Boot from eMMC

This document provides the detailed instructions of how to flash the image to eMMC of I-Pi SMARC IMX8M plus for both Windows and Linux users.

Flashing UMS Image on eMMC

Download the prebuilt image to the working directory on your development host click here.
Prepare your target board by connecting the power cord and the micro USB OTG cable to the development host.
Make sure your boot loader switches are in SD card (0110).

Our system typically comes with ready-to-use features. So we will flash the UMS image onto eMMC before shipping.
If you want to flash the UMS on eMMC again, you can start from the Flashing UMS Image on eMMC and then follow the Flashing Image on eMMC. If you do not want to flash the UMS on eMMC again, simply skip the Flashing UMS Image on eMMC.
Install on your development host Win32DiskImager click here. It is used to flash your system image.
Please click_here to download the 2G and 4G UMS Image for IMX8MP. Take an empty Micro SD card flash the UMS image on it using Win32DiskImager.
Put the flashed Micro SD card in the Micro SD card slot of your target device and make sure the boot settings are SD card (0110).
Your targeted device should now be connected to your development host via the micro USB OTG cable and power cord.
The targeted device will have the appearance of a storage device on your development host.
Flash the UMS image again with Win32DiskImager by selecting the targeted device. During this flash, the UMS image will be loaded into eMMC and the SD card.

Once you have flashed the image onto the eMMC. Disconnect all the cables and remove the SD card.
Ensure the boot setting is eMMC (1000), then power-on the board and connect the micro USB OTG cable with the targeted device to your development host.
The targeted device will eventually appear on your development host’s storage devices list.

This procedure describes how to flash Ubuntu/Debian/Yocto/Android image to the eMMC.

Download the prebuilt bootable Ubuntu image to the working directory on your development host.
In Windows environments, please download rufus to flash the image to the SD Card.
In a Linux environment use dd command.

Note: All files will be erased on the SD Card. The size should be preferable 16 GB or larger.

Insert an empty MicroSD Card into the development host and execute rufus.exe. It will auto-detected your storage drives.
Press the SELECT button and browse to the .img file previously downloaded to your working directory in the development host. Then click START and wait for the process to be finished.

Copy the prebuilt bootable Ubuntu/Debian image to the working directory on your development host. Insert an empty SD Card into the development host and enter the following command to copy the .img to the SD Card.

Warning: Make sure you first properly identify the SD Card device name as for example (/dev/sdb or /dev/sdc) by using “gparted”. Data loss may result if written into the wrong device or in the worst case you kill your development host’s OS.
$ sudo dd if=[your image].img of=/dev/sd[x]
After dd has completed, enter the following command:

$ sync

Note: You can also flash Yocto and Android images using Linux host, but make sure, you type the correct image format in your dd command.

Copy the prebuilt bootable Yocto image to the working directory on your development host.
In Windows environments, please download the Win32DiskImager to flash the image to the SD Card.

Note: All files will be erased on the SD Card. The size should be preferable 16 GB or larger.

Insert an empty MicroSD Card into the development host and execute the Win32DiskImager tool.

The SD card device is automatically detected.
Choose Image file by clicking on File explorer icon.
Select the image form the downloaded directory of development host, then click the Write button to start the process.

The tool will prompt to the user that data will be lost. Select “Yes” to continue
Once done, click OK and and it will show the message that Write successful.
Eject the SD card and insert it into the target board and power on the board to boot up.

Note:

If you want to use Linux development host for flashing Yocto/Android, you can use dd command as shown for Ubuntu/Debian.
Make sure the boot loader on the carrier board is set according to the SD card or eMMC as you boot.