Tag Archives: linux

Development tools on Beaglebone

2017-01-11 admin

In the previous article we have installed and updated to the latest Debian image our BeagleBone

Debian sd card setup for Beaglebone Black

We also enabled the network services to access the board using the hostname.

After these changes we can access the Beaglebone using the following address in the the browser

The web interface presents several examples of code executed with bonescript, javascript library based on node.js framework

Node.js

You can perform these simple examples to begin to interact with the board. There are also links to the development tools such as Cloud9, Nodered and informations about these development tools

Clicking on Cloud9 we access at the section dedicated to this tool. It is shown how to create a simple example and to run at boot the code placing it into the autorun folder in the IDE interface. From this section we can access to the Cloud9 ide available on port 3000 of the Beaglebone site

For more information about the tool, refer to the site

Cloud9

Accessing to the Nodered section we find the link to the web page about the basic informations about Nodered

Getting stared with Nodered

and the link to the Nodered ide, running at 1880 port of the web server running on BeagleBone

Beaglebone Nodered

In the web page about the first steps for Nodered there are examples with which to start using the tool. From the web site https://nodered.org we can have more informations about the tool.

In addition to tools in javascript on BeagleBone there are C/C++ compilers, Python interpreter and the possibility to add additional development tools.

From the home page of the our BeagleBone board web interface, http: //beaglebone.local, we find the informations about all available headers and functions. The following image shows the expansion headers

In next articles we will show some code examples with the development board.

Installation, Software

Debian sd card setup for Beaglebone Black

2017-01-06 admin

In the previous article we started up the development board Beaglebone Black / Green.

Startup of the Beaglebone

Let’s look how to install an updated image of Debian for BeagleBone. As a first step we have to access the site which contains the Beaglebone images

Beaglebone images

We download, having a BeagleBone Black Rev. C, bone-debian-8.6-lxqt-4gb-armhf-2016-11-06-4gb.img.xz. Unpack the 7zip image and load into a micro sd card with Win32DiskImager, as done for the Orange PI PC

SD card setup for Orange PI PC

If we wanted to load that image on the internal flash, we must edit the /boot/uEnv.txt files on a Linux system and uncomment the line

#cmdline=init=/opt/scripts/tools/eMMC/init-eMMC-flasher-v3.sh

1	#cmdline=init=/opt/scripts/tools/eMMC/init-eMMC-flasher-v3.sh

In that case, when we start the board the system will rewrite the operating system present on the internal flash with the version loaded on the micro sd card. We do not follow this road in order to do all the tests on the sd card leaving the internal partition unmodified. So let’s connect our Beaglebone to a network router. We insert the micro sd card and startup the development board. In some boards we need to press of the USER / BOOT button

because the operating system boots from micro sd card; with our board it is not necessary to perform this operation. We have to log on Beagleone now; the avahi-daemon service is already active on the Beaglebone and Linux systems resolve the address by hostname; Windows, instead, needs tha samba service activated to solve the Beaglebone hostname; installing samba we obtain the hostname recognition with the protocol netbios from Windows. If you are using a Windows machine to work with the Beagelbone you must first check the ip assigned by the network router to the BeagleBone. From a Linux system, for example, connect to the Beaglebone using ssh as debian / temppwd and the beaglebone hostname

ssh debian@beaglebone

1	ssh debian@beaglebone

In Windows we need to install the samba service first to have the same functionality. Proceed at this point with the updating and samba installation

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install samba
sudo apt-get upgrade

sudo apt-get update

sudo apt-get install samba

sudo apt-get upgrade

After the updates and samba services activation, we are ready to show examples with our BeagleBone and we are able to connect to it using the beaglebone and beaglebone.local hostnames. In the next article we will see tools already available on the board and how to add more features.

We can install the ftp service too, as we could use it in next articles

sudo apt-get install vsftpd

1	sudo apt-get install vsftpd

To deactivate and activate it use the following commands

sudo systemctl disable vsftpd
sudo systemctl enable vsftpd

1 2	sudo systemctl disable vsftpd sudo systemctl enable vsftpd

Configuration, Software

Startup of the Beaglebone development board

2016-12-28 admin

In a previous article we have given a brief description of Beaglebone Black board and its variants.

Beaglebone development board

The BeagleBone in this review comes with 4GB of space on board, and with the operating system already installed.

We can access the BeagleBone, in our case the Black, without using the Ethernet network, but connecting it to a PC through the mini service USB connection as specified on the BeagleBone site

Getting started with Beaglebone

After connecting the BeagleBone Black to the PC via the USB cable we find another removable device to the existing disks

Running start.htm we start an interface similar to the one available on the getting-started web site

We proceed to the installation of network-over-USB drivers for the operating system, Windows 64-bit in our case

Proceed to download the file and run it, providing the permissions required by Windows

At the end the window with the performed operations is shown

Using Firefox or Chrome we access to the following address http://192.168.7.2; we access in this way to the web server, running on Beaglebone board, through network over USB

The page shows how to update the system, login to the IDECloud9, perform various Bonescript examples.

The access to the Cloud9 IDE

Cloud9 IDE Informations

takes place on port 3000 to the IP address specified above, ie http://192.168.7.2:3000

In our examples, we will not change the operating system present on the internal eMMC card but we will download an updated version of Debian for BeagleBone and will install it on a micro sd card.

The system can be closed using the Power button on board

or by connecting via ssh at 192.168.7.2 address with the debian user ,using temppwd as password, and executing the command “sudo poweroff”

In the next article we will proceed to download and install on a micro sd card the last Debian image for BeagleBone

Debian sd card setup for Beaglebone Black

Development, Software

Openelec addon building for Orange PI PC

2016-12-18 admin

In the article about the OpenELEC build for Orange PI PC

Openelec building for Orange PI PC

we created the environment and compiled the OpenELEC image for our development board. We integrate what it has been said in the previous article showing how to build the Openelec addons for our Orange PI PC board.

As stated in the linked article we have to open a shell command window in the OPENELEC-OPIPC folder

cd OPENELEC-OPIPC

1	cd OPENELEC-OPIPC

Using the graphical interface in Debian we can verify the availabilty of the official addons structure. To add the unofficial ones we have to run from the OpenELEC-OPIPC folder

git clone https://github.com/jernejsk/unofficial-addons.git  packages/addons/unofficial

1	git clone https://github.com/jernejsk/unofficial-addons.git packages/addons/unofficial

Now we proceed to build an official addon and an unofficial one. The packages that you can build ara available in the official folder as shown below

and in the unofficial folder

We build the official pvr.iptvsimple addon with the command

PROJECT=H3 ARCH=arm scripts/create_addon pvr.iptvsimple

1	PROJECT=H3 ARCH=arm scripts/create_addon pvr.iptvsimple

For the unofficial we build the p7zip module

PROJECT=H3 ARCH=arm scripts/create_addon p7zip

1	PROJECT=H3 ARCH=arm scripts/create_addon p7zip

The compiled addons are availablein the following folder

/home/sviluppo/orangepi/openelec/OPENELEC-OPIPC/target/addons/7.0/H3/arm/

1	/home/sviluppo/orangepi/openelec/OPENELEC-OPIPC/target/addons/7.0/H3/arm/

In the case of errors in the compliation check the logs and proceed consequently. For example in the case of trasmission the system was not able to download the source package using the link in the package.mk file

/home/sviluppo/orangepi/openelec/OPENELEC-OPIPC/packages/addons/unofficial/addons/service/downloadmanager/transmission/package.mk

1	/home/sviluppo/orangepi/openelec/OPENELEC-OPIPC/packages/addons/unofficial/addons/service/downloadmanager/transmission/package.mk

To overcome this unexpected error we added another link to the package, i.e. we changed the package.mk file from

PKG_URL="http://download.transmissionbt.com/files/$PKG_NAME-$PKG_VERSION.tar.xz"
PKG_DEPENDS_TARGET="toolchain zlib libressl curl libevent"

1 2	PKG_URL="http://download.transmissionbt.com/files/$PKG_NAME-$PKG_VERSION.tar.xz" PKG_DEPENDS_TARGET="toolchain zlib libressl curl libevent"

PKG_URL="http://download.transmissionbt.com/files/$PKG_NAME-$PKG_VERSION.tar.xz"
PKG_URL="https://github.com/transmission/transmission-releases/raw/master/$PKG_NAME-$PKG_VERSION.tar.xz"
PKG_DEPENDS_TARGET="toolchain zlib libressl curl libevent"

PKG_URL="http://download.transmissionbt.com/files/$PKG_NAME-$PKG_VERSION.tar.xz"

PKG_URL="https://github.com/transmission/transmission-releases/raw/master/$PKG_NAME-$PKG_VERSION.tar.xz"

PKG_DEPENDS_TARGET="toolchain zlib libressl curl libevent"

In this way, the transmission addon has been compiled correctly, always with the command

PROJECT=H3 ARCH=arm scripts/create_addon transmission

1	PROJECT=H3 ARCH=arm scripts/create_addon transmission

Configuration, Software

Remote control configuration for Libreelec on Amlogic Socs

2016-12-12 admin

In the previous article we installed on a microsd card Libreelec and started the device with this image

Libreelec Image for Amlogic socs

The remote control of the Beelink Minimx III is basic, so to have more keys we decided to associate another remote control to the box.

We chose the following remote control that has more buttons included

According to this document on Amlogic site, although prepared in Chinese, through the use of online translators

How to change IR codes

It shows that the soc Amlogic natively manages the NEC protocol for remote controls and through remote.conf file we can associate the remote control code to the Linux system events. The map of the codes for the Linux system events is available in the header files of the Linux kernel

Input Event Codes

As a first step we log on Libreelec in ssh with root/libreelec. Copy the /etc/amremote/libreelec.conf file as remote.conf in /storage/.config folder

cp /etc/amremote/libreelec.conf /storage/.config/remote.conf

1	cp /etc/amremote/libreelec.conf /storage/.config/remote.conf

and edit it as follows

#*********************************************************************************************************
#this file is configuration for each factory remote device
#     work_mode      0 :software mode  1 :hardware mode 
#    repeat_enable      0 :disable repeat 1 :enable repeat    
#
#    factory_code      each device has it's unique factory code. 
#              pattern:custom_code(16bit)+index_code(16bit)
#              examble: 0xff000001 = 0xff00(custom cod)  0001 (index)
#
#    release_delay      unit:ms.release will report from kernel to user layer after this period of time
#              from press or repeat triggered. 
#
#    debug_enable      0 :debug disable  1 :debug disable
#
# SW MODE:
#    bit_count      how many bits in each frame      
#    tw_leader_act      time window for leader active 
#    tw_bit0          time window for bit0 time.
#    tw_bit1          time window for bit1 time
#    tw_repeat_leader  time window for repeat leader
# REG
#    reg_base_gen      set value for PREG_IR_DEC_BASE_GEN    
#    reg_control      set value for PREG_IR_DEC_CONTROL
#    reg_leader_act      set value for PREG_IR_DEC_LEADER_ACTIVE
#    reg_leader_idle      set value for PREG_IR_DEC_LEADER_IDLE
#    reg_repeat_leader set value for PREG_IR_DEC_REPEAT_IDLE
#    reg_bit0_time      set value for PREG_IR_DEC_BIT0_TIME
#************************************************************************************************************* 
#amlogic NEC remote

#factory_code    = 0x00680001
work_mode       = 0
repeat_enable   = 1
release_delay   = 150
debug_enable    = 1
#reg_control     = 0xfbe40

#*********************************************************************************************************

#this file is configuration for each factory remote device

# work_mode 0 :software mode 1 :hardware mode

# repeat_enable 0 :disable repeat 1 :enable repeat

# factory_code each device has it's unique factory code.

# pattern:custom_code(16bit)+index_code(16bit)

# examble: 0xff000001 = 0xff00(custom cod) 0001 (index)

# release_delay unit:ms.release will report from kernel to user layer after this period of time

# from press or repeat triggered.

# debug_enable 0 :debug disable 1 :debug disable

# SW MODE:

# bit_count how many bits in each frame

# tw_leader_act time window for leader active

# tw_bit0 time window for bit0 time.

# tw_bit1 time window for bit1 time

# tw_repeat_leader time window for repeat leader

# REG

# reg_base_gen set value for PREG_IR_DEC_BASE_GEN

# reg_control set value for PREG_IR_DEC_CONTROL

# reg_leader_act set value for PREG_IR_DEC_LEADER_ACTIVE

# reg_leader_idle set value for PREG_IR_DEC_LEADER_IDLE

# reg_repeat_leader set value for PREG_IR_DEC_REPEAT_IDLE

# reg_bit0_time set value for PREG_IR_DEC_BIT0_TIME

#*************************************************************************************************************

#amlogic NEC remote

#factory_code = 0x00680001

work_mode = 0

repeat_enable = 1

release_delay = 150

debug_enable = 1

#reg_control = 0xfbe40

Load the new codes of the remote file with the command

remotecfg /storage/.config/remote.conf

1	remotecfg /storage/.config/remote.conf

Press some button of the new remote control and run

dmesg -c

dmesg -c

In the case of compatible remote control we should see messages as shown below

remote: Wrong custom code is 0xae517f80

1	remote: Wrong custom code is 0xae517f80

The format is as follows: 0xAABBCCCC. Following Amlogic document linked above, the remote control code for a specific key is 0xBB; while defining the remote control code we have to use 0xCCCC0001. AA corresponds to the inverse logic of the command. In the case of the above example

BB = 0x51 = 01010001 in binary. The logical inverse = 10101110 in binary, which is just 0xAE.

AA = 0xAE. Binary = 10101110

The AA code is not used for our remote control configuration.

Press all the buttons on remote control and run the dmesg -c command. In our case we have the following codes

[  563.475708@0] remote: Wrong custom code is 0xae517f80
[  564.273258@0] remote: Wrong custom code is 0xb24d7f80
[  565.096453@0] remote: Wrong custom code is 0xf6097f80
[  565.805424@0] remote: Wrong custom code is 0xee117f80
[  566.450804@0] remote: Wrong custom code is 0xab547f80
[  567.118602@0] remote: Wrong custom code is 0xb04f7f80
[  567.963741@0] remote: Wrong custom code is 0xa9567f80
[  568.631341@0] remote: Wrong custom code is 0x42bd7f80
[  569.321289@0] remote: Wrong custom code is 0x44bb7f80
[  570.077504@0] remote: Wrong custom code is 0xb14e7f80
[  570.953170@0] remote: Wrong custom code is 0xac537f80
[  571.665000@0] remote: Wrong custom code is 0xe41b7f80
[  572.354812@0] remote: Wrong custom code is 0xd9267f80
[  573.163774@0] remote: Wrong custom code is 0xda257f80
[  573.853329@0] remote: Wrong custom code is 0xf20d7f80
[  574.520600@0] remote: Wrong custom code is 0xd8277f80
[  575.210029@0] remote: Wrong custom code is 0xd7287f80
[  575.988176@0] remote: Wrong custom code is 0xb6497f80
[  576.633419@0] remote: Wrong custom code is 0xad527f80
[  577.189905@0] remote: Wrong custom code is 0xce317f80
[  577.834915@0] remote: Wrong custom code is 0xcd327f80
[  578.391382@0] remote: Wrong custom code is 0xcc337f80
[  578.881274@0] remote: Wrong custom code is 0xcb347f80
[  579.482089@0] remote: Wrong custom code is 0xca357f80
[  580.060612@0] remote: Wrong custom code is 0xc9367f80
[  580.550538@0] remote: Wrong custom code is 0xc8377f80
[  581.195652@0] remote: Wrong custom code is 0xc7387f80
[  581.730036@0] remote: Wrong custom code is 0xc6397f80
[  582.242330@0] remote: Wrong custom code is 0xa7587f80
[  582.865319@0] remote: Wrong custom code is 0xcf307f80
[  583.554914@0] remote: Wrong custom code is 0xbb447f80

[ 563.475708@0] remote: Wrong custom code is 0xae517f80

[ 564.273258@0] remote: Wrong custom code is 0xb24d7f80

[ 565.096453@0] remote: Wrong custom code is 0xf6097f80

[ 565.805424@0] remote: Wrong custom code is 0xee117f80

[ 566.450804@0] remote: Wrong custom code is 0xab547f80

[ 567.118602@0] remote: Wrong custom code is 0xb04f7f80

[ 567.963741@0] remote: Wrong custom code is 0xa9567f80

[ 568.631341@0] remote: Wrong custom code is 0x42bd7f80

[ 569.321289@0] remote: Wrong custom code is 0x44bb7f80

[ 570.077504@0] remote: Wrong custom code is 0xb14e7f80

[ 570.953170@0] remote: Wrong custom code is 0xac537f80

[ 571.665000@0] remote: Wrong custom code is 0xe41b7f80

[ 572.354812@0] remote: Wrong custom code is 0xd9267f80

[ 573.163774@0] remote: Wrong custom code is 0xda257f80

[ 573.853329@0] remote: Wrong custom code is 0xf20d7f80

[ 574.520600@0] remote: Wrong custom code is 0xd8277f80

[ 575.210029@0] remote: Wrong custom code is 0xd7287f80

[ 575.988176@0] remote: Wrong custom code is 0xb6497f80

[ 576.633419@0] remote: Wrong custom code is 0xad527f80

[ 577.189905@0] remote: Wrong custom code is 0xce317f80

[ 577.834915@0] remote: Wrong custom code is 0xcd327f80

[ 578.391382@0] remote: Wrong custom code is 0xcc337f80

[ 578.881274@0] remote: Wrong custom code is 0xcb347f80

[ 579.482089@0] remote: Wrong custom code is 0xca357f80

[ 580.060612@0] remote: Wrong custom code is 0xc9367f80

[ 580.550538@0] remote: Wrong custom code is 0xc8377f80

[ 581.195652@0] remote: Wrong custom code is 0xc7387f80

[ 581.730036@0] remote: Wrong custom code is 0xc6397f80

[ 582.242330@0] remote: Wrong custom code is 0xa7587f80

[ 582.865319@0] remote: Wrong custom code is 0xcf307f80

[ 583.554914@0] remote: Wrong custom code is 0xbb447f80

The mapping of the remote control in kodi is in the /usr/share/kodi/system/keymaps/remote.xml file.

We mapped the remote control codes to the Linux input events. As an example let’s consider the Power button. The remote control code is

0x51

0x51

The KEY_POWER event in the input-event-codes.h file is

116

116

We created a link between the remote control code and the event in Linux in the key_begin, key_end section of the remote.conf file

key_begin
    0x51 116        #Poweroff KEY_POWER
key_end

key_begin

0x51 116 #Poweroff KEY_POWER

key_end

Between the two data

0x51 116

0x51 116

insert a space, as indicated in Amlogic document linked above . The file used in this case is available at the following link

remote.conf

At the restart of the box Libreleelc reads the new configuration in /storage/.config/remote.conf allowing so the use of the new remote control.

Installation, Software

Libreelec Image for Amlogic socs

2016-12-05 admin

In the market there are several TV boxes equipped with Android. Among the most common there are those based on soc Amlogic. For devices with this module there is the way to run, even in parallel without removing the Android image, a media center system based on Linux and Kodi, which is Libreelec. It is a fork of the mediacenter OpenELEC system

Libreelec

The supported platforms are similar to those already available for OpenELEC, but the community is carrying out the development of other images besides the official ones; this is the case for the Amlogic platform.

In Libreelec forum developers have developed unofficial images for tv boxes with soc Amlogic S802 / S905 / S905X

Amlogic Libreelec Forum

We’ll install a Libreelec image for an Amlogic S905 box, in our case the box is Android Beelink MiniMX III. The box comes with on board an Android firmware on the internal flash. The next steps allow to keep the Android firmware of the internal flash and Libreelec on the micro sd card. These instructions can be repeated at least in part with other boxes with soc Amlogic. Refer to Libreelec forum for more insights.

The first operation is to download the image from the link given on Libreelec forum

Amlogic S905 Libreelec Images

We download the version 7.0.2.007

Libreelec S905 7.0.2.007

At the link above there also the dtb files, device tree file, file containing the specifications of the hardware system, for different boxes already tested.

We unzip the file and load it on a micro sd card in a similar way to what was done for the creation of OpenELEC image for the Orange IP PC

Openelec installation on Orange PI PC

Again we launch Win32DiskImager and after unpacking the LibreELEC-S905.aarch64-7.0.2.007.img.gz file we proceed to the writing on the micro sd card.

At this point,we insert the micro sd card into the box that we start holding down, in the case of this model, the reset button on the bottom of the box. This is a one-time process; to subsequent reboots the system starts Libreelec, if there is the Micro SD card, or Android system, present on the internal flash, in the absence of micro sd card.

The image automatically uses the remote.conf file for the remote control from the Android image intalled in the internal flash.

The configuration steps are quite similar to what was done for OpenELEC Orange PI PC, such as to enable the ssh daemon, etc; in this case the remote control, being a box supported by the image, is already working.

WARNING: The image installation on the device is at your own risk. We accept no responsibility if the installation leads to malfunction or block of the device. Before performing any operation, make sure that you have the original image of the box so you can recover the Android system in case of issues.

In the next article we will see how to configure an infrared remote control with NEC protocol on a system based on soc Amlogic

Remote control configuration for Libreelec on Amlogic socs

Development, Software

Building openwrt package

2016-09-14 admin

In the previous article

Building OpenWrt firmware

we described how to build the OpenWrt for the TP-Link TL-MR3420 V1 router. Now we show how to build a package, vsftpd, and install it using the shell command window

As for the firmware building execute

make menuconfig

1	make menuconfig

and access the section for this package, i.e. Network->File Transfer, and enable it as moduleSave the settings in the .config file and execute

make defconfig
make package/vsftpd/compile V=s

1 2	make defconfig make package/vsftpd/compile V=s

At the end of the task the package is available in the packages folder under the router platformTransfer the file on the router as root using scp (WinScp on windows) into the folder /tmp. In this case don’t update the packages repository using the web interface (if done reboot the device); log on to the router using ssh as root and execute the command

root@OpenWrt:/tmp# opkg install vsftpd_3.0.2-4.1_ar71xx.ipk
Installing vsftpd (3.0.2-4.1) to root...
Configuring vsftpd.
root@OpenWrt:/tmp#

root@OpenWrt:/tmp# opkg install vsftpd_3.0.2-4.1_ar71xx.ipk

Installing vsftpd (3.0.2-4.1) to root...

Configuring vsftpd.

root@OpenWrt:/tmp#

OpenWrt offers many packages that allow you to greatly enhance the functionality of the device, but some packages require more resources, so you can install them on routers with more powerful hardware.

Development, Software

Building OpenWrt firmware

2016-09-14 admin

After the brief description of OpenWrt system in the previous article

OpenWrt

we describe now how to build the firmware for our router.

We use as tartget device the TP-Link TL-MR3420 router version 1.

This model is in the list of the supported OpenWrt devices; here is the specific documentation for this device

TP-Link TL-MR3420

From the documentation we know that the SOC is an Atheros AR7241. This information will be used in the configruation phase of the buildin envinronment. As a preliminary operation also download the original firmware of this router from the link

Original Firmware

In the page TP-Link TL-MR3420 we find the links to two differents versions of the OpenWrt firmware:

Firmware used to install OpenWrt: openwrt-15.05.1-ar71xx-generic-tl-mr3420-v1-squashfs-factory.bin.
Firmware used to update OpenWrt: openwrt-15.05.1-ar71xx-generic-tl-mr3420-v1-squashfs-sysupgrade.bin

If we have the original firmware in our device we must utilize the first one, while in the case of updates we use the second one..

We now execute the operation described in the link

OpenWrt Building

in the Debian envinronment installed in previous article

Debian Envinronment

In a shell command window we install the prerequisites as non root user (sviluppo in our case)

sudo apt-get install git-core 
sudo apt-get install build-essential 
sudo apt-get install libssl-dev 
sudo apt-get install libncurses5-dev 
sudo apt-get install unzip 
sudo apt-get install gawk
sudo apt-get install subversion 
sudo apt-get install mercurial

sudo apt-get install git-core

sudo apt-get install build-essential

sudo apt-get install libssl-dev

sudo apt-get install libncurses5-dev

sudo apt-get install unzip

sudo apt-get install gawk

sudo apt-get install subversion

sudo apt-get install mercurial

We create a folder OpenWrt under the home user folder (sviluppo in our case) and clone the repository. In this build we choose the stable branch 15.05

mkdir OpenWrt
cd OpenWrt
git clone  https://git.openwrt.org/15.05/openwrt.git 15.05

mkdir OpenWrt

cd OpenWrt

git clone https://git.openwrt.org/15.05/openwrt.git 15.05

At the end of the git task, execute

cd 15.05
./scripts/feeds update -a
./scripts/feeds install -a

cd 15.05

./scripts/feeds update -a

./scripts/feeds install -a

We are now ready to build the firmware of the TP-Link TL-MR3420 V1.

Execute the command

make menuconfig

1	make menuconfig

and we choose as target Target System AR7xxx/AR9xxx as described in the following screenshotsWith the following choices we change the options

y: we buil it.
m: we build it as module.
n: we skip it.

At the following link

OpenWrt Building

we find all the documentation about the building.

In the Target System with enter we can choose our Target PlatformWe have to install the base packages to admin the system, so we access LuCI Optionthen Collectionsand at the end the luci package; with this option the system installs an http server tooWe choose as modules some cryptographics packages in the kernel modules sectionsthen Cryptographic Api modulesand at the end the following modules merged into the firmware fileYou should save the configuration in a file in order to use it again later. Finally save the configuration in the .config file.

We can now exit the menuconfig and execute the following command in the shell command window

make defconfig

1	make defconfig

This task checks for the prerequisites.

To build the firmware we execute

make V=s

make V=s

in verbose mode.

At the end of the task we can find the firmware in the atheros platform under the bin folder. In our case our images are highlighted in the following screenshotWe can now flash the firmware.

WARNING: Before installing the firmware verify the recovery process of your router in the event of a problem, i.e how to start in recovery mode, flash via tftp, use JTAG, etc. The image installation on the device is at your own risk. We accept no responsibility if the installation leads to malfunction or block of the device.

The OpenWrt web site describes all the vaious options to build the firmware and packages. In the next article

Building OpenWrt package

we’ll describe how to build and install from a shell window command the vsftpd package.

Software

OpenWrt firmware

2016-09-14 admin

In this article we describe briefly OpenWrt

OpenWrt

As stated in the above link OpenWrt is a linux distribution for wireless devices. It is available for different routers as listed in the following page

OpenWrt Supported Devices

The firmware is an open source one, it is modular with the possibility to use various packages.

At the following link we find the documentation about packages and the opkg command

Packages

After the OpenWrt firmware installation we can login using the ssh protocol in a unix shell command and check the installed packages, installable package and so on.

The command

opkg list

opkg list

shows the available packages for the device.

This command works if the list of the repositories is available in the opkg.conf file,

OpenWrt packages repositories

but the same operation is available trhrough the web interface

First we log on to the router with a browserWe access to the Software sectionWe press the Update lists buttonThe list is loadedNow we search for a package, for example vsftpdAfter the search we can proceed to the installationWe can find it among the installed packagesIn future articles we will describe how to build the image for your router along with an additional package

Building OpenWrt firmware

Development, Software

Building Armbian image for Orange PI PC

2016-09-02 admin

We treat now the bulding of the image Armbian for Orange PI PC. From the developer’s github

Armbian Github

we find the steps to do the task.

From the Armbian site

Building Armbian

the supported building envinronment is Ubuntu. In our test we use Ubuntu 16.04.1 LTS x86-64

Ubuntu

and our Debian 8.5 envinroment used for the other tasks described on this site. With Ubuntu the compile.sh script installs all the required packages to build the image. On the Armbian web site we can find also various compilation options..

Using Debian 8.5 as host, we have to exectute some prerequisites tasks described below. In the case of issues execute the building on Ubuntu..

First we install the cross compilation envinronment in Debian

https://wiki.debian.org/CrossToolchains

We have to create the file crosstools.list in /etc/apt/sources.list.d

sudo vi /etc/apt/sources.list.d/crosstools.list

1	sudo vi /etc/apt/sources.list.d/crosstools.list

Edit this file and add the line

deb http://emdebian.org/tools/debian/ jessie main

1	deb http://emdebian.org/tools/debian/ jessie main

Save the file and add the repository key using curl. We install the curl package

sudo apt-get install curl

1	sudo apt-get install curl

and add the key

curl http://emdebian.org/tools/debian/emdebian-toolchain-archive.key | sudo apt-key add -

1	curl http://emdebian.org/tools/debian/emdebian-toolchain-archive.key \| sudo apt-key add -

Now we are ready to install the packages and architecture as listed below

sudo dpkg --add-architecture armhf
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install autoconf
sudo apt-get install ccache
sudo apt-get install git
sudo apt-get install qemu
sudo apt-get install qemu-user-static
sudo apt-get install dchroot
sudo apt-get install debootstrap
sudo apt-get install apt-cacher-ng 
sudo apt-get install pigz
sudo apt-get install pv
sudo apt-get install mpv
sudo apt-get install  u-boot-tools
sudo apt-get install ntpdate
sudo apt-get install device-tree-compiler
sudo apt-get install pkg-config
sudo apt-get install libusb-1.0-0-dev
sudo apt-get install libusb-dev
sudo apt-get install gcc-4.9-multilib
sudo apt-get install crossbuild-essential-armhf

sudo dpkg --add-architecture armhf

sudo apt-get update

sudo apt-get install autoconf

sudo apt-get install ccache

sudo apt-get install git

sudo apt-get install qemu

sudo apt-get install qemu-user-static

sudo apt-get install dchroot

sudo apt-get install debootstrap

sudo apt-get install apt-cacher-ng

sudo apt-get install pigz

sudo apt-get install pv

sudo apt-get install mpv

sudo apt-get install u-boot-tools

sudo apt-get install ntpdate

sudo apt-get install device-tree-compiler

sudo apt-get install pkg-config

sudo apt-get install libusb-1.0-0-dev

sudo apt-get install libusb-dev

sudo apt-get install gcc-4.9-multilib

sudo apt-get install crossbuild-essential-armhf

At this point the procedure is the same on Ubuntu or Debian. We create a folder called armbian under orangepi folder in the home folder of the linux system; in our case the user is sviluppo

sviluppo@debian8:~/orangepi$ ls
openelec  sunxi
sviluppo@debian8:~/orangepi$ mkdir armbian

sviluppo@debian8:~/orangepi$ ls

openelec sunxi

sviluppo@debian8:~/orangepi$ mkdir armbian

We clone the repository with the following command in a shell command window in the armbian folder

git clone https://github.com/igorpecovnik/lib --depth 1
cp lib/compile.sh .

1 2	git clone https://github.com/igorpecovnik/lib --depth 1 cp lib/compile.sh .

To build the image execute

./compile.sh

1	./compile.sh

When requested enter the root password and for our image select the options described below.

Full OS image

Orangepipc board

default kernel

Debian stable image

Image with desktop envinronment

We find the image under the folder output/images ready to be transferred on a micro sd card as described in previous article

Micro Devices

Tag Archives: linux

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Startup of the Beaglebone development board

Openelec addon building for Orange PI PC

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Libreelec Image for Amlogic socs

Building openwrt package

Building OpenWrt firmware

OpenWrt firmware

Building Armbian image for Orange PI PC

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