Has ARM become unsupported?

Letharion · Veteran Joined: 13 Jun 2005 Posts: 1344 Location: Sweden

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

eccerr0r · Posted: Wed Nov 06, 2013 12:15 am Post subject:

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 · Veteran Joined: 11 Oct 2002 Posts: 1146 Location: Romania

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

raspberry pi is an arm arch. i had no problem installing.

xaviermiller · Posted: Fri Dec 20, 2013 10:02 pm Post subject:

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 · Veteran Joined: 17 Dec 2005 Posts: 1969

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

Will

shodanx · n00b Joined: 12 Apr 2005 Posts: 10

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.

chithanh · Posted: Thu Feb 20, 2014 11:55 am Post subject:

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.

cwr · Veteran Joined: 17 Dec 2005 Posts: 1969

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

depontius · Advocate Joined: 05 May 2004 Posts: 3522

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 · Guru Joined: 19 Jun 2012 Posts: 452