subject to change without notice.

rBOX630 Linux

4 Introduction

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rBOX630 Linux

Getting Started 5

Chapter 2

Getting Started

2.1 Connecting the rBOX630

You can connect the rBOX630 to personal computer (PC) in two ways:

 Serial RS-232 console
 SSH over Ethernet

Note

Please download below data from Axiomtek’s website as below list if you have the

demand.

- BSP support package.

http://www.axiomtek.com/products/ViewProduct.asp?view=8947

rBOX630 Linux

6 Getting Started

2.1.1 Serial Console

The serial console is a convenient interface for connecting rBOX630 to PC. First
of all, it is very important to make sure that your desktop connects to rBOX630 by
console cable. Please set the system as follows:

Baudrate: 115200 bps
Parity: None
Data bits: 8
Stop bit: 1
Flow Control: None

Here we use PuTTY to setup and link to the rBOX630. Learn how to do it with these step
by step instructions:

1. Open PuTTY and choose ‘Serial’ as the connection type.

2. Configure the serial port correctly (see image below). Click Open and power on the
rBOX630.

rBOX630 Linux

Getting Started 7

3. The Bootloader default booting system setup to SD Card, If you don’t have
bootable SD Card and want boot from eMMC, Try type this command on u-boot.

4. If connection is established successfully, you should see the following image.

5. To login, please enter ‘root’ (with no password).

rBOX630 Linux

8 Getting Started

2.1.2 SSH over Ethernet

Now, we are going to connect the rBOX630 to PC over Ethernet. The following
illustrations show how to do it under Windows® and Linux environment.

Note: rBOX630 LAN2 default IP address is 192.168.0.254.
For Windows

®

users:

1. Here we also use PuTTY to setup and link. Open PuTTY and choose ‘SSH’ as the
connection type. Then set the IP address to 192.168.0.254 and click Open.

2. If connection is established successfully, you should see the following image.

rBOX630 Linux

Getting Started 9

3. To login rBOX630, please enter ‘root’ (with no password).

For Linux users:

1. Open terminal and keyin ‘ssh’ command.

2. After the connection is established successfully.