Re: [gentoo-embedded] PPC embedded base package

[Anthony Russello]

Hi Quentin,

Thank you very much!

I'll give this a try tonight to see how well I can do
with it instead of my home rolled stuff.

Cheers,
Anthony

 --- Quentin Arce <qarce@×××××.com> wrote: 
>
> --- Anthony Russello <arussello@××××××.com> wrote:
>
> > Hi Quentin,
> >
> > Thanks for getting back to me.
> >
> > Currently I'm working on the third option you
> listed
> > below.  I've actually been building a base system
> > completely from scratch, utilizing busybox, glibc,
> > boa,  samba 2.2.x, and sysvinit for the core apps.
> >
> > What I was hoping was that there would already be,
> > at
> > the very least, a package that would contain the
> > rootfs, device nodes, etc.
>
> So you want the ppc stage1 or stage2 tarball for
> this.
>  It will need to be stripped out.... or you can just
> setup a chroot build env... search for uclibc gentoo
> in the forums or on the web.  I don't see the
> webpage
> still up... hmmm. must have closed it...
>
> So, use a stage3 x86 tarball, untar into some big
> devel space.
>
> mount/bind proc & dev
>
> fix up etc/mtab to be correct.
>
> write a script something like
>
> mount -o bind /dev /path/to/devel/dev
> mount -t proc proc /path/to/devel/proc
>
> chroot /path/to/devel /bin/bash
>
> umount  /path/to/devel/dev
> umount  /path/to/devel/proc
>
> Perhaps add some locking to keep from running this
> twice ;-)
>
> once in devel space.  emerge sync, emerge --update
> --deep world.  Build the cross compiler per cross
> build howto which can be found in the forums.
>
> setup your make.conf for the cross env or write a
> wrapper script to emerge to set the
> ROOT=/new/ppc/fs/relative/to/devel/rootfs
> PATH=/path.../see/cross/build/notes emerge
> baselayout-lite busybox boa foo
>
> Have some lunch... check on the progress.  Depending
> on your build host, start testing or go home for the
> day.
>
>
> Come back, NFS mount and test your system.  Write a
> script to clone the rootfs you just built
>
> rsync  /path/to/devel/opt/ppcrootfs /tmp/scratchroot
> rm somelistoffiles
>   (have a look at the Catalyst scripts and then add
> some more as needed)
>
> See how small of a fs you can get.
>
> Don't forget to creat all of the symbolic links for
> busybox.  You may need to inject a package to fool
> portage into thinking you have the basic unix utils
> packages already installed.
>
> Then you should be just about all set.
>
> Note: you really want the baselayout lite as you
> don't
> want to full runlevels system in an embedded app.
> Just a simple set of init scripts.  Note, you can
> also
> use busybox for your init.  This is what freescale
> does.
>
> From there you can do almost anything.
>
> Just remember to save all packages for the future.
> You may need to re-create all of your work in say 2
> years to fix a bug for a client.  Backups are your
> friend.
>
> Have fun.
>
> Q
>
>
>
>
> > Also, I saw recent work on adding emerge to
> busybox,
> > which would be handy during initial development
> > (chroot'ing into the rootfs, and then using the
> > busybox emerge to install some packages).
> >
> > Any thoughts on this?
> >
> > Thanks,
> > Anthony
> >
> >  --- Quentin Arce <qarce@×××××.com> wrote:
> > >
> > >
> > > Anthony,
> > >
> > > I have looked at this in my work and at home.
> > Work
> > > we
> > > have used the 8248 and 8245.  Home, I am working
> > on
> > > a
> > > small x86 based system.  Gentoo will work for
> your
> > > target... but, you really want to think about if
> > you
> > > should.  Think long term support.  Also, think
> > about
> > > the build system, stability.  In working on my
> own
> > > mini x86 based linux distro based on Gentoo...
> So,
> > > far... you can do it.  You can cross compile it,
> > > but,
> > > there are still some packages that don't seem to
> > > work
> > > just yet.  You want the base layout lite.  And
> you
> > > want a system based on Busybox for the size you
> > are
> > > targeting.  Check out the portage profiles:
> > >
> > > /usr/portage/profiles/embedded
> > > /usr/portage/profiles/uclibc
> > > /usr/portage/profiles/default-ppc-2004.3
> > >
> > > I am now using the uclibc for my x86 project.  I
> > > used
> > > the default-ppc-2004.3 to build a 8248 rootfs.
> > The
> > > size was way too big to be burned into the flash
> > > though.
> > >
> > > You could come up with your own custom profile,
> > > inject
> > > any packages you need and then you could use
> > > portage.
> > >
> > > OR
> > >
> > > You could use something like Debian to build a
> > mini
> > > root and strip it of all cruft.  (hint, hint)
> You
> > > could even do this on an x86 system and then
> write
> > a
> > > few scripts to fix the post scripts from the deb
> > > install. (hint hint)  Then just sync the built
> > root
> > > to
> > > another directory, clean the clone and build a
> > jffs2
> > > image.
> > >
> > > OR
> > >
> > > You can go the full custom route via LFS or your
> > own
> > > home grown.
> > >
> > >
> > > I have learned quite a bit since I started with
> > ppc
> > > embedded.  I'm still learning with mini x86.
> > >
> > > Q
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > --- Anthony Russello <arussello@××××××.com>
> wrote:
> > > > Hi,
> > > >
> > > > Thanks for the reply, I'm sorry it took so
> long
> > to
> > > > get back to you, but
> > > > I never received an email to me until the
> digest
> > > > caught up.
> > > >
> > > > We're working on a small NAS-like device.
> Very
> > > > light weight, and
> > > > targetting to consumers rather than
> businesses,
> > so
> > > > everything will be
> > > > pretty simple.
> > > >
> > > > I'm currently working on getting a 2.6.x
> kernel
> > up
> > > > on the early boards.
> > > > Once that's up and running, I'll be working on
> > the
> > > > rootfs.  I've been
> > > > doing a lot of checking as far as dependencies
> > go,
> > > > and I've got the
> > > > libraries narrowed down substantially.  We're
> > also
> > > > using the 2.2.x samba
> > > > branch, since the 3.x branch requires a large
> > > number
> > > > of libraries that
> > > > we don't want to include.
> > > >
> > > > I've been ensuring that every binary going
> into
> > > the
> > > > image is stripped so
> > > > far as well.
> > > >
> > > > I guess I was kind of hoping that the gentoo
> > > > embedded group was working
> > > > with small root filesystem sizes, and whether
> or
> > > not
> > > > there was a base
> > > > layout package that would simply contain
> things
> > > like
> > > > pre-populated /dev,
> > > > and other absolutely essential sources like
> > that.
> > > >
> > > > Are there any plans for such a package?
> Perhaps
> > > > with makefiles that
> > > > would leverage cross compilers to create a
> base
> > > > system for target X on
> > > > host Y?
> > > >
> > > > It would make embedded development incredibly
> > easy
> > > > with cross compilers
> > > > and base layout packages of that sort ready to
> > be
> > > > emerged into /opt or
> > > > something like that.
> > > >
> > > > Thanks,
> > > > Anthony
> > > >
> > > > On Tue, 2005-04-12 at 08:29 -0700, Quentin
> Arce
> > > > wrote:
> > > > >
> > > > > One thing you may want to keep in mind when
> > > > building
> > > > > your system is to make sure all bins are
> > > stripped.
> > > >
> > > > > Also, some embedded companies have tools
> which
> > > > > determine which libs are being used on the
> > > system
> > > > and
> > > > > remove all others from the final image.
> Just
> > to
> > > > > squeeze that last bit of space out.
> > > > >
> > > > > Also, don't forget to remove all other
> > un-needed
> > > > > files.  Like /var/db, all man, etc.
> > > > >
> > > > > Q
> > > > >
> > > > >
> > > > > --- Anthony Russello <arussello@××××××.com>
> > > wrote:
> > > > > > Hi All,
> > > > > >
> > > > > > I'm working on a base layout for an
> embedded
> > > > system
> > > > > > based on the
> > > > > > Freescale 8241 chip, and was wondering
> what
> > > > might be
> > > > > > available in the
> > > > > > world of gentoo for that purpose.
> > > > > >
> > > > > > Here are the requirements we've laid out:
> > > > > >
> > > > > > Read/write /etc (jffs2 filesystem)
> >
> === message truncated ===
>
>
>
>
> __________________________________
> Do you Yahoo!?
> Plan great trips with Yahoo! Travel: Now over 17,000
> guides!
> http://travel.yahoo.com/p-travelguide
>
-- 
gentoo-embedded@g.o mailing list