IRC #olimex 2018-01-13

[10:55:39] <xcko> are there any precompiled debian images available for the teres laptop?
[12:36:16] <jo0nas> xcko: not that I am aware of - and if you find any, please do let me know, so I can extend http://box.redpill.dk/
[12:53:53] <jo0nas> xcko: the showstopper for me is lack of device-tree file for TERES-I for mainline Linux and mainline U-boot - when that is in place, we can ask Debian to officially enable support for TERES-I, and I can maintain images based on that
[14:47:36] <dddddd> jo0nas, What's using the Ubuntu image instead of mainline compatible DT? Can it (whatever) be converted?
[14:50:15] <jo0nas> the Ubuntu image shipped by Olimex uses a non-mainline Linux kernel - not sure what is your question - did my response help?
[14:52:23] <tbr> I'd suspect it uses that fex thing?
[14:52:51] <dddddd> No exactly, but it's my fault for sure. I mean, I guess there's something in the Ubuntu image that can be used to create the DT, am I right?
[14:53:18] <dddddd> s/No/Not/
[14:54:54] <dddddd> ... create a DT deriving some information from how the Ubuntu image uses/configure the hardware. Does this makes sense?
[14:56:11] <dddddd> tbr, this? https://linux-sunxi.org/Fex_Guide
[14:56:37] <tbr> that's just my guess
[15:00:47] <dddddd> Makes sense. It seems the conversion is possible, like https://github.com/mripard/sunxi-babelfish does under the hood.
[15:13:13] <jo0nas> if possible to derive a device-tree file for Mainline Linux from the one shipped by Olimex, that'd be awesome!
[15:26:55] <tbr> it would most likely need still manual verification and tuning
[15:30:50] <jo0nas> I have the device so can test, but I will need others better skilled to come up with such adjustments
[15:39:03] <dddddd> I _think_ the pine64 is not that different, so I guess that's another way to get a starting DT.
[15:39:45] <dddddd> (or some kind of pine, I don't know the names)
[15:42:14] <jo0nas> I would need some guidance
[15:43:06] <dddddd> My TERES-I is still in the box, but I can start playing with the contents of the Ubuntu image. Far (far!) from expert though, so take my words with lots of salt.
[15:43:28] <jo0nas> I have a TERES-I, know how to compile C (and package Debian packages when we get so far), and have a pile of SD-cards
[15:44:17] <jo0nas> ...but I have not succeeded in having U-boot console access to my TERES-I
[15:44:56] <dddddd> As practice I made SD for the lime2, from scratch (compile, u-boot, kernel, check on uart, put minimal rootfs, etc...)
[15:45:17] <jo0nas> I am familiar with the LIME2
[15:45:38] <jo0nas> I mainly support LIME2 at http://box.redpill.dk/
[16:01:51] <dddddd> I can't get seeds for the torrent right now. Any alternative to download the zipped image?
[16:07:29] <jo0nas> what image? my images as box.redpill.dk are not on bittorrent
[16:08:16] <dddddd> the teres one, sorry
[16:10:28] <jo0nas> why do you need an alternative to downloading directly? torrent is only faster (or working at all!) depending on how many is seeding it
[16:10:44] <dddddd> that's the problem, no seeds
[16:11:05] <dddddd> and I don't know any direct download.
[16:14:21] <dddddd> To be clear. Olimex, AFAIN, only links to a torrent download: https://www.olimex.com/wiki/images/8/84/Teres_ubuntu_mate_161117_v1_2.torrent
[16:14:33] <dddddd> via https://www.olimex.com/Products/DIY-Laptop/KITS/TERES-A64-WHITE/
[16:14:46] <dddddd> *AFAIK
[16:15:21] <dddddd> Oh! one seed now, nice!
[16:32:32] <jo0nas> one of the reasons I started the box.redpill.dk images was that Olimex images are so annoyingly big
[16:34:19] <jo0nas> ...and I need a working Debian to legally distribute images - frankly I believe Olimex is violating Ubuntu trademarks by redistributing Ubuntu like that
[17:27:48] <dddddd> 25% dl'ed, some more time to keep reading and compiling tools :P
[17:29:46] <dddddd> Somehow dated, but very informative anyway (both talks a bit about babelfish):
[17:29:50] <dddddd> https://www.cnx-software.com/2014/02/17/allwinner-linux-sunxi-community-presentation-and-status-report-fosdem-2014/
[17:30:06] <dddddd> https://lwn.net/Articles/597916/
[18:34:03] <dddddd> There're some dbt files at https://github.com/OLIMEX/DIY-LAPTOP/tree/master/SOFTWARE/A64-TERES/blobs
[18:34:44] <dddddd> s/dbt/dts/
[18:38:17] <dddddd> ^ jo0nas
[19:51:59] <dddddd> Well, I guess this can't work in a million years (being the first try), but mainline u-boot compiled.
[20:08:12] <dddddd> Let me re-check and document my steps.
[21:06:06] <dddddd> OK, it's fairly straightforward indeed.
[21:06:18] <dddddd> Follow board/sunxi/README.sunxi64 of u-boot after:
[21:06:39] <dddddd> - create a _defconfig copied from configs/a64-olinuxino_defconfig and edit it to point to...
[21:07:20] <dddddd> a64-teres_uboot.dts
[21:08:09] <dddddd> - downloaded to arch/arm/dts/ from https://github.com/OLIMEX/DIY-LAPTOP/raw/master/SOFTWARE/A64-TERES/blobs/a64-teres_uboot.dts
[21:08:54] <dddddd> the edit is like:
[21:09:03] <dddddd> CONFIG_RESERVE_ALLWINNER_BOOT0_HEADER=y
[21:09:03] <dddddd> -CONFIG_DEFAULT_DEVICE_TREE="sun50i-a64-olinuxino"
[21:09:03] <dddddd> +CONFIG_DEFAULT_DEVICE_TREE="a64-teres_uboot"
[21:09:03] <dddddd> # CONFIG_SYS_MALLOC_CLEAR_ON_INIT is not set
[21:11:38] <dddddd> I named it configs/TERES-I_defconfig
[21:15:12] <dddddd> Does this works? I don't know. Try at your own risk. I'll try after assembling my teres (hopefully) next week.
[21:20:26] <dddddd> There's another dts in the github directory. I don't know why it's different (a64-teres_uboot.dts vs a64-teres.dts)
[21:27:06] <dddddd> As cross-compilation host I used buster/sid on a VM and installed:
[21:27:19] <dddddd> apt-get install git build-essential gcc-aarch64-linux-gnu bc python2 python-dev swig
[23:17:39] <codefree> hi, I was wondering if the 3.10 kernel in the DIY tree is being maintained for sec patches?
[23:19:32] <codefree> I could just replace that with the 3.16 long term kernel, I think, and compile myself, but I would need to know what patch / config files need to be copied over
[23:36:33] <codefree> For TERES-1, is it just the kernel config file added, or are there some other patches in the kernel?