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So you want to build an embedded Linux system?

jaycarlson.net

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Re: So you want to build an embedded Linux system?

#11

Post by AlotOfReading »

manuel_w wrote: post #3

Since an embedded Linux system will likely require use of either Buildroot or Yocto, I'd like to ask the following slightly off-topic question: Which SoM product line would you say has the best vendor support? I'm talking about quality of the BSP (board support package). (A meta-layer, in Yocto terms.) Raspberry Pi has quite a community behind it, so meta-raspberrypi has a number of contributors. (None of which payed…

NXP is probably the best "big" vendor for this. The main issue is that their documentation solution/website is awful.

I think a smaller vendor like Toradex is more in line with what you're asking for though. I haven't used them myself, but I've heard very good things. First class yocto support is a core part of their offering.

Re: So you want to build an embedded Linux system?

#12

Post by candiddevmike »

nrclark wrote: post #10
candiddevmike wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Since an embedded Linux system will likely require use of either Buildroot or Yocto, I don't know if that's the case anymore. The kernel ships with a lot of drivers now, and Root FS for embedded devices aren't really space constrained anymore. The needs of an IoT device have also grown to include things like containers and telemetry. In my experience, forking off of an existing distribution like Debian is way easie…

unrelated but curious - what do you think of OSTree-based embedded distros? Any future in it?

I see it as an overly complicated way of trying to apply containerization concepts to a base OS via transactions. It's really hard to use OSTree on new projects or get existing distros like Debian to work with OSTree. I think the update process, while in theory should be better, ends up being a black box of will it/won't it frustration for end users.

Finally, OSTree is mainly a Red Hat thing and is built for their needs (CoreOS). They could pull the rug on it in the sense that what you build today using it may not work tomorrow if Red Hat needs OSTree to function differently. Which is their perogrative, as they are the primary contributors to it.

Re: So you want to build an embedded Linux system?

#14

Post by m-ee »

AlotOfReading wrote: post #11
manuel_w wrote: post #3

Since an embedded Linux system will likely require use of either Buildroot or Yocto, I'd like to ask the following slightly off-topic question: Which SoM product line would you say has the best vendor support? I'm talking about quality of the BSP (board support package). (A meta-layer, in Yocto terms.) Raspberry Pi has quite a community behind it, so meta-raspberrypi has a number of contributors. (None of which payed…

NXP is probably the best "big" vendor for this. The main issue is that their documentation solution/website is awful. I think a smaller vendor like Toradex is more in line with what you're asking for though. I haven't used them myself, but I've heard very good things. First class yocto support is a core part of their offering.

I’ve been happy with toradex. Boundary is another similar company but haven’t used them.

Re: So you want to build an embedded Linux system?

#15

Post by amelius »

Embedded systems question. I have an nVidia Jetson, and I want to expose one of the USB3 ports to the user of the system (e.g. so they can attach a USB drive). However ... the USB3 port of the Jetson is not near the enclosure of the box. Now I'm thinking of using a USB3 cable, but I know from experience that this is not going to give a reliable connection. Any suggestions on how to properly do this? I don't want to move the Jetson, in part because I am planning to use the other exposed ports internally.

Re: So you want to build an embedded Linux system?

#16

Post by [deleted] »

amelius wrote: post #15

Embedded systems question. I have an nVidia Jetson, and I want to expose one of the USB3 ports to the user of the system (e.g. so they can attach a USB drive). However ... the USB3 port of the Jetson is not near the enclosure of the box. Now I'm thinking of using a USB3 cable, but I know from experience that this is not going to give a reliable connection. Any suggestions on how to properly do this? I don't want to m…

[deleted]

Re: So you want to build an embedded Linux system?

#17

Post by blueflow »

manuel_w wrote: post #3

Since an embedded Linux system will likely require use of either Buildroot or Yocto, I'd like to ask the following slightly off-topic question: Which SoM product line would you say has the best vendor support? I'm talking about quality of the BSP (board support package). (A meta-layer, in Yocto terms.) Raspberry Pi has quite a community behind it, so meta-raspberrypi has a number of contributors. (None of which payed…

RPi has a nice community, but some of its drivers still set TAINT_CRAP on Linux.

Re: So you want to build an embedded Linux system?

#18

Post by rkangel »

candiddevmike wrote: post #7
manuel_w wrote: post #3

Since an embedded Linux system will likely require use of either Buildroot or Yocto, I'd like to ask the following slightly off-topic question: Which SoM product line would you say has the best vendor support? I'm talking about quality of the BSP (board support package). (A meta-layer, in Yocto terms.) Raspberry Pi has quite a community behind it, so meta-raspberrypi has a number of contributors. (None of which payed…

> Since an embedded Linux system will likely require use of either Buildroot or Yocto, I don't know if that's the case anymore. The kernel ships with a lot of drivers now, and Root FS for embedded devices aren't really space constrained anymore. The needs of an IoT device have also grown to include things like containers and telemetry. In my experience, forking off of an existing distribution like Debian is way easie…

For the projects I've done, we're not usually particularly space constrained, but we are usually at least one of:

* Cost constrained so RAM constrained * Need fast boot times * For a niche processor architecture

Starting with very little apart from an init system and busybox and then building up from there has been a good approach to get the performant (by whatever metric) platform that I need.

That said, I'm not a fan of Yocto at all. I find it painful and slow to work with. I experimented with using Nix (as in NixOS) as my build platform which had some great advantages (e.g. great caching of build steps), but also some pain.

Re: So you want to build an embedded Linux system?

#19

Post by mschuster91 »

rkangel wrote: post #18
candiddevmike wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Since an embedded Linux system will likely require use of either Buildroot or Yocto, I don't know if that's the case anymore. The kernel ships with a lot of drivers now, and Root FS for embedded devices aren't really space constrained anymore. The needs of an IoT device have also grown to include things like containers and telemetry. In my experience, forking off of an existing distribution like Debian is way easie…

For the projects I've done, we're not usually particularly space constrained, but we are usually at least one of: * Cost constrained so RAM constrained * Need fast boot times * For a niche processor architecture Starting with very little apart from an init system and busybox and then building up from there has been a good approach to get the performant (by whatever metric) platform that I need. That said, I'm not a f…

> For a niche processor architecture

It's been ages since I've last seen something else than ARM and x86 - are people still bringing up new designs for MIPS CPUs?!

Re: So you want to build an embedded Linux system?

#20

Post by ab71e5 »

Question for anyone who has done something similar : how feasible would the hardware part be for someone who has some basic electronic / breadboarding knowledge but no pcb design experience? Besides this excellent article what would be a good resource to learn to do something like this myself?
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