[Arm-netbook] EOMA68-A20 now booting Linaro distro from uSD card

[joem]

On Thu, 2013-09-19 at 00:31 +0100, Philip Hands wrote:
> joem <joem at martindale-electric.co.uk> writes:
> 
> ...
> > To recap, I released a binary and left exact links and exact version
> > numbers to recreate it as well as exact details of tools and where to
> > get it.
> 
> Did you? -- where?
> 
> As I understood it you released a binary without the supporting
> complete description of how it was built -- if that's a misunderstanding
> on my part then I think it's also a misunderstanding shared by pretty
> much everyone else that's been contributing to this thread.


Ah, if that is the impression I left, I must be barking mad.
It was NEVER EVER the intention.

http://www.gplsquared.com/eoma_boot/eoma_boot.html#linaro_boot_uSD_image
The recipe for making latest binary uSD image says:

        The guide at http://linux-sunxi.org/FirstSteps is followed to
        make the bootable uSD card. The root file system selected was
        the linaro distro.
        http://releases.linaro.org/latest/ubuntu/raring-images/alip
        (linaro-raring-alip-20130826-474)
        
        
        The differences:
        
        1. instead of git checkout origin/sunxi-3.0, used git checkout
        origin/sunxi-3.4
        
        2. In the Linux directory, the file
        arch/arm/configs/sun7i_defconfig has been modified to add
        CONFIG_SUNXI_EMAC=y
          
        3. instead of make ARCH=arm CROSS_COMPILE=arm-linux-gnueabihf-
        sun4i_defconfig, used make ARCH=arm
        CROSS_COMPILE=arm-linux-gnueabihf- sun7i_defconfig 
        
        4. The remaining information came from
        http://rhombus-tech.net/allwinner/a20/boot/ to set up the EOMA
        to boot from uSD card, and get this file
        http://rhombus-tech.net/allwinner/a20/boot/script.fex to inform
        Linux of hardware configuration.
            That file has been modified to shut off LCD for now and
        enable HDMI, and it can be found in the /boot directory in the
        uSD card image.
        
        The Linux kernel was cross compiled on Ubuntu 12.04.3 using
        ubuntu armhf tool chain.
        

That should cover 100% of the information needed
to make the uSD binary blindly.

In short, to make uSD, 100% follow instructions
at sunxi. To make it work on EOMA, 4 differences
in the steps need to be followed as described, and you are 100% there.
To save time, I left a pre-made image for anyone wanting to use it.
That was my only intended message!


> If you did have full details published from the start, then fine.
> 
> If not, and it's an oversight that you've since corrected, then while
> that means that you were technically in violation of the GPL, if it's
> fixed now then that seems to resolve that, and I cannot see anyone
> making a fuss.


If above is 100% ok, then I hope to release more bootable uSD
cards and full instructions. If anything isn't clear about how
the uSD image was made (and not 100% described in documentation
and links supplied), then just ask and I will do my best.

The uSD images I view as valuable tools that save time
and advance a project at rapid pace:


Well being of a project = Human Endeavour x (Tools) ^2


So, increase the number of tools, and that advances the
project more quickly than any other activity.