InkBox GNU/Linux kernel and bootloader

Useful resources and documentation to build a kernel for InkBox.

Build

There are different toolchains in this repository. Depending on the device, a specific toolchain is needed.

• n705, n905b, n905c, n613: TOOLCHAINDIR="${GITDIR}/toolchain/gcc-4.8" | You'll need to install 32-bit libraries on your system for it to work (unless you're on a 32-bit machine or VM, of course).
  
• n236, n437, n306, n306c, n873: TOOLCHAINDIR="${GITDIR}/toolchain/arm-nickel-linux-gnueabihf"
• kt: TOOLCHAINDIR="${GITDIR}/toolchain/gcc-4.4.1"
• n249: TOOLCHAINDIR="${GITDIR}/toolchain/armv7l-linux-musleabihf-cross/"
  To compile a kernel for a device in particular (here, the Kobo Clara HD), use, for example:
  

env GITDIR=/home/build/inkbox/kernel TOOLCHAINDIR=/home/build/inkbox/compiled-binaries/armv7l-linux-musleabihf/ INIT_GCC=/home/build/inkbox/compiled-binaries/armv7l-linux-musleabihf/bin/armv7l-linux-musleabihf-gcc INIT_STRIP=/home/build/inkbox/compiled-binaries/armv7l-linux-musleabihf/bin/armv7l-linux-musleabihf-strip THREADS=32 TARGET=armv7l-linux-musleabihf scripts/build_kernel.sh n249 root

and change the relevant environment variables as needed.

Additional notes:

• The INIT_GCC and INIT_STRIP variables should always point to an armv7l musl toolchain.
• Don't forget to symlink the kernel repository to /home/build/inkbox/kernel or create the repository in that location. The path is fixed.
• Debian systems may not like your build command and need some PATH changes, like the following one: env -i PATH=/usr/bin:/bin:/sbin:/usr/sbin
• If anything goes wrong, consider using a Debian container (2023 edit: this is probably a bad idea, rather consider using Arch Linux). You will need to install the following packages:

sudo apt install u-boot-tools make gcc xz-utils

• If a device has variants, remember to git reset --hard before building.
• To create the modules.sqsh squashfs archive: mksquashfs dir new_modules.sqsh -b 1048576 -comp gzip -always-use-fragments