I especially liked the section on DDR memory PCB routing and how it is less complicated than people make it out to be. At least for this application. Makes one want to try something like this
So you want to build an embedded Linux system?
11–20 of 113 posts
Re: So you want to build an embedded Linux system?
#12Earlier quoted context omitted.
This comment doesn't make any sense to me - it's like responding to an article titled "So, you want to build a transistor radio from scratch?" with "No, I want the latest iPod Touch".
There are lots of embedded systems beefy enough that Fedora is an appropriate choice.
Not really. Fedora IoT only supports x86_64, aarch64, and armhfp, which has some intersection with this space, but not a lot.
Regardless, that wasn't really the point of the article.
Re: So you want to build an embedded Linux system?
#13Standing ovation! This is a decade's worth of knowledge in a single article. I'll be forwarding this one to coworkers and acquaintances when they ask about how to do this kind of stuff.
I can understand why the author focuses on cheap entry-level parts. It's cheap and it's fun. He also kind of dismisses the major SOMs for this reason so maybe there can be a more comprehensive review of those (I build almost exclusively with these), but that's probably out of his view.
Going with a mystery AllWinner part is really compelling, but I can't go into production (with a 5+ year expected run lifetime) on that.
Re: So you want to build an embedded Linux system?
#14No, I don't want. I want to use mature distro, with thousands of packages, with known bugs fixed, with fresh software, like Fedora.
Then you want a small desktop system, not an embedded one.
Re: So you want to build an embedded Linux system?
#15Earlier quoted context omitted.
This comment doesn't make any sense to me - it's like responding to an article titled "So, you want to build a transistor radio from scratch?" with "No, I want the latest iPod Touch".
There are lots of embedded systems beefy enough that Fedora is an appropriate choice.
Just because you can doesn't mean you should
Re: So you want to build an embedded Linux system?
#16I especially liked the section on DDR memory PCB routing and how it is less complicated than people make it out to be. At least for this application. Makes one want to try something like this
Huh. I almost missed that, but can confirm.
On a past project we had two DDR RAMs and a NOR Flash on the same bus. There was one hardware engineer, and he laid out the memory subsystem in about a day. (The power supplies were dramatically more complicated.)
It almost worked first time. I noticed about one memory error per day per device, which I repro'd with repeated `md5sum /tmp/largefile`.
We just dropped the clock rate in U-Boot.
Failed devices? Heat it up with a hot air gun for a while. Fixed 90% of them. Still doesn't work? Throw it away.
There are no mysteries, just stuff you don't know yet.
Re: So you want to build an embedded Linux system?
#17No, I don't want. I want to use mature distro, with thousands of packages, with known bugs fixed, with fresh software, like Fedora.
You want "to use mature distro, with thousands of packages, with known bugs fixed, with fresh software, like Fedora." on an embedded system. Really?
Yep. I used Fedora and Yocto on iMX6 SoloLite. Both use rpm&dnf. Fedora is much better. In fedora, I feel like at desktop: everything is the same, zero issues. In yocto, I feel like I returned in time for about 20 years: same f*ing bugs, which I reported or fixed years ago, again and again.
Re: So you want to build an embedded Linux system?
#18I have been doing embedded for a number of years. I'm the only fulltime SWE at my company and it just gets exhausting managing 5 different products on completely different code bases/technologies. Plus a web portal that does device management and reporting.
So a big thing people should consider when building something to scratch. Am I making something I can use again when I make my next product. Its a much higher mental load if you have no commonality between products. Also it can cause problems for sales, support and management when they have to remember nitty gritty details about each of your very divergent products.
Re: So you want to build an embedded Linux system?
#19Earlier quoted context omitted.
You want "to use mature distro, with thousands of packages, with known bugs fixed, with fresh software, like Fedora." on an embedded system. Really?
Yep. I used Fedora and Yocto on iMX6 SoloLite. Both use rpm&dnf. Fedora is much better. In fedora, I feel like at desktop: everything is the same, zero issues. In yocto, I feel like I returned in time for about 20 years: same f *ing bugs, which I reported or fixed years ago, again and again.
It really depends on your hardware, there are many systems with limited storage and memory where Fedora is impossible to fit. I do believe Yocto is the Gentoo for embedded linux, which is over-engineered to hell. The good news is that, unless you have some very special requirement, just use buildroot, which is 1/100 of the complexity and get the job done well. KISS.
Re: So you want to build an embedded Linux system?
#20Earlier quoted context omitted.
You want "to use mature distro, with thousands of packages, with known bugs fixed, with fresh software, like Fedora." on an embedded system. Really?
Yep. I used Fedora and Yocto on iMX6 SoloLite. Both use rpm&dnf. Fedora is much better. In fedora, I feel like at desktop: everything is the same, zero issues. In yocto, I feel like I returned in time for about 20 years: same f *ing bugs, which I reported or fixed years ago, again and again.
Using a package manager on an embedded system is just asking for trouble. Or read-write rootfs, for that matter.