Comparing the i.MX RT1050 EVK vs. EVKB Boards

i.MX RT1050 EVKB Board

The biggest difference is that the new EVKB is using a different silicon. Reading the errata confirms some strange power issues I had observed with the EVK board. During development or startup, the board did not respond any more, and I solved this with a) power on with the external power supply and then b) power the debug probe.

NXP refers to the original EVK board as ‘EVKA’ to differentiate between EVK and EVKB. I’m continue to use EVK and EVKB. This is what is used in many places, so I hope you don’t get confused by this.

I recommend to have a look at the documents in https://community.nxp.com/community/mcuxpresso/mcuxpresso-ide/blog/2017/12/07/overview-of-using-the-mimxrt1050-evk-with-mcuxpresso-ide, which gets updated frequently.

MCUXpresso SDK

There are two different SDKs available from https://mcuxpresso.nxp.com:

MCUXpresso SDK

I faced some strange debug protocol issues with the EVK, and, interestingly, they (mostly) went away with using the EVKB SDK even for the EVK board. So, I now use the EVKB SDK for the EVK board too.

EVK and EVKB SDKs

Board

This picture shows the differences between the EVKB (top) and the EVK (bottom):

i.MX RT1050 EVK vs. EVKB (click to enlarge)

• EVKB Board has the four Arduino headers populated
• A1 silicon on EVKB
• EVKB has no header for J15 and J13 not set
• EVKB has extra (unpopulated) header J38

J38 is used to disconnect the signal to the SPDIF (COAX) output. J15 is the same for the Coax input. Anyway, both the coax connectors and circuit for it are not populated on both boards. J13 is used to power the SPDIF circuit. So, these all are not really relevant to me.

Having the Arduino headers populated is nice. But, it is more important that the CPU silicon change.

CPU

The probably biggest change is that the EVKB has the A1 silicon on it (DVL6B):

i.MX RT1050 EVKB with A1 silicon (DVL6B)

While the EVK has the A0 silicon on it (DVL6A):

See https://www.nxp.com/docs/en/nxp/application-notes/AN12146.pdf for part numbers and decoder.

i.MX RT1050 EVK with A0 silicon (DVL6A)

The differences between A0 and A1 silicon are described in https://www.nxp.com/docs/en/nxp/application-notes/AN12146.pdf.

OpenSDA

The on-board OpenSDA debug circuit on the EVKB board still shows up as ‘EVK’:

EVKB OpenSDA

The DAPLink firmware has been updated to the 244 version, so I don’t have to update that on the EVKB board:

# DAPLink Firmware - see https://mbed.com/daplink
Unique ID: 0227000040214e4500131018c89200469e11000097969900
HIC ID: 97969900
Auto Reset: 0
Automation allowed: 0
Overflow detection: 0
Daplink Mode: Interface
Interface Version: 0244
Bootloader Version: 0242
Git SHA: 853df431d81359e822f49363891f877f17d31efb
Local Mods: 0
USB Interfaces: MSD, CDC, HID
Bootloader CRC: 0x73707d49
Interface CRC: 0x565000e7
Remount count: 0

Summary

Connecting the LCD is still a big challenge for the EVKB board. Having the Arduino headers populated is a nice addition, so I can start using my many Arduino shields right away. The most important change is the new silicon A1 revision, which seems to solve some instabilities that I have seen with the EVK board. I’ll keep my development running with both boards. Now, in case of problems, I can compare the EVKB with the EVK revision. And, using the EVKB SDK even with the EVK board seems to be a good move, as this somehow improved stability, as well.

In any case, if you want to start using developing with i.MX RT1050, you should go for the EVKB board. And, if you already have the EVK, it is probably the best if you get an EVKB, too.

And, yes — I have now an open source GUI library working on that display:

Open Source GUI on i.MX RT1050 EVKB

Happy B’ing!

Links

• Detailed steps about using the i.MX RT1050 EVK(B): https://community.nxp.com/community/mcuxpresso/mcuxpresso-ide/blog/2017/12/07/overview-of-using-the-mimxrt1050-evk-with-mcuxpresso-ide
• Difference between A0 and A1 silicon: https://www.nxp.com/docs/en/nxp/application-notes/AN12146.pdf
• i.MX RT1050 EVK(A) guide: https://www.nxp.com/docs/en/user-guide/MIMXRT1050EVKHUG.pdf
• i.MX RT1050 EVKB guide: https://www.nxp.com/docs/en/user-guide/IMXRT1050EVKBHUG.pdf
• MCUXpresso IDE V10.1.0 with i.MX RT1052 Crossover Processor
• Adding a Rocktech Capacitive Touch LCD to the NXP i.MX RT1052 EVK
• NXP i.MX RT Web Page: https://www.nxp.com/products/processors-and-microcontrollers/applications-processors/i.mx-applications-processors/i.mx-rt-series:IMX-RT-SERIES
• MCUXpresso IDE: http://www.nxp.com/mcuxpresso/ide
• MCUXpresso SDK: http://mcuxpresso.nxp.com/