guides to board files -> device-tree and Android -> mainline?
Hi all, Are there any guides for developers new to Linux for: * converting board files to device-tree * porting drivers and patches from Android to current mainline? There are a lot of ARM mobile devices out there that aren't supported by Linux mainline and having these guides available would really help getting the usual Linux distros to support more mobile devices. Usually the SoC is supported by mainline but the board is not, as is the case for the device I have been trying to work on: http://bonedaddy.net/pabs3/log/2012/12/03/debian-mobile/ -- bye, pabs http://bonedaddy.net/pabs3/
Hi Paul, 2013/1/26 Paul Wise <pabs3@bonedaddy.net>:
Hi all,
Are there any guides for developers new to Linux for:
* converting board files to device-tree * porting drivers and patches from Android to current mainline?
there are several parts of Android, which are not part of the mainline kernel. Others are in staging. See http://elinux.org/Android_Mainlining_Project for more details. Regarding drivers for chips on your board, see the kernel documentation about coding style (http://lxr.free-electrons.com/source/Documentation/CodingStyle) and submitting drivers (http://lxr.free-electrons.com/source/Documentation/SubmittingDrivers), submitting patches etc. Beware to send the patches/drivers to the right mailing list (see the MAINTAINERS file). If you want to add the board itself and it is ARM based, then you have to create a device tree file. I think the older board files are no more accepted in the mainline kernel. Hope that answered your question. Cheers and happy hacking. Matthias
There are a lot of ARM mobile devices out there that aren't supported by Linux mainline and having these guides available would really help getting the usual Linux distros to support more mobile devices. Usually the SoC is supported by mainline but the board is not, as is the case for the device I have been trying to work on:
http://bonedaddy.net/pabs3/log/2012/12/03/debian-mobile/
-- bye, pabs
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On Sat, 2013-01-26 at 16:13 +0100, Matthias Brugger wrote:
there are several parts of Android....
Thanks for the pointers!
If you want to add the board itself and it is ARM based, then you have to create a device tree file. I think the older board files are no more accepted in the mainline kernel.
I'm aware of that, my question was how do I convert existing board files to device tree files? Is there an automated tool, or a guide for that? -- bye, pabs http://bonedaddy.net/pabs3/
Dear Paul Wise, On Tue, 29 Jan 2013 09:43:28 +0800, Paul Wise wrote:
If you want to add the board itself and it is ARM based, then you have to create a device tree file. I think the older board files are no more accepted in the mainline kernel.
I'm aware of that, my question was how do I convert existing board files to device tree files? Is there an automated tool, or a guide for that?
No, there is no automated tool, because it is not possible to do that automatically. The device drivers used by your board must have a Device Tree binding, and writing the Device Tree source cannot directly be done from the C board file. It requires human knowledge and intervention. Could you be more specific about the platform you would look to convert to the Device Tree? Where is the existing source code? Best regards, Thomas -- Thomas Petazzoni, Free Electrons Kernel, drivers, real-time and embedded Linux development, consulting, training and support. http://free-electrons.com
On Tue, 2013-01-29 at 15:51 +0100, Thomas Petazzoni wrote:
No, there is no automated tool, because it is not possible to do that automatically. The device drivers used by your board must have a Device Tree binding, and writing the Device Tree source cannot directly be done from the C board file. It requires human knowledge and intervention.
I see, is there at least a guide for the conversion?
Could you be more specific about the platform you would look to convert to the Device Tree? Where is the existing source code?
Many devices with an ARM SoC and or an Android kernel aren't fully supported by mainline. The devices that I own in this situation are the OpenMoko FreeRunner (gta02) and the Samsung Galaxy S (galaxysmtd). gta02: git://git.openmoko.org/git/kernel.git git://github.com/shr-distribution/linux.git galaxysmtd (and a bunch of other devices): git://gitorious.org/replicant/kernel_samsung_aries.git -- bye, pabs http://bonedaddy.net/pabs3/
participants (3)
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Matthias Brugger -
Paul Wise -
Thomas Petazzoni