Software Tools

SAM-BA

The SAM Boot Assistant (SAM-BA) comes with the AT91 In-system Programmer (ISP). It allows to program flash media through RS232, USB or Jtag SAM-ICE link. SAM-BA only runs on Windows.

Description	Binary	FAQ applicable
SAM Boot Assistant (SAM-BA) on http://www.atmel.com	AT91 In-system Programmer (ISP)	for at91sam9xe (SAM-BA 2.8), for at91sam9g20 (SAM-BA 2.8), for at91sam9263 (SAM-BA 2.7)

Patches are needed for some products: be sure to install SAM9G15 G25 G35 X25 X35 Patch for SAM-BA® 2.10 if you need SAM-BA for those chips.

SAM-BA Linux initiative

A revision of SAM-BA is ported to Linux. It is at the side of the official SAM-BA ISP revision.

Description	Binary	FAQ applicable
SAM Boot Assistant (SAM-BA 2.10) Linux port initiative using CDC	sam-ba_2.10.zip

You can also use .tcl scripts from this flavor of SAM-BA. This is useful if you want to run GettingStarted#DemoArchiveBinaries demos.

SAM-BA Linux uses the USB connection through CDC to communicate with the device.

Tested Linux distributions

This table indicates the distributions on which we have tested SAM-BA.

Since SAM-BA is a 32 bits application, we can assume that it is ok on 32 bits version if it works on 64 bits version.

Ubuntu
	Distribution version	Kernel version
	10.04 (64 bits)	2.6.32-33-generic (2.6.32-33.70)
	10.10 (32 bits)	2.6.35.30-generic (2.6.35-30.56)
	10.10 (64 bits)	2.6.35.30-generic (2.6.35-30.56)
	11.04 (64 bits)	2.6.38-10-generic (2.6.38-10.25)
	11.10 alpha 3 (64 bits)	3.0
Debian
	Distribution version	Kernel version
	6.0 (64 bits)	2.6.32-5-amd64
Fedora
	Distribution version	Kernel version
	14 (32 bits)	2.6.35.6-45.fc14.i686
	14 (64 bits)	2.6.35.6-45.fc14.x86_64
	15 (64 bits)	2.6.38.6-26.rc1.fc15.x86_64
OpenSuse
	Distribution version	Kernel version
	11.3 (64 bits)	2.6.34.10-0.2-desktop
	11.4 (64 bits)	2.6.37.1-1.2-desktop

Note that SAM-BA will certainly work on other distributions as well. Checking following indications will give you clues on how to proceed.

Using SAM-BA with various linux distributions

Ubuntu

• Update the kernel

# apt-get install linux-image-generic linux-headers-generic

• On 64 bits version install 32 bits libraries:

# apt-get install ia32-libs

• Give sam-ba execute permission if needed:

$ chmod +x sam-ba

• Connect the board
• Create a symlink on /dev/ttyACM0

# ln -s /dev/ttyACM0 /dev/ttyUSB0

• Launch sam-ba

Debian

• Update the kernel:

# apt-get install linux-image-generic linux-headers-generic

• On 64 bits version install 32 bits libraries:

# apt-get install ia32-libs

• Give sam-ba execute permission if needed:

$ chmod +x sam-ba

• Add yourself into dialout group

Edit the /etc/group file and add your username at the end of the line starting with dialout.

dialout:x:20:myusername

Logout and login.

• Connect the board
• Create a symlink on /dev/ttyACM0

# ln -s /dev/ttyACM0 /dev/ttyUSB0

• Launch sam-ba

Fedora

• On 64 bits version install 32 bits libraries:

# yum install glibc libstdc++ libX11
# yum install glibc.i686 libstdc++.i686 libX11.i686

The first line update your 64 bits libraries in order to have the same version as 32 bits libraries. If you don't do this, Fedora may complain that you have multilib versions

• Give sam-ba execute permission if needed:

chmod +x sam-ba

• Add yourself into dialout group

Edit the /etc/group file and add your username at the end of the line starting with dialout.

dialout:x:18:myusername

Logout and login.

• Connect the board
• Create a symlink on /dev/ttyACM0

# ln -s /dev/ttyACM0 /dev/ttyUSB0

• Launch sam-ba

OpenSuse

• On 64 bits version install some 32 bits libraries:

glibc libstdc++ xorg-x11-libX11

• Give sam-ba execute permission if needed:

chmod +x sam-ba

• Add yourself into dialout group

Edit the /etc/group file and add your username at the end of the line starting with dialout.

dialout:x:16:myusername

Logout and login.

• Connect the board
• Create a symlink on /dev/ttyACM0

# ln -s /dev/ttyACM0 /dev/ttyUSB0

• Launch sam-ba

Tips & tricks

How to check if my kernel version is compatible with sam-ba?

Connect the board to your computer and type:

$ dmesg

If you have something like that it's ok:

[227274.230016] usb 5-1: new full speed USB device using uhci_hcd and address 5
[227274.395739] cdc_acm 5-1:1.0: This device cannot do calls on its own. It is not a modem.
[227274.395768] cdc_acm 5-1:1.0: ttyACM0: USB ACM device

If you have no log about cdc_acm driver, your kernel may not be up to date.

My kernel version is 2.6.37 or 2.6.38 and I have no ttyACMx node.

This kernel version may contains two drivers for atmel boards: the sam-ba driver and the cdc_acm driver.

Since you have two drivers for the same device, randomly the sam-ba driver or the cdc_acm driver can be used. Both allow you to launch sam-ba tool and to program your board. The only issue it involves is the device node name. If it is the sam-ba driver which is used, you will have a /dev/ttyUSBx node. If it is the cdc_acm which is used, you will have a /dev/ttyACMx. In this case you will have to create a link to /dev/ttyUSBx.

It is mainly the cdc_acm driver which is selected. To know which one has been selected, you can use the dmesg command.

If you see something like this:

[   72.092495] usb 2-1.3: new high speed USB device using ehci_hcd and address 6
[   72.191022] USB Serial support registered for sam-ba
[   72.191169] sam-ba 2-1.3:1.1: sam-ba converter detected
[   72.191364] usb 2-1.3: sam-ba converter now attached to ttyUSB1
[   72.191762] usbcore: registered new interface driver sam-ba
[   72.191765] sam_ba: v1.0: Atmel SAM Boot Assistant (SAM-BA) driver
[   72.519248] cdc_acm 2-1.3:1.0: This device cannot do calls on its own. It is not a modem.
[   72.519258] cdc_acm: probe of 2-1.3:1.0 failed with error -16
[   72.519272] usbcore: registered new interface driver cdc_acm
[   72.519273] cdc_acm: v0.26:USB Abstract Control Model driver for USB modems and ISDN adapters

It is the sam-ba driver which is used and you can see that a /dev/ttyUSB1 node has been created.

In the other case, the cdc_acm driver, you will have:

[  766.492942] usb 2-1.1: new high speed USB device using ehci_hcd and address 8
[  766.585934] cdc_acm 2-1.1:1.0: This device cannot do calls on its own. It is not a modem.
[  766.586033] cdc_acm 2-1.1:1.0: ttyACM0: USB ACM device

It is the CDC driver which is used and you can see that a /dev/ttyACM0 node has been created.

Checking the usb link between the board and the computer.

lsusb -d 03eb:6124
    Bus 004 Device 006: ID 03eb:6124 Atmel Corp

03eb is the vendor number and 6124 is the product number.

How to use SAM-BA with old kernels (< 2.6.32)?

USB CDC Serial driver mount procedure :

• Login with administrator rights

• Unload usbserial module if it is already running

rmmod usbserial

• Load usbserial kernel module

modprobe usbserial vendor=0x03eb product=0x6124

• Verify that the USB connection is established

lsusb -d 03eb:6124
    Bus 004 Device 006: ID 03eb:6124 Atmel Corp

• Know which USB connection is established

dmesg
    ...
    kernel: usb 4-2: new full speed USB device using uhci_hcd and address 5
    kernel: usb 4-2: configuration #1 chosen from 1 choice
    kernel: usbserial_generic 4-2:1.0: generic converter detected
    kernel: usbserial_generic: probe of 4-2:1.0 failed with error -5
    kernel: usbserial_generic 4-2:1.1: generic converter detected
    kernel: usb 4-2: generic converter now attached to ttyUSBx

=> you will have to use /dev/ttyUSBx instead of \usb\ARM0 to connect to your board