DM6446 background problem?

1. if you are referring to setting static ip on host pc (most common case), see the following App Note (http://focus.ti.com/lit/an/spraaq0/spraaq0.pdf ); if you want to set EVM to use static ip, simply set 'ipaddr' u-boot variable to desired ip address and set "dhcp=$(ipaddr)" in bootargs (alternatively, you can set "ip=off" in bootargs).

2. ARM and DSP communicate via msg queue mechanism via a software module called DSPLINK; in order to pass large memory buffers efficiently (e.g. for video), it also makes use of a software module called CMEM.  CMEM is basically a contigous memory allocator that defines a memory space accessible by both ARM and DSP; this makes it possible to pass a memory pointer via msg queue as opposed to entire memory buffer.

3. ARM takes care of this when codec engine API is called (Engine_open); there is lots of stuff underneath going on, but from an application developer point of view, you just need to call engine_open to load DSP image and Engine_close to unload it and place DSP back in reset (save power).  You probably will not use CCS unless you are writting/debugging your own DSP algorithm

4. Just like CCS is the tool of choice when debugging DSP, ARM has also some tools that are great for debugging ARM/Linux.  In Linux, the gdb and kgdb are used extensively by higher level IDEs; you can choose to use gdb and kgdb directly (free), you can choose to use free open source debuggers (e.g. ddd, which runs on top of gdb), or you can choose to buy a commercial IDE such as DevRocket (also used gdb underneath). 

5. You do not get non-davinci specific kernel updates with the demo (or eval) version of MV (e.g. updates to gdb, security patches,...); you will still get davinci specific Linux kernel updates via TI software update site.

I hope this helps.

1. Could I install other Linux (e.g. Ubuntu or Fedora; not Red hat enterprise ) on host?

2. I am setting NFS(network file system) refer “DVEVM getting started guide”. But my OS is windows XP, so I installed Red Hat enterprise on VMware. I had set NFS and static IP finished, but I could connect to NFS from DM6446. What network connection type must to set on Vmware workstation ?

thanks.

1) Yes you could, but please note that different distros have different services enabled by default, hence you must ensure that all the Linux services you will need (e.g. tftp, nfs, ...) are set up correctly.

2) The Getting Started Guide assumes you are connecting thru a router and using dhcp server to assign dynamic IP addresses (as opposed to static).  If you want to use static IP addresses, please refer to the following App Note. http://focus.ti.com/lit/an/spraaq0/spraaq0.pdf

I had test the NFS with dm6446 following getting started guide and Juan Gonzales’s help. It is OK now. I am testing “Running the demos from command line”, I found the demo codes (encodedecode, encode, and decode) in “/home/(user)/dvevm/dvevm_1_10/demos folder on host. The folder is not sharing by NFS with DM6446.  

How could I run the demos form command line if I refer the command from “getting started guide”?

thanks

Eric,

The version of the software you are using (dvevm_1_10) is quite old, you may want to upgrade.  FYI, when your register your EVM (www.ti.com/davinciregistration ), you get access to our software update site (www.ti.com/davincisoftwareupdates ) where you can get the latest DVSDK software.

That said, assuming the Getting Started Guide (GSG) has not changed too much; there should be a section that helps yuu set up a shared file system (requires editing /etc/exports file).  The directory you specify in the '/etc/exports' file is what is visible by the target EVM via NFS service.  As a matter of fact, when you rebuild the DVSDK software (another section of GSG), you will need to specify this same directory (/home/user/workdir/filesys per GSG) in the Rules.make file.  This is how the build tree knows to copy the demo executables from the DVSDK directory (not visible to NFS) to the shared file system (visible by NFS).

Let me know if this helps.

hi juan,

is there a nice guide on how to upgrade the target 6446?

my u-boot version is "U-Boot 1.1.3 (Dec  4 2006 - 12:05:38)" and i was thinking it would be great if i can upgrade the whole package. the main reason is because i was going to use gstreamer for a class project and gstreamer requires an upgraded version of dvevm.

also the second cd that came with my board will definitely not extract as said in the GSG but the updates i received extracted and installed fine in SLED10SP2.

thanks,

tim

Tim,

Once you get the new DVSDK software from our update site per my previous post, you can follow the Getting Started Guide (posted on software update site also) to upgrade the software on your EVM (u-boot, uImage, and file system on HDD).

Let me know if this helps.