PicoCOM4 bootloader and kernel releases

With PicoCOM4 we now represent the newest embedded module in PicoCOM product family which is offers much more computing power than the PicoCOM2 (400MHz instead of 240MHz). Additionatly it comes with 64MB RAM and Flash memory by default. Further product information about PicoCOM4 can be found on our Website.

This thread is used to inform you about the latest bootloader and kernel updates. To get an notication automatically when a new announcment has been added to this thread you may click on the "Subscribe topic" label at the left upper corner of this thread.

First development samples of PicoCOM4 have been shipped this week. Therefore the first bootloader and kernel releases as well as the software development kit (SDK) are available in the appropriate download area (password protected). You will find the required credentials in your starterkit package.

Firwmare of PicoCOM4 is still in development. Thus not all drivers are in included in the current Windows CE kernel release. Missing driver are listed below, but will be available soon:

• SD/MMC driver
• DigitalIO driver
• There are still missing some enhancements to display driver (e.g. 2D/3D support)

Your F&S support team

The next kernel image has been released. The image now includes the drivers:

• SD/MMC
• DIO driver

Additionatly we now have included and enabled an FTP server. By using the latest FSDeviceSpy utility you can easily access data on the board without requiring an active sync connection. Please note that this feature is designated for development purpose only. You should disable ftp server (or at least anonymous access) in productive environments.

Beside these new features there are some other changes which are recorded in the history text file.

At the same time a new bootloader version (EBoot) has been released. Mainly it now include display support which is required if you want to take benefit of a bootscreen logo. Please note that this feature is optional. For more information please contact our sales department (<!-- e --><a href="mailto:sales@fs-net.de">sales@fs-net.de</a><!-- e -->)
The complete change log also is stored in the respective history file.

Your F&S support team.

A new kernel image has been released today. All modificiations to kernel image are recorded in the history text file. Beside some small bugfixes a keyboard driver is now included in this image.

Additionally we have created two other kernel variants just like on PicoCOM2. Here is short overview of all kernel variants available yet:

• NKPC4_CF35_<date>.bin : Default kernel image, including Compact Framework 3.5
• NKPC4_CF2_<date>.bin : This image includes Compact Framework version 2.0
• NKPC4_CF2_RTC_<date>.bin : RTC in this term means Real Time Communication. This kernel can be used to realize Voice Over IP applications.

We have also released an updated BSP version which is available in the PicoCOM download area on our website. Please note: This BSP is not for free. Please contact our sales department (<!-- e --><a href="mailto:sales@fs-net.de">sales@fs-net.de</a><!-- e -->) when you desire to use the BSP for PicoCOM4.

Because of a SD card bug in both CF2 kernel images we have accelerated kernel release V1.01 of PicoCOM4. SD cards where not working in previous images because sdmemory.dll was missing.

Beside this fix we have added some additional kernel features (NTLM, custom USB disk driver, FS screen saver, ...).

One additional hight is certainly is, that this kernel image we now supports capacitive touch technology. There is available a touch driver for an external I2C touch module. We will reveal information about this subject separately in this forum and on our website.

You will find a complete changelog in the appropriate history file.

To fix an annoying issue with PicoCOM4 USB download we have released EBoot version 1.1 today. Especially when using USBLoader version 2.xx USB download does not any show any progess on debug interface altough the data has been transfered by USBLoader.
This issue was also discuessed in following thread: Error to download kernel to the PicoCOM4.

We highly reccomend to update to this latest bootloader version to avoid any updating problems in future.

Your F&S support team.