Prebuilt Linux Distribution for AXS103 v1.3

This is the release of Linux distribution for the ARC AXS103 v1.3.

This release is built on top of upstream Buildroot 2019.02.

Important notes:

• Current release is built with Buildroot from tag arc-2019.02-axs103-v1.3-rc2 and snps_axs103_defconfig.
• Main components of that release
  • Linux kernel is vanilla upstream 4.19.36 release linux-4.19.36.
  • U-Boot bootloader's version is v2019.04.
  • ARC GNU Tools of version arc-2019.03-release. Tag arc-2019.03-release in Toolchain repository.
• Included software packages:
  • GDB (both server and target gdb)
  • mpv player
  • OpenSSH (both server and client parts)
  • RT-tests
  • iperf3
  • Framebuffer test application

Please refer to following articles for more information on how to build and run Linux kernel on AXS board:
[1] Getting Started with Linux on ARC AXS103 Software Development Platform (SDP)
[2] How to build filesystem and kernel images for ARC cores with Buildroot
[3] Flashing U‐Boot in ARC AXS10x Software Development Platforms (SDP)
[4] How to run ARC Linux kernel and debug (with MetaWare Debugger)
[5] How to debug applications on AXS10x SDP with OpenOCD
[6] How to debug applications on AXS10x SDP with Ashling GDB Server

Attached are following files:

• uImage - binary image that contain both Linux kernel and init ramfs for use with U-Boot bootloader.
• vmlinux - binary image that contain both Linux kernel and init ramfs for use with debugger on host computer via JTAG. Simple example how to execute Linux kernel with help of MDB available here for more options see [4], [5] and [6].
• u-boot - binary image that contain U-Boot bootloader for use with debugger on host computer via JTAG
• u-boot.bin - binary image that contain U-Boot bootloader for programming in motherboard's SPI flash (load address must be set as 0x81000000). See [3].

arc-2019.02 for AXS103 v1.3 RC1

This is the first release candidate of Linux distribution for the ARC AXS103 v1.3.

This release is built on top of upstream Buildroot 2019.02.

Important notes:

• Current release is built with Buildroot from tag arc-2019.02-axs103-v1.3-rc1 and snps_axs103_defconfig.
• Main components of that release
  • Linux kernel is vanilla upstream 4.19.36 release linux-4.19.36.
  • U-Boot bootloader's version is v2019.04.
  • ARC GNU Tools of version arc-2019.03-rc2. Tag arc-2019.03-rc2 in Toolchain repository.
• Included software packages:
  • GDB (both server and target gdb)
  • mpv player
  • OpenSSH (both server and client parts)
  • RT-tests
  • iperf3
  • Framebuffer test application

Please refer to following articles for more information on how to build and run Linux kernel on AXS board:
[1] Getting Started with Linux on ARC AXS103 Software Development Platform (SDP)
[2] How to build filesystem and kernel images for ARC cores with Buildroot
[3] Flashing U‐Boot in ARC AXS10x Software Development Platforms (SDP)
[4] How to run ARC Linux kernel and debug (with MetaWare Debugger)
[5] How to debug applications on AXS10x SDP with OpenOCD
[6] How to debug applications on AXS10x SDP with Ashling GDB Server

Attached are following files:

• uImage - binary image that contain both Linux kernel and init ramfs for use with U-Boot bootloader.
• vmlinux - binary image that contain both Linux kernel and init ramfs for use with debugger on host computer via JTAG. Simple example how to execute Linux kernel with help of MDB available here for more options see [4], [5] and [6].
• u-boot - binary image that contain U-Boot bootloader for use with debugger on host computer via JTAG
• u-boot.bin - binary image that contain U-Boot bootloader for programming in motherboard's SPI flash (load address must be set as 0x81000000). See [3].

Prebuilt Linux Distribution for ARC HS Development Kit (HSDK), 2018.01

This is release 2018.01 of the Linux distribution for the ARC HS Development Kit (HSDK) board, v1.0. This distribution contains prebuilt binaries ready to download and execute to quickly get up and running on the ARC HSDK platform.

This release was built using upstream Buildroot version 2017.11.

Please consult ARC Linux wiki for additional information on linux usage with ARC Development Platforms.

Updates since RC1

• Minor fixes for U-Boot bootloader and Linux kernel
  Note that all pre-built binaries and images were regenerated. So for better results please re-deploy sdcard.img on your micro SD-card to make sure everything is up to date.

Installation

Prebuilt software in this release comes in the form of an microSD-card image containing all required software, including uImage, root file system as well as U-Boot environment. To deploy that image on microSD-card:

• On Linux hosts, use dd command as follows: sudo dd if=sdcard.img of=/dev/mmcblk0 bs=1M, note it is required to first make sure no partitions of this SD-card is mounted currently, otherwise results of dd command will be overridden by previous contents of the card producing completely unexpected results.
• On Windows hosts, use "Win32 Disk Imager" utility, available here: https://sourceforge.net/projects/win32diskimager/
  Once the image is deployed on microSD-card, just insert it in the microSD-card slot of the HSDK and reset the board.
  Note DIP-switch BIM should be in 1:off, 2:on state while both BMC and BCS should be in 1: on, 2:on state.

Key Components

• Linux kernel v4.14.7
• U-Boot bootloader based on 2017.11 with custom patches (to be included in future upstream U-Boot release)
• ARC GNU Tools v2017.09 (uclibc toolchain version)

Supported Peripherals

• SD-card
• Gigabit Ethernet
• USB 1.1 and 2.0
• SPI serial flash (support limited to U-Boot bootloader)
• HDMI video output via external USB-to-HDMI converters based on DisplayLink USB 2.0 chips

Prebuilt Root File System Contents

• GDB (both server and target gdb)
• MPlayer
• OpenSSH (both server and client parts)
• RT-tests
• iperf3
• Framebuffer test application
• perf (Linux tools)
• Bonnie++

Download Files Description

hsdk.dtb - device tree blob for HSDK
rootfs.tar - tarball of root filesystem contents
sdcard.img - image file to be written to SD-card
u-boot - Elf file containing U-Boot bootloader for use with debugger on host computer via JTAG.
u-boot.bin - binary image containing U-Boot bootloader for programming to on-board SPI flash (without prebootloader-specific header, so it won't be found by the prebootloader).
u-boot.head - binary image containing U-Boot bootloader for programming to on-board SPI flash (note prebootloader-specific header is appended so image is really ready to be programmed in the flash).
uboot.env - binary including U-Boot environment variables guarded by checksum, please don't edit manually.
uImage - binary image containing both Linux kernel and initramfs for use with U-Boot bootloader.
vmlinux - Elf file containing both Linux kernel and initramfs for use with debugger on host computer via JTAG.

How to reproduce prebuilt artifacts

1. Download tarball with sources of Buildroot from this tag:

# wget https://github.com/foss-for-synopsys-dwc-arc-processors/buildroot/archive/arc-2017.11-hsdk-release.tar.gz

2. Extract sources from tarball:

# tar xzf arc-2017.11-hsdk-release.tar.gz
# cd buildroot-arc-2017.11-hsdk-release/

3. Configure Buildroot:

# make snps_hsdk_defconfig

4. Build everything. All built artifacts will be available in output/images folder:

# make

# ls -1 output/images/                                                  
boot.vfat
hsdk.dtb
rootfs.ext2
rootfs.ext4
sdcard.img
sdcard.img.gz
u-boot
u-boot.bin
uboot.env
u-boot.head
uImage

Prebuilt Linux Distribution for ARC HS Development Kit (HSDK), 2018.01 RC1

This is the first release candidate of release 2018.01 of the Linux distribution for the ARC HS Development Kit (HSDK) board, v1.0. This distribution contains prebuilt binaries ready to download and execute to quickly get up and running on the ARC HSDK platform.

This release was built using upstream Buildroot version 2017.08.1.

Please consult ARC Linux wiki for additional information on linux usage with ARC Development Platforms.

Installation

Prebuilt software in this release comes in the form of an microSD-card image containing all required software, including uImage, root file system as well as U-Boot environment. To deploy that image on microSD-card:

• On Linux hosts, use dd command as follows: sudo dd if=sdcard.img of=/dev/mmcblk0 bs=1M
• On Windows hosts, use "Win32 Disk Imager" utility, available here: https://sourceforge.net/projects/win32diskimager/
  Once the image is deployed on microSD-card, just insert it in the microSD-card slot of the HSDK and reset the board.
  Note DIP-switch BIM should be in 1:off, 2:on state while both BMC and BCS should be in 1: on, 2:on state.

Key Components

• Linux kernel v4.14.7
• U-Boot bootloader based on 2017.11 with custom patches (to be included in future upstream U-Boot release)
• ARC GNU Tools v2017.09 (uclibc toolchain version)

Supported Peripherals

• SD card
• Gigabit Ethernet
• USB 1.1 and 2.0
• SPI serial flash (support limited to U-Boot bootloader)
• HDMI video output via external USB-to-HDMI converters based on DisplayLink USB 2.0 chips

Prebuilt Root File System Contents

• GDB (both server and target gdb)
• MPlayer
• OpenSSH (both server and client parts)
• RT-tests
• iperf3
• Framebuffer test application
• perf (Linux tools)
• Bonnie++

Download Files Description

rootfs.tar - tarball of root filesystem contents
sdcard.img - image file to be written to SD-card
u-boot - Elf file containing U-Boot bootloader for use with debugger on host computer via JTAG.
u-boot.bin - binary image containing U-Boot bootloader for programming to on-board SPI flash (without prebootloader-specific header, so it won't be found by the prebootloader).
u-boot.head - binary image containing U-Boot bootloader for programming to on-board SPI flash (note prebootloader-specific header is appended so image is really ready to be programmed in the flash).
uboot.env - binary including U-Boot environment variables guarded by checksum, please don't edit manually.
uImage - binary image containing both Linux kernel and initramfs for use with U-Boot bootloader.
vmlinux - Elf file containing both Linux kernel and initramfs for use with debugger on host computer via JTAG.

How to reproduce prebuilt artifacts

1. Download tarball with sources of Buildroot from this tag:

# wget https://github.com/foss-for-synopsys-dwc-arc-processors/buildroot/archive/arc-2017.11-hsdk-rc1.tar.gz

2. Extract sources from tarball:

# tar xzf arc-2017.11-hsdk-rc1.tar.gz
# cd buildroot-arc-2017.11-hsdk-rc1/

3. Configure Buildroot:

# make snps_hsdk_defconfig

4. Build everything. All built artifacts will be available in output/images folder:

# make

# ls -1 output/images/                                                  
boot.vfat
hsdk.dtb
rootfs.ext2
rootfs.ext4
sdcard.img
sdcard.img.gz
u-boot
u-boot.bin
uboot.env
u-boot.head
uImage

arc-2017.02 for AXS103 v1.2 RC1

This is the first release candidate of Linux distribution for the ARC AXS103 v1.2.

This release is built on top of upstream Buildroot 2017.02 and includes support for ARC AXS103 only.

Important notes:

• Current release is built with Buildroot from tag arc-2017.02-axs103-v1.2-rc1 and snps_axs103_defconfig.
• Main components of that release
  • Linux kernel is vanilla upstream 4.10.9 release linux-4.10.9.
  • U-Boot bootloader based on v2017.01 release with custom patches for correct kick-start of slave cores.
  • ARC GNU Tools of version arc-2016.09. Tag arc-2016.09 in Toolchain repository.
• Included software packages:
  • GDB (both server and target gdb)
  • MPlayer
  • OpenSSH (both server and client parts)
  • RT-tests
  • iperf3
  • Framebuffer test application

Please refer to following articles for more information on how to build and run Linux kernel on AXS board:
[1] Getting Started with Linux on ARC AXS103 Software Development Platform (SDP)
[2] How to build filesystem and kernel images for ARC cores with Buildroot
[3] Flashing U‐Boot in ARC AXS10x Software Development Platforms (SDP)
[4] How to run ARC Linux kernel and debug (with MetaWare Debugger)
[5] How to debug applications on AXS10x SDP with OpenOCD
[6] How to debug applications on AXS10x SDP with Ashling GDB Server

Attached are following files:

• uImage - binary image that contain both Linux kernel and init ramfs for use with U-Boot bootloader.
• vmlinux - binary image that contain both Linux kernel and init ramfs for use with debugger on host computer via JTAG. Simple example how to execute Linux kernel with help of MDB available here for more options see [4], [5] and [6].
• u-boot - binary image that contain U-Boot bootloader for use with debugger on host computer via JTAG
• u-boot.bin - binary image that contain U-Boot bootloader for programming in motherboard's SPI flash (load address must be set as 0x81000000). See [3].

arc-2016.02 for VDK

uclibc: Create backward compatibility symlinks

Apps built against oldish uClibc (0.9.x.x) require .so.0 libs
on target but uClibc-ng (1.0.x) creates .so.1 libs because
its ABI version was bumped from 0 to 1.

This change allows to use apps built against old uClibc on systems with
uClibc-ng system libraries.

Signed-off-by: Alexey Brodkin <abrodkin@synopsys.com>

Linux 4.4 for ARC AXS101 and AXS103 Software Development Platforms - RC2

This is the second release candidate for Linux 4.4 for the ARC SDP Platforms.

This release is built on top of upstream Buildroot 2016.02 and includes support for ARC AXS101 and AXS103 SDP products.

Important notes:

• Current release is built with Buildroot from tag arc-2016.02-rc2 and snps_axs101_defconfig \ snps_axs103_defconfig
• Main components of that release
  • Linux kernel based on 4.4.6 upstream branch linux-4.4.6 with backported from 4.7 support or ARC PGU and patch for using core frequency configured by pre-bootloader.
  • U-Boot bootloader based on v2016.03 branch with custom patches U-Boot-arc-cache-really-do-flush_dcache_all-even-if-IOC-exists.patch, U-Boot-arc-Add-virt_to_phys-stub.patch.
  • ARC GNU Tools of version arc-2015.12. Tag arc-2015.12 in Toolchain repository.
• Included software packages:
• GDB (both server and target gdb)
• MPlayer
• Dropbear
• RT-tests
• iperf3
• perf

Please refer to following articles for more information on how to build and run Linux kernel on AXS board:
[1] Getting Started with Linux on ARC AXS103 Software Development Platform (SDP)
[2] How to build filesystem and kernel images for ARC cores with Buildroot
[3] Flashing U‐Boot in ARC AXS10x Software Development Platforms (SDP)
[4] How to debug Linux kernel with MetaWare Debugger
[5] How to debug applications on AXS10x SDP with OpenOCD
[6] How to debug applications on AXS10x SDP with Ashling GDB Server

Attached are following files:

• uImage_axs101, uImage_axs103 - binary images that contain both Linux kernel and init ramfs for use with U-Boot bootloader.
• vmlinux_axs101, vmlinux_axs103 - binary images that contain both Linux kernel and init ramfs for use with debugger on host computer via JTAG. Simple example how to execute Linux kernel with help of MDB available here for more options see [4], [5] and [6].
• u-boot_axs101, u-boot_axs103 - binary images that contain U-Boot bootloader for use with debugger on host computer via JTAG
• u-boot_axs101.bin, u-boot_axs103.bin - binary images that contain U-Boot bootloader for programming in motherboard's SPI flash (load address must be set as 0x81000000). See [3].

Linux 4.4 for ARC AXS101 and AXS103 Software Development Platforms - RC1

This is the first release candidate for Linux 4.4 for the ARC SDP Platforms.

This release is built on top of upstream Buildroot 2016.02 and includes support for ARC AXS101 and AXS103 SDP products.

Important notes:

• Current release is built with Buildroot from tag arc-2016.02-rc1 and snps_axs101_defconfig \ snps_axs103_defconfig
• Main components of that release
  • Linux kernel based on 4.4.6 upstream branch linux-4.4.6.
  • U-Boot bootloader based on v2016.03 branch with custom patches U-Boot-arc-cache-really-do-flush_dcache_all-even-if-IOC-exists.patch, U-Boot-arc-Add-virt_to_phys-stub.patch, U-Boot-arc-cache-Disable-IOC.patch
    .
  • ARC GNU Tools of version arc-2015.12. Tag arc-2015.12 in Toolchain repository.
• Included software packages:
• GDB (both server and target gdb)
• MPlayer
• Dropbear
• RT-tests
• iperf3
• perf
• Note: This release does not yet contain planned patches for HDMI/PGU support on AXS103 as additional support is needed. These will be added in a later update to the release.

Please refer to following articles for more information on how to build and run Linux kernel on AXS board:
[1] Getting Started with Linux on ARC AXS103 Software Development Platform (SDP)
[2] How to build filesystem and kernel images for ARC cores with Buildroot
[3] Flashing U‐Boot in ARC AXS10x Software Development Platforms (SDP)
[4] How to debug Linux kernel with MetaWare Debugger
[5] How to debug applications on AXS10x SDP with OpenOCD
[6] How to debug applications on AXS10x SDP with Ashling GDB Server

Attached are following files:

• uImage_axs101, uImage_axs103 - binary images that contain both Linux kernel and init ramfs for use with U-Boot bootloader.
• vmlinux_axs101, vmlinux_axs103 - binary images that contain both Linux kernel and init ramfs for use with debugger on host computer via JTAG. Simple example how to execute Linux kernel with help of MDB available here for more options see [4], [5] and [6].
• u-boot_axs101, u-boot_axs103 - binary images that contain U-Boot bootloader for use with debugger on host computer via JTAG
• u-boot_axs101.bin, u-boot_axs103.bin - binary images that contain U-Boot bootloader for programming in motherboard's SPI flash (load address must be set as 0x81000000). See [3].

Linux 3.18 for ARC AXS101 and AXS103 Software Development Platforms

This release is built on top of upstream Buildroot 2015.08 and includes support for ARC AXS101 and AXS103 SDP products.

Main features of this release:

Important changes:

1. Linux kernel arc-3.18-2 from FOSS for ARC Processors GitHub
2. U-Boot v2015.10
3. Included software packages:
   • GDB (both server and target gdb)
   • MPlayer
   • Dropbear
   • RT-tests
   • iperf3
   • perf

Linux 3.18 for ARC HS38 VDK

This release is built on top of upstream Buildroot 2015.08 and includes support of HS38 VDK.

Main features of this release:

1. Linux kernel arc-3.18-1 from FOSS for ARC Processors GitHub
2. Included software packages:
   • GDB (both server and target gdb)
   • FFmpeg
   • MPlayer
   • GStreamer
   • DirectFB
   • Dropbear

Further documentation on how to use the VDK and compile & run Linux applications can be found in the VDK Family for ARC HS Processors User Guide.

This release includes 2 sample configurations: hs38_vdk for single core and hs38_smp_vdk for multi-core.
To build, use these configuration files for buildroot, or follow the steps described in the User Guide:

# make snps_hs38_vdk_defconfig
# make

Or for the multi-core version:

# make snps_hs38_smp_vdk_defconfig
# make

Output of the build process will be a vmlinux Linux kernel image, and a rootfs.ext2 root filesystem image for use with the VDK. Please note that U-Boot is not included for the VDKs, since the vmlinux and rootfs.ext2 images are directly loaded into memory by the VDK. See the VDK User Manual for further details.