[Arm-dev] Pine64 Support

Fri Jul 8 14:57:48 UTC 2016
Uli Middelberg <uli at middelberg.de>

Am 07.07.2016 um 15:12 schrieb Jim Perrin:
>
>
> On 07/05/2016 04:13 PM, Uli Middelberg wrote:
>
>>
>> Hi,
>>
>> at this time, my script isn't just more than a proof of concept due to the
>> well known deviations. Before integrating it as part of the image build,
>> I'd
>> like to discuss some considerations about the image and the way it could be
>> built [1] (and I should get to know more about the CentOS/ARM build
>> procedure).
>>
>> [1]
>> https://github.com/umiddelb/aarch64/wiki/CentOS-on-ARM-SBC-design-considerations
>
> Are you familiar with kickstarts for centos installations? That's
> essentially how I generate the disk image. If you wanted to contribute a
> kickstart that created the disk layout you see as feasible I can
> incorporate that into the builds. It might help if I create project on
> github with the scripts used to generate the various aarch64 images.

Unfortunately I haven't used them so far, but it would help a lot if you
push your ks scripts to a github project.

>
> The livemedia-creator tool also allows for the creation of a rootfs
> tarball, so would publishing a raw tarball of an installed system be
> beneficial to you for generating images for various boards?

This would be very beneficial indeed.

>
> As to the kernel pieces, I don't want to get into the business of
> tracking/shipping vendor kernels. I'd much rather either patch support
> into the kernel-aarch64 we already ship, or provide a simple means for
> the user to generate an image based on the vendor kernel (thus assuming
> the risk/liability).

I totally agree. As long as there is no way to get the device supported by
the official kernel-aarch64, these images should be considered as unofficial
and/or unsupported. Many devices are still waiting for mainline support status,
so there is the vendor kernel only (The Pine64 doesn't even have a 'vendor'
kernel, only a community kernel based on the Allwiner BSP).

To make it easier to adapt CentOS to a vendor kernel, I'd really appreciate
if someone could provide a list of mandatory kernel options to be enabled.
(otherwise I need to review 1500+ deviations w.r.t. ODRIOD-C2 kernel).
I'd try then to integrate this settings into the default vendor kernel
configuration.

You may start a very similar discussion when you focus on the boot loader...

Cheers
Uli