Buildroot for TI OMAP35x based EbvBeagle

Having an EbvBeagle (thanks to EBV - in Padua (ITALY)) and having begun a project to develop a concise but complete rootfs for building software based on Qt 4.5, we are working to adapt the famous patch to compile buildroot a rootfs optimized for OMAP35x to run on the NAND FLASH or SD card.

We have integrated a new tab in the buildroot Beagle and added support for the OMAP35x processor:

-mtune=armv7-a -march=armv7 -mcpu=armv7 -mfp=neon -mfloat-abi=hard


and we have integrated the latest TI kernel (2.6.29-rc3). The integration of Qt 4.5 will be addressed when we have a rootfs stable.

Initial results are good, although the refinement of the configuration will continue for some time.

On this page the progress of activities.

NOTE: This project is no longer supported because we changed tool for the filesystem build.

1st Update

1st update:
The basic system built with buildroot started correctly from the NAND flash (12 seconds slow for the shell prompt.)
The jffs2 rootfs was created (13.4M used) and includes all utilities and libraries as the basis for starting work.
The next step is to insert the QT Embedded 4.5 with demos and examples relating to verify the performance and stability.
Then we will bring a graphics application for our internal audits.

As kernel we used the TI and the "unofficial" with support of the DSS taken from:

git://gitorious.org/linux-omap-dss2/linux.git

2nd Update

2nd update:
We have integrated the kernel "linux-dss-omap1 from GIT because it supports more devices on the Beagle. Also included was the last U-BOOT adapted for the Beagle, which recognizes the card's 256MB of RAM EBV Beagle.

The first version is available in the directory section of the DEMO Linux Repository

3rd Update

3rd update

Linux distribution for EBV Beagle board (Beagleboard - TI OMAP 3530 - rev. C2 or sup) based on buildroot-2009.08-rc2 with various additions to allow easy integration between applications and rootfs.

.Total size of the rootfs: about 120MB
.Time to startup the graphical login: about 10 seconds

Graphics libraries:
- X11 (Xfbdev with twm window manager)
- SDL
- DirectFB
- QT Embedded 4.5
(libraries, demos and examples)

Miscellaneous:
- C + + library - MPlayer optimizations for use with VFP and neon
- Rdesktop
- Various X applications
- Application MTD

Kernel:
- Based on git linux-omap1-dss
Support for devices based dell'OMAP 3530 (armv7, Cortex-A8, neon, NAND FLASH, USB, SPI, LCD controller, serial, audio in / out, MMC / SD, USB Ethernet, video cam on USB)

 Te binary image (uboot, uimage and rootfs.tar.bz2) is available from this link : http://www.aptasys.eu/index.php?option=com_remository&Itemid=29&func=startdown&id=19

NOTE: this link may be down because is hosted into a server not available 24/7. Retry in a working day.

ebv_beagle_buildroot

Last Update

Last update

We are working on a new verision of the buildroot based on the buildroot-2009.08.

Also we are including new functionalities :

  • New linux kernel and kgdb software debug procedure
  • mplayer with CORTEX-A8 NEON optimisation patch
  • reduced startup time as the previous release
  • Integration with TI 3D library and DSP bridge

We plan to release this version starting November 2009, depending on other jobs already started.