Category:How to - OpenEmbedded

Gumstix uses the OpenEmbedded build environment so developers can create a complete Linux Distribution for embedded systems.

Overo

Instructions for setting up an OE build environment for the Overo series have been posted on www.gumstix.com here.

Verdex Pro

Instructions for setting up an OE build environment for the Verdex Pro series have been posted in various places at various times. As of Oct2010, the current instructions are here. They tell you how to build a filesystem image out of your own Git repository with the current kernel (2.6.32 in Oct2010). Cautions: the build tree can take up over 30 GB; the resulting filesystem is bigger than Verdex Flash and must be loaded on a specially partitioned MMC card (instructions linked from the page).

Instructions for building a 2.6.21 kernel and appropriate filesystem, from OE and SVN, are here. As of Oct2010, some of the download URLs are stale, but you should be able to fix all problems by Googling for the error messages.

The old Buildroot documentation for 2.6.21gum kernels is still here. As of Oct2010, many of the download links are stale, but individual packages are available here or by Googling the individual package names as they come up in error messages.

Kernel Doing kernel development is easiest in Buildroot. In OE, many sources discuss bypassing the bitbake recipes and using the OE cross compiler directly. As of Oct2010, those instructions mainly apply to Overo, but are easily adaptable to Verdex pro. Commands for cross-compiling in the 2.6.21 OE/SVN tree are:

  source ${GUMSTIX_TOP}/extras/profile
  cd ${GUMSTIX_TOP}/tmp/work/gumstix-custom-verdex-angstrom-linux-gnueabi/gumstix-kernel-2.6.21-r1/linux-2.6.21
  make ARCH=arm CROSS_COMPILE=${GUMSTIX_TOP}/tmp/cross/bin/arm-angstrom-linux-gnueabi-