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Android 11 for Toradex Colibri i.MX8QXP 1.0D

Android 11 for Toradex Colibri i.MX8QXP V1.0D

Introduction

The Colibri iMX8X is a small form-factor System on Module based on the latest NXP i.MX 8X SoC. 2 or 4 of the latest 64bit Armv8 Cortex-A35 cores provide state-of-the-art performance and efficiency.

Kynetics, as part of the Toradex early access program, has worked on the Android Kernel for the Toradex Colibri i.MX8QXP and built an Android 11 image on Android, compatible with the Iris carrier board.

Release Notes

Here are some important notes about our build:

  • Android 11, U-Boot 2020.04, Linux Kernel 5.4
  • Vendor components based on NXP release: android-10.0.0_2.3.0
  • Android based on the Android 11 GSI sources from Google
  • Compatible with Toradex Colibri i.MX8QXP V1.0D with the Iris carrier board 2.0
  • Compatible with the Toradex 7 inch parallel display (800x480) with capacitive touchscreen
  • Userdebug build with permissive SELinux and disabled DM-Verity
  • Application updates can be deployed using Update Factory: learn more about our Android client for Update Factory.
  • This is an unsupported release. For commercial support please contact us.

Flash Instructions

The following steps will guide you through the installation of Android 11 on the Colibri i.MX8QXP.

Hardware Requirements

  • Toradex Colibri i.MX8QXP V1.0D with the Iris carrier board 2.0
    • SOM with wifi and bluetooth support, 2GB of RAM and at least 8GB of eMMC
  • A USB drive formatted in FAT32 (at least 4 GB)
  • A host computer running GNU/Linux
  • Toradex serial cable adapter as per this serial console tutorial
  • Micro USB cable - to load the Toradex Easy Installer

Software Requirements

  • The Colibri board running the Toradex Easy Installer
  • Kynetics Android 11 Easy Installer archive, downloadable here
  • Android platform tools installed on the host computer - Optional for debugging

Installation procedure

  • Download the Toradex Easy Installer archive for the Colibri iMX8QXP here
  • Unpack the Toradex Easy Installer archive in a directory on the host PC
  • Unpack the Kynetics Android 10 Easy Installer archive in the USB drive
  • Insert the USB drive in the USB port of the connectox X11 on the Iris board
Part 1: load the Toradex Easy Installer

If your board is already running the Toradex Easy Installer, skip Part 1 and start from Part 2.

  • Connect the serial cable connector to the X13 connector on the Iris board and to the Linux host pc
  • Connect the microUSB cable from the X12 connector on the Iris board to the Linux host pc
  • Short the PINs 1 and 2 on the JP1 header (the squade one is number 1)
  • Power up the board
  • Wait a couple of seconds, then remove the jumper on the JP1 header
  • From the host Linux pc, enter in the directory with the unpacked Toradex Easy Installer archive and:
    $ sudo ./recovery-linux.sh
    
  • Wait for the Successfully downloaded Toradex Easy Installer message, that will indicate that the board is now booting the Toradex Easy Installer.
Part 2: flash Android

If you have skipped point 1, power up the board.
It is necessary to have the Toradex Easy Installer interface available: it is possible to use the RDP protocol using the microUSB connector on the Iris board to get the UI on the host pc: see here for more information. The Colibri iMX8QXP Toradex Easy Installer only supports the RDP protocol, do not use the VNC option.

From the Easy Installer interface, the RNDIS tab will show the Kynetics Android 11 for Colibri iMX8QXP V1.0D image. Double click to flash it on the device.
After the procedure is finished, reboot the board.
Android is now installed on the device.

Configure the touch controller

The Atmel touch controller needs to be flashed with a configuration file in order to have a working touchscreen. The controller configuration is a one time task and it is independent from the OS, so if you have already flashed the configuration on the chip, you can skip this point. Please refer here for more info.

Q&A

  • Is fastboot working?
    • Yes, however the first time fastboot is used it is necessary to unlock the device, with the command fastboot flashing unlock. This will wipe the data on the device.

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