Hawkboard/BeginnersGuide

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Introduction

Hawkboard is a open-hardware project which uses Texas Instrument's (TI) OMAP Processor(OMAPL-L138) (Which contains both DSP and ARM Processor)

  • ARM-This Normally runs Operating System Such as Linux or Android etc.ARM in OMAPL-138 ,is ARMV5/ARM926
  • DSP-This is normally used to perform Audio/Video encoding and Decoding as it is specified designed to perform these operations faster.DSP in OMAPL-138 ,is C647+ Floating Point DSP.

Mix of ARM & DSP (OMAP) gives high performance and low power computing platform,Which are normally used in embedded Devices Like Mobile etc.

A Similar kind and very popular Open-hardware platform is beagleboard that uses Faster OMAP from TI.

Preparing for First Run

Before all first thing is to check that the board is properly working or not.

a) Connect a 5V and 1A Power supply (Inner Pin +Ve and Outer GND)

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mini-USB port provided on board can also be used to power the device ,but since USB port of PC/Laptop doesn't provide enough current,Hawkboard will not function properly

b) Connect VGA monitor cable to Hawkboard

c)Power on the Device ,you will see Hawkboard Logo on the monitor as below ,this is due to Bootloader (U-boot) present in the Hawkboard. Hawk vga logo.jpg

d) Further Also check whether you are receiving the Data through serial port of Hawkboard on to PC by connecting Hawkboard Serial Port to PC/Laptop and use software such as

  • Hyperterminal or Teraterm -if you are using windows.
  • Cutecom or minicom -if you are using Linux
Hawk Serial Set.JPG

& Set following parameters to see uboot messages

Bits per Second: 115200
Data Bits: 8
Parity: None
Stop Bits: 1
Flow Control: None
Transmit delay: 0 msec/char, 10 msec/line (Optional)

To Connect PC & Hawkboard you will need to make A null cable i.e DB-9 Female at both ends and Whose 2 & 3 pins are crossed ends. Below is Wiring Diagram

NULL CABLE HB.jpg

Downloads Sections

Compilers

Misc Tools

Sample Root Filesysten & Kernel

Getting Started

1.Powering the Device: Hawkboard can be powered through USB OTG port(mini USB) or Separate 5V Source. Since the USB port of a PC/laptop or hub are often limited to 500 mA, it is advisable to use a separate power supply of 5VDC that supplies at least 1.5 A of current.

Note: It is recommended to use a separate 5VDC Power supply with at least a 1.5 Amps current rating instead of USB Power for Normal Operation of the Board

2.Connecting VGA Monitor: Once the power supply has been attached, Hawkboard boots to Uboot Bootloader and will show Hawkboard Logo on Screen.

3.Connecting UART: To transfer images to Hawkboard and to set other parameters, the UART/serial cable needs to be attached to Hawkboard and PC. A NULL Modem(Crossed Cable i.e 2 and 3 Crossed) is needed for that. Run a terminal session (such as Minicom on Linux or TeraTerm on Windows) on the Host PC and configure it to connect to that serial port with the following characteristics:

Bits per Second: 115200
Data Bits: 8
Parity: None
Stop Bits: 1
Flow Control: None
Transmit delay: 0 msec/char, 10 msec/line

Hawk Serial Set.JPG

After powering the device you should be able to see the following:

Hawk uboot msg.JPG Hawk vga logo.jpg


  • On Hyperterminal (Any other Serial Console) (Left) On VGA Monitor you will see HawkBoard Logo (Right)


Command prompts in this guide

In this guide, commands are preceded by prompts that indicate the environment where the command is to be typed. For example:

  • host$
Indicates command to be typed into the shell window of the host Linux workstation.
  • Hawkboard.org>
Indicates commands to be typed into the U-Boot shell in a console window connected to the Hawkboard's serial port.
  • target$
Indicates commands to be typed into the Linux shell in the terminal window connected to the Hawkboard's serial port or TTY..