Difference between revisions of "FAQ"

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The goal of this project is to allow everyone to easily develop embedded Open Source systems.
 
The goal of this project is to allow everyone to easily develop embedded Open Source systems.
 
When all the embedded systems in the world will run open source software, life will be better ;-)
 
When all the embedded systems in the world will run open source software, life will be better ;-)
 
===What is the legal status of the project ?===
 
The Armadeus Project is a french "non-profit" association (loi 1901) held in Mulhouse, France (68). We accept members from everywhere.
 
Board production is done by a privately held company.
 
  
===What does "Armadeus" mean ?===
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===How do I get help ?===
"Armadeus" is the contraction of "ARM" and "Amadeus". Indeed we choosed ARM architecture for its symplicity and efficiency and our boards are as gifted to run embedded systems as Mozart was for composing music. Moreover, Armadeus project is born in 2006, year of the 250th Mozart's Birthday.
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First take a look at the whole Wiki. If you can't find help contact us directly: [[Help:Contents]]. If you are located in France, we have members in Besançon, Montbéliard & Mulhouse who can provide help. For Swiss members, we can provide help in Basel, Lausanne & Zürich.
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===How do I become a member ?===
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You become a member as soon as you purchase at least a main board (here an APF9328). This will ensure that new members will develop on the same basis. After that you will receive your userid and your password to participate to this Wiki and project activities. Everyone is welcome.
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===Why become a member ?===
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=== Why are there http://armadeus.org and http://armadeus.com ? Is there a company backing/hiding behind the project? ===
* Benefit from special prices on the products (the goal of the association is not to make money)
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* Participate to the development of new boards 
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* Increase your experience
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* Enjoy working with other developers.
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===Restrictions===
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<http://armadeus.com> is the webpage dedicated to Armadeus Systems. <br>
* The boards provided by the association can not be used in a commercial product unless this product belongs to the association
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The company develops and produces the main boards which are then available at a discount price to the association members (non commercial usage only!).
* The software/firmware developments realized within the association have to be GPL/LGPL compliant
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* The Armadeus Association can not be blamed of the wrong usage or malfunction of the development performed within the association
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===How do I get help ?===
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Historically the Armadeus Project (association) was founded before Armadeus Systems (company). <br>
First take a look at the whole Wiki. If you can't find help contact us directly: [[Help:Contents]]. If you are located in France, we have members in Besançon, Montbéliard & Mulhouse who can provide you help. For Swiss members, we can provide help in Basel, Lausanne & Zürich.
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After one year of existence we realized that it was quite impossible to achieve our goals without investing more time and more cash. That's why the company was founded.
  
===Board prices===
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The association was started for our own pleasure and also to help universities and enthusiasts develop Linux embedded systems.  <br>
* APF9328 wihtout FPGA, ADC and DAC: 75 euros
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It is a non profit association and works mostly on founders' free time.
* FPGA supplement (XC3S200): +20 euros (depending on quantities)
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* APF9328 DevLight: 45 euros
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Taxes are included to the price but not the shipment
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The developments (hardware/firmware/software) performed within the association are under GPL/LGPL licence.  <br>
A Paypal account is mandatory
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The hardware funded by the association can not be used in a commercial product.
  
Remarks:
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=== Is there some rule to respect to contribute to the wiki? ===
* No accessory (cable, power supply...) is delivered with the boards. You can purchase them by your favorit distributor for a few $
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Yes there are few rules that help you to contribute to update the wiki there:  [[WritingRules |HowTo write articles for armadeus wiki]] 
*Grouped orders can be organized for some components like LCDs, special connectors...
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==Hardware Questions==
 
==Hardware Questions==
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===Are the Armadeus boards RoHS compliant ?===
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Yes
  
===What does an Armadeus APF9328 board contain ?===
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===I have an APF27 kit and my 7" Chimei LW700 LCD is blinking (RGB colors), what can I do ?===
The heart of the APF9328 board is a i.MXL processor from Freescale (ex Motorola) with an ARM920T core running at 200MHz. It has the following integrated peripherals:
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You're probably running an old (< 3.3) Armadeus BSP release and so default LCD is Sharp LQ043. You have to change your Linux configuration to support your LCD. Please follow instructions on [[FrameBuffer|this page]].
* LCD controller (TFT, CSTN, STN)
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* USB 1.1 device
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* 2 x SPI
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* I2C
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* 2 x Serial
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* MMC/SD controller
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* Serial bootstrap mode (removing the need of JTAG interface)
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* a lot of General Purpose Input/Output, depending on the configured peripherals
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== Gateware Questions (FPGA) ==
  
Around this processor, the board is equipped with:
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=== My bitstream break my APF ===
* 16MBytes of high speed SDRAM
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* 8MBytes of NOR Flash
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* 10/100Mbits Ethernet controller
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* Xilinx Spartan3 FPGA (optional)
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* an ADC and a DAC (optional)
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* level converters for serial, USB and Ethernet
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* 2 connectors for accessing main signals
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If you are using ISE13.x or upper, there is a bug loading script TCL file. When design is generated by POD, a script is sourced to make bitstream (myproject.tcl), the source commande ignore the constraint file (ucf) and FPGA pinout is done randomly. To avoid this, once tcl script sourced, re-run all design.
  
Have a look at this link for more informations: [http://http://www.armadeus.com/downloads/apf9328/documentation/dataSheet_APF9328.pdf]
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==Software Questions==
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===Where are the sources ?===
  
===What is the DevLight board ?===
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We have a project on gitlab : https://gitlab.com/armadeus/armadeus-bsp
APF9328 boards were designed to be as small as possible and ready to be embedded on any systems. So an APF9328 is not usable alone. You should see it much more like a module you can plug in everywhere.
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To develop for APF9328 boards you can either develop your own "motherboard" and plug the APF9328 into it or use the one we develop for our needs.
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Currently only the DevLight board is available. It contains:
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* a serial connector
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* an USB connector
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* an Ethernet connector
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* a prototype zone to test your developments
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* a DC power regulator
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For more informations look at here:
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===What are the performances of your board ?===
[http://www.armadeus.com/downloads/apf9328DevLight/documentation/dataSheet_APF9328_DevLight.pdf]
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[[Performances | Wiki page talking about board performances]]
  
A DevFull board is currently in production and will contain:
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===How do I get help/support===
* an AC97 + touchscreen chip
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[[Help:Contents]]
* 4 more serial ports
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* a MMC connector
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* ...
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===Are the Armadeus boards RoHS compliant ?===
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=== How to register my interrupt routine in Linux application ? ===
Yes
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[[How to register my interrupt routine in Linux application ?]]
  
==Software Questions==
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=== How to launch my application at startup ? ===
<br>
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See [[Automatically_launch_your_application | Automatically launch your application]] page.
<br>
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===U-Boot seems ok but prints: *** Warning - bad CRC, using default environment - Is there something wrong?===
 +
Everything is ok. It is an U-Boot feature that happens if the environment partition is empty.<br>
 +
Please read the U-Boot FAQ on this issue: http://www.denx.de/wiki/view/DULG/WarningBadCRCUsingDefaultEnvironment
  
[[Image:FrenchFlag.png]][[Fr:FAQ | Cette page en Français]]
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{{LanguageBar|FAQ|FAQ|FAQ}}

Latest revision as of 11:34, 30 June 2022

General Questions

What is the "Armadeus Project" intended for ?

The goal of this project is to allow everyone to easily develop embedded Open Source systems. When all the embedded systems in the world will run open source software, life will be better ;-)

How do I get help ?

First take a look at the whole Wiki. If you can't find help contact us directly: Help:Contents. If you are located in France, we have members in Besançon, Montbéliard & Mulhouse who can provide help. For Swiss members, we can provide help in Basel, Lausanne & Zürich.

Why are there http://armadeus.org and http://armadeus.com ? Is there a company backing/hiding behind the project?

<http://armadeus.com> is the webpage dedicated to Armadeus Systems.
The company develops and produces the main boards which are then available at a discount price to the association members (non commercial usage only!).

Historically the Armadeus Project (association) was founded before Armadeus Systems (company).
After one year of existence we realized that it was quite impossible to achieve our goals without investing more time and more cash. That's why the company was founded.

The association was started for our own pleasure and also to help universities and enthusiasts develop Linux embedded systems.
It is a non profit association and works mostly on founders' free time.

The developments (hardware/firmware/software) performed within the association are under GPL/LGPL licence.
The hardware funded by the association can not be used in a commercial product.

Is there some rule to respect to contribute to the wiki?

Yes there are few rules that help you to contribute to update the wiki there: HowTo write articles for armadeus wiki

Hardware Questions

Are the Armadeus boards RoHS compliant ?

Yes

I have an APF27 kit and my 7" Chimei LW700 LCD is blinking (RGB colors), what can I do ?

You're probably running an old (< 3.3) Armadeus BSP release and so default LCD is Sharp LQ043. You have to change your Linux configuration to support your LCD. Please follow instructions on this page.

Gateware Questions (FPGA)

My bitstream break my APF

If you are using ISE13.x or upper, there is a bug loading script TCL file. When design is generated by POD, a script is sourced to make bitstream (myproject.tcl), the source commande ignore the constraint file (ucf) and FPGA pinout is done randomly. To avoid this, once tcl script sourced, re-run all design.

Software Questions

Where are the sources ?

We have a project on gitlab : https://gitlab.com/armadeus/armadeus-bsp

What are the performances of your board ?

Wiki page talking about board performances

How do I get help/support

Help:Contents

How to register my interrupt routine in Linux application ?

How to register my interrupt routine in Linux application ?

How to launch my application at startup ?

See Automatically launch your application page.

U-Boot seems ok but prints: *** Warning - bad CRC, using default environment - Is there something wrong?

Everything is ok. It is an U-Boot feature that happens if the environment partition is empty.
Please read the U-Boot FAQ on this issue: http://www.denx.de/wiki/view/DULG/WarningBadCRCUsingDefaultEnvironment

Other languages:

English Flag.svg English  •  French Flag.svg Français