Boot from an eMMC memory device

You can prepare a bootable eMMC memory device to use to boot your board.

Note:

Before you can perform the steps to prepare a bootable eMMC, you must first boot your board using a bootable SD . For more information, see Prepare a bootable microSD and Use the QNX IPL to boot board.

After you have QNX OS running on your target board, complete the following steps to prepare a bootable eMMC and copy the QNX IPL and QNX IFS to it:

Copy the QNX IFS file (qnx-ifs) and QNX IPL file [ipl-imx8mp-evk.imx to the /tmp directory on your target board.

If the eMMC device contains a FAT32 partition, skip to step 5; otherwise, delete all existing partitions on the eMMC using the following steps:

# fdisk /dev/emmc0 show -l

_____OS_____     Start       End       ______Number______   Size    Boot
name    type     Block       Block     Cylinders   Blocks
  
FAT32     12        2048     2099199      1024     2097152   1024 MB
QNX6     179     2099200    61079551     28799    58980352  28799 MB
------   ---   ---------   ---------   -------   ---------  -----
------   ---   ---------   ---------   -------   ---------  -----

# fdisk /dev/emmc0 delete -a
#
# fdisk /dev/emmc0 show -l

  _____OS_____     Start       End       ______Number______   Size    Boot
    16      name    type     Block       Block     Cylinders   Blocks

------   ---   ---------   ---------   -------   ---------  -----
------   ---   ---------   ---------   -------   ---------  -----
------   ---   ---------   ---------   -------   ---------  -----
------   ---   ---------   ---------   -------   ---------  -----

#

Create a 1024MB partition starting from block 2048 using the following command:

# fdisk /dev/emmc0 add -t 11 -l -c2048,2099199
#
# fdisk /dev/emmc0 show -l

_____OS_____     Start       End       ______Number______   Size    Boot
name    type     Block       Block     Cylinders   Blocks

FAT32     11        2048     2099199      1024     2097152   1024 MB
------   ---   ---------   ---------   -------   ---------  -----
------   ---   ---------   ---------   -------   ---------  -----
------   ---   ---------   ---------   -------   ---------  -----

Mount and format the eMMC device using these commands:
```
# mount -e /dev/emmc0
# mkdosfs /dev/emmc0t11
```
Mount the FAT32 partition of the eMMC using the following command:
```
# mount -t dos /dev/emmc0t11 /fs/emmc
```
Copy the QNX IFS file (qnx-ifs) /tmp directory to the fs/emmc directory as qnx-ifs. You can also use the QNX Momentics IDE to copy the file or one of the following commands:
For the i.MX 8MP EVK board:
```
# cp /tmp/qnx-ifs  /fs/emmc/qnx-ifs
```
Note:
The QNX IFS file must be copied to the target DOS filesystem with the name as qnx-ifs.
If you require networking, copy imx8mp-evk.dtb onto the eMMC memory device raw partition using following command:
```
# cp /tmp/imx8mp-evk.dtb /fs/emmc/imx-dtb
```
Copy the QNX IPL onto the eMMC memory device raw partition using following command based on the Silicon variant on your board:
```
# dd if=/tmp/ipl-imx8mp-evk.imx of=/dev/emmc1 bs=512 seek=0
```
Set the boot switches for the i.MX 8MP EVK board to boot from the eMMC instead of the SD on your board as follows:
Figure 1DIP switch configuration for the i.MX 8MP EVK board to boot from eMMC

For more information, see Set up the hardware in this chapter about configuring the DIP switches on the i.MX 8MP EVK board.
Press the SW2 (RESET) switch on the i.MX 8MP EVK board to reset the board and press the E key to boot from the eMMC when prompted in your console.

Page updated: September 26, 2025