Skip to main content

IMX8MM Camera Usage Guide

🚀 Introduction​

This guide shows you how to get started using TechNexion camera modules on TechNexion IMX8MM development kits. You must have the background knowledge to modify the kernel configuration, rebuild, and replace the kernel and the device tree source (DTS). This article is based on the 🔗 Yocto 5.0 (Scarthgap) 2026Q1 Release with Linux kernel version 6.6.52-2.2.2.

📸 Supported Camera Modules​

Camera SeriesProducts
TEVS
TEVS-AR0144
TEVS-AR0145
TEVS-AR0234
TEVS-AR0235
TEVS-AR0246
TEVS-AR0521
TEVS-AR0522
TEVS-AR0544
TEVS-AR0821
TEVS-AR0822
TEVS-AR0830
TEVS-AR1335
TEVS-AR2020
Camera Sensor Comparison

🧩 Supported Boards​

SoMBoard
EDM-G-IMX8M-MINIWB-EDM-G-IMX8M-MINI
PICO-IMX8M-MINIPICO-PI-IMX8M-MINI
PICO-WIZARD-IMX8M-MINI

🔧 Hardware Setup Instructions​

1. Power Supply Preparation​

  • Use a DC 5V or 12V power cable to supply power to the board.
  • If you're using FPD-Link III SerDes, a 12V power adapter (minimum 3A) is required. Connect it via the barrel jack connector.

2. Debug Console Connection​

  • Prepare a USB-to-UART cable if you're connecting to a PC.
  • Connect it to the CONSOLE1 connector.

3. Display Output Connection​

  • Prepare a panel for output display.
  • Connect the panel to the LVDS1 connector on the board.

4. Camera Interface (CSI) Overview​

  • The board features one MIPI CSI-2 interface, referred to as CSI1.
  • This uses a 70-pin board-to-board connector manufactured by Hirose.

💻 Prepare Yocto demo image for testing TechNexion camera​

To test TechNexion cameras, you will need a Yocto-based demo image that includes the necessary device tree blobs and camera drivers.

🔽 Downloading the Demo Image​

We provide a pre-built demo image to simplify using TEVS cameras, available for download on TechNexion's official server.

Select Target Board

🔗 Supported Release List for EDM-G-IMX8MM

💾 Flashing the Image​

You can flash the image to either e.MMC or an SD Card using one of the following methods:

Method 1. Using uuu Tool (Universal Update Utility)​

TechNexion provides a guide to flash the image using the uuu tool:
🔗 How to Flash with UUU

Method 2. Using ums Command in U-Boot (USB Mass Storage)​

Alternatively, you can write the image directly to flash storage over USB-OTG using U-Boot’s ums command:
🔗 Using UMS in U-Boot

Method 3. For Windows Users​

Use balenaEtcher to write the image to your SD card:
🔗 Using Balena Etcher

🛠️ Build Yocto​

TechNexion supports building a Yocto-based Linux image tailored for camera modules using the following kernel and branch.

If you are using prebuilt demo image, you can skip this section. Please refer to 📸 Camera Testing Instructions section for camera testing steps.

📦 Supported Linux Kernel​

Linux Kernel VersionYocto Branch
6.6.52tn-imx_6.6.52_2.2.2-stable

📁 Source and Build Instructions​

🔗 Fetch Yocto Source

Select Target Board

📖 Build Yocto for EDM-G-IMX8MM

📸 Camera Testing Instructions​

🌳 Specify Camera DTBO in U-Boot​

  1. Connect the debug console cable to carrier board.
  2. Power on the board and interrupt the boot process. Keep pressing Enter when the following message appears: Hit any key to stop autoboot:
  3. Specify the appropriate device tree for your camera using the fdtfile environment variable in U-Boot:
u-boot=> setenv dtoverlay tevs
  1. Continue boot process.
u-boot=> saveenv
u-boot=> boot

🎥 Start Camera Video Stream via GStreamer​

Launch GStreamer Pipeline​

Specify the capture device you just get and start GStreamer to get the video stream on screen. Replace <res_w> and <res_h> with your selected resolution(1280x720) and screen dimensions.

$ gst-launch-1.0 v4l2src device=/dev/video0 ! \
  "video/x-raw, format=UYVY, width=1280, height=720" ! \
  waylandsink sync=false

🚨 Troubleshooting​

Check DTB Overlay in U-Boot​

Make sure the correct Device Tree Blob (DTB) is specified in U-Boot.

u-boot=> printenv dtoverlay
dtoverlay=tevs vxt-vl050-070-8048nt

Verify Camera Initialization​

Use dmesg to check if the TEVS camera module was initialized correctly.

$ dmesg -t | grep tevs
    platform 32e30000.mipi_csi: Fixed dependency cycle(s) with /soc@0/bus@30800000/i2c@30a30000/tevs_mipi@48
    tevs 1-0048: tevs_probe() device node: tevs_mipi@48
    tevs 1-0048: Version:26.3.0.1
    tevs 1-0048: Product:TEVS-AR0144, HeaderVer:3, MIPI_Rate:800
    tevs 1-0048: Chip ID: 0x0356
    mxc_mipi-csi 32e30000.mipi_csi: Registered sensor subdevice: tevs 1-0048
    tevs 1-0048: probe success

Confirm Board and Camera DTB​

Check if the correct DTB is loaded with a matching camera model.

Select Target Board
$ dmesg -t | grep -i model
Machine model: TechNexion EDM-G-IMX8MM and WB baseboard

Check Available Video Devices​

Verify that the video devices are available.

$ v4l2-ctl --list-device

Example output:

i.MX6S_CSI (platform:32e20000.csi1_bridge):
        /dev/video0

vsi_v4l2dec (platform:vsi_v4l2dec):
        /dev/video2

vsi_v4l2enc (platform:vsi_v4l2enc):
        /dev/video1

Typically, /dev/video0 is your primary camera capture device when using CSI1.