Colibri Evaluation Board Getting Started: Start Using: To start using the Colibri Evaluation Board only very few steps are necessary: 0. If not already done, insert a Colibri Module in the SODIMM socket X11 on the EvalBoard 1. Connect a DC power supply (voltage between 7-24V) to connector X3 2. Connect a VGA CRT or TFT to X9 3. Connect a PS2 Mouse and/or Keyboard to X12 Alternatively you can also connect a USB Mouse and/or Keyboard to X13 (top USB port) 4. Power on the board by using the switch S9 in the upper right corner Now the 2 LEDs in the upper right an upper left corner should be on, and after a few seconds you should get a Windows CE desktop on your VGA display. You can start exploring the different interfaces that the Colibri Evaluation Board offers: Open the "My Device" folder (upper left icon on the desktop). This this the root folder of Windows CE. In Windows CE there are no Drive letters like in other Windows Versions, so everything in the filesystem can be found under the root folder. Almost every subfolder in the root folder resides in RAM, so if you copy/change/delete something there it will only have a temporary effect; after a power cycle all changes are reverted back to the default state. But there are some exceptions: The subfoler called "IPSM" is a special Flash File System folder; everything you write to this folder is persistent across power cycles. Alike the RAM file system, the Windows CE registry is only stored to RAM: every setting you change will be lost after a power cycle, but there is a small utility to save the registry perstistently. Go to the Start menu->Programs->SaveReg. You will get a message informing you if the saving was succesful. Try inserting a CF Storage Card into X24: you should now see a subfolder named "Storage Card" in the root folder, that's the CF Card you just inserted. Of course this folder is also persistent. If you insert a SD/MMC Storage Card, you will see an additional folder appearing in the root folder: "Storage Card2". The "2" at the end is because this is the second instance of storage card in the system. Another way of reding/writing external medias is over USB: you can insert an USB Stick into the upper port of connector X13. This kind of media shows up as a "Hard Disk" folder in the root. The easiest way of transfering data to/from the Evaluation Board is by using one of the above mentioned storage medias (they can also be read/written by your Desktop PC) But there are other ways to transfer data from/to your PC. PC Connectivity: The installation effort to set up an Ethernet connection depends on your available network infrastructure. If you have a DHCP server then it's very easy, just go to Start Menu->Settings->Network and Dial-up Connections, double click on DM9CE1 (that the network adapter) and select "Optain an IP address via DHCP", confirm with OK. If you don't have a DHCP server, or don't know if you have one, ask your system administrator to set up the network connection. Now if you have some shared files in your network you can easily access them by typing: "\\computer name\share name" in the adress bar of an explorer window. You will most probably be prompted to enter a user name and a password. After logging in you should be able to access the files on the network share. Another way to establish a PC connection is by using ActiveSync. First of all you need to download this free software from Microsoft. http://www.microsoft.com/windowsmobile/downloads/activesync38.mspx Download it and install it following the installation instructions. When ActiveSync looks for Windows CE devices you will have to connect a USB Cable (A to B type) between your PC USB port and connector X14 of the Evaluation Board. Now a connection should be established and a partnership between PC and CE Device will be created. You can save the Registry now, so that it will remember the partnership, and you'll be never be prompted again. Activesync was originally intended to be used to synchronize data (appointments, mails, ...) between a CE Device and a Desktop PC, but can also be used a a simple file browser. Once the ActiveSync connection is up and running, you can press the "Explore" button on the ActiveSync toolbar on your desktop PC, this will open an Eplorer window showing the filesystem of your EvalBoard. You can easyly drag and drop files from/to your EvalBoard now. Also, ActiveSync can be used to install application, most of the Windows CE application you can find on the WEB have an installer that expects ActiveSync to be present on your system, and will use it to install the software on the CE Device. If you want to try some third party software from the WEB, be sure to download the ARM compiled "Handheld PC" version. Pocket PC applications will most probably not work, because they rely on another shell. Active Sync is also very useful for debugging. Debugging: There is a free C/C++ compiler available form Microsoft ("eMbedded Visual C++"). It's very easy to use and almost identical to the "Microsoft Visual C++" for the desktop. http://msdn.microsoft.com/mobility/othertech/eVisualc/howtoget/default.aspx Download both the eMbedded Visual C++ 4.0 and the Service Pack 4. Install eMbedded Visual C++ 4.0 first following the installation instructions. Then install eMbedded Visual C++ 4.0 Service Pack 4, follow the installation instructions. Before you can write any applications you need to install an SDK. You will find a suitable Colibri SDK on the Toradex Website. Download it and install it. Now you have installed everything needed for writing your first CE Application! Just start eMbedded Visual C++ 4.0 and go to File->New. Type in a project name, Press OK, and confirm all OK buttons out of the wizard. The wizard will then create a sample Windows CE application for you. You can now try to run it by pressig F5. NOTE: you have to establish an USB ActiveSync connection. Now you should see a "Hello World!" message on your display. Congratulations, you just wrote your first Windows CE application!