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Letharion
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PostPosted: Tue Nov 05, 2013 10:57 pm    Post subject: Has ARM become unsupported? Reply with quote

Looking at the ARM docs, they have this at the top:

Quote:
Disclaimer : This document is not valid and is not maintained anymore.


Am I not finding the existing newer documentation, or has ARM simply lost it's maintainers and is now unsupported?
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eccerr0r
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PostPosted: Wed Nov 06, 2013 12:15 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I heard that ARM machines have gotten so disjoint from each other that basically they either need their own distro or at least some kernel that requires to know every single nook and cranny each possible ARM SOC has. If someone else knows more about them, please comment, but it seems it's nowhere near how like all PCs are close enough that they can boot from the same kernel, all depends are on disk drivers (which a lot are the same too)...

It's become throwaway hardware... *sigh* The software follows with the hardware...
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axl
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PostPosted: Fri Dec 20, 2013 7:34 pm    Post subject: raspberry pi Reply with quote

i just finished. it took about a week, but i'm done.

raspberry pi is an arm arch. i had no problem installing.
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xaviermiller
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PostPosted: Fri Dec 20, 2013 10:02 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I had no problem on a Pandaboard, and I still have zero problem on a raspberry pi rev A (256Mb RAM).
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cwr
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PostPosted: Sat Dec 21, 2013 8:49 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Works on Beaglebone Black as well - both cross-compiling and building packages natively.

Will
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shodanx
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PostPosted: Thu Feb 20, 2014 8:48 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Hi,

I'm trying to install gentoo on a Allwinner A13-based tablet but I'm having a hard time just finding out where to begin. The gentoo ARM handbook only specifies how to install via netboot which is not an option on this tablet (wifi is the only networking option). I believe I can put a specially named file on a microsd card and it will attempt booting it, but there doesn't appear to be a gentoo arm livesd(?) image anywhere ?

Any insight into this ? I think gentoo is the perfect OS to thinker with this without having to wait for someone else to prepare whatever app you need for you.
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chithanh
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PostPosted: Thu Feb 20, 2014 11:55 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Specially named file means kernel image? If so, then cross compile a kernel (possibly with built-in command line) and place it on the microSD card, along with an extracted stage3.

For instructions on cross-compiling the kernel, see http://www.gentoo.org/proj/en/base/embedded/handbook/
Allwinner still need specially patched kernels I think, so you cannot use gentoo-sources.
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cwr
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PostPosted: Thu Feb 20, 2014 6:01 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

There are various types of ARM CPU, and I can't keep track of them, but building for a TI BeagleBone Black
was relatively straightforward. The hard part was building a working cross-compiler (crossdev is fine, but
various patches are still needed). I also found a Stage 3 file for the right ARM CPU; it was then just
a question of cross-compiling the extra stuff I needed.

The kernel sources themselves are nothing to do with Gentoo - they are based on Linux stable, and patched
with a specific set of patches; you'll have to find the equivalent for your CPU.

Some packages can't be cross-compiled, either because of their special build process (Python), or because their
Autotools setup is broken. Once I had a shell up I simply compiled those on the target machine.


Will
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depontius
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PostPosted: Thu Feb 20, 2014 7:31 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

By way of general information...

From regular reading of LKML the collective mess called the ARM architectures is well recognized, and there has been a concerted effort underway for some time now to fix that up. As others have said, it's not so much the ARM CPU as it is the rest of the ARM SOC stuff. But even that's getting fixed. Look in on some of the "device tree" (not sure if that's one word or two) discussion for more information. Obviously this work is ongoing, and equally obviously it not present on older kernels. But there's hope.
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schorsch_76
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PostPosted: Tue May 27, 2014 8:31 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

chithanh wrote:
Specially named file means kernel image? If so, then cross compile a kernel (possibly with built-in command line) and place it on the microSD card, along with an extracted stage3.

For instructions on cross-compiling the kernel, see http://www.gentoo.org/proj/en/base/embedded/handbook/
Allwinner still need specially patched kernels I think, so you cannot use gentoo-sources.


Allwinner SoC is supported by mainline kernel since 3.14 . Beaglebone Black is also supported by mainline Kernel since 3.14. I own a BBB my own and run a vanilla 3.14.4 Kernel on it. The Allwinner i dont own, but from my research results, i remember that it is supported. Just grep the kenrel mainline log for Allwinner.

The infrastructure seems to be changed. The main reason for the big arm missery was the devicetree stuff. You can see what platforms are supported if you grep through the arm arch directory and search for the dtb (device tree) files.
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