EBC Exercise 08 Installing Development Tools 4.4
Embedded Linux Class by Mark A. Yoder
Early in the class most of the exercises we will do will all run on the BeagleBoard. You'll be able to edit (cloud9), compile (gcc) and run all on the Beagle. Later, when we start compiling the kernel or the boot loader, (U-boot) you will need to cross compile on a Linux machine and copy the results to the Beagle.
The purpose of this exercise is to install all the tools needed for compiling on your host so they will be ready when you need them.
Tip: Run this exercise using a wired connection if you can. The Ubuntu wireless driver can be finicky, and if it stops working you'll have to restart some of this.
Contents
The 5.x Kernel
Updating scripts before updating the Kernel
Various things change when changing kernel versions. When preparing to use a new Kernel it's best to be sure your scripts are up to date. Do this by:
bone$ cd /opt/scripts bone$ git pull
Just to be sure:
bone$ sudo reboot
You are now up to date and things are more likely to work when switching Kernels.
Getting the 5.x Kernel
These notes taken from Beaglebone: Adding USB Wi-Fi & Building a Linux Kernel starting around 4 minutes and ending around 21 minutes. Uses kernel from Robert C. Nelson's BeagleBone Black page.
host$ git clone https://github.com/RobertCNelson/bb-kernel.git (42M) host$ cd bb-kernel host$ git remote show origin
The last command lists all the versions of the kernel that are available. Pick one and check it out. I usually pick the one with the highest version number.
host$ git checkout am33x-v5.10 Branch 'am33x-v5.10' set up to track remote branch 'am33x-v5.10' from 'origin'. Switched to a new branch 'am33x-v5.10'
Now at this point you have a choice, you can run ./build_kernel.sh and build the kernel, or run ./build_deb.sh which will also build the kernel, but it will combine all the output files in one .deb install file. I suggest running ./build_deb.sh,
host$ ./build_kernel.sh or ./build_deb.sh + Detected build host [Ubuntu 20.04.1 LTS] + host: [x86_64] + git HEAD commit: [a7ff6610037f33b2a8c19d7f111cf9e43aa3c4ef] ----------------------------- cpio: cpio (GNU cpio) 2.13 You're missing command lzop Please install missing commands -----------------------------
You may need to install some additional files. Run the suggested commands.
host$ sudo apt-get update host$ sudo apt install lzop host$ ./build_kernel.sh + Detected build host [Ubuntu 20.04.1 LTS] + host: [x86_64] + git HEAD commit: [a7ff6610037f33b2a8c19d7f111cf9e43aa3c4ef] ----------------------------- cpio: cpio (GNU cpio) 2.13 lzop: lzop 1.04 Debian/Ubuntu/Mint: missing dependencies, please install: ----------------------------- sudo apt-get update sudo apt-get install build-essential fakeroot lzma gettext bison flex pkg-config libmpc-dev u-boot-tools libncurses5-dev:amd64 libssl-dev:amd64 ----------------------------- * Failed dependency check host$ sudo apt-get install build-essential fakeroot lzma gettext bison flex pkg-config libmpc-dev u-boot-tools libncurses5-dev:amd64 libssl-dev:amd64 libssl-dev:amd64
Then run again.
host$ ./build_kernel.sh + Detected build host [Ubuntu 20.04.1 LTS] + host: [x86_64] + git HEAD commit: [a7ff6610037f33b2a8c19d7f111cf9e43aa3c4ef] ----------------------------- cpio: cpio (GNU cpio) 2.13 lzop: lzop 1.04 '/home/mark_a_yoder/BeagleBoard/bb-kernel/system.sh.sample' -> '/home/mark_a_yoder/BeagleBoard/bb-kernel/system.sh' Installing Toolchain: gcc_arm_gnueabihf_9 -----------------------------
At this point the scripts are downloading the cross compiler, the kernel sources and anything else you need to compile the kernel for the bone.
Building the 5.x Kernel
At some point you will see
Hit the right arrow to select Exit and then hit ENTER. The compilation will continue.
Installing the Kernel on Your Bone
The following are three ways you can use to install a new kernel on your Bone. The first method works if you ran build_deb.sh.
The other two methods are used if you ran build_kernel.sh
You only need to use one method. If you ran build_kernel.sh I suggest you use the second one since you don't have to remove the SD card from the bone.
Installing the kernel package - build_deb.sh
The ./build_deb.sh script creates a single .deb file that contains all the files needed for the new kernel. You find it here:
host$ cd bb-kernel/deploy host$ ls -sh total 40M 7.3M linux-headers-5.8.11-bone17_1xross_armhf.deb 8.0K linux-upstream_1xross_armhf.buildinfo 31M linux-image-5.8.11-bone17_1xross_armhf.deb 4.0K linux-upstream_1xross_armhf.changes 1.1M linux-libc-dev_1xross_armhf.deb
The linux-image- file is the one we want. It contains nearly 3000 files.
host$ dpkg -c linux-image-5.8.11-bone17_1xross_armhf.deb | wc 2981 17886 342664
The dpkg command lists all the files in the .deb file and the wc counts all the lines in the output. You can see those files with:
bone$ dpkg -c linux-image-5.8.11-bone17_1xross_armhf.deb | less drwxr-xr-x root/root 0 2020-09-29 14:16 ./ drwxr-xr-x root/root 0 2020-09-29 14:16 ./boot/ -rw-r--r-- root/root 4285674 2020-09-29 14:16 ./boot/System.map-5.8.11-bone17 -rw-r--r-- root/root 182474 2020-09-29 14:16 ./boot/config-5.8.11-bone17 drwxr-xr-x root/root 0 2020-09-29 14:16 ./boot/dtbs/ drwxr-xr-x root/root 0 2020-09-29 14:16 ./boot/dtbs/5.8.11-bone17/ -rwxr-xr-x root/root 87267 2020-09-29 14:16 ./boot/dtbs/5.8.11-bone17/am335x-abbbi.dtb -rwxr-xr-x root/root 86826 2020-09-29 14:16 ./boot/dtbs/5.8.11-bone17/am335x-baltos-ir2110.dtb -rwxr-xr-x root/root 87544 2020-09-29 14:16 ./boot/dtbs/5.8.11-bone17/am335x-baltos-ir3220.dtb
You can see it's putting things in the /boot directory.
Note: You can also look into the other two .deb files and see what they install.
Move the linux-image- file to your Bone.
host$ scp linux-image-5.8.11-bone17_1xross_armhf.deb bone:.
Hint: You might have to add -P<port> if you changed your port number. You might have to use debian@192.168.7.2 for bone if you haven't set everything up.
Now ssh to the bone.
host$ ssh bone bone$ ls -sh bin exercises linux-image-5.8.11-bone17_1xross_armhf.deb
Now install it.
bone$ sudo dpkg --install linux-image-5.8.11-bone17_1xross_armhf.deb
Wait a while. Once done check /boot.
bone$ ls -sh /boot total 40M 160K config-4.19.94-ti-r50 4.0K SOC.sh 4.0K uEnv.txt.orig 180K config-5.8.11-bone17 3.5M System.map-4.19.94-ti-r50 9.7M vmlinuz-4.19.94-ti-r50 4.0K dtbs 4.1M System.map-5.8.11-bone17 8.6M vmlinuz-5.8.11-bone17 6.4M initrd.img-4.19.94-ti-r50 4.0K uboot 6.8M initrd.img-5.8.11-bone17 4.0K uEnv.txt
You see the new kernel files. Check uEnv.txt.
bone$ head /boot/uEnv.txt #Docs: http://elinux.org/Beagleboard:U-boot_partitioning_layout_2.0 # uname_r=4.19.94-ti-r50 uname_r=5.8.11-bone17
I added the commented out uname_r line to make it easy to switch between versions of the kernel.
Reboot and test out the new kernel.
bone$ sudo reboot
Copying to SD card on a running Bone - build_kernel.sh
You can stop here if you've just finished the build_deb.sh method of installing the kernel.
The Bone can have multiple versions of the kernel installed on it. It's possible to update the kernel on the Bone while it's running. After compiling on the host you need to install sshfs (you only need to do this once).
host$ sudo apt install sshfs
Then copy may_install_kernel.sh to the bb-kernel directory.
host$ cd ~/BeagleBoard/bb-kernel host$ cp ~/BeagleBoard/exercises/linux/kernel/may_install_kernel.sh tools
Now you can install the files using the following. Note, you must run may_install_kernel.sh from the directory above as shown.
host$ tools/may_install_kernel.sh Mounting sshfs ----------------------------- sshfs mounted Installing 4.4.15-bone11 to sshfs ‘/home/yoder/BeagleBoard/bb-kernel/deploy/4.4.15-bone11.zImage’ -> ‘/home/yoder/BeagleBoard/bb-kernel/deploy/disk/zImage’ Installing 4.4.15-bone11-dtbs.tar.gz to sshfs Installing 4.4.15-bone11 to sshfs ‘/home/yoder/BeagleBoard/bb-kernel/deploy/4.4.15-bone11.zImage’ -> ‘/home/yoder/BeagleBoard/bb-kernel/deploy/disk/boot/vmlinuz-4.4.15-bone11’ Installing 4.4.15-bone11-dtbs.tar.gz to sshfs info: /boot/uEnv.txt: uname_r=4.4.15-bone11 Installing 4.4.15-bone11-modules.tar.gz to sshfs tar: ./lib/modules/4.4.15-bone11/build: Cannot utime: No such file or directory tar: ./lib/modules/4.4.15-bone11/source: Cannot utime: No such file or directory tar: Exiting with failure status due to previous errors ‘/home/yoder/BeagleBoard/bb-kernel/deploy/config-4.4.15-bone11’ -> ‘/home/yoder/BeagleBoard/bb-kernel/deploy/disk/boot/config-4.4.15-bone11’ info: [4.4.15-bone11] now installed...
You may see about couple of error messages about build and source, but it seems to work anyway. If you look in /boot/uEvt.txt, you'll see it's ready to boot your new kernel.
bone$ head -3 /boot/uEnv.txt #Docs: http://elinux.org/Beagleboard:U-boot_partitioning_layout_2.0 uname_r=4.4.15-bone11
If you change your mind about which kernel to boot, just edit the uname line.
Copying to the SD Card on Host - build_kernel.sh
You can also install the kernel on an SD card that is mounted on your host computer. Plug it into your host and machine and run:
host$ tools/install_kernel.sh
This works like the may_install_kernel.sh, but it copies it to local host. Once copied, eject the SD card and plug it into your Bone and boot.
Updating to a new version of the kernel
When you build your kernel the uImage file has some version information in the name. For example vmlinuz-4.4.21-ti-r47. The 4.4.21 is the version of the kernel and the -ti-r47 is the version of the patches applied to the kernel for the BeagleBone. Over time new patches will be posted. These instructions show how to get the latest version.
How do you know if you have the latest version? Run
bone$ uname -a Linux yoder-debian-bone 4.4.21-ti-r47 #1 SMP Fri Sep 23 22:23:02 UTC 2016 armv7l GNU/Linux
This post to the Google Group lists the steps as "You need to recheckout master, delete your old branch and re-pull". Here's how you do it.
host$ cd linux-dev host$ git checkout master error: Your local changes to the following files would be overwritten by checkout: patches/defconfig Please, commit your changes or stash them before you can switch branches. Aborting
Hmm.... something has changed. See what it is.
host$ git diff patches/defconfig diff --git a/patches/defconfig b/patches/defconfig index d903776..3268287 100644 --- a/patches/defconfig +++ b/patches/defconfig @@ -2041,6 +2041,7 @@ CONFIG_JHD629_I2C=y # CONFIG_SERIAL_NONSTANDARD is not set # CONFIG_N_GSM is not set # CONFIG_TRACE_SINK is not set +CONFIG_LPD8806=m CONFIG_DEVKMEM=y #
It looks like some configuration setting have changed. Since we are getting a new version of the kernel, let's revert back to the previous file and try again.
host$ git checkout patches/defconfig host$ git checkout master Switched to branch 'master'
Success, now step 2.
host$ git branch -d am33x-v3.8
warning: deleting branch 'am33x-v3.8' that has been merged to
'refs/remotes/origin/am33x-v3.8', but not yet merged to HEAD.
Deleted branch am33x-v3.8 (was 3fc8a73).
Now repull
host$ git pull
Then start over again
host$ git checkout origin/am33x-v3.8 -b am33x-v3.8 Branch am33x-v3.8 set up to track remote branch am33x-v3.8 from origin. Switched to a new branch 'am33x-v3.8'
Your system.sh file should be unchanged, so start building
host$ ./build_kernel.sh
Mine took some 26 minutes on an 8 core machine.
Recovering
If your Beagle fails to boot, follow the EBC_Exercise_22_Recovering instructions to recover.
Embedded Linux Class by Mark A. Yoder
