poky News - CNX Software - Embedded Systems News

November 24, 2015 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment

Yocto Project 2.0 “Jethro” Released

The Yocto Project 2.0 was released a few days ago. The framework used to create embedded Linux distributions supports Poky 14 “Jethro” reference distribution by default, but other Linux distributions can also be built with the Yocto Project. Some of the key features and improvements of Yocto Project 2.0 include: Added gcc 5.2 which is now the default compiler (gcc 4.8 and 4.9 are also provided) Updated linux-yocto kernel for qemu* and reference BSPs to version 4.1 Added basic support for Altera Nios II and Adapteva Epiphany Added tune files for Cavium ThunderX, Cavium Octeon, ARM Cortex-A17, Intel Quark X1000, and ARM vfpv3 and vfpv3d16 features Toaster Web UI improvements – Better performance and reliability; simplified setup; user-friendly layout; etc… wic image creation tool version 0.2.0 with bug fixed and new features, such as GPT partition tables, native tools, image compression, etc… Image generation adds support for qcow2, vdi (VirtualBox […]

February 6, 2015February 6, 2015 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 3 Comments

Embedded Linux Conference 2015 Schedule – IoT, Cars, and Drones

Embedded Linux Conference 2015 will take place in San Jose, California, on March 23 – 25, 2015, and will focus on Drones, Things and Automobiles. The schedule has been published, and whether you’ll attend or not, it’s always interested to have a look at what will be talked about to have a peak into the future of Embedded Linux, or simply keep abreast with the progress in the field. So as usual, I’ve gone through the schedule, and made my own virtual program with talks that I find interesting. Monday 23rd 9:00 – 9:30 – Driving standards and Open Source to Grow the Internet of Things by Mark Skarpness, Director of Systems Engineering at Intel Billions of devices are beginning to come online, and many of these devices, large and small, are running open source software. To fuel this innovation, it’s more important than ever for these devices to use […]

January 19, 2015January 10, 2016 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

Atmel SAMA5D4 Xplained Ultra Development Board Adds HDMI, 720p Video Decoding

Atmel has introduced an upgrade to their Atmel SAMA5D3 Xplained development board with SAMA5D4 Xplained Ultra replacing SAMA5D36 by SAMA5D44 embedded micro-processor for 720p hardware video decoding support, and adding HDMI output, extra storage and memory, etc… but losing one Ethernet port. Atmel SAMA5D4 Xplained Ultra (XLUT) specifications: MPU – Atmel SAMA5D44 Cortex-A5 Microprocessor @ 536 MHz System Memory – 2x 2Gbit DDR2 memory Storage – 4 Gbit NAND Flash, 1x 4-bit SD card connector (not populated), 1x 4-bit micro SD connector, optional serial EEPROM (SPI), one EEPROM with MAC address and serial number. Connectivity – 1x Ethernet 10/100M Display – 1x LCD interface connector, 1x HDMI port USB – 1x micro USB device connector, 2x USB host connectors Debugging – 1x 20-pin J-TAG connector, 1x EDBG connector (not populated), 1x serial DBGU interface (3.3V) Expansion – Arduino R3-compatible headers, XPRO set of connectors; ADC inputs and CAN interfaces Misc […]

April 25, 2014April 25, 2014 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

Yocto Project 1.6 “Daisy” Released

The Yocto Project Release 1.6 has just been announced. This release is codenamed “Daisy”, and features Poky 11.0.0, which is the reference system used by the project, but other systems could also be used. The Yocto Project is a framework that creates embedded Linux distributions, and is now being used by many Intel and ARM based embedded boards such as Wandboard, Atmel Xplained, Minnowboard MAX, and the Raspberry Pi. Some of the Yocto Project 1.6 features and updates include: Linux kernel 3.14 and 3.10 LTSI eglibc 2.19, gcc 4.8.2 Support for building Python 3 Toaster web UI for exploring build output Documentation – BitBake user’s manual improvment, and added section explaining how to “Write a New Recipe“. New reference BSP for beaglebone and edgerouter Change to use SHA512 password encryption with shadow by default Various performance improvement, and disk usage reductions. Add support for booting UEFI systems with gummiboot Image […]

July 5, 2013July 8, 2013 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 75 Comments

12MB Minimal Image for Raspberry Pi using the Yocto Project

Last year, I wrote instructions and provided a download link about a minimal image for Raspberry Pi based on Raspbian. The compressed image is 84MB, and the good thing about it is that you can just use apt-get to install packages. The problem is that it’s not actually that small as once it is uncompressed the rootfs is still a massive 414 MB. So today, I’ll explain how to create a smaller (and custom) image using the Yocto Project, a platform that let you build an embedded Linux distribution matching exactly your project’s requirements. Other advantages are that the build is configurable with config files, so it’s easily reproducible with a few command lines, and it might turn out to be useful to learn more about the Yocto Project as many boards and SoC are now making use of the framework, including Freescale i.MX6 (Wandboard, Olinuxino-imx233, Sabrelite, etc…), the Beagleboard, […]

April 27, 2013November 24, 2015 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 7 Comments

Yocto Project 1.4 “Dylan” Release

The Yocto Project Release 1.4 has just been announced. This release codenamed “Dylan” and based on Poky 9.0.0 is the sixth release of the project. The Yocto Project is a framework that creates embedded Linux distributions, and has been getting more and more traction with silicon vendors such as Intel, Freescale and Texas Instruments. Yocto Project 1.4 bring the following new features and updates: Major performance improvements – The overall build time has been reduced by more than 10%. Kernel build time is reduced by about 25%. With rm_work enabled, 40% less storage will be used for the tmp directory. Smart, a replacement for zypper Support for read-only rootfs Wayland support, an X replacement. Systemd support, a replacement for the system V init daemon. Usability improvements to HOB, bitbake, yocto-bsp and other tools, including UI improvements, new features and bug fixes. Documentation improvement/update and a new kernel development manual and […]

October 29, 2012 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

The Yocto Project Release 1.3

The Yocto Project Release 1.3 has just been announced. This release codenamed “Danny” and based on Poky 8.0 is the fifth release of the project. The Yocto Project is a framework to assist developers in creating embedded Linux distributions. New features and updates for the Yocto Project 1.3 Improved terminal UI, which makes it easy to see the tasks that are currently executing, and avoids burying any warnings that are printed. Eliminated intermediate step when building cross compiler toolchain Relocatable SDK Large number of usability improvements in the Hob image building UI Upgraded eglibc to version 2.16 Upgraded gcc to version 4.7 Upgraded Linux kernel version to 3.4.11 Added yocto-bsp script for automating the initial parts of creating a new BSP Python functions now consistently use four spaces for indentation – no more having to try to match the mix of tabs and spaces in your recipes Disabled sharing shared […]

May 1, 2012May 1, 2012 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

Yocto Project Release 1.2 Announced

The Yocto Project Release 1.2 has just been announced. This release codenamed “Denzil” and based on Poky 7.0 is the third release of the project. The project was announced in October 2010 to provide developers with greater consistency in the software and tools they’re using across multiple architectures for embedded Linux development. Yocto Project 1.2 Features: HOB redesigned with new user interface and work flow. HOB is a GUI based tool for users to customize and build an embedded Linux image in a more intuitive and easier way. Build appliance, which is a set of changes and enhancements to enable users to build a virtual machine image running Linux built with the Yocto Project. Within the Linux running on the virtual machine, users can customize and build their own customized embedded Linux images. Error message handling improvement, making error message more efficient, useful and accurate to users. New kernel update […]