Mainlined Plus1 Drivers Ensure Long-Term Compatibility
“One challenge of developing Linux-based industrial products is that the operating system is constantly evolving. This can result in a situation where you must keep an older version of the kernel to ensure compatibility with your drivers — thus forgoing new features, as well as stability and security updates.”
“Luckily, if you’re creating Internet of Things, industrial automation, or other solutions based on Tibbo’s Plus1 CPU, this will soon no longer be a concern. We are proud to announce that the Plus1’s drivers for UART, SPI, NVMEM, RTC, and PINCTRL have been mainlined into the official Linux kernel as of version 5.18. Furthermore, the PWM driver is already in the maintainers’ tree and will be merged into 5.19-rc1.”
“Upstreaming these drivers means they have passed the scrutiny of the official kernel maintainers for quality, security, and stability. Doing so also illustrates our partner Sunplus and Tibbo’s long-term commitment to the Plus1 as the foundation for your industrial solutions for many years to come.”
Updated Ubuntu Image and Tools Facilitate and Accelerate Development
“This month, we present you with the newest version of Tibbo’s Ubuntu-derived distribution for our Size 3 Linux Tibbo Project PCB (LTPP3), Gen. 2.”
“The new release retains all the convenience and functionality of the original image while adding numerous improvements we’ve made over the past several months. Notable enhancements:
- An upgrade to version 5.10 of the Linux kernel brings greater stability and security.
- The latest versions of our Out-of-Box-Experience (OOBE) scripts simplify the configuration of the LTPP3(G2).
- The baked-in PinMux driver unlocks the board’s most powerful capability from the start.
“All in all, our Ubuntu-based distribution provides you with a substantially advanced starting point to accelerate development.”
“Should you need an even greater degree of control over what goes into your personalized images based on this distribution, we’ve also released improved build tools to facilitate creating your own forks. In addition, a new Docker container gives you a selection of known states from which to start working.”
Bus Probes Gain Support for Parity
“Continuing our long tradition of continuously refining and improving our products, we’ve released a new firmware version for our RS485 Modbus Sensors, a.k.a. Bus Probes. This update covers all five currently available models:”
- BP#01 — Ambient temperature sensor
- BP#02 — Ambient temperature and humidity sensor
- BP#03 — Ambient light sensor
- BP#04 — Three-axis accelerometer
- BP#05 — Flood/leak sensor
“The marquee feature of V1.06 is the addition of the parity option for the serial interface. Now you can use the odd, even, mark, or space parity modes when communicating with your Bus Probes.”
“Particularly noteworthy is the mark parity option, which is equivalent to 8-N-2 (8 bits of data, no parity, and two stop bits). Two stop bits are often used for better syncing between slow and fast devices on the same RS485 bus — especially at high baud rates. In some systems, two stop bits are used to ensure that Modbus RTU frames are always 11 bits.”
“The updated firmware binary is available in our downloads section, as well through our BP Firmware Updater web app. Our documentation includes step-by-step instructions for updating BP firmware via the web app, IO Ninja, and Device Explorer.”
Courtesy of Tibbo Technology
