Re: [gentoo-embedded] PPC embedded base package

[Anthony Russello <arussello@rogers.com>]

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.

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@yahoo.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@rogers.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@rogers.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)
> > > > /var is a ramdisk, /tmp is a symlink to
> /var/tmp
> > > > / is read only otherwise (cramfs filesystem)
> > > > 
> > > > As far as apps, we basically just need:
> > > > 
> > > > boa
> > > > busybox
> > > > samba 2.2.x (samba 3 requires additional
> > libraries
> > > > in the final image)
> > > > sysvinit
> > > > sqlite
> > > > quota-tools
> > > > sys-utils
> > > > e2fsprogs
> > > > 
> > > > Now, we created one a while back using an axis
> > chip,
> > > > and they had a full
> > > > development package that we just modified as
> > needed.
> > > >  In the end we
> > > > wound up with an image that had about 2 MB
> left
> > over
> > > > of the eight.
> > > > RIght now, we're kind of starting fresh with
> an
> > 8241
> > > > based system, so I
> > > > wanted to get some input on what
> recommendations
> > you
> > > > might have.
> > > > 
> > > > I've already been playing around with a custom
> > thing
> > > > from the ground up.
> > > > But just in case, I'd like to see if there is
> > > > something else we could
> > > > look into.
> > > > 
> > > > I've been using gentoo for quite some time now
> > > > (since the 1.4 days) but
> > > > I haven't been following the gentoo embedded
> > list
> > > > for the most part.
> > > > 
> > > > Cheers,
> > > > Anthony
> > > > 
> > > > --
> > > > gentoo-embedded@gentoo.org mailing list
> > > > 
> > > > 
> > > 
> > > 
> > > 
> > >
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