Re: [Linux-Xtensa] Re: xtensa port maintenance
From: Chris Zankel
Date: Wed Aug 08 2012 - 04:09:18 EST
Hi Vadim,
On 08/06/2012 11:00 PM, Vadim Malenboim wrote:
Hi All,
I've beed dealing with the xtensa port for couple of months and I'd
like to contribute / help as much as possible.
I have an ML605 Xilinx Evaluation Board and already succeeded running
the clean-stable version from xtensa-linux on it.
I propose doing the testing on this board and any other tasks / issues
you think I can help, I'd be glad to.
Excellent!! I'm looking forward to your help.
-Chris
Vadim.
On Tue, Aug 7, 2012 at 8:40 AM, Chris Zankel <chris@xxxxxxxxxx
<mailto:chris@xxxxxxxxxx>> wrote:
Hi Max,
On 08/06/2012 04:38 PM, Max Filippov wrote:
AFAIK xtensa linux port is currently in bad shape: it doesn't
work in the
mainline, it fails to build in the linux-next. The latest
working kernels for
xtensa are 2.6.29...31 trees hosted at the
git.linux-xtensa.org <http://git.linux-xtensa.org>.
I wouldn't say it's in bad shape, I just built an vmlinux image
from the latest tree (3.6.0-rc1), but it might not be very stable.
One of the major issues is not really the kernel but there's
actually no way to build a fairly recent version of the toolchain.
I have been using a somewhat more recent buildroot version than
what is on xtensa-linux.org <http://xtensa-linux.org>, but even
that version of buildroot is rather old now and needed a few patches.
The tree on linux-xtensa.org <http://linux-xtensa.org> has quite
diverted from mainline now. Pete has done a great job maintaining
those kernel versions, fixing a lot of bugs, and adding a ton of
new additional features, but it will take quite some effort to
merge them with the latest kernel.
I have a goal to make xtensa arch in the linux mainline usable.
Awesome!! Every help is very much appreciated.
Currently I have a number of patches on top of Linus' tree
that allow to build
working allnoconfig, defconfig and allmodconfig kernels for
ISS machine with
dc232b and fsf core variants [1]. For the next several weeks
I'm planning to
You might expect that I'm more than curious to see those changes :-)
forward-port patches accumulated in linux-xtensa.org
<http://linux-xtensa.org> git trees and make the
resulting kernels rock-solid. I'd like to restore xtensa
participation in the
linux-next. Further (currently undetailed) plans are to bring
modern Linux
features to the xtensa port, e.g. device trees.
That would be great. Might I also add that we'd need to have a
working toolchain and bootable image. For me, buildroot seems to
be the quickest route here. That would also require possibly
adding patches to the toolchain and uClibc that are currently
missing. There's also the bootloader, etc.
I have a couple of questions regarding the path of
xtensa-specific patches
upstream:
- which git tree should they be targeted for? Should I
set up a tree for
pull requests, or will patches be picked up into some
existing tree?
(Looks like Linus' tree is the right target. AFAIK
previously xtensa
patches went mostly through akpm tree).
Yes, Andrew has been very helpful stepping in and adding those
patches. Most if not all of those patches were fixes because of
generic kernel changes and not major fixes or changes to the core
of the Xtensa port.
Ideally, it would be great if you could create a git tree (I saw
you already have a version on github already?) that would allow us
to look over those patches. The goal should be to have a system to
build toolchain, bootable image, and kernel, so we can run some
regression tests on either the simulator (qemu) or an actual
board. Once we have a regression test system in place, we can then
add more features and funnel those patches either through me or
more directly..
What do you think?
If you already have such a system in place, it would be great if
you could send me some instructions to recreate it locally. We can
give you also access to the wiki to add any information there.
- which mailing lists should they go to?
(I guess that besides linux-xtensa@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
<mailto:linux-xtensa@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> list they should go
to linux-kernel@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
<mailto:linux-kernel@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> for general review.
Anything else?)
For now, I would really appreciate if you could hold off sending
any major patch to the linux-kernel mailing list until we had a
chance to look over them unless it's some generic patch (fixing an
issue because of an API change to the kernel, etc.)
Andrew is currently adding all Xtensa patches sent to that list,
and I would hate having to irritate him having to ask to remove or
change patches, etc.
Should you wonder what I am:
I am a member of St.Petersburg Open Source and Linux Lab [2].
My previous contributions to Linux are related to p54spi
wireless driver.
I'm also a developer and maintainer of the target-xtensa QEMU
port [3].
That's so great!! I didn't know there was a QEMU port for Xtensa.
Bottom line, I hope you agree with me that the kernel, although
the most fun part, is only one piece of the puzzle, and we also
need a running system. If you already have that in place, we can
jump to the kernel fairly quickly.
Thanks,
-Chris
_______________________________________________
linux-xtensa mailing list
linux-xtensa@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx <mailto:linux-xtensa@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
http://lists.linux-xtensa.org/mailman/listinfo/linux-xtensa
--
*Vadim Malenboim.*
Low Level Software Engineer.
Cellular : +972(544)925862
E-Mail : vadim@xxxxxxxxxxxx <mailto:vadim@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
WEB : www.tangotec.com <http://www.tangotec.com>
--
To unsubscribe from this list: send the line "unsubscribe linux-kernel" in
the body of a message to majordomo@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
More majordomo info at http://vger.kernel.org/majordomo-info.html
Please read the FAQ at http://www.tux.org/lkml/