Run Linux on i.MX RT in 5 minutes
If you have an NXP i.MX RT evaluation board on your bench, you can be at a Linux root shell on it in about five minutes. Download a prebuilt U-Boot + Linux demo image from Emcraft, write it to the board, set the boot switches, and power up. Each board’s guide gives the exact steps.
Linux boots on the Cortex-M7 to a root shell with a full network stack — TCP/IP, telnet and SSH, plus Wi-Fi and Bluetooth over USB — UBI/UBIFS filesystems on flash, USB host and gadget, and the usual i.MX peripheral drivers (UART, SPI, I2C, CAN, ADC, GPIO). Boards with a display add a graphical LVGL demo, and the dual-core i.MX RT1170 adds RPMsg messaging to its companion Cortex-M4. It is the same Linux 6.x kernel and NXP i.MX driver set — the same device drivers, networking, and I/O stacks — you would run on an MMU-based i.MX 6, 7, 8, or 9, here on a crossover MCU. You already chose i.MX RT; you don’t have to abandon that decision to get Linux.
The demo is the quickest way to see for yourself what Linux on your i.MX RT can do — and to decide whether it’s worth investigating further for your design.
Supported platforms
Emcraft maintains production-grade Linux (uClinux) BSPs for the NXP i.MX RT SoC families and reference platforms below. Each guide walks you through booting the demo image on the corresponding board.
i.MX RT1020
Supported reference platform: NXP MIMXRT1024-EVK — no display (the i.MX RT1024 has no LCD controller). Running Linux on the i.MX RT10xx in 5 Minutes
i.MX RT1050
Supported reference platform: NXP MIMXRT1050-EVKB, with the LVGL graphical demo on the on-board LCD. Running Linux on the i.MX RT10xx in 5 Minutes
i.MX RT1060
Supported reference platform: NXP MIMXRT1060-EVKB, with the LVGL graphical demo on the on-board LCD. Running Linux on the i.MX RT10xx in 5 Minutes
i.MX RT1170
Supported reference platforms: NXP MIMXRT1170-EVK and Avnet MaaXBoard-RT — dual-core (Linux on the Cortex-M7 alongside a Cortex-M4), with a MIPI-DSI panel GUI. Running Linux on the i.MX RT1170 in 5 Minutes