VIA VAB-600 Springboard Linux BSP Development Guide

1.3-10292013-142500
VAB-600 Linux BSP v1.0.3
Development Guide
v1.4

Copyright
Copyright © 2013 VIA Technologies Incorporated. All rights reserved.
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notice.

VAB-600 Linux BSP v1.0.3 Development Guide
iii
Revision History
Version Date Remarks
1.0 05/08/2013 Initial external release
1.1 05/21/2013 Added TTL panel and modified the part of LVDS panel
1.1 05/23/2013 Added the description of the patches
1.2 08/06/2013
Revised TTL panel and single channel LVDS panel
Added dual channel LVDS panel
Added the description of networking patch
Added PWM frequency control limitation
1.3 10/03/2013
Added the description of GPIO control
Added the description of external RTC control
Added the description of watch dog control
1.4 10/28/2013
Adjust some version errors
Modify external RTC registers descriptions
Add GPIO test example

iv
Table of Contents
1. Introduction........................................................................................ 1
1.1. Overview......................................................................................1
1.2. Package content..........................................................................1
2. Setup Environment ............................................................................ 3
2.1. System requirement ....................................................................3
2.2. Setup cross-compiling environment ............................................3
3. Building BSP ..................................................................................... 6
3.1. Building kernel.............................................................................6
3.1.1. Setup the kernel source ..........................................................6
3.1.2. Build 3.0.8 kernel source ........................................................6
4. Making System Booting Media........................................................... 8
4.1. Set booting media .......................................................................8
4.1.1. Prepare Debian 7 file system..................................................8
4.1.2. Boot from eMMC.....................................................................9
4.1.3. Boot from SD card.................................................................10
4.1.3.1. Update uboot parameters.............................................10
4.1.3.2. Format the SD card ......................................................11
4.1.3.3. Install kernel and root filesystem to SD card................11
4.1.3.4. Download the fully Debian7 file system .......................12
4.2. Install graphics and multimedia package ..................................15
4.2.1. Prerequisites .........................................................................15
4.2.2. Install graphics driver package .............................................15
4.2.3. Install Multimedia package....................................................17

v
5. Functionality .................................................................................... 19
5.1. Light LVDS panel (TP070C01)..................................................19
5.2. Light TTL panel (LW700AT9901)..............................................21
5.3. Light Dual Channel LVDS panel (AUO G220SVN01.0)............23
5.4. Light HDMI monitor ...................................................................26
5.5. Switch HDMI mode by xrandr tool.............................................28
5.6. Change Color Depth/bpp...........................................................29
5.7. Multimedia local playback .........................................................30
5.8. Audio adjustment.......................................................................30
5.9. GPIO control..............................................................................33
5.9.1. GPIO hardware design .........................................................33
5.9.2. devmem2 utility .....................................................................34
5.9.2.1. devmem2 utility read and write.....................................35
5.9.3. Test GPIO input and output ..................................................37
5.9.3.1. Test GPIO connection ..................................................37
5.9.3.2. Set GPIO 20-23 to change GPIO 24-27.......................37
5.9.3.3. Set GPIO 24-27 to change GPIO 20-23.......................39
5.10. External RTC control .................................................................41
5.10.1. External RTC hardware design ........................................41
5.10.2. Display external RTC timekeeper registers......................42
5.10.3. Set date and time to external RTC ...................................42
5.10.4. Test auto power-on control of external RTC.....................42
5.10.5. Disable alarm2 and clear alarm2 status of external RTC.44
5.11. Watch dog control .....................................................................45
5.11.1. Enable the watch dog .......................................................45
5.11.2. Set the watch dog timer....................................................46
5.11.3. Get the watch dog timer....................................................47

vi
5.11.4. Disable the watch dog ......................................................48
6. Debug Message .............................................................................. 49
6.1. Enter U-Boot environment.........................................................49
6.2. Default u-boot parameters.........................................................50
Appendix A. Q&A.................................................................................... 51
Appendix B. Limitation ............................................................................ 52
Appendix C. GPIO registers.................................................................... 53
GPIO Input Data Registers..................................................................53
GPIO Enable Registers .......................................................................53
GPIO Output Enable Registers ...........................................................54
GPIO Output Data Registers...............................................................54
GPIO Pull-up/Pull-down Enable Registers..........................................54
GPIO Pull-up/Pull-down Control Registers..........................................55
GPIO Interrupt Request Status Registers ...........................................55

1
1. Introduction
1.1. Overview
This document describes how to run Debian 7.0 OS on VIA VAB-600
platform, and evaluates thin client functions.
1.2. Package content
The evaluation package includes:
1. Kernel source:
“/BSP/Kernel_Source_Codes/
VAB-600_Linux_BSP_Kernel_Source_0.03.tar.gz”,
“/BSP/Frame_Buffer_Driver/ANDROID_3.0.8_VE“
2. Toolchain: “/BSP/arm_201103_gcc4.5.2.tgz“
3. Kernel image: “/EVK/Kernel_Image/uzImage.bin”
4. Graphics driver package: locates in “/EVK/BSP/Graphics_Driver”folder
5. Multimedia package: locates in“/EVK/BSP/Multimedia”folder
6. Other file system patches:
locates in“/EVK/BSP/Others”folder
7. Uboot update package:“/EVK/Update_Package”

3
2. Setup Environment
2.1. System requirement
Host PC:
SD Card reader: SDHC compliant
Operation System: Ubuntu 10.04 x64 version
Target board:
VAB-600 platform (with 4G EMMC)
SD Card: 4GB SDHC (at least). VAB-600 now supports up to class 6
SDHC.
2.2. Setup cross-compiling environment
Get root permission
If you are not login as a root, use “su” command to get the root permission.
Setup the Tool Chain
Please reference 4.2.1 to connect to network. Then perform the packages
update.
apt-get update

4
Install the build essential packages.
apt-get install git-core gnupg flex bison gperf build-essential
zip curl zlib1g-dev libc6-dev lib32ncurses5-dev ia32-libs
x11proto-core-dev libx11-dev lib32readline5-dev lib32z-dev
libgl1-mesa-dev g++-multilib mingw32 tofrodos python-markdown
libxml2-utils xsltproc
Install the uboot mkimage tool.
apt-get install uboot-mkimage
Confirm if the GNU C library version is 2.11 or newer.
# ldd -version
ldd (Ubuntu EGLIBC 2.1.11-0ubuntu7.11) 2.11.1
Copyright (C) 2009 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
This is free software; see the source for copying conditions. There is NO
warranty; not even for MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR
PURPOSE.
Written by Roland McGrath and Ulrich Drepper.
Unzip the Tool Chain to “/usr/local/arm/” (If your system doesn’t exist this
folder previously, you must create manually with “# mkdir /usr/local/arm”)
# tar -zxvf arm_201103_gcc4.5.2.tgz -C /usr/local/arm/
As Figure 1 shows, the cross compiler is located at
“/usr/local/arm/arm_201103_gcc4.5.2/”

5
Figure 1. The Toolchain for VAB-600
Export the Tool Chain to system PATH.
# export PATH=/usr/local/arm/arm_201103_gcc4.5.2/mybin/:$PATH
Next, alias the Tool Chain for best floats calculation.
# alias arm_1103_le-as='arm_1103_le-as -mcpu=cortex-a9 -mfpu=neon -mfloat-
abi=softfp'
# alias arm_1103_le-c++='arm_1103_le-c++ -mcpu=cortex-a9 -mfpu=neon -mfloat-
abi=softfp'
# alias arm_1103_le-cpp='arm_1103_le-cpp -mcpu=cortex-a9 -mfpu=neon -mfloat-
abi=softfp'
# alias arm_1103_le-g++='arm_1103_le-g++ -mcpu=cortex-a9 -mfpu=neon -mfloat-
abi=softfp'
# alias arm_1103_le-gcc='arm_1103_le-gcc -mcpu=cortex-a9 -mfpu=neon -mfloat-
abi=softfp'
# alias arm_1103_le-gcc-4.5.2='arm_1103_le-gcc-4.5.2 -mcpu=cortex-a9 -
mfpu=neon -mfloat-abi=softfp'

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3. Building BSP
3.1. Building kernel
This section will tell you how to build kernel image from source code.
To use BSP package without spending too much time on building source
code, there is a pre-build kernel image located under “EVKKernel_Image”.
3.1.1.Setup the kernel source
Unzip the Kernel source
# tar -zxvf Linux_BSP_Kernel_Source_0.03.tar.gz
Then the kernel source will be located at
“Linux_BSP_Kernel_Source_0.02.tar.gz”. The“ANDROID_3.0.8” is the
source code.
Copy all the files under the sub-folder
“BSPFrame_Buffer_DriverANDROID_3.0.8_VE” to your corresponding
kernel tree folder and start to build the Linux kernel.
3.1.2.Build 3.0.8 kernel source
How to build 3.0.8 kernel source
To use the default configurations, type the following command.

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# make VAB-600_Linux_defconfig
If there is no “VAB-600_Linux_defconfig, “ copy it from
/BSP/Kernel_Source_Codes/ to ${Kernel_Source}/arch/arm/configs/
To modify the unique configurations, input this to enter the menu with the
graphic user interface.
# make menuconfig
After selecting particular options, now it is time to build the kernel image.
# make ubin CROSS_COMPILE=arm_1103_le- -jX
X = The threads to build the kernel image, depend on the efficiency of your
host PC. For example, a platform with three cores CPU and 8GB RAM
should sustain “-j8” parameter.
As shown in Figure 2, it takes a few minutes to get the kernel image,
uzImage.bin.
Figure 2 Building kernel

8
The uzImage.bin is located at “ANDROID_3.0.8”.
How to make clean the kernel source
Clean the kernel source and it will clean all the built binaries
in“ANDROID_3.0.8”.
# make clean
4. Making System Booting
Media
4.1. Set booting media
4.1.1.Prepare Debian 7 file system
Debian File System:
Prepare the Debian7 root file system, armel-rootfs-20131003_v0.01.tar.tgz.
We need to use the armel-rootfs-20131003_v0.01.tar.tgz to install Debian
with full functions. It locates under
“/EVK/Update_Package/bspinst/packages”folder.
You can also download it from http://rcn-ee.net/deb/minfs/wheezy/
Patches:

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Moreover, there are some other patches in
“/EVK/Update_Package/bspinst/packages” which must be manually
copied to SD card when booting from SD card. In this version, the patches
in /EVK/BSP/Others” folder has been previously added to Debian file
system.
If you use the Debian file system obtaining from the website, it certainly
doesn’t contain the patches described below. Therefore, you still must
manually copy the patches to your downloaded Debian file system.
4.1.2.Boot from eMMC
1. Insert SD card to host PC.
2. Find the inserted SD card. Create all the volume to FAT partition, and
name it “update”.
3. Copy the “bspinst” folder and scriptcmd file under
“Update_Package”folder to “update” partition.
4. Once the copy is finished, please un-mount Volume and remove the SD
card.
5. Insert the SD card to VAB-600 and boot.

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6. After the installation is finished, please remove SD card. The system will
shut down in 3 seconds.
7. Power on VAB-600, and it will boot from on-board eMMC.
Username: debian
Password: temppwd
4.1.3.Boot from SD card
4.1.3.1. Update uboot parameters
Connect VAB-600 and host PC through COM port. Update uboot
parameters as below.
setenv boot-method boot-emmc
setenv ethaddr 00:40:63:11:23:29 ( If there is no default value )
setenv memtotal 850M
setenv mbsize 62M
setenv wmt.display.dual 0
setenv wmt.display.param 4:6:1:1920:1080:60
setenv wmt.ge.param 1:-1:100:-1
setenv wmt.audio.i2s vt1603:f2:f2:f1:f1:100
setenv boot-emmc "mmcinit 0; fatload mmc 0:1 0x01000000 uzimage.bin; if iminfo
0x01000000; then run set-rfs-emmc; bootm 0x01000000; fi"
setenv set-rfs-emmc "setenv bootargs mem=${memtotal} root=/dev/mmcblk0p2 rw
rootfstype=ext3 noinitrd mbtotal=${mbsize} ${bootargs-common} ${bootargs-extra}"
setenv wmt.plla.param 1:792:1:2:1:1:1

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setenv wmt.plla2.param 1:792:1:2:1:1:1
saveenv
reset
Default display setting “setenv wmt.display.param 4:6:1:1920:1080:60”
lights HDMI.
If you want to light LVDS panel, please refer to Section 4.1.
If you want to light TTL panel, please refer to Section 4.2.
4.1.3.2. Format the SD card
Insert the SD card into host PC. Open the Disk Utility (System-
>Administrator->Disk Utility)
If the SD card is already formatted, we need to umount volume first. Then
Delete the Partition to get a clear SD card. Click “Create Partition” to
continue.
Click the SD card reader. Create a FAT partition with 200MB and name it
kernel.
Create an EXT3 partition with remaining space (about 3.7GB) and name it
fs. Then you will get a SD card with FAT and ext3 partition.
4.1.3.3. Install kernel and root filesystem to SD card
Copy the kernel Image uzImage.bin to kernel partition.
Use the following command to unzip the root file system to the ext3
partition on SD card.

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# tar -zxvf armel-rootfs-20131003_v0.01.tar.tgz -C /media/fs
Once the unzip procedure is complete. You can see the root file system is
installed in the ext3 partition on SD card.
4.1.3.4. Download the fully Debian7 file system
Connect VAB-600 and host PC through COM port. On the host PC, you will
see the kernel message and login prompt through serial console. The
default username and password is debian/temppwd
Use the following command to get the root permission for the following
steps.

13
# sudo -i
Get correct ethX by using the command, (X is variable, depending on your
environment.)
# ifconfig -a
Then type the following command in the command prompt to get a DHCP
IP.
# /usr/lib/klibc/bin/ipconfig ethX
Please confirm that the DNS information in /etc/resolv.conf is correct. For
example the DNS for VIA in /etc/resolv.conf is
domain via.com.tw
search via.com.tw

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nameserver 10.5.254.150
nameserver 10.5.254.149
Now we are ready to download the fully Debian7 file system.
Type the following command to update the source list.
# apt-get update
Type the following command to install the xorg. Press “Y” to install the xorg.
# apt-get install xorg
Type the following command to install the lxde. Press “Y” to install the lxde.
Please choose the default setting during installation.
# apt-get install lxde
Once you finish the above steps, please reboot the VAB-600 after the
installation is complete. It is required to install the graphic driver in order to
make the user interface work.

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4.2. Install graphics and multimedia package
4.2.1.Prerequisites
Enable network
Get correct ethX by using the command, (X is variable, depending on your
environment.)
# ifconfig -a
Enable network
# dhclient ethX
4.2.2.Install graphics driver package
Graphics driver package contains Display(xorg), 2D(EXA), 3D(openGL ES),
video decoder and Mali memory management drivers. Those drivers may
be user space libraries or kernel space kernel modules.
1. 1. Get graphics driver package VAB-600-Debian7.0-Graphics-
v1.0.4.tgz from the folder “/EVK/BSP/Graphics_driver/”.
2. Uncompress the graphics driver.
# tar xzf VAB-600-Debian7.0-Graphics-v1.0.4.tgz

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3. Install Graphics driver by script, and reboot the system.
# cd VAB-600-Debian7.0-Graphics-v1.0.4
# sudo sh install.sh
# sudo reboot
4. Check installation result
a. Mali driver(mali_drv.so)
# grep 'mali' /var/log/Xorg.0.log
Success
[ 42.820] (II) LoadModule: "mali"
[ 42.833] (II) Loading /usr/lib/xorg/modules/drivers/mali_drv.so
[ 42.913] (II) Module mali: vendor="X.Org Foundation"
[ 42.913] (II) MALI: driver for Mali Framebuffer: mali
[ 42.913] (WW) Falling back to old probe method for mali
[ 42.917] (EE) MALI(0): mali_drm_open_master DRM OPEN (fd:
0x7)
[ 43.277] (II) MALI(0): maliSetupExa: ENTER
[ 43.280] (II) MALI(0): maliSetupExa: EXIT
Failure -
b. EXA
# grep 'EXA' /var/log/Xorg.0.log
Success
[ 41.073] (II) MALI(0): Mali EXA driver will use GE!
[ 41.073] (II) MALI(0): Mali EXA driver is loaded successfully
[ 41.073] (WW) MALI(0): Initializing EXA Driver!
[ 41.073] (II) EXA(0): Driver allocated offscreen pixmaps
[ 41.077] (II) EXA(0): Driver registered support for the following
operations:
Failure [ 41.073] (WW) MALI(0): Failed allocating EXA Driver!

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If results show success, continue the following steps. Otherwise, solve
the problem before taking further action.
4.2.3.Install Multimedia package
Multimedia package contains Gstreamer 0.10.35 environment and ffmpeg
plugin.
1. Set locale. Make sure the network of your Debian system is connected.
Then run:
# apt-get update
# apt-get install locales
# dpkg-reconfigure locales
And choose en_US.UTF-8 UTF-8
2. Get multimedia package VAB-600-Debian7.0-Multimedia-v1.0.1.tgz from
the folder “/EVK/BSP/Multimedia”.
# tar –xvf VAB-600-Debian7.0-Multimedia-v1.0.1.tgz
# cd VAB-600-Debian7.0-Multimedia-v1.0.1
# ./install_quick.sh
3. Check gst plugins version
Run gst-inspect command to check version number of installed gst plugins’.
It should be 1.5.1.
# gst-inspect-0.10 ffdec_wmt_*

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Note: Replace "*" by h264, mpeg2video or mpeg4
# gst-inspect-0.10 wmtimagesink
# gst-inspect-0.10 playbin

19
5. Functionality
5.1. Light LVDS panel (TP070C01)
Connection:
Connect the LVDS panel to VAB-600 via VAB-600-D card.
U-Boot:
parameters as below
setenv bootargs-common console=ttyS0,115200n8 console=tty0 init=/init
saveenv
reset
800:480 is LVDS panel resolution. Please replace it with the LVDS panel
resolution that you use.
Xorg:
Edit /etc/X11/xorg.conf in Debian to support LVDS panel display. Delete
“ # ”to select the annotated timing for LVDS panel.

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# Modeline "1440x900" 106.50 1440 1528 1672 1904 900 903 909 934 -
hsync +vsync
# Modeline "1920x1080" 173.00 1920 2048 2248 2576 1080 1083 1088
1120 -hsync +vsync
Modeline "800x480" 33.5 800 964 974 1063 480 490 500 523
So does the display resolution for LVDS panel.
Section "Screen"
Identifier "Mali Screen"
Device "Mali FBDEV"
Monitor "Mali Monitor"
DefaultDepth 16
SubSection "Display"
Depth 16
# Modes "1024x768" "800x600"
Modes "800x480"
EndSubSection
EndSection

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※ Notice that to light LVDS panel, you have to modify both U-Boot and
Xorg, lack of any step of them may probably cause the failure to display the
LVDS panel.
5.2. Light TTL panel (LW700AT9901)
Connection:
Connect the TTL panel to VAB-600 via VAB-600-C card.
U-Boot:
parameters as below
saveenv
reset
800:480 is TTL panel resolution. Please replace it with the TTL panel
resolution that you use.

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Xorg:
Edit /etc/X11/xorg.conf in Debian to support TTL panel display. Delete
“ # ”to select the annotated timing for TTL panel.
# Modeline "1440x900" 106.50 1440 1528 1672 1904 900 903 909 934 -
hsync +vsync
# Modeline "1920x1080" 173.00 1920 2048 2248 2576 1080 1083 1088
1120 -hsync +vsync
Modeline "800x480" 33.5 800 964 974 1063 480 490 500 523
So does the display resolution for TTL panel.
Section "Screen"
Device "Mali FBDEV"
DefaultDepth 16
Depth 16
# Modes "1024x768" "800x600"
Modes "800x480"

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EndSubSection
EndSection
※ Notice that to light TTL panel, you have to modify both U-Boot and Xorg,
lack of any step of them may probably cause failure to display the TTL
panel.
5.3. Light Dual Channel LVDS panel (AUO
G220SVN01.0)
Connection:
Connect the dual channel LVDS panel to VAB-600 via VAB-600-D card.
U-Boot:

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parameters as below
saveenv
reset
1680:1050 is dual channel LVDS panel resolution. Please replace it with
the dual channel LVDS panel resolution that you use.
Xorg:
Edit /etc/X11/xorg.conf in Debian to support dual channel LVDS panel
display. Delete“ # ”to select the annotated timing for dual channel LVDS
panel.
# Modeline "1920x1080_75" 220.75 1920 2064 2264 2608 1080 1083
1088 1130 -hsync +vsync
Modeline "1680x1050" 146.25 1680 1784 1960 2240 1050 1053 1059
1089 -hsync +vsync
# Modeline "640x480" 23.75 640 664 720 800 480 483 487 500 -hsync
+vsync
So does the display resolution for dual channel LVDS panel.

25
Section "Screen"
Device "Mali FBDEV"
DefaultDepth 16
Depth 16
# Modes "1024x768" "800x600"
Modes "1680x1050"
EndSubSection
EndSection
※ Notice that to light dual channel LVDS panel, you have to modify both U-
Boot and Xorg, lack of any step of them may probably cause failure to
display the TTL panel.

26
5.4. Light HDMI monitor
U-Boot:
parameters as below
saveenv
reset
1920:1080 is HDMI monitor resolution. Actually it will detect EDID
information automatically and choose the maximum resolution, therefore
the setting influences U-Boot logo resolution only.
Xorg:
Edit /etc/X11/xorg.conf in Debian to support HDMI monitor display. Add
“ # ”to annotate the timing for LDS panel.
# Modeline "1440x900" 106.50 1440 1528 1672 1904 900 903 909 934 -
hsync +vsync
# Modeline "1920x1080" 173.00 1920 2048 2248 2576 1080 1083 1088
1120 -hsync +vsync
# Modeline "800x480" 33.5 800 964 974 1063 480 490 500 523

27
So does the display resolution for LVDS.
Section "Screen"
Device "Mali FBDEV"
DefaultDepth 16
Depth 16
# Modes "1024x768" "800x600"
# Modes "800x480"
EndSubSection
EndSection
※ Notice that to light HDMI monitor normally, you have to modify both U-
Boot and Xorg, lack of any step of them may probably cause the failure to
display the HDMI monitor.

28
5.5. Switch HDMI mode by xrandr tool
In order to switch Mode, we use xrandr command to switch the resolution
and refresh rate of the monitor.
For example, to list all the supporting modes, we usually run "xrandr -q" or
“xrandr --verbose”.
To switch resolution and refresh rate, such as "800x600@75", we usually
run " xrandr --output DVI-I --mode 800x600 --rate 75", --output DVI-I must
be added and does not need to be changed for every resolution change
xrandr command.
Currently, we only support the display modes that are listed in the following
table. “xrandr -q” command shows the combination/subset of the mode
your display device support (from EDID) and the mode in the following
table. Please do not set “--mode” outside of the result of “xrandr -q”, the “--
rate” can only be followed by 60 or 75. If you can see refresh rate 59.9, just
set it 60.

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Resolutions Color Depth Refresh (VIA)
60 75
640 x 480 16/32bit  
800x480 16/32bit 
800 x 600 16/32bit  
1024 x 768 16/32bit  
1280x720 16/32bit 
1280x768 16/32bit 
1280 x 1024 16/32bit  
1360x768 16/32bit 
1400x1050 16/32bit 
1440x900 16/32bit  
1680x1050 16bit 
1920x1080 16bit 
5.6. Change Color Depth/bpp.
Please open /etc/X11/xorg.conf and change DefaultDepth to 16 or 24 to
change the Color Depth. You must restart the x-window, so the change can
take effect.

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5.7. Multimedia local playback
Currently we support MPEG1, MPEG2, MPEG4 (except MSMPEGv1/v2),
WMV9/VC1, H264 HW acceleration. Play local multimedia files by the
following command:
# gst-launch-0.10 playbin uri=file:/<path-and-file-name>
Or
# totem <path-and-file-name>
5.8. Audio adjustment
To modify the settings of audio, open a terminal and modulate alsamixer.
# alsamixer
The following figure shows a fine-tuned result of alsamixer.

31
Click“←”or“→”to choose the item to be modified. Press“M”to turn
on or turn off an option, and click“↓”or“↑”to subtract or add the
value.
To enable PCM audio volume control, “asound.conf”must be reloaded.
To achieve this goal, install the necessary packages first.
# apt-get install alsa-utils
Then operate the playing action to initialize the configurations in
“asound.conf.”
# speaker-test –Dsoftvolume –c2 -twav

32
After it outputs the test music for several seconds, use CTRL+C to stop the
examination. Next step is to open alsamixer again, check whether PCM
audio volume control appears or not.
The name of PCM audio volume control is “PCM.” Change its value to
observe if the volume alters.

33
5.9. GPIO control
This section describes how to operate GPIO function. Please use
devmem2 utility to access GPIO, which was pre-installed in the file system
image. If you need to change kernel configurations, please refer to “VAB-
600_Linux_defconfig” in /BSP/Kernel_Source_Codes/ to ensure the GPIO
function.
5.9.1. GPIO hardware design
The GPIO function was provided by CN9 “GPIO / SMBus Interface Pin
Header”. They are mapped to GPIO20 ~ GPIO27. The corresponding pins
in VAB-600 are listed in the following figures.

34
You can connect your own device to the pins and operate it via the relative
GPIO settings. To manage the particular GPIO, the homologous register
values have to be changed.
5.9.2. devmem2 utility
This utility can also be installed in Linux official distribution.
Use devmem2 utility to read/write GPIO registers.
devmem2 [address] [type] [data]

35
address : physical address of the register
type : data type to be read/written, [b]yte, [h]alfword or [w]ord
data : data to be written to the register
5.9.2.1. devmem2 utility read and write
For example, if you want to read the register 0xd8110030 in byte format,
you must type the command below.
# devmem2 0xd8110030 b
Same for the writing operation, write 0xff value to the register 0xd81100b0
in byte format with the coming order.
# devmem2 0xd81100b0 b 0xff

36
For detailed descriptions of GPIO register values, please refer to Appendix
C.

37
5.9.3. Test GPIO input and output
5.9.3.1. Test GPIO connection
In this test, GPIO 20-23 are connected to GPIO 24-27. Once the state of
GPIO 20–23 are changed, GPIO 24–27 also turn to be the same situation,
and vice versa. In other words, this phenomenon means that the influence
you do to one part may change another side.
Besides, before everything starts, you had batter clean the relative
registers.
# devmem2 0xd81100b0 b 0x0
# devmem2 0xd81100b1 b 0x0
# devmem2 0xd81100f0 b 0x0
# devmem2 0xd81100f1 b 0x0
5.9.3.2. Set GPIO 20-23 to change GPIO 24-27
a. The first step is to examine the value of GPIO 24-27 input data register
value.
/* Read GPIO 24-27 input Registers*/

38
Obviously, the value should be 0x0.
b. To begin the experiment, set the value of GPIO 20-23 output enable
registers to be high state.
# devmem2 0xd81100b0 b 0xf0
/* Write GPIO 20-23 Output Enable Registers*/
c. Then set the value of GPIO 20-23 output data registers also to be high
state.
# devmem2 0xd81100f0 b 0xf0
/* Write GPIO 20-23 Output Data Registers*/
Now GPIO 20-23 should output the high state, which changes the low state
of GPIO 24-27 to be high state.
d. Examine the value of GPIO 24-27 input data register value.

39
The value should be 0xF because of the influence of GPIO 20-23.
5.9.3.3. Set GPIO 24-27 to change GPIO 20-23
a. The first step is to examine the value of GPIO 20-23 input data register
value.
Obviously, the value should be 0x0.
b. To begin the experiment, set the value of GPIO 24-27 output enable
registers to be high state.
# devmem2 0xd81100b1 b 0x0f
/* Write GPIO 24-27 Output Enable Registers*/

40
c. Then set the value of GPIO 24-27 output data registers also to be high
state.
# devmem2 0xd81100f1 b 0x0f
/* Write GPIO 24-27 Output Data Registers*/
Now GPIO 24-27 should output the high state, which changes the low state
of GPIO 20-23 to be high state.
d. Examine the value of GPIO 20-23 input data register value.
# devmem2 0xd811003b b
The value should be 0xF because of the influence of GPIO 24-27.

41
5.10.External RTC control
This section describes how to operate external RTC function. Please use
i2c-tools utility to access external RTC, which was pre-installed in the file
system image. If you need to change kernel configurations, please refer to
“VAB-600_Linux_defconfig” in /BSP/Kernel_Source_Codes/ to ensure the
external RTC function.
5.10.1.External RTC hardware design
The external RTC IDT1337G was controlled by VAB-600 via I2C0 bus. The
slave address of IDT1337G is 0x68 and it supports 16 timekeeper registers.
The IDT1337G supports auto power-on control by using alarm2 and INTB
pin.

42
5.10.2. Display external RTC timekeeper registers
# i2cdump -f -y -r 0-15 0 0x68 b
5.10.3. Set date and time to external RTC
# i2cset -f -y 0 0x68 0x0 0x$(date +"%S") // seconds
# i2cset -f -y 0 0x68 0x1 0x$(date +"%M") // minutes
# i2cset -f -y 0 0x68 0x2 0x$(date +"%-k") // hours
# i2cset -f -y 0 0x68 0x3 0x$(date +"%u") // day of week
# i2cset -f -y 0 0x68 0x4 0x$(date +"%d") // date of month
# i2cset -f -y 0 0x68 0x5 0x$(date +"%m") // month
# i2cset -f -y 0 0x68 0x6 0x$(date +"%g") // year
# i2cset -f -y 0 0x68 0xb 0x0 // alarm2 minutes
# i2cset -f -y 0 0x68 0xc 0x0 // alarm2 hours
# i2cset -f -y 0 0x68 0xd 0x0 // alarm2 day or date
# i2cset -f -y 0 0x68 0xe 0x4 // disable alarm
# i2cset -f -y 0 0x68 0xf 0x0 // clear alarm status
5.10.4.Test auto power-on control of external RTC

43
Configure alarm2 registers to enable auto power-on control.
For example: set alarm each hour.
# I2cset -f -y 0 0x68 0xb 0x0 // alarm2 minutes
# i2cset -f -y 0 0x68 0xc 0x80 // alarm2 hours
# i2cset -f -y 0 0x68 0xd 0x80 // alarm2 day or date
# i2cset -f -y 0 0x68 0xe 0x6 // enable alarm2
The register values “0x80” indicate “don’t care.” Only when minutes match
(register value(0x1) == value(0xb)), alarm2 will set, A2F flag is at logic 1
and the INTB pin goes low.
After configuration, you will see the register values like below:
If system time is 10:30 a.m., then the system will auto boot on 11:00 a.m.,
12:00 p.m., 1:00 p.m. and so on.
After auto power-on, you will see the register values like below:

44
5.10.5.Disable alarm2 and clear alarm2 status of
external RTC
Please remember to disable alarm2 and clear alarm2 status after booting
the system every time. If you don’t disable alarm2 and alarm2 status isn’t
clear, the system will boot right away after shutdown. If alarm2 status is
clear but you don't disable alarm2, the system will still boot on schedule
even the system is running.
Disable alarm and clear alarm status:
# i2cset -f -y 0 0x68 0xe 0x4 // disable alarm
In order to boot on schedule, please remember to clear alarm2 status and
enable alarm2 before shutdown.
Clear alarm status and enable alarm2:
# i2cset -f -y 0 0x68 0xe 0x6 // enable alarm2
When alarm2 status is not clear, if you enable alarm2 first without clearing
alarm2 status then the system will auto boot after 5 seconds. In order to
avoid this situation, you need to clear alarm2 status first, then enable
alarm2.

45
5.11.Watch dog control
This section describes how to operate watch dog function. Please use
watch dog utility (wdt_app) to access watch dog, which was pre-installed in
the file system image. If you need to change kernel configurations, please
refer to “VAB-600_Linux_defconfig” in /BSP/Kernel_Source_Codes/ to
ensure the watch dog function.
5.11.1.Enable the watch dog
First of all, the watch dog must be enabled to carry out its tasks.
# wdt_app -et
Without enabling watch dog, the operations that are relative to watch dog
will not take any effect.

46
5.11.2.Set the watch dog timer
Fill the value of the watch dog timer in this step, decide when the watch
dog can perform its function to restart the system.
# wdt_app –t${second}
${second} means the period counting in seconds to reboot your machine,
which should be within 0 to 256.
For example, you want the system to restart automatically in 180 seconds,
the command format should look like the following texts.
# wdt_app –t180
After 180 seconds, the machine will reboot by itself.

47
5.11.3.Get the watch dog timer
Once you set the watch dog timer, you may observe the value of the watch
dog timer by this order.
# wdt_app -tg
Its return value will show the number counting down in your watch dog,
which indicates the remaining time before the system restarts.
For instance, in the last step you just set the watch dog timer to 180
seconds, you will see the value of the watch dog timer decreases.
Moreover, to print the return value, add ”echo $?” to the input command.

48
This figure means that there are still 150 seconds left before the machine
reboots.
5.11.4.Disable the watch dog
To stop the function of watch dog, you can disable watch dog through this
command.
# wdt_app -dt
Therefore, watch dog won’t be active unless you enable watch dog again.
Since the watch dog is closed, nothing will happen even though the timer
counts down to zero.

49
6. Debug Message
VAB-600 Linux BSP supports debugging with RS232 port.
The RS232 client software (such as putty) should configure the parameters
as follows:
COM speed：115200
COM parity： NONE
COM data： 8
COM stop-bit：1
Use picocom in the HOST PC to open the console.
# picocom -b 115200 /dev/ttyS0
If the picocom is not installed, use ap-get to install it.
# apt-get install picocom
After successfully connecting to VAB-600 through RS232 line, you can
enter the u-boot console and try modifying the u-boot parameters for
various configurations, such as changing display resolution and so on.
6.1. Enter U-Boot environment
VAB-600 Linux platform can stop booting to enter u-boot environment. The
u-boot will initiate hardware at an earlier stage by those parameters.
The u-boot will wait 3 seconds to stop booting after power on by pressing
any key. When booting comes to a halt, the sign “WMT #” will pop up on
terminal screen.

50
U-Boot is similar to a tiny operation system that has its own commands.
Some important commands and parameters are described here.
 Print online help
WMT # help
 Change display U-boot logo resolution
WMT # setenv wmt.display.param 4:6:1:1280:1024:60
 Save changed parameters
WMT # saveenv
6.2. Default u-boot parameters
The default u-boot parameters are configured in the following file
/update_package/bspinst/bspinst.cfg
The bspinst.cfg file structure has four segments.
 Scenario: board model and boot method
 Common: general setting
 Target (board models): specific setting for each target
 Routine: parameters of boot method
Its content will be parsed and stored into the on-board storage device
during installation procedure described in section 4.1.2

51
Appendix A. Q&A
Q: When trying to setup static IP address in “Network Connections”, the IP
setup does not take effect.
A: After setting “Network Connections”, user should open a console to shut
down the Ethernet adapter and then turn on by following the command
below, target Ethernet adapter is eth1.
ifconfig eth1 down
ifconfig eth1 up

52
Appendix B. Limitation
1) On some special monitors, some modes may cause screen garbage
and other display issue. This is probably due to the timing passed by Xorg
that cannot work well with the monitor. In this case, please delete the "#"
before the corresponding Modeline in section "Monitor" of file "xorg.conf".
For example, for mode "1680x1050", we can enable its modeline:
Modeline "1680x1050" 146.25 1680 1784 1960 2240 1050 1053 1059
1089 -hsync +vsync
then switch to this mode.
2) Support smooth video playback of 720P on 1280x1024 display mode.
3) If making action to the playing video or moving mouse over the video,
this video will not sound and be blocked.
4) XVID video will sometimes show garbage.
5). Some VC1 video files may become static when seek or having audio
playback abnormal issue, it can be reproduced on x86 platform with SW
decoder (Totem). It is demuxer issue.
6). If I frame is too long, some video files may pause for a few seconds
after seek and resume, since demuxer could not locate I frame.
7). It is slow when switching between window mode and fullscreen mode.
8). There is no PWM frequency control. In other words, the backlight
brightness can’t be modified.

53
Appendix C. GPIO registers
GPIO Input Data Registers
Address 0xd8110030 – 0xd8110031
GPIO[27:20] Input Data Register
BIT Attribute Default Description
15:12 RO 4'h0 Reserved
11 RO GPIO27 Signal GPIO Input Data
3:0 RO Reserved
GPIO Enable Registers
Address 0xd8110070
GPIO[23:20] Enable Register
7:0 RW FFh GPIO[23:20] Enable Register
Address 0xd8110071
GPIO[27:24] Enable Register
7:0 RW 0Fh GPIO[27:24] Enable Register

54
GPIO Output Enable Registers
Address 0xd81100B0
GPIO[23:20] Output Enable Register
7:0 RW 00h GPIO[23:20] Output Enable Register
Address 0xd81100B1
GPIO[27:24] Output Enable Register
7:0 RW 00h GPIO[27:24] Output Enable Register
GPIO Output Data Registers
Address 0xd81100F0
GPIO[23:20] Output Data Register
7:0 RW 00h GPIO[23:20] Output Data Register
Address 0xd81100F1
GPIO[27:24] Output Data Register
7:0 RW 00h GPIO[27:24] Output Data Register
GPIO Pull-up/Pull-down Enable Registers

55
Address 0xd81104B0
GPIO[23:20] Pull-up/Pull-down Enable Register
7:0 RW F0h GPIO[23:20] Pull-up/Pull-down Enable
Register
Address 0xd81104B1
GPIO[27:24] Pull-up/Pull-down Enable Register
7:0 RW 0Fh GPIO[27:24] Pull-up/Pull-down Enable
Register
GPIO Pull-up/Pull-down Control Registers
Address 0xd81104F0
GPIO[23:20] Pull-up/Pull-down Control Register
7:0 RW 00h GPIO[23:20] Pull-up/Pull-down
Control Register
Address 0xd81104F1
GPIO[27:24] Pull-up/Pull-down Control Register
7:0 RW 00h GPIO[27:24] Pull-up/Pull-down
Control Register
GPIO Interrupt Request Status Registers
Address 0xd8110362
GPIO Interrupt Request Status Register (GPIO[23:20])

56
7 RW1C 0 GPIO23 Interrupt Status
When this bit is inactive (a zero), it
indicates that no interrupt
has been configured and detected on
the associated signal.
When this bit is active (an one), it
indicates that an interrupt
request has been configured and
detected on the associated
signal. Once this bit is active (an one),
software must write an
one to this bit to clear it inactive (a
zero), otherwise this bit and
the associated GPIO Interrupt Request
will remain active (an
one).
Address 0xd8110363
GPIO Interrupt Request Status Register (GPIO[27:24])

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