Crossdev BINHOST for my netbook

[platojones]

I'm trying to build a crossdev binhost for my underpowered netbook. I've got a very, very powerful desktop available for compiling binary packages, but I'm not sure exactly where to start. I've been researching the Gentoo docs and the forums, but I don't see where anybody has really documented the approach I'm looking for.

I don't want to go with distcc, since I'm using MARCH=native on my host desktop and don't want to lose that.

I've already go the toolchain I need which I installed with crossdev. It's really the portage environment I need to get set up. Considering I'll be using building packages for a significantly different system that my host, I'll be using new USE flags, ARCH, etc, so I'm sure I'll have to have a self-contained portage environment. If I go with a self-contained portage enviroment, it might as well have it's own portage package library, so I can update only the packages needed for the netbook at will.

Is a chroot environment the way to go? I've looked at sysroot, but that seems to be for rolling your own crossdev toolchain, outside of crossdev. I don't think I need that.

Anybody have any experience with this type of setup they'd be willing to share?

[NeddySeagoon]

platojones,

You can use distcc and still use -march=native on the helpers. You must not use -march=native on the netbook. Consider what happens when -march=native is passed to a helper.
Lets just say you won't like the result. The versions of gcc must be identical on all systems too.

Crossdev is best documented in the Embedded Handbook but you may not need to go this route.

If your more powerful processor can run the netbook code, you can make a netbook install in a directory on the build host. To build, chroot into the dir and run everything normally.
Be sure you set buildpkg in the FEATURES, so binary packages are saved. Run one of the many one liners on the netboot to see what gcc would use for -march=native, then put that into CHOST=
One of my systems has

Code: Select all

CFLAGS="-O2 -pipe -march=amdfam10 -mcx16 -msahf -mpopcnt --param l1-cache-size=64 --param l1-cache-line-size=64 --param l2-cache-size=1024 -mtune=amdfam10"

IF you even need to post that, be sure to explaine where it came from to avoid the suggestion to use -march=native.

You can also set up a crossdev environment and use distcc, which is what I do to build armv6 pacakegs for my Raspberry Pi, on an amd64 system.

[platojones]

Thanks for the thoughts Neddy.

After considering your points, I think I'll give distcc a go after all.