Introduction

The following quick start guide provides background information about the HummingBoard Mate.

The guide will give a technical overview about the product and by the end of it you should be able to boot an operating system and begin testing your application.

Revision and Notes

Date	Owner	Revision	Notes
04 Nov 2021	Yazan Shhady	1.0	Initial release
31 Dec 2024	Yazan Shhady	1.1	Add instructions for programming the eMMC.
Table of Contents

Hardware Setup

Product specifications

Block Diagram

The following figure describes the i.MX8M Block Diagram.

Visual features overview

Please see below the features overview of the connector side of the HummingBoard Mate.

Print side connector overview of the HummingBoard Mate.

Software Setup

Cable setup and prerequisites

Here is what you will need to power up and use the board:

• Linux or Windows PC

• HummingBoard Mate with SOM

• 12V Power adapter (HummingBoard Mate has wide range input of 7V-28V).

• Micro USB to USB for console, the HummingBoard Mate has an onboard FTDI chip.

• IP router or IP switch

Boot Select

Before powering up the board for the first time it is recommended to select the boot media. On first use microSD is recommended source, configure dip switch S3 as follows:

“X” means don’t care, leave as is.

For additional options, please refer to i.MX8M Series HummingBoard Boot Select page.

Booting from SD card

The following shows how to set the switches on the boot source selector:

Once you set the switches, you can apply the following for booting from SD card:

1. Downloading the Debian image

Download the Debian image by running the following command on your Linux/Windows PC:

wget https://solid-run-images.sos-de-fra-1.exo.io/IMX8/imx8mp_build/lf-6.6.52-2.2.0/2025-07-02_cffbac8/debian-bootimg-cffbac8.img.xz

• For more Debian releases, please visit Debian Release for i.MX8.

2. Writing the image to the SD card

Use the following commands for writing the image to an SD card:

xz -dc debian-bootimg-cffbac8.img.xz | dd of=/dev/sdX bs=4k conv=fdatasync

• For more information, please visit Flashing an SD Card .

3. SD card insertion

Please Insert the SD card into your device.

4. Power connection

Connect your power adaptor to the DC jack, and then connect the adaptor to mains supply.

5. Serial Connection

Please insert the micro USB into your device, then you can refer to Serial Connection for installing necessary serial connection software in Linux/Windows.

Once you installed the necessary serial connection software, you should be able to see the following:

• In order to be able to log in , please insert “root” as a username and password as follows:

Programming eMMC

Boot Linux from uSD and follow the Instructions bellow to Program the eMMC

1. Programming the Bootloader on eMMC Boot Partition:

   # Download the bootloader binary (u-boot-mmc:2:1.bin) from https://images.solid-run.com/IMX8/imx8mp_build: wget http://solid-run-images.sos-de-fra-1.exo.io/IMX8/imx8mp_build/build_date_20241210-rev_ddc90d8/u-boot-mmc:2:1-ddc90d8.bin # Disable write protection: echo 0 > /sys/class/block/mmcblk2boot0/force_ro # Write the bootloader to the boot partition: dd if=u-boot-mmc:2:1-ddc90d8.bin of=/dev/mmcblk2boot0 conv=sync # Re-enable write protection: echo 1 > /sys/class/block/mmcblk2boot0/force_ro # Enable the eMMC boot partition: mmc bootpart enable 1 1 /dev/mmcblk2

2. Programming the Debian Image on the eMMC Main Partition:
   

   # Download the Debian Image from https://images.solid-run.com/IMX8/imx8mp_build: wget http://solid-run-images.sos-de-fra-1.exo.io/IMX8/imx8mp_build/build_date_20241210-rev_ddc90d8/imx8mp-sdhc-debian-ddc90d8.img.xz # Write the Yocto image to the eMMC main partition: xz -dc imx8mp-sdhc-debian-ddc90d8.img.xz | dd of=/dev/mmcblk2 bs=4k conv=fdatasync

3. Set the boot select to boot from eMMC as documented here and do reset to boot from eMMC.

Final stages

The following stages need to be done in order to finalise the imaging:

1. Run fdisk /dev/mmcblk1 if using SD and fdisk /dev/mmcblk2if using eMMC.

2. Recreate the rootfs partition (mostly the second partition) by deleting it and then creating a new partition that starts at the next sector after the first one and extends to the end of the drive (or less depending on your needs).

3. Write the new partition, when prompt about ‘Do you want to remove the signature?’ then answer with Yes.

4. Run resize2fs /dev/mmcblk1p2 if using SD Card and resize2fs /dev/mmcblk2p2if using eMMC.

5. In this stage the root partition should be big enough to start populating it; but first update the RTC clock.

6. Connect the RJ45 to your network with internet access (and DHCP server); and then run dhclient.

7. Update the RTC clock by running ntpdate pool.ntp.org and then hwclock -w.

8. Run apt-update commands below and then populate the root filesystem as you wish.

apt-get update && apt-get upgrade -y

Here is an example of the same process in the HB-IIOT device until step 4 (include):

In the end you should see with “lsblk” that the partition size is in the required size.

More Features

Internet

Connect an Ethernet cable to your HummingBoard Pulse (for internet access during boot-up).
Models HummingBoard with WiFi, can be connected via WiFi or wired Ethernet.

• Please check you Ethernet connection.

• Use the following commands in order to keep your system up-to-date:

apt-get update 
apt-get upgrade 
reboot

• For more detailed information, please refer to i.MX8M Debian .

WiFi

• You can connect to WiFi using any application, such as : connmanctl or wpa_spplicant.

An example for connecting to WiFi using wpa_supplicant:

1. To bring a WiFi interface up, run the following :

ifconfig wlan0 up 

2. Install the wpa_supplicant package:

apt-get install wpasupplicant 

3. Edit network interfaces file :

At the bottom of the file, add the following lines to allow wlan as a network connection:

cat <<EOF > /etc/network/interfaces.d/wlan0
allow-hotplug wlan0
iface wlan0 inet dhcp
wpa-conf /etc/wpa_supplicant/wpa_supplicant.conf
iface default inet dhcp

EOF

4. Create a configuration file with the relevant ssid:

cat <<EOF > /etc/wpa_supplicant/wpa_supplicant.conf
ctrl_interface=/run/wpa_supplicant
update_config=1

network={
    ssid="MYSSID"
    psk="passphrase" 
}

EOF

5. Make sure it works:

Restart your device and it should connect to the wireless network. If it doesn't, repeat above steps or get help from an adult.

• For more information about using wpa_supplicant , you can refer to wpa_supplicant or wpa_supplicant.

Bluetooth

1. For showing all Bluetooth devices, run the following:

apt-get install bluez
hciconfig -a

2. Choose a device, and turn it on:

 hciconfig hci0 up

3. Set up the Bluetooth name:

hciconfig hci0 name 'SolidRun_Ble'

4. Make your Bluetooth detectable by other devices:

hciconfig hci0 piscan

5. If you want to connect to other devices:

• Start by scanning for other Bluetooth devices:

hcitool scan

• Choose a MAC address and connect :

rfcomm connect 0  $MAC 10 & 

• You can check the communication between the devices by writing :

l2ping -c 4  $MAC

GPIO Pins Control

In order to be able to control the GPIO pins, please refer to GPIO Pins Control - HummingBoard Pulse/Mate & i.MX8M Plus SOM

Cellular Modem

The cellular modem is a more fully featured extension of which contains a cellular module with additional hardware interfaces and a SIM card slot.

You can connect your cellular modem to the mPCIe, and insert a SIM card.

• For some cellular modules to be connected, please refer to Cellular Modules .

Enable the MINI-PCIe slot ‘J20’

To activate the mini-pcie connector you should run the commands bellow (Enable the modem Power & do Rest):

# enable power supply for M.2 and PCIe: "M2_3V3"
echo 10 > /sys/class/gpio/export 
echo out > /sys/class/gpio/gpio10/direction
echo 1 > /sys/class/gpio/gpio10/value

# pcie reset: "Mini-PCIe_PREST"
echo 1 > /sys/class/gpio/export 
echo out > /sys/class/gpio/gpio1/direction
echo 1 > /sys/class/gpio/gpio1/value

note

Please Note

mPCIe interface doesn't support PCIe interface - it supports USB 3.0 only.

Cellular Modem

The cellular modem is a more fully featured extension of which contains a cellular module with additional hardware interfaces and a SIM card slot.

You can connect your cellular modem to the mPCIe, and insert a SIM card.

• For some cellular modules to be connected, please refer to Cellular Modules .

Enable the M.2 slot ‘M1’

To activate the M.2 connector you should run the commands bellow (Enable the modem Power & do Rest):

# enable power supply for M.2 and PCIe: "M2_3V3"
echo 10 > /sys/class/gpio/export 
echo out > /sys/class/gpio/gpio10/direction
echo 1 > /sys/class/gpio/gpio10/value

# M.2 reset: "M.2_PREST"
echo 6 > /sys/class/gpio/export 
echo out > /sys/class/gpio/gpio6/direction
echo 1 > /sys/class/gpio/gpio6/value

# M.2 GPS Enable: "M.2_GPS_EN"
echo 7 > /sys/class/gpio/export 
echo out > /sys/class/gpio/gpio7/direction
echo 1 > /sys/class/gpio/gpio7/value

SPI

For testing you serial peripheral interface - SPI, please see this documentation SPI from Linux with spidev.

Basler Camera

For getting started with the Camera Module on your board, please see this documentation Basler Camera Quick Start Guide.

TLV EEPROM Support

Starting from April 01. 2022, the EEPROMs on Carriers, i.MX8M Plus SoMs are being programmed with identifying information such as the product name and SKUs to allow for programmatic identification of hardware. Check our iMXMP EEPROM documentation for additional information.

MAC Address

There are two options for storing MAC addresses on the i.MX8MP platform:

1. Store the MAC address in OTP eFuses

   • This is a non-reversible action, as the eFuse is permanently programmed.

2. Store the MAC address in EEPROM using TLV format (Recommended)

   • This method allows flexibility and is the preferred approach.

   • Guidelines for Programming a MAC Address in TLV Format

Default Configuration

• By default, the MAC address is stored in the SOM's TLV EEPROM.

• All SOMs are pre-flashed with SolidRun's default MAC address range in the TLV EEPROM.

Custom MAC Address Option

• There is an option to provide a custom MAC address range.

• SolidRun can program the custom MAC addresses into the TLV EEPROM upon request.

List Of Supported OS

OS
	Debian
	Yocto
	Buildroot

Build from source

• i.MX8M Software

Documentation

Related Articles