Book Image

Mastering Embedded Linux Programming - Third Edition

By : Frank Vasquez, Chris Simmonds
5 (3)
Book Image

Mastering Embedded Linux Programming - Third Edition

5 (3)
By: Frank Vasquez, Chris Simmonds

Overview of this book

If you’re looking for a book that will demystify embedded Linux, then you’ve come to the right place. Mastering Embedded Linux Programming is a fully comprehensive guide that can serve both as means to learn new things or as a handy reference. The first few chapters of this book will break down the fundamental elements that underpin all embedded Linux projects: the toolchain, the bootloader, the kernel, and the root filesystem. After that, you will learn how to create each of these elements from scratch and automate the process using Buildroot and the Yocto Project. As you progress, the book will show you how to implement an effective storage strategy for flash memory chips and install updates to a device remotely once it’s deployed. You’ll also learn about the key aspects of writing code for embedded Linux, such as how to access hardware from apps, the implications of writing multi-threaded code, and techniques to manage memory in an efficient way. The final chapters demonstrate how to debug your code, whether it resides in apps or in the Linux kernel itself. You’ll also cover the different tracers and profilers that are available for Linux so that you can quickly pinpoint any performance bottlenecks in your system. By the end of this Linux book, you’ll be able to create efficient and secure embedded devices using Linux.
Table of Contents (27 chapters)
1
Section 1: Elements of Embedded Linux
10
Section 2: System Architecture and Design Decisions
18
Section 3: Writing Embedded Applications
22
Section 4: Debugging and Optimizing Performance

BusyBox init

BusyBox has a minimal init program that uses a configuration file, /etc/inittab,
to define rules to start programs at bootup and to stop them at shutdown. Usually,
the actual work is done by shell scripts, which, by convention, are placed in the
/etc/init.d directory.

init begins by reading /etc/inittab. This contains a list of programs to run, one per line, with this format:

<id>::<action>:<program>

The role of these parameters is as follows:

  • id: This is the controlling terminal for the command.
  • action: This includes the conditions to run this command, as shown in the following list.
  • program: This is the program to run.

The actions are as follows:

  • sysinit: Runs the program when init starts before any of the other types
    of actions.
  • respawn: Runs the program and restarts it if it terminates. It is typically used to run a program as a daemon.
  • askfirst: This is the same as respawn, but it prints the message...