Flashing: Variscite VAR-SOM-MX8M-NANO
Flash methods: pv-flash-bundle / uuu (eMMC) | SD card — see the uuu and SD card guides
Image artifact: pv-flash-bundle-imx8mn-var-som.tar.gz (eMMC) or
pantavisor-starter-imx8mn-var-som*.wic (SD card)
Hardware overview
The VAR-SOM-MX8M-NANO is based on the NXP i.MX8M Nano SoC. It is typically used with the Symphony-Board carrier board.
SD card boot
Set the boot-mode switches on the Symphony-Board to select SD boot:
| Switch | SD boot | eMMC boot |
|---|---|---|
| SW4-1 | ON | OFF |
| SW4-2 | ON | OFF |
| SW4-3 | OFF | ON |
| SW4-4 | OFF | OFF |
Insert the flashed SD card and power on. See the SD card flashing
guide for how to write the .wic image.
uuu (USB download to eMMC)
1. Set boot-mode to USB download
| Switch | USB download |
|---|---|
| SW4-1 | OFF |
| SW4-2 | OFF |
| SW4-3 | OFF |
| SW4-4 | OFF |
2. Connect USB OTG
Connect a USB cable from the board's USB OTG port to your host PC.
3. Flash
Using the self-contained bundle (recommended — no uuu install needed):
tar xzf pv-flash-bundle-imx8mn-var-som.tar.gz
cd pv-flash-bundle-imx8mn-var-som
./flash.sh
Or manually, with uuu already installed on the host:
sudo uuu -b emmc_all \
imx-boot-imx8mn-var-som*.bin \
pantavisor-starter-imx8mn-var-som*.wic
See the uuu flashing guide for full details and troubleshooting. Variscite's production bootloader already self-enters SDP mode, so no separate recovery build is needed — the bundle is built straight from the main image.
4. Restore boot-mode to eMMC
Set switches back to eMMC boot mode (table above) and power-cycle.
Notes
- Switch positions per the Variscite VAR-SOM-MX8M-NANO Evaluation Kit Quick Start Guide.
- The Variscite BSP (meta-variscite-bsp) provides additional uuu scripts. Consult the Variscite wiki for advanced uuu usage.
- CAAM (Cryptographic Accelerator) is enabled and available for dm-crypt/dm-verity operations.
Console and next steps
The serial console runs at 115200 8N1 — see serial port access for how to connect. Once the device boots, install your first app.