Book Image

Linux: Embedded Development

By : Alexandru Vaduva, Alex Gonzalez, Chris Simmonds
Book Image

Linux: Embedded Development

By: Alexandru Vaduva, Alex Gonzalez, Chris Simmonds

Overview of this book

Embedded Linux is a complete Linux distribution employed to operate embedded devices such as smartphones, tablets, PDAs, set-top boxes, and many more. An example of an embedded Linux distribution is Android, developed by Google. This learning path starts with the module Learning Embedded Linux Using the Yocto Project. It introduces embedded Linux software and hardware architecture and presents information about the bootloader. You will go through Linux kernel features and source code and get an overview of the Yocto Project components available. The next module Embedded Linux Projects Using Yocto Project Cookbook takes you through the installation of a professional embedded Yocto setup, then advises you on best practices. Finally, it explains how to quickly get hands-on with the Freescale ARM ecosystem and community layer using the affordable and open source Wandboard embedded board. Moving ahead, the final module Mastering Embedded Linux Programming takes you through the product cycle and gives you an in-depth description of the components and options that are available at each stage. You will see how functions are split between processes and the usage of POSIX threads. By the end of this learning path, your capabilities will be enhanced to create robust and versatile embedded projects. This Learning Path combines some of the best that Packt has to offer in one complete, curated package. It includes content from the following Packt products: ? Learning Embedded Linux Using the Yocto Project by Alexandru Vaduva ? Embedded Linux Projects Using Yocto Project Cookbook by Alex González ? Mastering Embedded Linux Programming by Chris Simmonds
Table of Contents (6 chapters)

The root filesystem is the fourth and final element of embedded Linux. Once you have read this chapter, you will be able build, boot, and run a simple embedded Linux system.

This chapter explores the fundamental concepts behind the root filesystem by building one from scratch. The main aim is to provide the background information that you need to understand and make best use of build systems like Buildroot and the Yocto Project, which I will cover in Chapter 6, Selecting a Build System.

The techniques I will describe here are broadly known as roll your own or RYO. Back in the earlier days of embedded Linux, it was the only way to create a root filesystem. There are still some use cases where an RYO root filesystem is applicable, for example, when the amount of RAM or storage is very limited, for quick demonstrations, or for any case in which your requirements are not (easily) covered by the standard build system tools. Nevertheless, these cases...