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How to build Linux with GNU tools and run on simulator

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Anton Kolesov edited this page Apr 20, 2017 · 18 revisions

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This document describes how to build Linux kernel image from the perspective of toolchain developer. This document doesn't aim to replace more complete and thorough Linux-focused user guides and how to so. This document answers the single question "How to confirm, that I can build Linux kernel with that toolchain?"

To learn how to configure Linux, debug kernel itself and build extra software please see https://github.com/foss-for-synopsys-dwc-arc-processors/linux/wiki

Prerequisites

  • Host OS:
    • RHEL 6 or later
    • Ubuntu 14.04 LTS or later
  • GNU tool chain for ARC:
    • 2014.12 or later for Linux for ARC HS
    • 4.8 or later for Linux for ARC 700
  • make version at least 3.81
  • rsync version at least 3.0
  • git

Prerequisite packages can be installed on Ubuntu 14.04 with the following command:

# apt-get install texinfo byacc flex build-essential git

On RHEL 6/7 those can be installed with following command:

# yum groupinstall "Development Tools"
# yum install texinfo-tex byacc flex git

Overview

There are two essential components to get a working Linux kernel image: root file system and Linux image itself. For the sake of simplicity this guide assumes that root file system is embedded into the Linux image.

To generate root file system this guide will use Buildroot project, that automates this sort of things. Buildroot is capable to build Linux image itself, feature that is also used in this guide. Buildroot is also capable of building toolchain from the source, however this feature is not used in this guide, instead binary toolchain distributed by Synopsys will be used.

Configuring

Check Buildroot downloads page for latest release. This guide further assumes version 2015.11. Get Buildroot sources:

$ mkdir arc-2016.09-linux-guide
$ cd arc-2016.09-linux-guide
$ wget https://buildroot.org/downloads/buildroot-snapshot.tar.bz2
$ tar xaf buildroot-snapshot.tar.bz2

To build Linux and rootfs Buildroot should be configured. For the purpose of this guide, a custom "defconfig" file will be created and then will be used to configure Buildroot. Custom "defconfig" file can be located anywhere and have any name. For example it can be arc-2016.09-linux-guide/hs_defconfig. Contents of this file should be following:

BR2_arcle=y
BR2_archs38=y
BR2_TOOLCHAIN_EXTERNAL=y
BR2_TOOLCHAIN_EXTERNAL_DOWNLOAD=y
BR2_TOOLCHAIN_EXTERNAL_URL="http://github.com/foss-for-synopsys-dwc-arc-processors/toolchain/releases/download/arc-2016.09/arc_gnu_2016.09_prebuilt_uclibc_le_archs_linux_install.tar.gz"
BR2_TOOLCHAIN_EXTERNAL_GCC_6=y
BR2_TOOLCHAIN_EXTERNAL_HEADERS_4_8=y
BR2_TOOLCHAIN_EXTERNAL_LOCALE=y
BR2_TOOLCHAIN_EXTERNAL_HAS_SSP=y
BR2_TOOLCHAIN_EXTERNAL_INET_RPC=y
BR2_TOOLCHAIN_EXTERNAL_CXX=y
BR2_LINUX_KERNEL=y
BR2_LINUX_KERNEL_DEFCONFIG="nsim_hs"
BR2_LINUX_KERNEL_VMLINUX=y
BR2_PACKAGE_GDB=y
BR2_PACKAGE_GDB_SERVER=y
BR2_PACKAGE_GDB_DEBUGGER=y
BR2_TARGET_ROOTFS_INITRAMFS=y
# BR2_TARGET_ROOTFS_TAR is not set

Important notes about modifying Buildroot defconfig:

  • BR2_TOOLCHAIN_EXTERNAL_URL should point to a valid URL of GNU Toolchain for ARC distributable.
  • BR2_TOOLCHAIN_EXTERNAL_HEADERS_X_XX should be aligned to Linux headers version used for the toolchain build. It is 4.8 for toolchain release 2016.09, it is 4.6 for toolchain release 2016.03, it is 3.18 for toolchain releases 2015.06 and 2015.12, it is 3.13 for earlier toolchain versions. This parameter identifies version of Linux that was used to build toolchain and is not related to version of Linux that will be built by toolchain or where applications compiled by this toolchain will run.
  • Other Linux kernel defconfigs can be used.
  • Building GDB or GDBserver is not necessary.

Building

To build Linux kernel image using that defconfig:

$ cd buildroot
$ make O=../output_hs defconfig DEFCONFIG=../hs_defconfig
$ cd ../output_hs
$ make

After that there will be Linux kernel image file arc-2016.09-linux-guide/output/images/vmlinux.

Running on nSIM

Linux configuration in the provided Buildroot defconfig is for the standalone nSIM. This kernel image can be run directly on nSIM, without any other additional software. Assuming current directory is arc-2016.09-linux-guide:

$ $NSIM_HOME/bin/nsimdrv -propsfile archs38.props output_hs/images/vmlinux

Username is root without a password. To halt target system issue halt command.

Contents of archs38.props file is following:

nsim_isa_family=av2hs
nsim_isa_core=1
chipid=0xffff
nsim_isa_atomic_option=1
nsim_isa_ll64_option=1
nsim_isa_mpy_option=9
nsim_isa_div_rem_option=2
nsim_isa_sat=1
nsim_isa_code_density_option=2
nsim_isa_enable_timer_0=1
nsim_isa_enable_timer_1=1
nsim_isa_rtc_option=1
icache=65536,64,4,0
dcache=65536,64,2,0
nsim_mmu=4
nsim_mem-dev=uart0,base=0xc0fc1000,irq=24
nsim_isa_number_of_interrupts=32
nsim_isa_number_of_external_interrupts=32

Add nsim_fast=1 to props file if you have nSIM Pro license.

Using different Linux configuration

It is possible to change Linux configuration used via altering BR2_LINUX_KERNEL_DEFCONFIG property of Buildroot defconfig. For example to build kernel image for AXS103 SDP change its value to axs103. After that repeat steps from Building section of this document. Refer to ARC Linux documentation for more details about how to enable networking, HDMI and other hardware features of AXS10x SDP.

Notable defconfigs available for ARC: axs101, axs103, axs103_smp, vsk_hs38_smp_defconfig.

Linux for ARC 770 processors

Process of building kernel for ARC 770 is similar to what is for ARC HS. It is required only to change several option in Buildroot defconfig:

  • BR2_archs38=y with BR2_arc770d=y
  • BR2_TOOLCHAIN_EXTERNAL_URL="http://github.com/foss-for-synopsys-dwc-arc-processors/toolchain/releases/download/arc-2016.09/arc_gnu_2016.09_prebuilt_uclibc_le_archs_linux_install.tar.gz" with BR2_TOOLCHAIN_EXTERNAL_URL="http://github.com/foss-for-synopsys-dwc-arc-processors/toolchain/releases/download/arc-2016.09/arc_gnu_2016.09_prebuilt_uclibc_le_arc700_linux_install.tar.gz"
  • BR2_LINUX_KERNEL_DEFCONFIG="nsim_hs" with BR2_LINUX_KERNEL_DEFCONFIG="nsim_700"

Then repeat steps from Building section of this document to build Linux kernel image. To run this image following arc770d.props nSIM properties file may be used:

nsim_isa_family=a700
nsim_isa_atomic_option=1
nsim_mmu=3
icache=32768,64,2,0
dcache=32768,64,4,0
nsim_isa_spfp=fast
nsim_isa_shift_option=2
nsim_isa_swap_option=1
nsim_isa_bitscan_option=1
nsim_isa_sat=1
nsim_isa_mpy32=1
nsim_isa_enable_timer_0=1
nsim_isa_enable_timer_1=1
nsim_mem-dev=uart0,base=0xc0fc1000,irq=5
nsim_isa_number_of_interrupts=32
nsim_isa_number_of_external_interrupts=32

Linux for ARC HS VDK

This section is specific to ARC HS VDK which is distributed along with nSIM (nSIM Pro license is required).

Buildroot defconfig for VDK differs from the one for a simple nSIM:

  • Linux defconfig is vdk_hs38_smp for multicore simulation, vdk_hs38 for single core simulation.
  • Ext2 file of root file system should be created, instead of being linked into the kernel

With those changes Buildroot defconfig for ARC HS VDK is:

BR2_arcle=y
BR2_archs38=y
BR2_TOOLCHAIN_EXTERNAL=y
BR2_TOOLCHAIN_EXTERNAL_DOWNLOAD=y
BR2_TOOLCHAIN_EXTERNAL_URL="http://github.com/foss-for-synopsys-dwc-arc-processors/toolchain/releases/download/arc-2016.09/arc_gnu_2016.09_prebuilt_uclibc_le_archs_linux_install.tar.gz"
BR2_TOOLCHAIN_EXTERNAL_GCC_6=y
BR2_TOOLCHAIN_EXTERNAL_HEADERS_4_8=y
BR2_TOOLCHAIN_EXTERNAL_LOCALE=y
BR2_TOOLCHAIN_EXTERNAL_HAS_SSP=y
BR2_TOOLCHAIN_EXTERNAL_INET_RPC=y
BR2_TOOLCHAIN_EXTERNAL_CXX=y
BR2_LINUX_KERNEL=y
BR2_LINUX_KERNEL_DEFCONFIG="vdk_hs38_smp"
BR2_LINUX_KERNEL_VMLINUX=y
BR2_PACKAGE_GDB=y
BR2_PACKAGE_GDB_SERVER=y
BR2_PACKAGE_GDB_DEBUGGER=y
BR2_TARGET_ROOTFS_EXT2=y
# BR2_TARGET_ROOTFS_TAR is not set

Save this defconfig to some file (for example vdk_defconfig). Then use same process as in Building section.

$ cd buildroot
$ make O=../output_vdk defconfig DEFCONFIG=<path-to-VDK-defconfig-file>
$ cd ../output_vdk
$ make

ARC HS VDK already includes Linux kernel image and root file system image. To replace them with your newly generated files:

$ cd <VDK-directory>/skins/ARC-Linux
$ mv rootfs.ARCv2.ext2{,.orig}
$ ln -s <path-to-Buildroot-output/images/rootfs.ext2 rootfs.ARCv2.ext2
$ mv ARCv2/vmlinux_smp{,.orig}
$ ln -s <path-to-Buildroot-output/images/vmlinux ARCv2/vmlinux_smp

Before running VDK if you wish to have a working networking connection on Linux for ARC system it is required to configure VDK VHub application. By default this application will pass all Ethernet packets to the VDK Ethernet model, however on busy networks that can be too much to handle in a model, therefore it is highly recommended to configure destination address filtering. Modify VirtualAndRealWorldIO/VHub/vhub.conf: : set DestMACFilterEnable to true, and append some random valid MAC address to the list of DestMACFilter, or use one of the MAC address examples in the list. This guide will use D8:D3:85:CF:D5:CE - this address is already in the list. Note that is has been observed that it is not possible to assign some addresses to Ethernet device model in VDK, instead of success there is an error "Cannot assign requested address".

Note, that due to the way how VHub application works, it is impossible to connect to the Ethernet model from the host on which it runs on and vice versa. Therefore to use networking in target it is required to either have another host and communicate with it.

Run VHub application as root:

# VirtualAndRealWorldIO/VHub/vhub -f VirtualAndRealWorldIO/VHub/vhub.conf

In another console launch VDK:

$ . setup.sh
$ ./skins/ARC-Linux/start_interactive.tcl

After VDK will load, start simulation. After Linux kernel will boot, login into system via UART console: login root, no password. By default networking is switched off. Enable eth0 device, configure it is use MAC from address configured in VHub:

[arclinux] # ifconfig eth0 hw ether d8:d3:85:cf:d5:ce
[arclinux] # ifconfig eth0 up

Linux kernel will emit errors about failed PTP initialization - those are expected. Assign IP address to the target system. This example uses DHCP:

[arclinux] # udhcpc eth0

Now it is possible to mount some NFS share and run applications from it:

[arclinux] # mount -t nfs public-nfs:/home/arc_user/pub /mnt
[arclinux] # /mnt/hello_world

Linux for AXS103 SDP

Build process using Buildroot is the same as for standalone nSIM. Buildroot defconfig is:

BR2_arcle=y
BR2_archs38=y
BR2_TOOLCHAIN_EXTERNAL=y
BR2_TOOLCHAIN_EXTERNAL_DOWNLOAD=y
BR2_TOOLCHAIN_EXTERNAL_URL="http://github.com/foss-for-synopsys-dwc-arc-processors/toolchain/releases/download/arc-2016.09/arc_gnu_2016.09_prebuilt_uclibc_le_archs_linux_install.tar.gz"
BR2_TOOLCHAIN_EXTERNAL_GCC_6=y
BR2_TOOLCHAIN_EXTERNAL_HEADERS_4_8=y
BR2_TOOLCHAIN_EXTERNAL_LOCALE=y
BR2_TOOLCHAIN_EXTERNAL_HAS_SSP=y
BR2_TOOLCHAIN_EXTERNAL_INET_RPC=y
BR2_TOOLCHAIN_EXTERNAL_CXX=y
BR2_LINUX_KERNEL=y
BR2_LINUX_KERNEL_DEFCONFIG="axs103_smp"
BR2_PACKAGE_GDB=y
BR2_PACKAGE_GDB_SERVER=y
BR2_PACKAGE_GDB_DEBUGGER=y
BR2_TARGET_ROOTFS_INITRAMFS=y
# BR2_TARGET_ROOTFS_TAR is not set

This defconfig will create a uImage file instead of vmlinux. Please refer to ARC Linux wiki for more details on using u-boot with AXS103.

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