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Version: 5.0

Loading Toradex Easy Installer

Introduction

The Toradex Easy Installer application runs completely in memory so that the complete internal flash can be erased, (re)partitioned, formatted, or written.

If your module does not boot to Toradex Easy Installer by default (for instance, it boots to Linux or WinCE instead), you will need to load it in memory from a host computer, using USB OTG in Recovery Mode.

info

Please, carefully read the below to understand the setup of how to load Toradex Easy Installer into the module.

Remarks about the recovery mode (USB OTG) approach:

  • You need a regular USB to micro USB or USB to USB-C cable, and a carrier board that provides access to the USB OTG interface.
  • There is no need to prepare an SD card or USB stick, you just need to run a loading script from your PC.
  • It works with the computer on the module in any software state, including a module with a corrupted bootloader or root filesystem.
  • You just need access to the hardware. Access to the bootloader or operating system is not strictly required, though it may simplify putting the module in recovery mode for some specific SoCs.
  • Please avoid using a USB Hub between the PC and the USB OTG port.
  • The process is executed through scripts for Windows or Linux environments. We don't recommend using Virtual Machines for this process.

The USB OTG approach establishes a connection between your development PC (Host) and the module (Client): A recovery script will be launched from your PC, which will automatically load and execute Toradex Easy Installer in the module.

Over this process, Toradex Easy Installer is first saved in the PC, loaded from there, and executed on the module's RAM.

tip

There is an alternative method to the USB OTG approach, Load Easy Installer From External Media (SD Card/USB Stick), but it is an advanced use case not fully supported by Toradex. Before using it, make sure you understand and accept the risks.

Download Toradex Easy Installer

A release will be promoted to stable roughly six months after a release, only if no issues are reported or open. These timelines may vary and are not guaranteed. Otherwise, there will be another release fixing any open or reported issues.

See the revision history and roadmap for details:

info

The support for Colibri iMX6ULL 1GB eMMC was added to Toradex Easy Installer 5.4.0.

Stable Release

ModuleDownload
Apalis iMX6Toradex Easy Installer
Apalis T30Toradex Easy Installer
Apalis TK1Toradex Easy Installer
Colibri iMX6Toradex Easy Installer
Colibri iMX6ULLToradex Easy Installer
Colibri iMX7Toradex Easy Installer

Latest Release

Use the latest version from the tables below:

OS ImageVersionDateSize
Apalis iMX65.7.3+build.172023/07/2731.58 MiB
Apalis iMX85.7.3+build.172023/07/2747.98 MiB
Apalis TK15.7.3+build.172023/07/2734.69 MiB
Colibri iMX65.7.3+build.172023/07/2731.56 MiB
Colibri iMX6ULL5.7.3+build.172023/07/2732.46 MiB
Colibri iMX75.7.3+build.172023/07/2732.49 MiB
Colibri iMX8X5.7.3+build.172023/07/2747.67 MiB
Verdin iMX8M Mini5.7.3+build.172023/07/2747.16 MiB
Verdin iMX8M Plus5.7.3+build.172023/07/2747.43 MiB
OS ImageVersionDateSize
Apalis T302.42021/04/1530.49 MiB

Unzip the Zip file in a local directory on a Windows or Linux host.

Browse older releases

Nightly Pre-release

Nightly builds are available from the tables below:

OS ImageVersionDateSize
Apalis iMX65.7.4-devel-20230917+build.4942023/09/1731.58 MiB
Apalis iMX85.7.4-devel-20230917+build.4942023/09/1747.98 MiB
Apalis TK15.7.4-devel-20230917+build.4942023/09/1734.69 MiB
Colibri iMX65.7.4-devel-20230917+build.4942023/09/1731.56 MiB
Colibri iMX6ULL5.7.4-devel-20230917+build.4942023/09/1732.46 MiB
Colibri iMX75.7.4-devel-20230917+build.4942023/09/1732.49 MiB
Colibri iMX8X5.7.4-devel-20230917+build.4942023/09/1747.67 MiB
Verdin iMX8M Mini5.7.4-devel-20230917+build.4942023/09/1747.16 MiB
Verdin iMX8M Plus5.7.4-devel-20230917+build.4942023/09/1747.43 MiB
OS ImageVersionDateSize
Verdin AM626.4.0-devel-20230921+build.1212023/09/2142.95 MiB

Unzip the Zip file in a local directory on a Windows or Linux host.

Production Version

The production version of Toradex Easy Installer in our modules are available from the table below:

ModuleProductToradex Easy Installer Version
Colibri iMX8All productsToradex Easy Installer - 5.6.0
Colibri iMX6All productsToradex Easy Installer - 5.3.0
Colibri iMX7 (eMMC flash memory)00391101 (eMMC flash memory)Toradex Easy Installer 5.3.0+build.3
Colibri iMX7All except 00391101Colibri-iMX7_ToradexEasyInstaller_1.8-20181019
Colibri iMX6ULL (NAND flash memory)All productsColibri-iMX6ULL_ToradexEasyInstaller_1.8-20181019
Colibri iMX6ULL (eMMC flash memory)All productsToradex Easy Installer - 5.6.0
Verdin iMX8M MiniAll productsToradex Easy Installer - 5.6.0
Verdin iMX8M PlusAll productsToradex Easy Installer - 5.6.0
Verdin AM62All productsToradex Easy Installer - TBD
Apalis iMX8All productsToradex Easy Installer - 5.6.0
Apalis iMX6All productsToradex Easy Installer - 5.3.0
Apalis TK1All productsApalis-TK1_ToradexEasyInstaller_1.9-20200805
Apalis T30All productsApalis-T30_ToradexEasyInstaller_1.7-20180731

Loading Toradex Easy Installer

Cables Setup

Connect all the cables to your Carrier Board, as demonstrated on the Quickstart Guide for your Carrier Board. Don't forget to connect the display/monitor to the carrier board before power on. HDMI hotplug is not supported.

If don't have a display/monitor available, you can access the user interface remotely over the network using VNC.

Setup cables for your Carrier Board following the QuickStart Guide

Put your module in Recovery Mode

danger

If you are using SoMs based on NVIDIA Tegra SoCs, see the Txx Recovery Mode article for information about how to put the device on Recovery Mode.

Select your computer on module from the tabs below:

Apalis iMX8

caution

Follow precautions for handling electrostatic sensitive devices (ESD)

Connect the Module to your Development PC
  • Connect the Carrier Board USB OTG port to your Linux or Windows host machine

    • Apalis Evaluation Board

      Connect X49 or X50 (USBO1_CL/USBO1)

    • Ixora Carrier Board

      Connect to X9 on the underside of the Carrier Board. Be sure to remove JP2 in order to be able to use X9 in OTG Client mode. Be sure nothing is plugged into the lower connector of X8.

Enter recovery mode
caution

Some rare cases with specific combinations of HW requires that you remove the USB or HDMI cables due to backfeeding to complete a proper power-cycle. If you cannot enter recovery mode for the second try in a row, consider disconnecting and reconnecting all of the cables or even remove the SoM from the carrier board and shorten all its pins.

Using hardware mechanism
Ixora Carrier Board
  • Make sure the board is turned off.

  • Connect the 2 pads as shown in the picture: you can use scissors, tweezers, a paper clip or whatever you have at hand to short circuit the pads. You should not make a permanent short-circuit by e.g. soldering the pads together.

Recovery mode pads Apalis iMX8 on Ixora

  • Power on the board and keep the pads connected for more than 6 seconds, only after that, remove the pads.
Other boards
  • Make sure the board is turned off.

  • Shorten the pads on the picture: you can use scissors, tweezers, a paper clip or whatever you have at hand to short circuit the pads. You should not make a permanent short-circuit by e.g. soldering the pads together.

Recovery mode pads Apalis iMX8

  • Power on the board and keep the short circuit for more than 6 seconds, only after that, remove the short circuit. The short circuit should be held only while the board is turning on.
tip

To check if your Computer on Module has entered recovery mode correctly, you can compare the output of lsusb on your computer before and after entering recovery mode. A new entry will be present if the procedure has been successful.

caution

Don't expect any menu on the Display/Monitor at this moment. The Tezi GUI will only show up after the software be loaded on the next step.

Load Toradex Easy Installer through the USB OTG interface

Unzip the Toradex Easy Installer package you downloaded at the beginning of the article, change to this directory, and use one of the following scripts on the host machine to load and execute the tool through USB OTG interface:

Linux

$ cd <unzipped directory>
$ ./recovery-linux.sh
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During the recovery process, the module connected via USB may re-enumerate several times.

If downloading gets stuck or fails with an error, try starting over from the recovery mode article.

Example of output after successful execution of the recovery script

Using Toradex Easy Installer

After loading the Toradex Easy Installer into the module's RAM memory, the Tezi GUI will show up in your Display/Monitor.

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This process does not write the Toradex Easy Installer to flash. You will have to redo these steps if you power off your module.

Toradex Easy Installer screen

You are ready to install images using the tool. See the Toradex Easy Installer article for instructions on how to proceed.



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