Kent of SCUZ Technologies has graciously provided a build machine (Intel Xeon E5645) for Rhombus Tech (and possibly other) open source projects, and I’ve setup nightly build scripts for AllWinner A10 kernel, bootloader (u-boot) and hardware packs for Mele A1000 (HDMI), Mele A1000 (VGA), A10 mini PCs (using MK802 script.bin) as well as a server build for Mele A1000.
The nightlies are built using a10-hwpack-bld.sh script which is available in github, and can be downloaded from http://dl.linux-sunxi.org/nightly/
The resulting files are copied to a dropbox folder, until a better solution is found.
For each build, you’ll find the following files :
- u-boot.bin – U-boot
- sun4i-spl.bin – U-boot SPL
- uImage – Kernel image
- product_YYYY.MM.DD.log (e.g. mele-a1000_2012.07.20.log) – The build logs whether the build succeeds of fails. One per hardware pack.
- product_hwpack_YYY.MM.DD.log ( e.g. mele-a1000_hwpack_2012.07.20.7z) – The hardware pack with the kernel, u-boot which can be used with a1x-media-create.sh script to create an SD card image or make a bootable SD card.
There are currently 4 hardware packs available:
- mele-a1000_hwpack_YYYY.MM.DD.7z – For Mele A1000/A2000 with HDMI output
- mele-a1000-vga_hwpack_YYYY.MM.DD.7z – For Mele A1000/A2000 with VGA and Composite output (Hopefully, we’ll eventually find a way to have just one image for HDMI, VGA and composite)
- mk802_hwpack_YYYY.MM.DD.7z – For A10 mini PCs such as MK802, AK802, Zero Devices Z802, Uhost, Oval Elephant… (The kernel crashes at boot time for now – See issue 46)
- mele-a1000-server_hwpack_YYYY.MM.DD.7z – For Mele A1000/A2000. This image located in the “server” directory does not support video output, but provides 512 MB RAM for Linux.
If you already have an SD card with your own rootfs and files installed, and do not want to delete those files, but still want to update u-boot, the kernel and the kernel modules, you can run the following command:
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./a1x-media-create.sh /dev/sdX mele-a1000_hwpack_YYYY.MM.DD.7z norootfs |
If you want to create a bootable SD card, get a rootfs of your choice (see bottom of that post) and run the command like:
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./a1x-media-create.sh /dev/sdb mele-a1000_hwpack_YYYY.MM.DD.7z linaro-precise-ubuntu-desktop-20120524-177.tar.gz |
There are two goals to build those nightlies. First, make sure the source code can build, and second provide binaries to people who want to test the latest kernel, but do not have the time to build their own. If this needs improvements, comments are welcome.
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.
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nice, thx
Just one question
Do you know if armhf packages are build with NEON support ?
@ misko
There are no packages in those images, this would be in the rootfs. If you are using Ubuntu / Linaro rootfs, then NEON will be detected at runtime for specific libs.
What about OpenGL drivers?
@ Lacroser
I’ve got the armel OpenGL ES libs inside, but I’ll update it to armhf soon, since those are now available.
The Mali drivers that are part of the kernel are included, but the other drivers for X11 support are not.
Btw, I’ve never seen anything using OpenGL ES working in Linux for Allwinner A10 devices yet.
how I can enable the ethernet port? lubuntu 12.04
This is distribution specific, but with lubuntu, I suppose you can just modify /etc/network/interfaces.
Dear sir,
I am interesting in MELE A1000. Does anyone know how to get source code?
Thanks
@ Eric
Kernel source – https://github.com/amery/linux-allwinner
u-boot source – https://github.com/hno/uboot-allwinner
If you want to build it, there are instructions on Internet, or just use a10-hwpack-bld.sh script available on https://github.com/cnxsoft/a10-tools
If you want to build Android try that: http://linux-sunxi.org/Starting_a_CyanogenMod_device_tree
And some more details about development documentation – http://www.cnx-software.com/2011/12/28/allwinner-a10a1x-processor-resources-development-board-and-sdk/
I tried mele-a1000-server but it couldn’t support SATA. May I know what I was doing wrong?
@Steven Vo
I think SATA does not work for all kind of hard drives with Linux. It’s not specific to this distro, there appears to be a pb in the kernel.
I would like to be able to upgrade each of the components (system, kernel and u-boot) individually from within linux. I can do that for the first 2 components using dd. I would like to do the same for the bootloader. Can someone tell me which image I need to dd. I tried u-boot.bin but that was unsuccessful.
To get another u-boot on SD card you need u-boot.bin and sun4i-spl.bin (or sunxi-spl.bin). First delete the old u-boot environment:
dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/sdX bs=1024 seek=544 count=128
Install the SPL loader to the 8th block of the SD:
dd if=sun4i-spl.bin of=/dev/sdX bs=1024 seek=8
Install u-boot to block 32 of the SD:
dd if=u-boot.bin of=/dev/sdX bs=1024 seek=32
it seems last nightly that was completely build is this one:
http://dl.linux-sunxi.org/nightly/2012.09.30/
probably a bug!?
@me here
There must be a slightly newer one (around 15 Oct). I know there is now a problem with compiling U-boot with armhf compiler (since I receive automatic emails about the build failure everyday). I haven’t had time to really look into it, but I should have time next week.
@me here
I’ve fixed it. But it now only supports Mele A1000 because u-boot has changed a lot.
It builds, but I’m not sure if it boots.
I may not maintain it for much longer, because there’s an effort by linux-sunxi to do something similar with more boards and distributions support. https://github.com/linux-sunxi/sunxi-bsp
i need the firmware for this device •CVJI-E212 please assist where can i download the firmware
@randy
You need to ask where you bought the device (Chinavasion?)
Hello, I want to ask if this kernel support 1024MB RAM? I have downloaded nigly uImage and VGA hw pack, but before I flash it, I want to know if I’ll have 1024MB RAM or not. Latest kernel from Guillaume is tuned so I have almot whole RAM available. I have chineese laptop A10 Boxchip, clone of Allwinner A10. It’s product name is Softwiner EvbV13, it comes with 3x USB, A10 chip, and 1024MB RAM. it also do have webcam, keyboard and touchpad. I am actually running ubuntu 12.10 armhf image in NAND from Guillaume, so I suppose it’s enough… Read more »
@Virnik
U-boot in those builds only support 512MB RAM, If I remember correctly Linux just take the memory value provided by U-boot.
You may also check http://dl.linux-sunxi.org/amery/sunxi-3.0/latest/, or build your own.
Thanks for answer, but I don’t need uBoot. I am still using original android uBoot, which was already flashed in my laptop. What i am interested in, is if this kernel’s cmdline have or don’t have mem parametter set. Guillaume’s latest kernel 3.0.42+ has this parametter modified to 1024MB, so I am able to use my whole RAM, as seen here: http://guillaumeplayground.net/mele-armhf-3-0-57-kernel-update/ I want to use just uImage (kernel) and hw pack, specifically kernel modules. I don’t need anything else, especially not uBoot. I am running my Ubuntu desktop from NAND, and SD works as my /home and /usr (three… Read more »
@Virnik
I can’t remember, you’d have to try.
@Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) Thanks. I will, but for security measures, I will have to buy new SD as a backup, to have something to restore from 😉 Local IT store is five minutes by car away, so I’ll do it today.
Request for help from the Mele owners: Could you test if the mele can send different output to at least two of HDMI/VGA/RCA ports? My laptop has a VGA out and HDMI. Using xrandr I can make an extended desktop spanning over two screens, with the VGA out covering one and the HDMI covering the other. I would like to do the same, specifically * to display independent (mostly PDF) slides — static images * 800×600 resolution is fine (640×400 is probably too low) * I do not need to drag a window from one screen to another (xrandr allows… Read more »
@Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft)
So I have tested both kernel and hwpack, and it works. Only thing which I am missing, is actually RAM. Can this kernel be customized, and built with support for 1024MB of RAM? I think that guillaume had to specify mem= parametter on kernel cmdline….
In his build, mali kernel module can’t be loaded, it complains about bad address.
@sao
I only tried mirroring in the Mele, and I could output to both VGA and RCA at the same time, but I’m not sure about independent displays. I think it can be set inside script.bin.
But one guy managed to output to independent displays in the Cubieboard (HDMI and LVDS). https://plus.google.com/communities/110581875917252138216 So I’d assume this is feasible, but you’ve have to work a bit to achieve that.
@Virnik
You can have a look at what I had done to get 512MB in a 512MB Mele here: http://www.cnx-software.com/2012/06/22/ubuntu-12-04-server-armhf-image-for-mele-a1000a2000/
@Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft)
Thanks for the link, but your image is headless. I am using this chipset in laptop, so headles is nothing I want. And my chipset does have 1GB RAM, so it is useless to have only 350MB of RAM for me. That is why I have asked.
@Virnik
I mentioned this post because I explain how I got access to the full memory on the Mele.
@Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) Well, it is possible that I’ve described that problem in different thread, not this one…so…I am using original android u-boot, and that version does not support param file. If you need to specify parametters for the kernel, you have to have this record compiled in the binary. And that is what I’ve asked for.
Haven’t had need to reflesh uBoot too.
I got the latest build (3.0.62+ kernel) from this nightly server, and installed it with the norootfs option. All was OK and works fine, but I found that the /lib/modules/3.0.62+/build directory is an orphan symlink to /home/buildbot/allwinner/build/
2013.02.14/server/bld_a10_hwpack_2013.02.14/linux-sunxi. I don’t know how to recover it.
@pamplina
We can delete the build directory. It’s just there for the build, and my script did not delete it when making the image.
@Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft)
But I need the build directory to compile a driver that asks for it.
@pamplina
I see. Those build files should not really be in the image. You’d have to cross-build the kernel to be able to build the driver.
You may want to have a look at http://www.cnx-software.com/2012/09/11/building-kernel-modules-for-allwinner-a10-devices-android/
The instructions are for Android, but for Linux the process is the same, it’s just the config that differs.
I will try the cross-compiling, although I don’t understand why I can’t build the driver on the target system, being a complete Ubuntu Server release.
The driver comes with an automated script to configure, build and install the driver, but now it seems that I have to do the hard work manually.
Many thanks for your answer. This site is fantastic!
how to compile android source and kernel for the mele a2000.
i had compiled one but it was unsuccessful and got stuck at the zygote process. i followed the following steps:
$./build.sh -p sun4i_crane -k 3.0
$source build/envsetup.sh
$lunch
i chose crane-evb-v13
$extract-bsp
$make -j8
$pack
can anyone help me out with this…i am terribly need to build a working image please help.
@Gopi
You could try the build method found here: http://www.cnx-software.com/2013/04/21/how-to-use-libhybris-and-android-gpu-libraries-with-mer-linux-on-the-cubieboard/
Have the nightly builds been stopped?
@DesertF0x
Actually not, and I’m supposed to receive an email with the build status everyday (and it worked according to the email), but this obviously did not work as the last successful build was 2 month ago. Maybe I’ll have a look soon. But you’d better check image created with linux-sunxi.org BSP instead.