Build Environment - Please Help !

[GoogleCodeExporter]

Hi,

I'd like to enhance/build snakeos myself.
I'd also like to develop/modify opkg's.

I can't find any info on the build environment needed.

Please can somebody tell me:
1. What OS do I need to use
2. on what hardware
3. what additional software I need to add to the OS to do the builds
4. where I can get the source code and any required SDKs.

Is there a HowTo (that I just can't find) somewhere ?

Would a "Building SnakeOS" Wiki be a good idea ?

Cheers,

Dave

Original issue reported on code.google.com by dst.myrd...@gmail.com on 30 Jan 2013 at 4:58

[GoogleCodeExporter]

Welcome! There's some information in the FAQ 
(http://code.google.com/p/snake-os/wiki/FAQ). See "Q: Compile. Hey guys it is 
great, How can t make my own one?" and "Q: Compile - dependences. What are 
known external dependencies for the source compile?"

1. I use Arch linux. It should also work on recent Ubuntu, but I haven't tested 
it since 11.10 or so.

2. Hardware doesn't matter. You should have around 2GB disk space though.

3. I think the dependencies in the FAQ are a bit off. mtd-tools and upx are 
definitely needed but I'm not sure about the rest.

4. Source and sdk are in svn. Download with:
svn checkout http://snake-os.googlecode.com/svn/trunk/ snake-os

To compile run "sh mk_snakeos_image.sh" as root. Check for error messages in 
the output, the error handling is pretty bad and it tends to keep going even if 
parts failed to compile.

For opkg you can find some information on 
http://code.google.com/p/snake-os/wiki/Packaging or take a look at the packages 
tree in svn (http://code.google.com/p/snake-os/source/browse/#svn%2Fpackages) 
for some examples. 

Original comment by stefansc...@googlemail.com on 30 Jan 2013 at 7:17

[GoogleCodeExporter]

Thanks Stefan.

I omitted to ask...

gcc 3.x or 4.x  ?
does the snakeos source/SDK contain everything needed to cross compile to 8210 
from within an i386 environment, or do I need a particular compiler variant ?

Also, is it likely to build under debian 6.x ?

And is there a NAS emulator for testing the build ? - I don't wanna make a 
mistake and brick my NAS with my first (or any) build !

Sorry about all the really dumb questions - I was a UNIX analyst/programmer 10+ 
years ago (literally) and have in the past written even things like kernel 
extensions and devices drivers, but it seems I'm rather rusty !!! Plus I've 
never compiled anything for the 8210.

BTW I found the google group for snakeos, so I'll ask any future questions 
there, if this is not really the right place.

Cheers

Dave

Original comment by dst.myrd...@gmail.com on 30 Jan 2013 at 11:51

[GoogleCodeExporter]

8210? We are talking about the same devices, right?

The SDK comes with gcc 3.4.6 and a few common libraries. It's under 
tools/arm-uclibc-3.4.6/.

I never tested it under Debian, but it will probably work.

There's no emulator. Somebody compiled the user space with another SDK, 
replaced the kernel and had that running in Qemu. But that's not really the 
same thing.

It's fairly easy to recover via serial console + tftp (unless the bootloader 
got trashed, but that's not really possible via the updater). I'd recommend 
getting that to work before flashing your first image. I can also test your 
images if needed.

I haven't done embedded linux before I started messing with snake os either. So 
its been a learning experience for me too.

Original comment by stefansc...@googlemail.com on 31 Jan 2013 at 2:11

[GoogleCodeExporter]

Hey yeah! - mis-type. I meant 8132 ! :)

Many thanks for the info.

Cheers,
Dave

Original comment by dst.myrd...@gmail.com on 31 Jan 2013 at 7:28