Ubuntu Lucid 10.04 Xfce4 on TechNexion Thunder Board

Here is being presented the Thunder board of TechNexion running Ubuntu 10.04 but now with the Xfce4 window manager. As you can see from the video that is uploaded the environment is very quick. Finally, I think a little better than the LXDE that was presented preciously.
Modifications had been implemented in order to have everything functional on the Thunder board. Ethernet-internet connection via eth0, usb hub with mouse and keyboard, audio and the other peripherals are full functional using the linux kernel 2.6.32 costumized for this board.

Ubuntu Lucid 10.04 LXDE on TechNexion Thunder Board

In this project I finally ported Ubuntu 10.04 Lucid with the LXDE windows environment to the Thunder Board of TechNexion. From the beginning you can notice that is very stable and quick. Especially if you compare it with the standard distro for this board that officially TechNexion is providing.
In the other hand, the graphical environment of LXDE looks similar to the XFCE4 that someone can use in distros of linux like Xubuntu or ArchLinux. However, my personal opinion is that is better and much user friendlier than the XFCE4.
I will not provide a detailed documentation on how I managed to port finally Ubuntu 10.04 in this board. I will give only some general directions.
For those who have more questions can contact me.
Also in the end of this post are some videos and photos of this implementation.

General Guides:
1. SD card no smaller than 1 GB.
2. 2 partitions (boot:1 fat (<80MB) & rootfs:1 ext3 (the rest))
3. Boot partition:3 files: MLO(x-loader), u-boot.bin (bootloader), and uImage (image of the kernel that supports the current board, cpu architecture-arm and peripherics, precompiled kernel of TechNexion 2.6.32 (download folder of the web page of TechNexion))
4. Create your own Ubuntu/debian root file system using the rootstock command/program.
5. After the creation of the rootfs, untgz it (using tar -zxf <...>.tgz) and place it in the rootfs partition of the SD card.
6. Rename the folder that exists in the /rootfs/lib/modules as 2.6.32.
7. Apply these commands in order to use sudo su when the system is running. Initialy from the RS232 and after that in the system.

>sudo chown root:root /usr/bin/sudo
>sudo chmod 4111 /usr/bin/sudo
>sudo root:root /etc/sudoers
> chmod 0440 /etc/sudoers

8. Unmount the SD card and initialise the Thunder Board with that.

Ubuntu Karmic 9.10 on TechNexion Thunder Board

In this project I ported Karmic Koala 9.10 version of Ubuntu to the Thunder Board of TechNexion. Unfortunately, I do not have graphical environment because the package of karmic from rootstock does not have the Xorg installed and while I am running in command mode the repos of Karmic are not online, as a non LTS version of Ubuntu, so I cannot install the packages that are missing for a complete experience. However, I am working on that...
For those who want more details can leave a comment or send me an e-mail.
Video (sorry for the poor quality) and photos are following.

Angstrom on Thunder Board

Here i will describe the main steps for producing a bootable SD card for the boards of TechNexion, like Tsunami and Thunder Board that they are based on the OMAP3530 processor of TI.

1. Download Codesourcery G++ Lite from Mentor page and run the .bin file in the /bin/sh shell in your linux distro. If you follow the GUI installation, you will add the path of the g++ automatically in the system PATH. Check your path with 

>echo $PATH.

2. In the bash standard shell of Ubuntu:

>export CROSS_COMPILE=arm-none-linux-gnueabi-

>export ARCH=arm

3. Download the xukr-20120201-omap3.tar.xz package from technexion that contains the linux kernel, the u-boot, the x-loader and a sample root file system of Angstrom.

unzipping this package:

unxz package_name.tar.xz

results to package_name.tar

and then unzip this tarball using the unzipping manager.

4. Browse the folder in command line

5. Browse the folder of the x-loader

>make distclean && make tao3530_config && make -j 2  (for the tao3530)

The resulting binary is named MLO.

6. Browse the folder of the u-boot

Change the #define TN_PANEL 043 (for 4.3") or 070 (for 7")
 

> make distclean && make tao3530_config && make -j 2 tao3530 (for the tao3530)

The resulting binary is named u-boot.bin

7. Browse the linux kernel folder:

>make distclean && make tao3530_thunder_defconfig && make -j 2 uImage && make modules  (for the thunder baord)

For other board choose other board_name_defconfig.

The resulting kernel binary is in arch/arm/boot/uImage.

8. Formatting the sd card:

a)boot partition: msdos, 100MB,

b)root file system partition: ext3/ext4, >270MB

If you have a pre-formatted sd card, will be fine. Or else have to create the partitions possibly using fdisk utility of linux.

So, if it is preformatted delete the contains of the partitions and replace them with the new that have generated.

unmount the SD card and install it in the board

9. Change the rootfs of the Angstrom
find the .ko for the wireless and the powervr in the drivers folder of the linux kernel and copy them in the boot folder of the provided Angstrom rootfs.
AND
for TAO3530 the default console is ttyO2 and not ttuO0 --change this in the /etc/inittab of the provided Angstrom rootfs

10. Copy the files in the cd card.
MLO, u-boot.bin and uImage in the boot partition
and the rootfs on the rootfs folder (need sudo permissions).

11. Unmount safely the sd card.

12. Boot the system from the SD card.

And some fotos: 

Install LTIB in Ubuntu 11.04 x64 for i.MX53 QSB

So, general guidelines for installing Linux Target Image Builder in Ubuntu 11.04 x64 for the Freescale i.MX53 Quick Start Board.
1. Go to :
http://www.freescale.com/webapp/sps/site/prod_summary.jsp?code=IMX53QSB&fpsp=1&tab=Design_Tools_Tab
Under the Board Support Packages (BPS) download the latest "L2..._ER_source".
2. After downloading the package, un-tar it (decompress it).
3. Now you have to be sure that all the prerequisite apps and libraries are set-up in the host system (currently Ubuntu 11.04 x64).
You can find a lot of documentation for that but it will be better to follow the instructions in the "ltib_build_host_setup.pdf" from Freescale.
You can use the  linux command
>dpkg -l <name-of-package>
to check if the appropriate packages are already install or else the synaptic package manager that the Ubuntu provide.
4. After being sure that the host is ready go back in the un-compressed folder and run:
>./install
Execute this command as a simple user (no root).
Set the installation folder manually (you will be asked by the program).
We will name it <ltib_installation_folder> from now on.
5. After completion do not execute ./ltib in the installation folder.

But make the changes below first.

a)Go to <ltib_installation_folder>/ltib/bin
and replace the fields for "glibc-devel" and "zlib".
For the "glibc-devel" ,replace the existing with this:
    'glibc-devel'    => sub { -f '/usr/lib/libm.so'
                           || -f '/usr/lib64/libz.so'
                           || -f '/usr/lib/i386-linux-gnu/libm.so'
                           || -f '/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libm.so'
                       },
and for the "zlib":
    zlib         => sub { my @f = (glob('/usr/lib/libz.so*'),
                                   glob('/usr/lib64/libz.so*'),
                                   glob('/lib/libz.so*'),
                                   glob('/lib/i386-linux-gnu/libz.so*'),
                                   glob('/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libz.so*'),
                                   glob('/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libz.so*'));
                                   @f > 1 ? 1 : 0 },

b)Go to cd <ltib_installation_folder>/dist/lfs-5.1/mtd-utils
and execute :
cd <ltib_installation_folder>/dist/lfs-5.1/mtd-utils
mv mtd-utils.spec mtd-utils-201006.spec
ln -s mtd-utils-20060302.spec mtd-utils.spec
cd ..
cd ..
cd ..

and now you can execute ./ltib in the installation folder.
Which normally will open the LTIB configuration window.
And that was all !!!