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OMAP L137 and Linux Variants

mike fontes
Expert 1385 points
Other Parts Discussed in Thread: OMAP-L137

I have just received my L137 kit and will be setting it up soon.  I am wondering if the only version of Linux being used with the processor is the MontaVista version.  We are using Ubuntu and Debian version on a couple of our other projects, and I was curious to find out whether anyone has tried to port them to the part.

Our particular application will be using the L137 as a host system with several ports that communicate with a number of external PC boards via serial interfaces.  The requirements for the L137 are to be able to give access to the USB Ports, Serial Ports, possibly the Ethernet, a touch screen controll, and LCD display.  We expect to be writing C or C++ code to run on the L137, and handle fairly static LCD displaying functions where small amounts of text based data will change in .1 second intervals. 

I have looked at other sites concerning the MontaVista Linux  and found a number of software issues shown, particularly with the USB Device drivers that I require to be able to work in a stable manor.  Has anyone had any experience with the drivers connecting  thumb drives, keyboards, printers and mice? 

 

 

  • 0
    TI__Mastermind 24340 points

    Hi Mike,

    We have not ported the from montavista to ubunto for the Linux running in the target.

    But there are plans to have open source Linux available for OMAP-L137. I do not have a time frame yet - I will ask for an update on it internally, but not sure if I will have a time frame available right now.

     

  • 0
    TI__Mastermind 41665 points

    If you are considering using Ubuntu on a embedded device like this you may consider something a bit more powerful like the OMAP3, which has a much more powerful ARM Cortex A8 at 600MHz and a Ubuntu port in existence. Of course this depends on what you intend to do with the device, but I would not expect a very responsive desktop experience from the OMAP-L137 running a desktop OS distribution.

    I have not done much work with the L137 but I can say that the USB capabilities of other Davinci devices running Monta Vista seem reasonable, though I have not done extended stress testing of any of the USB peripherals.

  • 0 in reply to Bernie Thompson TI
    Expert 1385 points

    I am not sure what version of Linux I want to use on the processor yet.  I am trying to see if anyone has experience with a flavor other than Montavista, mainly due to the reported problems in the USB drivers. 

    My system does not have a desktop look or feel.  In fact most of the time mice and keyboards of a PC type are not connected to it.  The main use of the L137 is to drive a VGA display of 640 x 480, and to provide the hardware interfaces for Ethernet, USB, and a touch screen.  I also need the capability of a file system, which comes with the OS.  Our data rates are low.  Our displays are more like Splash screens changed on rare instances, with text changes of less than 100 characters on .1 second intervals. If it wasn't for the display and file system requirements we could be using the <20 Mhz parts we use on all of our other equipment.  That is why I think the L137 can probably handle my requirements.

     

     

  • 0 in reply to mike fontes
    TI__Mastermind 37340 points

    Mike,

    Based on your description above, another affordable option you may want to consider is our DM335 http://focus.ti.com/docs/prod/folders/print/tms320dm335.html.  DM335 has more robust video processing support, as well as USB, an external EMAC solution such as the one found on our develpment EVM will run you ~$2 extra, but considering the DM335 price, you should still come out ahead.  The advantage that OMAP-L137 would have is floating point support in hardware as well as the additional DSP core, but if you do not plan on using either of these features you may benefit from the more robust video features found on DM335.

    With regards to which OS to choose, the one TI primarily supports is the MontaVista (MV) Linux.  I am not sure what USB problems you are referring to; are these OMAP-L1 specific?  FYI, we provide MV support with a variety of our processors, and USB is pretty stable in most of them; the exception would be when 1) either a new processor (OMAP-L1 is fairly new) comes out and we are still developing some of the drivers for it or 2) We are making a major kernel version move; for example, we are currently migrating from MV Pro 4.0.1 kernel (based on 2.6.10 version) to MV Pro 5 (based on 2.6.18).  As a result of this major transition, we have made an Early Adoptor (EA, as opposed to official release) DVSDK available which may have minor quirks.  If we find issues with USB driver or such, we likely correct them before we come out with the official release.  That said, if the USB issues you are referring to do not fall into either of these two camps, then I would be happy to investigate the issue further for you.  Additionally, we also work with third parties to make other OS options, such as WinCE, available..if you are interested in OSes other than Linux.

    I hope this helps.

  • 0 in reply to mike fontes
    TI__Expert 7435 points

    Mike,

    For the said USB uses on OMAP-L137 I think the USB drivers have been pretty vell validated.  I do not think you will have issues w.r.t USB on OMAP-L137.

     

    regards

    swami

  • 0 in reply to Juan Gonzales
    Expert 1385 points

    Juan,

    I have based my concerns on the document in the link below.  It took me a while to find it again.

    https://www-a.ti.com/downloads/sds_support/targetcontent/psp/mv_lsp_2_20/ea/docs/lsp_2.20_drivers_data_sheet.pdf

    My system will boot from a USB Mass storage device and use that device and another as primary storage of user and configuration data.  I do not feel comfortable with any mentions of instability, particularly with read/write operations, as I can not afford to lose any data. That is one of my motivations to see if there are any other Linux ports.  The other is that I consider the Montavista to be a very high cost for what I am trying to get in my system. I am expecting to use only standard chip functions,with nothing being custom.  With that in mind I expect the OS to be available with no special software adders.  I have to compare with the competition providing me with BSPs I can add to standard Linux packages. 

    With that said I still have to get my kit upand running to see what I actually experience.  I hope to start that within the week.  Thanks for your continued support.

     

  • 0 in reply to mike fontes
    TI__Mastermind 37340 points

    Mike,

    Please note that our MV strategy is pretty flexible; we do provide a demo MV distro with our EVMs that we keep on updating with TI-specific kernel drivers.  I believe you can use this for production without having to buy the MV License if this is your concern.  The MV License will get you additional support, tools available at MVZone such as DevRocket IDE and additional non-TI specific patches, and for some customers this is worth the extra $$; but you decide what works for you.

  • 0 in reply to Juan Gonzales
    Expert 1385 points

    Juan,

     

    You are making me feel a little better.  Did you get a chance to follow the link to the TI Document I referenced.  It may be possible that your latest updates take care of the issues mentioned.  Can you let me know what you think?

  • 0 in reply to mike fontes
    TI__Mastermind 37340 points

    I noticed that the link you sent suggests this is an early adoptor LSP ( 'ea' is part of path), but swami who posted above should be able to confirm the any limitations our drivers may have.  FYI, Swami is very knowledgeable about our Linux Driver offerings.

  • 0 in reply to swami
    Expert 1385 points

    Swami,

     

    Based on the latest post from Juan I would like to confirm with you whether the latest updates take care of the USB issues mentioned in the document I posted the link to. Can you let me know if you have seen the fwrite problems, and seen that they have been fixed?

  • 0 in reply to mike fontes
    TI__Expert 7435 points

    Mike,

    Based on latest updates from MV I think most of the issues that were earlier relase noted have been fixed.  The release should be out shortly.

    regards

    swami

  • 0 in reply to swami
    Expert 1385 points

    Swami,

     

    Did they provide a list of what was fixed, and what was still to be fixed?  It would be good to know the status.  Does TI have any reference designs that work with the MV package?  I am trying to decide the best way to move forward in my design process.  I would like to cut down on design mistakes by checking out reference designs, similarly to when I work on MSp430 based products.

  • 0 in reply to mike fontes
    TI__Expert 7435 points

    Mike,

    I will ask the release owner for that release to post on the current status.

    regards

    swami

  • 0 in reply to swami
    TI__Expert 6385 points

    Mike,

    You can consult the drivers datasheet for the latest release for list of pending issues with the USB driver.

    You can get the latest PSP release from the PSP download page at https://www-a.ti.com/downloads/sds_support/targetcontent/psp/mv_lsp_2_20/index.html
    or from http://www.ti.com/myregisteredsoftware as a part of the OMAP-L137 SDK product

    Thanks,

    Sekhar