Archmobile: Arch Linux for ARM Devices

rott_at · 2009-07-19 17:54:05

Hello,

I want to introduce our Operating System for ARM Devices, that's running on the OpenMoko NeoFreerunner, but we want to support more Devices.

We from http://archmobile.org port Arch Linux on ARM, and we want to give you the simple Freedom which has Arch Linux x86 for ARM.

We can already SSH on our Freerunners, and we nearly have X working. One of the Devs already uses our OS as Daily-Phone with QT Extended.

If you want to know more about us, or you want to try out our System visit us at http://archmobile.org !

The first Snapshot is already at http://naeg.archmobile.org/snapshots/ available. This Snapshot works on the Freerunner and you can SSH into your phone and play a lil bit with our OS Also you can install the System with our Installation Script we provide, to get a really up-to-date System and not configured.

It would be great if other people with other ARM Devices would contact us on IRC(on freenode #arch-arm) and we will try to support your ARM Device too. New Developer are always welcome

I think it would be awesome if we get some support from the official Arch Linux. An Entry in the list of Arch Related Projects would be great.

Feel free to talk about that.

Greetings, naeg - alias rott_at

wuischke · 2009-07-19 19:12:04

I own a C2 beagle board (running angstrom) and I could help you out with testing, although for a lack of time not for development.

tomk · 2009-07-19 19:16:19

This is awesome - not because I'm surrounded by ARM devices, but because this is your first post here, and your port is already up and running.

Major kudos, and I hope your project gets the recognition and success that it deserves.

djszapi · 2009-07-22 20:38:41

It's very nice. I use linksys router, openwrt on it, in the future will this be arch ?

wuischke · 2009-07-22 20:51:57

I'm afraid your router has a MIPS cpu, not ARM. So, it probably won't be Arch.

Caluna · 2009-07-25 16:44:29

Hello,

great work: I like the idea using my favourite distribution on my openmoko. I installed latest snapshot on my µSD and adjusted the nameserver in /etc/resolv.conf. Unfortunately I was not able to do an upgrade:

[root@myhost ~]# pacman -Sy
:: Synchronizing package databases...
error: failed retrieving file 'extra.db.tar.gz' from hiciu.rootnode.net : No address record
error: failed to update extra (No address record)
error: failed retrieving file 'core.db.tar.gz' from hiciu.rootnode.net : No address record
error: failed to update core (No address record)
error: failed to synchronize any databases

Additionally I was not able to make a download using wget.
Therefor I suggest that something is misconfigured!?

Maybe someone can help me?

greetings

C.

Last edited by Caluna (2009-07-25 16:44:48)

djszapi · 2009-07-25 17:38:51

No, my router uses ARM Processor, but without off topic it would be a great solution to implement archlinux on ARM platforms, i really missed it in the past Archlinux must have more power from time to time

rott_at · 2009-07-26 10:29:20

Caluna wrote:

Hello,
great work: I like the idea using my favourite distribution on my openmoko. I installed latest snapshot on my µSD and adjusted the nameserver in /etc/resolv.conf. Unfortunately I was not able to do an upgrade:
[root@myhost ~]# pacman -Sy
:: Synchronizing package databases...
error: failed retrieving file 'extra.db.tar.gz' from hiciu.rootnode.net : No address record
error: failed to update extra (No address record)
error: failed retrieving file 'core.db.tar.gz' from hiciu.rootnode.net : No address record
error: failed to update core (No address record)
error: failed to synchronize any databases
Additionally I was not able to make a download using wget.
Therefor I suggest that something is misconfigured!?
Maybe someone can help me?
greetings
C.

I answered you already at FreeYourPhone, but i will post it again:

In our wiki you can find this Article: http://www.archmobile.org/trac/wiki/AFR … ingOverUSB

I think our Wiki is quite well, so if you have any Problem, a look in the Wiki Index won't be stupid

markc · 2009-07-27 04:13:53

Damn excellent, looking forward to trying this out on a C3 Beagleboard that just arrived (but with no cables!). I've checked out your build instructions and will try it out over the next week but this'll be a first time doing a non-x86 anything for me. I'll be happy to host arm8 binary packages if I have any success and I'm keen to see if the BB is powerful enough to build packages onto a USB drive.

One thing that I'm keen to explore is a pure busybox/uclibc system (with X if that is possible) but this would mean going outside of the normal Archlinux core system and perhaps take on board some clues from Alpine Linux. Has anyone any thoughts about a lighter core boot system that would obviously suit mobile devices? (apologies if this is off-topic but I couldn't find a dedicated Arch Mobile forum)

rott_at · 2009-07-28 16:27:51

markc wrote:

Damn excellent, looking forward to trying this out on a C3 Beagleboard that just arrived (but with no cables!). I've checked out your build instructions and will try it out over the next week but this'll be a first time doing a non-x86 anything for me. I'll be happy to host arm8 binary packages if I have any success and I'm keen to see if the BB is powerful enough to build packages onto a USB drive.
One thing that I'm keen to explore is a pure busybox/uclibc system (with X if that is possible) but this would mean going outside of the normal Archlinux core system and perhaps take on board some clues from Alpine Linux. Has anyone any thoughts about a lighter core boot system that would obviously suit mobile devices? (apologies if this is off-topic but I couldn't find a dedicated Arch Mobile forum)

You don't habe to build on your Beagle Board. Our Build Environment is a qemu emulated chroot, so you compile everything on your host emulating arm but with native speed since we have some native tools embedded in there.

I wanted to provide a "small-base" group as well, but i didn't find the motivation yet.
djszapi has also use for that, he want's to run Arch LInux on his ARM Router, with about 32-64 MB.

markc · 2009-07-28 21:36:06

@rott_at: right, I just have to spend the time to setup and understand your particular Build Environment. Do you know if anyone has a script that mostly automates the installation and setup?

ATM I'm testing an x86 Alpine Linux busybox/uclibc system and am tossing up whether to "port" pacman across and continue with makepkg, not sure as the native apk system is very Arch-like and "nice enough". I actually want a busybox system as a base for a normal desktop distro.

harlekin · 2009-07-29 13:55:22

markc wrote:

@rott_at: right, I just have to spend the time to setup and understand your particular Build Environment. Do you know if anyone has a script that mostly automates the installation and setup?

We have a installer script for that. It's really simple.

The wiki pages povide very detailed information on that.

Last edited by harlekin (2009-07-29 13:56:01)

markc · 2009-07-30 03:30:11

Doh, somehow I missed it at http://www.archmobile.org/trac/wiki/AFR … nvironment. I have followed the instructions best I can figure and got this far using ./archmobile -a x86_64 -s -d --build archbuild. Any suggestions?

...
downloading glibc-2.9-1-arm.pkg.tar.gz...
checking package integrity...
:: File glibc-2.9-1-arm.pkg.tar.gz is corrupted. Do you want to delete it? [Y/n]
error: failed to commit transaction (invalid or corrupted package)
glibc-2.9-1-arm.pkg.tar.gz is invalid or corrupted
Errors occurred, no packages were upgraded.
error: Failed to install base or possibly base-devel.
debug: Cleaning up...
debug: Unmounting /home/archmobile/archbuild/dev.
debug: Unmounting /home/archmobile/archbuild/proc.
debug: Removing file /tmp/pacman.conf.r3Kd.

wuischke · 2009-07-30 05:22:21

Regarding the beagle board:
I lacked time recently and I haven't gotten to "run" it (i.e. output to my monitor) yet, but the system does boot with the openembedded kernel¹.

You might need an USB-mini-USB cable to change settings in the boot loader. Just plug it into your computer and connect with minicom to /dev/ttyACM0 or similar to get the u-boot prompt.
At least the C2 u-boot firmware has problems with the ext2/3 file system. I recommend creating a small vfat /boot partition where you put the kernel. The name of the kernel should be 'uImage'.

Once I get it to run, I'll write all the beagle specific steps in the (archmobile) wiki.

¹ Set up the open embedded build environment and use bitbake linux-omap to compile the kernel.

Last edited by wuischke (2009-07-30 05:22:52)

harlekin · 2009-07-30 19:50:13

markc wrote:

I have followed the instructions best I can figure and got this far using ./archmobile -a x86_64 -s -d --build archbuild.

What needs figuring things out? If something is unclear, please tell us where you would like to have more detailed information.

markc wrote:

Any suggestions?

Just try it again. It was an issue with our repository, but it should be fixed now. You just tried to install our build environment at a rather unlucky time.

Additionally, you shouldn't use the -s option as it disables sudo (and thus requires you to run the script as root).

wuischke wrote:

Once I get it to run, I'll write all the beagle specific steps in the (archmobile) wiki.

We all would really appreciate that. Looking forward to read.

markc · 2009-07-30 21:51:09

@harlekin: If something is unclear, please tell us where you would like to have more detailed information.

Wow, thanks for your help, I just built my first ARM executable... nano! /me very happy. Some suggestions; remove # and % from live examples in code sections so they can be cleanly copied and pasted, the /etc/resolv.conf hint needs to be before any chroot example, some of the separate code sections could be amalgamated where it's feasible to copy and paste in one go, the "Installing native applications" example could be a pastable echo -e version (I don't know how to use vi), there is no locale-gen program when using the installer script, examples of building both an arm and native application would be useful for a first timer. Some more explanation about mixing arm and native x86 binaries would also be useful, I find the concept really confusing.

Some errors I encountered...

# touch /_Archlinux_ARM
/bin/touch: setting times of `_Archlinux_ARM': Invalid argument

checking dependency style of gcc... /bin/touch: setting times of `sub/conftst1.h': Invalid argument

bsdtar: Failed to set default locale
Unsupported ioctl: cmd=0xffffffff80046601
bsdtar: Couldn't list extended attributes: Function not implemented

@wuischke: yes, I am also looking forward to reading your Beagleboard hints. I've got one but this is the first time I've ever tried to bootstrap any non-x86 system so any specific guidelines would be most welcome.

harlekin · 2009-07-30 22:12:12

Thanks for your tips to make the wiki better. I will edit the pages to avoid any confusion you've had. Although I won't do all the changes (e.g. remove $ and #). But I will then make a note which should clarify it.

markc wrote:

Some errors I encountered...
# touch /_Archlinux_ARM
/bin/touch: setting times of `_Archlinux_ARM': Invalid argument

This issue is known with a x86_64 host. I don't know where it originates from as i686 host is fine. Use this binary instead: http://stanny.homelinux.org/touch [1]. This is my home FTP. Thus it might not be available 24/7.

markc wrote:

checking dependency style of gcc... /bin/touch: setting times of `sub/conftst1.h': Invalid argument

Should be fixed using the touch binary I provided.

markc wrote:

bsdtar: Failed to set default locale
Unsupported ioctl: cmd=0xffffffff80046601
bsdtar: Couldn't list extended attributes: Function not implemented

The error in the first line might be solved by configuring your locales correctly. The error below is issued by qemu.
While this is annoying it doesn't appear to cause any harm. Just ignore it. You'll find other ioctls not being supported by qemu and we expect them to be fixed along with qemu's development.

edit:
[1] I moved it to a permanent location: http://archmobile.org/~harlekin/touch

Last edited by harlekin (2009-07-30 22:16:59)

markc · 2009-07-30 22:32:08

Thanks (for others, the actual wget'able link is http://archmobile.org/~harlekin/touch/touch). Is this touch binary meant to be an ARM executable?

# file /bin/touch
/bin/touch: ELF 64-bit LSB executable, x86-64, version 1 (SYSV), dynamically linked (uses shared libs), for GNU/Linux 2.6.16, stripped
# file /bin/touch.orig
/bin/touch.orig: ELF 32-bit LSB executable, ARM, version 1 (SYSV), dynamically linked (uses shared libs), for GNU/Linux 2.6.16, stripped

The error in the first line might be solved by configuring your locales correctly.

Yes but as I mentioned there is no /sbin/locale-gen binary.

FWIW your servers default mime.type should text/plain so clicking on a README file without a suffix should display it rather than try to download it.

markc · 2009-07-31 06:20:26

Regarding a missing locale-gen, I didn't relaize it was simply a bash script so I copied the host version into the ARM chroot and configured the default /etc/locale.gen and that seemed to work okay, however, trying to do anything with timestamps still gives an error...

# touch xxx
/bin/touch: setting times of `xxx': Invalid argument

# touch.not-arm xxx (this is your downloaded binary)
bash: /bin/touch.not-arm: No such file or directory

... (end of trying to build busybox)
==> Extracting Sources...
  -> bsdtar -x -f busybox-1.14.2.tar.bz2
==> Removing existing pkg/ directory...
==> Starting build()...
scripts/kconfig/conf -s Config.in
#
# using defaults found in .config
#
  SPLIT   include/autoconf.h -> include/config/*
qemu: Unsupported syscall: 359
qemu: Unsupported syscall: 327
  GEN     include/bbconfigopts.h
/bin/touch: setting times of `include/config/MARKER': Invalid argument
make: *** [include/config/MARKER] Error 1
==> ERROR: Build Failed.
    Aborting...

So is it simply a lost cause trying to do this from an x86_64 host and should I boot into an i686 system and try again from there?

harlekin · 2009-07-31 12:05:52

markc wrote:

So is it simply a lost cause trying to do this from an x86_64 host and should I boot into an i686 system and try again from there?

I am currently not as home so I cannot provide a fix right now, but with the correct binary -- I seem to have uploaded a wrong one -- the x86-64 build host is fully functional as is the i686 one.

Thank you very much for all your testing.

rott_at · 2009-08-14 11:43:45

We need some Votes to get added to the Arch Related Projects list: http://bugs.archlinux.org/task/15601

I thank you in advance for voting

quetzyg · 2009-08-15 12:29:15

Done!

mikestaszel · 2009-08-19 19:54:19

Count me in, but in a different way I guess...I've been working with the Pogoplug and other ARM plugs. The Pogoplug comes with a tiny Busybox installation and a stripped-down...everything, but no package manager. What I plan to do with that is make a bunch of packages with PKGBUILDs and such, and it's working well. Can't really change the whole distro though.

Also, if I ever get a Sheevaplug (running low on funds, as soon as I have enough, I'll buy one), I'll try to get the full Arch Linux install running on it, just as ArchMobile got it running on OpenMoko. Do-able.

rott_at · 2009-08-21 12:45:13

mikestaszel wrote:

Count me in, but in a different way I guess...I've been working with the Pogoplug and other ARM plugs. The Pogoplug comes with a tiny Busybox installation and a stripped-down...everything, but no package manager.

We plan to make a small-base for such Devices with about 30mb memory. Could you join us on IRC? This would give me the motivation to finally make it

securitybreach · 2009-09-05 04:50:22

rott_at wrote:

We need some Votes to get added to the Arch Related Projects list: http://bugs.archlinux.org/task/15601
I thank you in advance for voting

Done.
BTW I am comhack on the irc channel.

Thanks

Last edited by securitybreach (2009-09-05 04:51:44)

Arch Linux

#1 2009-07-19 17:54:05

Archmobile: Arch Linux for ARM Devices

#2 2009-07-19 19:12:04

Re: Archmobile: Arch Linux for ARM Devices

#3 2009-07-19 19:16:19

Re: Archmobile: Arch Linux for ARM Devices

#4 2009-07-22 20:38:41

Re: Archmobile: Arch Linux for ARM Devices

#5 2009-07-22 20:51:57

Re: Archmobile: Arch Linux for ARM Devices

#6 2009-07-25 16:44:29

Re: Archmobile: Arch Linux for ARM Devices

#7 2009-07-25 17:38:51

Re: Archmobile: Arch Linux for ARM Devices

#8 2009-07-26 10:29:20

Re: Archmobile: Arch Linux for ARM Devices

#9 2009-07-27 04:13:53

Re: Archmobile: Arch Linux for ARM Devices

#10 2009-07-28 16:27:51

Re: Archmobile: Arch Linux for ARM Devices

#11 2009-07-28 21:36:06

Re: Archmobile: Arch Linux for ARM Devices

#12 2009-07-29 13:55:22

Re: Archmobile: Arch Linux for ARM Devices

#13 2009-07-30 03:30:11

Re: Archmobile: Arch Linux for ARM Devices

#14 2009-07-30 05:22:21

Re: Archmobile: Arch Linux for ARM Devices

#15 2009-07-30 19:50:13

Re: Archmobile: Arch Linux for ARM Devices

#16 2009-07-30 21:51:09

Re: Archmobile: Arch Linux for ARM Devices

#17 2009-07-30 22:12:12

Re: Archmobile: Arch Linux for ARM Devices

#18 2009-07-30 22:32:08

Re: Archmobile: Arch Linux for ARM Devices

#19 2009-07-31 06:20:26

Re: Archmobile: Arch Linux for ARM Devices

#20 2009-07-31 12:05:52

Re: Archmobile: Arch Linux for ARM Devices

#21 2009-08-14 11:43:45

Re: Archmobile: Arch Linux for ARM Devices

#22 2009-08-15 12:29:15

Re: Archmobile: Arch Linux for ARM Devices

#23 2009-08-19 19:54:19

Re: Archmobile: Arch Linux for ARM Devices

#24 2009-08-21 12:45:13

Re: Archmobile: Arch Linux for ARM Devices

#25 2009-09-05 04:50:22

Re: Archmobile: Arch Linux for ARM Devices

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