Created on January 28, 2021, Last modified on May 23, 2023

Firebolt™ SDK lets you build native apps using C/C++ specific to each device. Native apps are developed for high performance and customized applications and they help you to reuse the existing C/C++ libraries. It is available for Raspberry-Pi platform for the development environment. Firebolt™ SDK toolset includes the following,

  • C/C++ cross-compiling toolchains.
  • Platform/device specific libraries, headers and symbols.
  • Open source libraries (eg: Gstreamer, Opengl, curl, etc).
  • Additional third-party requirements.

Steps to get started


step 1 Download

Download requires Login

step 2 Install on Raspberry Pi

Minimum requirements for support of Raspberry Pi models for Firebolt™ App Platform:

HDMI
Cable
USB2
MOUSE
100/G
ETHERNET
USB2
KEYBOARD
USB
DRIVE

Supported Raspberry Pi models for Firebolt™ App Platform:

  • Raspberry Pi 3 Model B+
  • Raspberry Pi 3 Model A+
  • Raspberry Pi 3 Model B

Flash the image on Raspberry-Pi using etcher.

Download — Etcher

Etcher provides easy way to flash the image on SD card across all the platforms, Windows, Mac, and Linux. Flash the image on Raspberry-Pi using Etcher.

step 3 Input/Output Access to Raspberry Pi

...

Your setup should resemble the one in the picture on the left.

  • Connect HDMI.
  • Connect Ethernet.
  • Connect USB Keyboard.
  • Connect USB Mouse.
  • Insert the SD card with the Firebolt™ image flashed.
  • Power on the Raspberry-Pi.

step 4 Launch preloaded sample apps on Raspberry-Pi

A USB keyboard or remote control (on supported systems) can be used on the device to launch an app on Raspberry-Pi.

The following actions are supported:

  • Pressing the up and down keyboard arrow keys (or remote arrows) moves between the apps.
  • Pressing Enter (or OK button remote) will launch or switch to a selected app.
  • Pressing left or right arrow keys (or remote arrows) will select one of three options (Launch/Suspend/Stop).
    • Launch will launch the selected application, if an app is already launched it will be switched to.
    • Suspend will put an application in suspend state if it supports.
    • If an app is suspended this option will become Resume, which when pressed will resume the application.
    • Stop will stop the application.
  • When an application is taking up the whole screen Pressing Ctrl-m will bring you back to the app manager.
  • To reload the app manager (if the contents of the usb key were changed) press Ctrl-e (or Exit key on the remote).

step 5 Terminal Access on Raspberry-Pi

  • Once the Pi is booted-up completely, Pi gets valid ethernet connection.
  • The IP address will be displayed on the bottom right of the display/TV connected to Pi.
  • Login to Raspberry-Pi using ssh into the box from a PC on the same network.
  • Login is root, password is empty.
    Example:
     ssh root@192.168.0.103
    Then press enter twice to get ssh terminal access to the box.

step 6 Access our GitHub examples

View — Github

step 7 Build Sample Apps using Firebolt™ SDK

A. Software Prerequisites

  • System Requirements
    Ubuntu 14.4 64 bit OS or higher 8GB of RAM
  • Software Requirements
    Install the following command-
     sudo apt-get install gawk wget git-core diffstat unzip texinfo gcc-multilib build-essential chrpath socat cpio python python3 python3-pip python3-pexpect xz-utils debianutils iputils-ping libsdl1.2-dev xterm 

B. Download Firebolt™ SDK

Download requires Login

C. Install the SDK

  • Go the directory where Firebolt™ SDK is downloaded.
  • Untar the Firebolt™ SDK bundle.
    tar -zxvf raspberrypi-rdk-mc-RNE-SDK-0.4-bundle.tgz
    In the above command, raspberrypi-rdk-mc-RNE-SDK-0.4-bundle.tgz is the Firebolt™ SDK bundle name.
  • Run the following commands
    chmod +x raspberrypi-rdk-mc-RNE-SDK-2.0.sh
    ./raspberrypi-rdk-mc-RNE-SDK-2.0.sh
    		
  • Follow the instructions in the screen regarding installation directory. If you don’t want to change the default directory, please press ENTER and proceed. You will need sudo permissions to install in the same directory. It’s easiest to run the above script in an empty directory and type to install in the current directory. If you don’t have sudo permissions install in a different directory.

D. Install Cross-Compiler tools

  • Assuming that the SDK is installed in sdk_root directory, issue the following command.
    source sdk_root/environment-setup-chipset-rdk-linux-gnueabi
    Example:
    source RNE-3.0/environment-setup-cortexa7t2hf-vfp-vfpv4-neon-rdk-linux-gnueabi
    In the above command, RNE-3.0 is sdk_root directory
  • Now all the cross compiler tools are available for development.

E. Build Sample apps

  • To build the samples, go to the samples directory and execute the following command:
    Example:
    ./build_samples.sh
  • After the samples are built they are contained in a partnerapps directory for copying to the Raspberry-Pi.

step 8 Launch Sample Apps on Raspberry Pi

  • Once the sample applications are built with the provided sdk a partnerapps folder will be created at the root of the samples directory.
  • Place this directory at the root of the USB storage device.
  • Insert the USB stick into the pi.
  • Use a USB keyboard and press “Ctrl + E “ to reload the app manager.
  • You will now see all the sample apps in the list.
  • Select “Launch” tab to launch any app.
  • To go back to the menu listing all the apps, press “Ctrl + M”.
  • You can also have the app manager launch your own binary by renaming the binary partnerapp and placing it in the partnerapps folder at the root of the USB storage device.
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