7.1 KiB
How to build Armbian?
You will need to setup development environment within Ubuntu 14.04 LTS x64 server image and cca. 20G of free space.
Login as root and run:
apt-get -y -qq install git
git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/igorpecovnik/lib
cp lib/compile.sh .
nano compile.sh # alter if necessary
Make it executable.
chmod +x compile.sh
Run the script
./compile.sh
What is behind the build process?
Build process summary:
- creates development environment on the top of X86/AMD64 Ubuntu 14.04 LTS,
- download proven sources, applies patches and use tested configurations,
- cross-compile universal boot loader (u-boot), kernel and other tools and drivers,
- pack kernel, uboot, dtb and root customizations into debs,
- debootstrap minimalistic Debian Wheezy, Jessie and Ubuntu Trusty into SD card image,
- install additional packets, apply customizations and shrink image to it's actual size.
Switches clarification:
- KERNEL_ONLY - if we want to compile kernel, u-boot, headers and dtbs package only.
- KERNEL_CONFIGURE will bring up kernel configurator otherwise kernel will be compiled with script presets located in lib/config/linux-*.config
- KERNEL_KEEP_CONFIG overwrite kernel config before compilation
- CLEAN_LEVEL defines what should be cached. This is useful when we are rebuilind images or builind more than one image.
- 0 = executes make clean and delete previously created deb files [default]
- 1 = executes make clean
- 2 = does nothing
- 3 = provide kernel selection if any present
- 4 = delete all output files (rootfs cache, debs)
- USE_CCACHE use a C compiler cache to speed up the build process
- BUILD_DESKTOP builds a desktop on the top of the system with hw acceleration for some boards.
- AFTERINSTALL is a variable with command executed in a process of building just before closing image to insert some of your custom applications or fixes.
- FBTFT is a driver for small displays. Only applicable for old kernels (3.4-3.14)
- EXTERNAL compiles custom drivers
- FORCE ignore manual changes to source
- BUILD_ALL cycle through selected boards and make images
Image compiling example with partial cache:
[su_youtube_advanced url="https://youtu.be/zeShf12MNLg" controls="yes" showinfo="no" loop="yes" rel="no" modestbranding="yes"]
Creating compile environment
At first run we are downloading all necessary dependencies.
Using board configuration
We need to get some predefined variables about selected board. Which kernel & uboot source to use, modules to load, which is the build number, do we need to have a single partition or dual with boot on fat, which extra drivers to compile out of the kernel tree, ...
Board configuration example:
REVISION="1.1" # Version number is altered by board maintainer
BOOTSIZE="16" # FAT boot partition in MB, 0 for none
BOOTLOADER="https://github.com/UDOOboard/uboot-imx" # Uboot source location
BOOTSOURCE="u-boot-neo" # Local folder where to download it
BOOTCONFIG="udoo_neo_config" # Which compile config to use
CPUMIN="198000" # CPU minimum frequency
CPUMAX="996000" # CPU minimum frequency
MODULES="bonding" # old kernel modules
MODULES_NEXT="" # new kernel modules
LINUXKERNEL="https://github.com/UDOOboard/linux_kernel" # kernel source location
LINUXCONFIG="linux-udoo-neo" # kernel configuration
LINUXSOURCE="linux-neo" # Local folder where to download it
LINUXFAMILY="udoo" # boards share kernel
This isn't ment to be user configurable but you can alter variables if you know what you are doing.
Downloading sources
When we know where are the sources and where they need to be the download / update process starts. This might take from several minutes to several hours.
Patching
In patching process we are appling patches to sources. The process is defined in:
lib/patching.sh
User patching
You can add your own patches outside build script. Place your patches inside appropriate directory, for kernel or u-boot. There are no limitations except all patches must have ending .patch
userpatches/kernel
userpatches/u-boot
Compiling or choosing from cache
- compile from scratch with additional source cleaning and menu config.
- select cached / already made kernel
Debootstrap
Debootstrap creates fresh Debian / Ubuntu root filesystem templates or use cached under:
output/cache/rootfs/$DISTRIBUTION.tgz
To recreate those files you need to remove them manually.
Kernel install
When root filesystem is ready we need to instal kernel image with modules, board definitions, firmwares. Along with this we set the CPU frequency min/max, hostname, modules, network interfaces templates. Here is also the place to install headers and fix + native compile them on the way.
Distribution fixes
Each distributin has it's own way of doing things:
- serial console
- different packets
- configuration locations
Board fixes
Each board has their own tricks: different device names, firmware loaders, configuration (de)compilers, hardware configurators
Desktop installation
You can build a desktop withing the image. Consider this feature as experimental. Hardware acceleration on Allwinner boards is working within kernel 3.4.x only.
External applications
This place is reserved for custom applications. There is one example of application - USB redirector.
Closing image
There is an option to add some extra commands just before closing an image which is also automaticaly shrink to it's actual size with some small reserve.
Directory structure
It will be something like this:
compile.sh compile execution script
lib/bin/ blobs, firmwares, static compiled, bootsplash
lib/config/ kernel, board, u-boot, hostapd, package list
lib/documentation/ user and developers manual
lib/patch/ collection of kernel and u-boot patches
lib/scripts/ firstrun, arm hardware info, firmware loaders
lib/LICENSE licence description
lib/README.md quick manual
lib/boards.sh board specfic installation, kernel install, desktop install
lib/common.sh creates environment, compiles, shrink image
lib/configuration.sh boards presets - kernel source, config, modules, ...
lib/debootstrap.sh basic system template creation
lib/distributions.sh system specific installation and fixes
lib/main.sh user input and script calls
lib/patching.sh board and system dependend kernel & u-boot patch calls
lib/repo-update.sh creates and updates your local repository
lib/repo-show-sh show packets in your local repository
lib/upgrade.sh script to upgrade older images
sources/ source code for kernel, uboot and other utilities
output/repository repository
output/cache cache for root filesystem and headers compilation
output/debs deb packeges
output/images zip packed RAW image
userpatches/kernel put your kernel patches here
userpatches/u-boot put your u-boot patches here