Getting Started¶

This section covers installation of the SDK, accessing an XPort EDGE device, and a quick start guide to help you build and deploy your first application.

Install the SDK¶

Windows Specifications:

The SDK has been tested with the following PC specifications.

Operating System: Windows 7
CPU: Intel Core 2 Quad CPU Q8300 @ 2.50GHz
RAM: 4.0 GB
Free disk space: 1 GB or more is recommended

Linux Specifications:

The SDK has been tested with the following PC specifications.

Operating System: Ubuntu 16.04 (Ubuntu 16.04 or 18.04 is recommended.)
CPU: Intel Core 2 Quad CPU Q8300 @ 2.50GHz
RAM: 4.0 GB
Free disk space: 1 GB or more is recommended

Important

Always back up your custom code in the custom/module directory when updating or reinstalling the SDK.

Install the Windows SDK in Windows 7¶

To install the SDK in Windows:

Download the latest version of the SDK installation file from New Releases on the Gateway OS (RTOS) - SDK (xPico 200) Lantronix Forum.
Double-click the file to launch the InstallShield Wizard.
Click Next.
Select I accept and then click Next.
Click Install. If prompted, click Yes to allow the program to make changes to your computer.
The InstallShield Wizard installs the SDK at C:/xPortEdge. This process could take a few minutes. When the installation is complete, click Finish.

Install the Linux SDK in Ubuntu¶

To install the SDK in Linux:

Download the latest version of the SDK installation file.
Extract the .tar file into a new directory. This is referred to as the installation directory in this document.
From the command line, navigate to the installation directory and type ./install_environment.sh to install the necessary packages.
Type sudo dpkg-reconfigure dash from the command line.
Select <No> to use bash.

Access the Device¶

There are three ways to access the XPort EDGE device:

The Web Manager application provides browser-based access to all features.
The Web API provides access to all features through standard HTTP requests.
The CLI provides access to all configuration options, but keep in mind you cannot upload custom firmware via the CLI.

The examples in this section use Web Manager to upload custom firmware to the XPort EDGE device. Refer to the XPort EDGE User Guide for more information on accessing the device.

Build and Deploy Firmware¶

These quick start guides provide a high-level walkthrough of building and deploying the Hello World and the Line Echo demo applications. The purpose of these guides is to quickly demonstrate the overall process for building ROM files and uploading them to an XPort EDGE device.

Quick Start: Hello World¶

The helloDemo module contains code that prints "Hello World" to the command line once every two seconds when the firmware is loaded onto the XPort EDGE device.

Step 1: Build the project¶

To build the project in Windows:

Go to the SDK installation directory. By default, this is c:/xPortEdge/.
Double-click msys2_shell to open a MinGW window.
Change to the helloDemo project directory within the installation directory. cd /c/xPortEdge/custom/project/helloDemo/
Type make to build the project. The terminal window reports the image summary when the project compiles successfully.

   Image Summary (Partition size is 0x1E0000):
      Flash Usage: 1208112 of 1966080 (61%, 757968 remaining)
      SRAM Usage: 631024 of 2097152 (30%, 1466128 remaining)

To build the project in Linux:

Go to the SDK installation directory. This is where you extracted the .tar file previously.
Change to the helloDemo project directory within the installation directory. cd custom/project/helloDemo
Type make to build the project. The terminal window reports the image summary when the project compiles successfully.

   Image Summary (Partition size is 0x1E0000):
      Flash Usage: 1208112 of 1966080 (61%, 757968 remaining)
      SRAM Usage: 631024 of 2097152 (30%, 1466128 remaining)

Step 2: Sign the ROM¶

This step depends on whether your signed public key has been written to the device.

If you have not written your signed public key to the device:

Follow the process described in the one-time actions section under Development Workflow. Use your built project as your firmware.

If you have already written your signed public key to the device:

Run the Lantronix image signing tool using the command ltrx-signimage-win64.exe oem_rsa_key.priv helloDemo_<version>.rom helloDemo_<version>.signed.rom in Windows or by using the command ltrx-signimage-linux, which is located in the <SDK directory>/lantronix/bin directory, in Linux. The signing tool produces a ROM file signed with your private key. The signed ROM file looks similar to helloDemo_<version>.signed.rom.

Step 3: Upload the ROM¶

Now upload the signed ROM file you just built.

Open Web Manager, go to the Device page, and click Firmware Upgrade.
Click Choose File, browse to work/helloDemo, and select the signed ROM file.
Click Upload and then click OK to confirm that you want to upload a new firmware image. The device erases the old image and receives and writes the new image. After the new firmware is written, the device reboots automatically. It may take a few minutes for this process to complete.

Step 4: Change Line 1 Protocol¶

Next, change Line 1 to the new Hello World protocol you just uploaded.

In Web Manager, go to the Line page and click Configuration.
From Protocol, select Hello World and then click Submit. The changes take effect immediately.
Open a terminal emulator (e.g. Tera Term) and connect to the COM port the device is connected to. The XPort EDGE prints "Hello World" to the terminal once every two seconds.

Hello world
Hello world
Hello world

Quick Start: Line Echo¶

The echoDemo module contains code that reads each character from the input buffer and prints it back to the line when the firmware is loaded onto the XPort EDGE device.