Linux/PROCESSOR-SDK-AM437X: What Splash technology does TI recommend?

Nathan Wright

Tool/software: Linux

Hi All,

I have been struggling for the last two weeks with both processor sdk (am437x) and meta-arago distribution trying to get a splash screen to work.

I have found lots of references to using psplash. It seems to only work with sysvinit. The OOB make (proc sdk) and bitbake (meta-arago) build images that use systemd.

Q1: What does TI recommend their users use for a splash screen with systemd?

I'm actually quite surprised it has been so difficult to get a splash screen to come up on this evm, (even the TI splash screen let alone some custom splash screen).

Thanks,

Nathan

over 8 years ago

0 Cvetolin Shulev-XID over 8 years ago

TI__Guru 65405 points

Hi Nathan,

There are various ways to make a splash screen during booting process. This topic is discussed in some E2E threads and TI articles:
processors.wiki.ti.com/.../Customizing_the_SDK_Splash_Screen
e2e.ti.com/.../356796
e2e.ti.com/.../1133908
Also there is one more non-TI's interesting article about splash screen realization:
free-electrons.com/.../

BR
Tsvetolin Shulev

0 Nathan Wright over 8 years ago in reply to Cvetolin Shulev-XID

Intellectual 782 points

Hi Cvetolin,

Thanks for the links. I have seen them and they all use psplash (save freelectrons). psplash doesn't receive boot progress information from systemd. So I'll elaborate the question a bit.

Q1: What does TI recommend their users use for a splash screen with progress information when using systemd?

Thanks,
Nathan

0 BrandonAzbell over 8 years ago in reply to Nathan Wright

TI__Guru 64500 points

Nathan Wright said:

Q1: What does TI recommend their users use for a splash screen with progress information when using systemd?

In performing a series of searches, I found similar inquiries to yours regarding creating a splashscreen and progress bar functionality with systemd. The responses suggest Plymouth for this. I also found an OpenEmbedded recipe for Plymouth.

I haven't worked either of these, so I don't have a clear cut path.

Plymouth

Plymouth OpenEmbedded Receipe

0 RonB over 8 years ago in reply to BrandonAzbell

TI__Mastermind 30546 points

Nathan and Brandon,

I've also filed a bug against Processor SDK so we can get back to providing this functionality out of the box. In the near term, we've also tried bannerd which worked for providing simple pictures without a progress bar which may meet your needs.

0 Jason Reeder over 8 years ago in reply to RonB

TI__Genius 10440 points

Nathan, to further what Ron said about bannerd... I was able to use bannerd on my AM437x GP EVM to get an animated splash screen using the following steps:

1. clone the bannerd repository to your device: git clone https://github.com/alukichev/bannerd.git

2. move into the cloned directory and build: cd bannerd; make

3. copy the generated binary to a directory in your path: cp bannerd /usr/bin/

4. create a systemd service by creating a file at '/etc/systemd/system/splashscreen.service' with the following text:

[Unit]
Description=Splash screen
DefaultDependencies=no
After=local-fs.target

[Service]
ExecStart=/bin/sh -c '/usr/bin/bannerd -vD /home/root/*.bmp'
StandardInput=tty
StandardOutput=tty

[Install]
WantedBy=sysinit.target

5. enable the service: systemctl enable splashscreen.service

6. place your bitmap files that will make up your animation in the location that you specified in your service file (e.g. above: /home/root/*.bmp)

7. reboot your board

Jason

ps - these instructions are a variation on this blog post: yingtongli.me/.../splash.html

0 Nathan Wright over 8 years ago in reply to Jason Reeder

Intellectual 782 points

Thanks Jason, looks good.

Processors

Processors forum

Linux/PROCESSOR-SDK-AM437X: What Splash technology does TI recommend?