Linaro 13.05 Release With Linux Kernel 3.10, Android 4.2.2, and Ubuntu Raring Ringtail

Linaro 13.05 has just been released with Linux Kernel 3.10-rc2 and Android 4.2.2. This is the first release with Ubuntu 13.04 (Raring Ringtail) images. There’s also Linux Linaro Stable (LSK) preview based on kernel 3.9.4.

BeagleBone Black support has been added and preliminary hwpack and images are available, an Android Arndale image with virtual framebuffer is also available. You can now get a desktop environment (XFCE) on Aarch64 / ARMv8. Hardware packs with Real-time Linux kernel (PREEMPT_RT) can be downloaded for Pandaboard and Arndale. More work has gone into Aarch64, big.LITTLE HMP, and ARM virtualization (KVM). Finally an UEFI is available not only for Vexpress boards, but also Samsung Origen and Arndale boards, as well as Texas Instruments Pandabord and Beagleboard.

Here are the highlights of this release:

LAVA
- First prototype production run of LAVA Lmp completed, tested functional.
- Beaglebone Black is now running in LAVA.
- TC2s is now running fully with latest firmware and master image, booting on A7 core.
- Different client tools were consolidated into a single package to simplifies the process of updating the tools and makes it easier for the team to provide new features for LAVA users.
- Android build howtos are published along the build artifacts themselves (Patch).
- linaro-patchmetrics is now able to work in local environment.
- RT patchset testing enabled in LAVA.

Builds and Baselines
- The detailed CTS report in the standard format is now generated in LAVA. The QA Services Team will include these reports in the weekly/monthly testing reports for platforms in LAVA.
- The Galaxy Nexus CI loop is done. The images (without graphics acceleration) can be deployed with a graphics overlay for testing in LAVA.
- The full Android engineering build for Arndale is now available with virtual framebuffer.
- Clean up of the independent test suite builder is done. All the dependent projects are now built from sources for the test suite.
- Test migration from lava-test-shell to lava-android-test continues: tjbench, big.LITTLE IKS test are available in lava-test-shell.
- The Toolchain WG has optimized string routines for A15. These routines are now integrated into bionic for Android.
- Setup of the initial CI loop for Linaro Stable Kernel (LSK). A preview is released as part of Linaro 13.05 release. A tree has been created with the collaboration of the Kernel WG and the related CI/LAVA jobs are done.
- Linux Linaro Kernel moved from 3.9 to be 3.10-rc2 based.
- Calxeda EnergyCore (Highbank) server CI loop is now completed. Daily builds are produced and submitted to LAVA.
- Support for BeagleBone Black board has been added. The initial CI loop is complete: hardware pack and pre-built images are available.
- Progress on the CI loop for LNG. The realtime Linux kernel (PREEMPT_RT) is built on ci.linaro.org and hwpack targeting PandaBoard/Arndale boards are published.
- Linaro Ubuntu baseline images are updated to the latest Ubuntu stable release, Raring Ringtail (13.04).
- Support for Linaro external toolchain (pre-built binaries) is added to Linaro OpenEmbedded baseline.
- Integration of OpenJDK zero build for Aarch64 cross-compile to Linaro OpenEmbedded baseline.
- libunwind support for ARMv8, contributed by the Toolchain WG, is available in Linaro OpenEmbedded baseline.
- Linux Linaro 3.10-rc2 2013.05 released
  - big-LITTLE-MP-master-v17 (new version vs 13.04 release)
  - updated config fragments for Arndale and Panda
  - updated Versatile Express patches from ARM LT: new MCPM and IKS patch sets
  - updated arndale/exynos patches from Samsung LT
  - a patch to enable perf in Android by Bernhard Rosenkraenzer
  - vexpress64 support (both RTSM and Foundation model)
  - omap-fixes-13.05 topic: serial and gpio fixes for omap2+ from v3.10-rc3
  - OpenStack support: CONFIG_[IP,IP6]_NF_IPTABLES, CONFIG_NF_CONNTRACK*, and CONFIG_NF_NAT* enabled in ubuntu builds (added to ubuntu-minimal.conf)
- Linaro Toolchain Binaries 2013.05 released

Graphics
- Mali driver ported and brought up for the Arndale board.
- An XFCE based graphics image now works in the RTSM simulator: http://fullshovel.wordpress.com/2013/05/24/arm-aarch64-running-a-graphical-stack/
- CDFv2 is up on an eDP panel on Arndale.
- Patches v1 and v2 implementing a DT node for the DP controller, clock provider and display timings for Arndale.
- Android patches for piglit are finished. They enable current and future testcases to be built as part of automated build and test process.
- Fixed GStreamer bugs

Kernel
- Exynos core and drivers now use common clk infrastructure. It’s been merged in 3.10-rc1.
- The <mach/*> and <plat/*> namespaces for the Nomadik and Ux500 platforms were depopulated. It’s been merged in 3.10-rc1.
- Refactored EHCI controller code to allow configuration of multiple EHCI controllers as both modules or static drivers in the same kernel.
- Uncompress message is now supported on multi-platform kernels. It’s been merged in 3.10-rc1.
- Samsung platform (Exynos) converted to use Generic Clock Events.
- Android Sync infrastructure has been upstreamed to staging for 3.10-rc1.
- Upstream Android ram_console driver functionality.
- Implement and upstream ARM 32 bit uprobes support
- Improve eMMC Power Management Support
- Android ETM(Embedded Trace Macrocell)/ETB(Embedded Trace Buffer) upstreaming (arch/arm/kernel/etm.c)
- Remove ARM specific dependencies in Android’s ION
- Android upstreaming: Ashmem
- Port some of the simpler platforms to multiplatform support: u300 and Nomadik
- Android FIQ debugger for ARM
- Migrate Android Alarmtimer driver over to using the upstreamed Alarmtimers
- Android ION infrastructure upstreaming

Power Management
- First big.LITTLE release with IKS code integrated into the public linux-linaro tree.
- Removal of hardcoded assumptions of CPU topology in IKS code, test scripts. It allows test suite and code to be more easily adopted to member platforms.
- Integration tree to bring together big.LITTLE MP related work
- Small task packing by scheduler
- CPU Hot Plug Latency on Android
- sched: modify timer and workqueue framework to allow migration

QA
- Successfully completed 13.05 release testing on Android, Ubuntu and OpenEmbedded builds. Test results and bug reports have been shared.
- Review of existing test cases was completed. Descriptions and steps were updated.
- Improvements in big.LITTLE IKS test suite
- Checked that breakpoints are inherited correctly across switches.

Toolchain
- Linaro GCC 4.8 2013.05 released, based off the latest GCC 4.8.0+svn198615 release.
  - Backport of support for prologue/epilogues using LDRD and STRD in ARM mode.
  - Backport of support for further AArch64 instructions.
  - Backport of support for further ARMv8 AArch32 instructions.
- Linaro GCC 4.7 2013.05 released, based off the latest GCC 4.7.3+svn198701 release
- Linaro GCC 4.6 2013.05 released, based off the latest GCC 4.6.4+svn197894 release. It’s the final one of 4.6 series.
- libunwind support for ARMv8 is committed upstream.
- Address Sanitizer support for ARMv7 in GCC is committed upstream.
- Shrink-wrapping support in GCC is committed upstream.
- Load-time function selection (IFUNC) in GLIBC is accepted upstream.
- GLIBC will now choose the best memcpy depending on the presence of VFP and NEON hardware.
- Patches for gprof support for ARMv8 are submitted upstream.

LEG
- Cross-building OpenJDK javac binary on Aarch64 – currently testing and seems functional.
- Linaro UEFI 2013.05 released with support for:
  - Versatile Express A5/A9/TC1/TC2 and RTSM A9×4 and A15×1, A15 MPCore.
  - Samsung Arndale & Origen
  - TI Pandaboard & Beagleboard

Virtualization
- ARMv8 uniprocessor guest running on KVM ARMv8 SMP hardware (APM X-Gene Mustang board).
- ARMv7 uniprocessor guest booted on KVM ARMv8 SMP hardware.
- First successful boot to a shell in ARMv8 guest on KVM ARMv8 host running on Foundation Model and being controlled by QEMU.

Visit https://wiki.linaro.org/Cycles/1305/Release for a list of known issues and further release details about the LEB and community builds, Android, Kernel, Graphics, Multimedia, Landing Team, Platform, Power management and Toolchain (GCC / Qemu) components.

Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft)

Jean-Luc started CNX Software in 2010 as a part-time endeavor, before quitting his job as a software engineering manager, and starting to write daily news, and reviews full time later in 2011.