Book Image

Mastering Embedded Linux Programming - Second Edition

By : Chris Simmonds
Book Image

Mastering Embedded Linux Programming - Second Edition

By: Chris Simmonds

Overview of this book

Embedded Linux runs many of the devices we use every day, from smart TVs to WiFi routers, test equipment to industrial controllers - all of them have Linux at their heart. Linux is a core technology in the implementation of the inter-connected world of the Internet of Things. The comprehensive guide shows you the technologies and techniques required to build Linux into embedded systems. You will begin by learning about the fundamental elements that underpin all embedded Linux projects: the toolchain, the bootloader, the kernel, and the root filesystem. You’ll see how to create each of these elements from scratch, and how to automate the process using Buildroot and the Yocto Project. Moving on, you’ll find out how to implement an effective storage strategy for flash memory chips, and how to install updates to the device remotely once it is deployed. You’ll also get to know the key aspects of writing code for embedded Linux, such as how to access hardware from applications, the implications of writing multi-threaded code, and techniques to manage memory in an efficient way. The final chapters show you how to debug your code, both in applications and in the Linux kernel, and how to profile the system so that you can look out for performance bottlenecks. By the end of the book, you will have a complete overview of the steps required to create a successful embedded Linux system.
Table of Contents (17 chapters)

Building the kernel

Having decided which kernel to base your build on, the next step is to build it.

Getting the source

Both of the targets used in this book, the BeagleBone Black and the ARM Versatile PB, are well supported by the mainline kernel. Therefore, it makes sense to use the latest long-term kernel available from https://www.kernel.org/, which at the time of writing was 4.9.13. When you come to do this for yourself, you should check to see if there is a later version of the 4.9 kernel and use that instead since it will have fixes for bugs found after 4.9.13 was released. If there is a later long-term release, you may want to consider using that one, but be aware that there may have been changes that mean that the...