crosstool-0.28-rc16 doubts

[John Lenz]

On 2004.05.18 10:28, Kai Ruottu wrote:
> Guild Jackson wrote:
> 
> > I ´d like to run a crosstool for arm linux in a red
> > hat 9 linux os and would like to know version of gcc,
> > glibc and binutils I could use to run it. I´ve
> > donwloaded the crosstool-0.28-rc16.
> > Could anyone help me?
> 
>   Being a dissident in these issues I would ask what could
> be a suitable crosstoolchain for those currently available
> ARM/XScale based handheld computers / PDAs ?  Must one have
> a specific Linux/ARM toolchain for all these ?  Are there
> any binary compatability between these, or is the issue like
> between RedHat and SuSE in Linux/x86, binaries produced for
> RedHat 9.0 are not guaranteed to run ok on SuSE 9.0 and so
> on?
> 
>   After thinking what most people on this list must be doing
> with their individualistic toolchains, it seems that nobody
> here thinks to produce any 'rock-solid' binaries for these
> existing Linux/ARM systems. But are porting their own Linuces
> for their own hardware in order to compete with the existing
> PDAs etc.  Or some really would like to do just that but are
> mislead to the embedded "hardware and software from scratch"
> area... Or the existing Linuces for those PDAs aren't good
> enough for them.

You should really check out the www.openembedded.org project.  The  
reason many "build it from scratch" projects are around is because  
since the community is so small, there haven't been any good utilities/ 
scripts/tools/whatever to build a distribution.  Many people have tried  
hacking the major distros like debian and gentoo to work, and have had  
some success.

One of the big hurdles has been the kernel.  Sharp has released their  
patches to the 2.4.21 kernel, but there hasn't been any good communitiy  
development.  Linux has progressed to 2.6 and the zaurus code hasn't  
kept up.  Some projects like pocketworkstation use a chroot environment  
and avoid the kernel issue completly.

Now I hope to remove that hurdle. I have restarted the development on  
the kernel.  See
www.cs.wisc.edu/~lenz/zaurus

I am currently working on upgrading the code sharp released to 2.6 and  
also submitting it to Russell King for inclusion into the mainline  
linux tree.  The development is taking place on openzaurus-devel@lists. 
sourceforge.net, so if you are interested, I suggest you and everyone  
who wants to help subscribe.
http://sourceforge.net/mail/?group_id=43045

> 
>   What for instance is the glibc used in those downloadable
> distros for Linux/ARM for the HP/Compaq's iPaqs? For the
> sold Softfield's and Sharp's ARM/XScale-based PDAs ?

The latest familiar (familiar.handhelds.org) uses 2.3.2
The latest openzaurus uses 2.3.2 (www.openzaurus.org)

uclibc is a possible future alternative for the openzaurus project.  I  
am currently working on ways to test the toolchain on the zaurus itself  
to determine if uclibc will work for us.

I am not sure about the linux distros that come with the zaurus... I am  
pretty sure they use older versions of glibc.

> 
>   If one thinks to produce apps for those WinCE or EPOC based
> PDAs or communicators, there are no such issues like this
> with Linux/ARM, there is only one currently available/used
> C library set for WinCE and for EPOC and one must use just
> that. Maybe this is also the issue with the NetBSD/ARM.
> 
>   For instance what is the glibc used in the new Zaurus SL-5600
> with XScale/400MHz and Linux ?

Well, it depends on what distro you put on it :)

> 
>   John Lenz (jelenz@students.wisc.edu) seemed to need a cross-
> toolchain for Sharp's Zaurus SL-5600 :


I "need" a cross toolchain because I am developing OpenZaurus and  
openembedded.  I am currently testing how crosstool builds a toolchain  
so I can compare it to how we are building a toolchain.

The openembedded project's goal is to provide everything needed  
(including gcc and glibc/uclibc) to build (and test) an embedded linux  
image.  Note this isn't vaporware either, we have had a booting image  
for a while now.  We aren't quite ready for a stable release, since  
development is still progressing rapidly!

John

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