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 privatly held company.
 
 
===What does "Armadeus" mean ?===
 
"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.
 
 
===How do I become a member ?===
 
You have to pay a small fee. You will receive an Armadeus board, userid and password to participate to this Wiki and project activities. Everyone is welcome.
 
 
===What is the fee for becoming a member ?===
 
You will have to pay 150 euros. You will get an APF9328 board (iMXl @ 200Mhz, 16Mbytes SDRAM, 8Mbytes Flash, FPGA), a "DevLight" development board, and all you need to start developping/collaborating.
 
You can get a "reduced" APF9328 board (without FPGA, ADC & DAC) for a 130 euros registration fee.
 
  
 
===How do I get help ?===
 
===How do I get help ?===
First take a look at the whole Wiki. If you can't find help contact us directly. 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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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.
  
==Hardware Questions==
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=== Why are there http://armadeus.org and http://armadeus.com ? Is there a company backing/hiding behind the project? ===
  
===What does an Armadeus APF9328 board contains ?===
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<http://armadeus.com> is the webpage dedicated to Armadeus Systems. <br>
This board is build around an i.MXl processor from Freescale (ex Motorola). This 32bits processor is an ARM920T core running at 200Mhz and has the following integrated peripherals:
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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!).
* LCD controller (TFT, CSTN, STN)
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* USB 1.1 device
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* 2xSPI
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* I2C
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* 2xserial
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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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Have a look at this link for more informations: [http://www.freescale.com/webapp/sps/site/prod_summary.jsp?code=i.MXL&nodeId=0162468rH311432973ZrDR]
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Historically the Armadeus Project (association) was founded before Armadeus Systems (company). <br>
 +
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.
  
On our board it is associated with:
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The association was started for our own pleasure and also to help universities and enthusiasts develop Linux embedded systems.  <br>
* 16Mbytes of high speed SDRAM
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It is a non profit association and works mostly on founders' free time.
* 8Mbytes of NOR Flash
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* 10/100Mbits Ethernet controller
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* Xilinx Spartan3 FPGA (optionnal)
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* an ADC and a DAC (optionnal)
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* level converters for serial, USB and Ethernet
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* 2 connector for accessing main signals
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===What is the DevLight board ?===
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The developments (hardware/firmware/software) performed within the association are under GPL/LGPL licence.  <br>
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 plugin everywhere.
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The hardware funded by the association can not be used in a commercial product.
To develop for APF9328 boards you can either develop your own "daughter" board or use the one we develop for our needs.
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Currently only DevLight board is available. It contains:
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* a serial connector
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* a USB connector
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* an Ethernet connector
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* a prototype zone to test your devt
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* a DC power regulator
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A DevFull board is currently in production and will contains:
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=== Is there some rule to respect to contribute to the wiki? ===
* an AC97 + touchscreen chip
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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]] 
* 4 more serial ports
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* a MMC connector
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* ...
+
  
===Are your board RoHS compliant ?===
+
==Hardware Questions==
 +
===Are the Armadeus boards RoHS compliant ?===
 
Yes
 
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 [[FrameBuffer|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==
 
==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 ?===
 +
[[Performances | 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 | 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.<br>
 +
Please read the U-Boot FAQ on this issue: http://www.denx.de/wiki/view/DULG/WarningBadCRCUsingDefaultEnvironment
 +
 +
{{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

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