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 unless you add 'INHERIT += rm_work' to your local.conf; by default, the generated filesystem is bigger than Verdex Flash and can 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 There are numerous methods of kernel development; some consider Buildroot the most straightforward. Those using OE may find these links offer useful workflows for kernel development:

• http://ao2.it/en/blog/2010/05/27/neat-compilerun-cycle-git-and-openembedded
• http://bec-systems.com/site/521/best-practices-for-kernel-development-with-openembedded
• http://blogs.elphel.com/2009/12/openembeddedangstrom-kernel-workflow/

To directly cross-compile the 2.6.21 kernel from the OE/SVN tree try these commands:

  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-