[Xenomai-help] Xenomai on Freescale iMX35

[Xenomai-help] Xenomai on Freescale iMX35

[Marten Lootsma]

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Dear all,

We have a platform with a Freescale iMX35 processor and we would like to use
Xenomai. We have kernel versions 2.6.28 and 2.6.31 running (customized with
Freescale and our own patches for hardware support). I read that support is
included for the iMX31 and 51 which are closely related. In the trac I saw
some iMX35 related commits as well.

1. What is the status of the support for iMX35?
2. And if needed what is a good starting point for implementing/contributing
the port to iMX35?

Best regards,
Marten Lootsma

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Re: [Xenomai-help] Xenomai on Freescale iMX35

[Wolfgang Denk]

Dear Marten Lootsma,

In message <AANLkTikiCm5B-KwteOfzTwtCV8RXj1QFgfQCAmCCoC8V@mail.gmail.com> you wrote:
>
> We have a platform with a Freescale iMX35 processor and we would like to use
> Xenomai. We have kernel versions 2.6.28 and 2.6.31 running (customized with
> Freescale and our own patches for hardware support). I read that support is
> included for the iMX31 and 51 which are closely related. In the trac I saw
> some iMX35 related commits as well.
> 
> 1. What is the status of the support for iMX35?

Normally there is not support at all available for the LTIB kernels
provided by Freescale.  Xenomai focusses on support for the mainline
kernel tree.

> 2. And if needed what is a good starting point for implementing/contributing
> the port to iMX35?

In the first step, support for the i.MX35 needs to be added for
mainline Linux, and pushed upstream.

[Please feel free to contact me if you need help doing this.]

Best regards,

Wolfgang Denk

-- 
DENX Software Engineering GmbH,     MD: Wolfgang Denk & Detlev Zundel
HRB 165235 Munich, Office: Kirchenstr.5, D-82194 Groebenzell, Germany
Phone: (+49)-8142-66989-10 Fax: (+49)-8142-66989-80 Email: wd@domain.hid
"A fractal is by definition a set for which the Hausdorff Besicovitch
dimension strictly exceeds the topological dimension."
- Mandelbrot, _The Fractal Geometry of Nature_

Re: [Xenomai-help] Xenomai on Freescale iMX35

[Flavio de Castro Alves Filho]

Hello Marten,

I implemented once a port for iMX35. As the project didn't evolve, I
couldn't test it very well in order to share this information with
you.

The steps that I performed were:

* Applied the adeos patches corresponding to the LTIB linux kernel version
* Reviewed all the information according to this link:
http://www.xenomai.org/index.php/I-pipe:ArmPorting
* Applied the LTIB's patches
* Build the kernel and then the Xenomai user space

I could have a working Xenomai on iMX35.

Hope it helps,

Best regards,

Flavio



2010/12/20 Wolfgang Denk <wd@domain.hid>:
> Dear Marten Lootsma,
>
> In message <AANLkTikiCm5B-KwteOfzTwtCV8RXj1QFgfQCAmCCoC8V@mail.gmail.com> you wrote:
>>
>> We have a platform with a Freescale iMX35 processor and we would like to use
>> Xenomai. We have kernel versions 2.6.28 and 2.6.31 running (customized with
>> Freescale and our own patches for hardware support). I read that support is
>> included for the iMX31 and 51 which are closely related. In the trac I saw
>> some iMX35 related commits as well.
>>
>> 1. What is the status of the support for iMX35?
>
> Normally there is not support at all available for the LTIB kernels
> provided by Freescale.  Xenomai focusses on support for the mainline
> kernel tree.
>
>> 2. And if needed what is a good starting point for implementing/contributing
>> the port to iMX35?
>
> In the first step, support for the i.MX35 needs to be added for
> mainline Linux, and pushed upstream.
>
> [Please feel free to contact me if you need help doing this.]
>
> Best regards,
>
> Wolfgang Denk
>
> --
> DENX Software Engineering GmbH,     MD: Wolfgang Denk & Detlev Zundel
> HRB 165235 Munich, Office: Kirchenstr.5, D-82194 Groebenzell, Germany
> Phone: (+49)-8142-66989-10 Fax: (+49)-8142-66989-80 Email: wd@domain.hid
> "A fractal is by definition a set for which the Hausdorff Besicovitch
> dimension strictly exceeds the topological dimension."
> - Mandelbrot, _The Fractal Geometry of Nature_
>
> _______________________________________________
> Xenomai-help mailing list
> Xenomai-help@domain.hid
> https://mail.gna.org/listinfo/xenomai-help
>

Re: [Xenomai-help] Xenomai on Freescale iMX35

[Marten Lootsma]

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Dear Wolfgang Denk,

Thank you for your answer. If I understood correctly the Freescale kernel
development has been added to the mailline kernel tree:
http://opensource.freescale.com/git?p=imx/linux-2.6-imx.git;a=summary
http://git.kernel.org/?p=linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux-2.6.git;a=tree;f=arch/arm/mach-mx3;h=8021c7efda789b8fe5ae3e896b62ae125b231958;hb=795abaf1e4e188c4171e3cd3dbb11a9fcacaf505

Is this what you meant?

Can you inform me on the particular things that need to be done (or point me
to the information), and what is approximately the development time needed.

Thank you,
Marten Lootsma


On 20 December 2010 16:40, Wolfgang Denk <wd@domain.hid> wrote:

> Dear Marten Lootsma,
>
> In message <AANLkTikiCm5B-KwteOfzTwtCV8RXj1QFgfQCAmCCoC8V@mail.gmail.com>
> you wrote:
> >
> > We have a platform with a Freescale iMX35 processor and we would like to
> use
> > Xenomai. We have kernel versions 2.6.28 and 2.6.31 running (customized
> with
> > Freescale and our own patches for hardware support). I read that support
> is
> > included for the iMX31 and 51 which are closely related. In the trac I
> saw
> > some iMX35 related commits as well.
> >
> > 1. What is the status of the support for iMX35?
>
> Normally there is not support at all available for the LTIB kernels
> provided by Freescale.  Xenomai focusses on support for the mainline
> kernel tree.
>
> > 2. And if needed what is a good starting point for
> implementing/contributing
> > the port to iMX35?
>
> In the first step, support for the i.MX35 needs to be added for
> mainline Linux, and pushed upstream.
>
> [Please feel free to contact me if you need help doing this.]
>
> Best regards,
>
> Wolfgang Denk
>
> --
> DENX Software Engineering GmbH,     MD: Wolfgang Denk & Detlev Zundel
> HRB 165235 Munich, Office: Kirchenstr.5, D-82194 Groebenzell, Germany
> Phone: (+49)-8142-66989-10 Fax: (+49)-8142-66989-80 Email: wd@domain.hid
> "A fractal is by definition a set for which the Hausdorff Besicovitch
> dimension strictly exceeds the topological dimension."
> - Mandelbrot, _The Fractal Geometry of Nature_
>

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Re: [Xenomai-help] Xenomai on Freescale iMX35

[Wolfgang Denk]

Dear Marten,

In message <AANLkTi=C3FQ_Cms9qanmc1dgMgSvMC1Rrt-0X0tOPZMp@domain.hid> you wrote:
>
> Thank you for your answer. If I understood correctly the Freescale kernel
> development has been added to the mailline kernel tree:
> http://opensource.freescale.com/git?p=imx/linux-2.6-imx.git;a=summary
> http://git.kernel.org/?p=linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux-2.6.git;a=tree;f=arch/arm/mach-mx3;h=8021c7efda789b8fe5ae3e896b62ae125b231958;hb=795abaf1e4e188c4171e3cd3dbb11a9fcacaf505
> 
> Is this what you meant?

Oops?  What makes you think so?  

There are ongoing efforts to get support for the i.MX family into the
mainline kernel tree, but I don't see any of the Freescale LTIB code
being added, nor can I see that Freescale updated their LTIB support
to a recent version.

The most recent LTIB version is tagged as rel_imx_2.6.35_11.01.00 (see
http://opensource.freescale.com/git?p=imx/linux-2.6-imx.git;a=commit;h=27fdf7bae11978d21e8aba09bb635f49b07edd4a)
which is based on a v2.6.35.3 kernel tree (i. e. 3 kernel versions behind),
on top of which 744 Freescale-specific patches are applied.

It is these 744 patches that make the difference between Freescale's
LTIB tree amd mainline.

It appears there is still a _long_ way to go, not to mention that
they have to catch up for three versions.

> Can you inform me on the particular things that need to be done (or point me
> to the information), and what is approximately the development time needed.

Time needed to develop what exactly?

Best regards,

Wolfgang Denk

-- 
DENX Software Engineering GmbH,     MD: Wolfgang Denk & Detlev Zundel
HRB 165235 Munich, Office: Kirchenstr.5, D-82194 Groebenzell, Germany
Phone: (+49)-8142-66989-10 Fax: (+49)-8142-66989-80 Email: wd@domain.hid
The ultimate barrier is one's viewpoint.
                        - Terry Pratchett, _The Dark Side of the Sun_

Re: [Xenomai-help] Xenomai on Freescale iMX35

[Marten Lootsma]

Hi Wolfgang,

On Tue, 2011-02-15 at 21:07 +0100, Wolfgang Denk wrote:
> Dear Marten,
> 
> In message <AANLkTi=C3FQ_Cms9qanmc1dgMgSvMC1Rrt-0X0tOPZMp@domain.hid> you wrote:
> >
> > Thank you for your answer. If I understood correctly the Freescale kernel
> > development has been added to the mailline kernel tree:
> > http://opensource.freescale.com/git?p=imx/linux-2.6-imx.git;a=summary
> > http://git.kernel.org/?p=linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux-2.6.git;a=tree;f=arch/arm/mach-mx3;h=8021c7efda789b8fe5ae3e896b62ae125b231958;hb=795abaf1e4e188c4171e3cd3dbb11a9fcacaf505
> > 
> > Is this what you meant?
> 
> Oops?  What makes you think so?  
I thought so because I saw mx35 specific code (which we got through
Freescale patches) in the kernel git (see my second link):
[linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux-2.6.git] / arch / arm / mach-mx3 / 

Or am I totally mistaken?

Best regards,
Marten Lootsma

Re: [Xenomai-help] Xenomai on Freescale iMX35

[Flavio de Castro Alves Filho]

Hello,

I'm not an expert in git, but I believe the Freescale's git repository
is different from mainline git repository, isn't it?

I agree with Wolfgang regarding the future support of iMX35 in
mainline kernel (a long way to go).

Best regards,

Flavio


2011/2/16 Marten Lootsma <m.lootsma@domain.hid>:
> Hi Wolfgang,
>
> On Tue, 2011-02-15 at 21:07 +0100, Wolfgang Denk wrote:
>> Dear Marten,
>>
>> In message <AANLkTi=C3FQ_Cms9qanmc1dgMgSvMC1Rrt-0X0tOPZMp@domain.hidom> you wrote:
>> >
>> > Thank you for your answer. If I understood correctly the Freescale kernel
>> > development has been added to the mailline kernel tree:
>> > http://opensource.freescale.com/git?p=imx/linux-2.6-imx.git;a=summary
>> > http://git.kernel.org/?p=linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux-2.6.git;a=tree;f=arch/arm/mach-mx3;h=8021c7efda789b8fe5ae3e896b62ae125b231958;hb=795abaf1e4e188c4171e3cd3dbb11a9fcacaf505
>> >
>> > Is this what you meant?
>>
>> Oops?  What makes you think so?
> I thought so because I saw mx35 specific code (which we got through
> Freescale patches) in the kernel git (see my second link):
> [linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux-2.6.git] / arch / arm / mach-mx3 /
>
> Or am I totally mistaken?
>
> Best regards,
> Marten Lootsma
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Xenomai-help mailing list
> Xenomai-help@domain.hid
> https://mail.gna.org/listinfo/xenomai-help
>

Re: [Xenomai-help] Xenomai on Freescale iMX35

[Marten Lootsma]

Hi Flavio,

But the second link
(http://git.kernel.org/?p=linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux-2.6.git;a=tree;f=arch/arm/mach-mx3;h=8021c7efda789b8fe5ae3e896b62ae125b231958;hb=795abaf1e4e188c4171e3cd3dbb11a9fcacaf505) isn't a Freescale link, is it?

Best regards,
Marten

В Пт., 18/02/2011 в 09:41 -0200, Flavio de Castro Alves Filho пишет:
> Hello,
> 
> I'm not an expert in git, but I believe the Freescale's git repository
> is different from mainline git repository, isn't it?
> 
> I agree with Wolfgang regarding the future support of iMX35 in
> mainline kernel (a long way to go).
> 
> Best regards,
> 
> Flavio
> 
> 
> 2011/2/16 Marten Lootsma <m.lootsma@domain.hid>:
> > Hi Wolfgang,
> >
> > On Tue, 2011-02-15 at 21:07 +0100, Wolfgang Denk wrote:
> >> Dear Marten,
> >>
> >> In message <AANLkTi=C3FQ_Cms9qanmc1dgMgSvMC1Rrt-0X0tOPZMp@domain.hid> you wrote:
> >> >
> >> > Thank you for your answer. If I understood correctly the Freescale kernel
> >> > development has been added to the mailline kernel tree:
> >> > http://opensource.freescale.com/git?p=imx/linux-2.6-imx.git;a=summary
> >> > http://git.kernel.org/?p=linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux-2.6.git;a=tree;f=arch/arm/mach-mx3;h=8021c7efda789b8fe5ae3e896b62ae125b231958;hb=795abaf1e4e188c4171e3cd3dbb11a9fcacaf505
> >> >
> >> > Is this what you meant?
> >>
> >> Oops?  What makes you think so?
> > I thought so because I saw mx35 specific code (which we got through
> > Freescale patches) in the kernel git (see my second link):
> > [linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux-2.6.git] / arch / arm / mach-mx3 /
> >
> > Or am I totally mistaken?
> >
> > Best regards,
> > Marten Lootsma
> >
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > Xenomai-help mailing list
> > Xenomai-help@domain.hid
> > https://mail.gna.org/listinfo/xenomai-help
> >
> 
> _______________________________________________
> Xenomai-help mailing list
> Xenomai-help@domain.hid
> https://mail.gna.org/listinfo/xenomai-help

Re: [Xenomai-help] Xenomai on Freescale iMX35

[Gilles Chanteperdrix]

Marten Lootsma wrote:
> Hi Flavio,
> 
> But the second link
> (http://git.kernel.org/?p=linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux-2.6.git;a=tree;f=arch/arm/mach-mx3;h=8021c7efda789b8fe5ae3e896b62ae125b231958;hb=795abaf1e4e188c4171e3cd3dbb11a9fcacaf505) isn't a Freescale link, is it?

Marten, please read carefully the latest of Wolfgang's mails again, and
stop posting the same question over and over again: Wolfgang answered.
If you did not understand something in this answer, please tell us what
you did not understand, but stop skipping the answer.

-- 
                                                                Gilles.

Re: [Xenomai-help] Xenomai on Freescale iMX35

[Gilles Chanteperdrix]

Gilles Chanteperdrix wrote:
> Marten Lootsma wrote:
>> Hi Flavio,
>>
>> But the second link
>> (http://git.kernel.org/?p=linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux-2.6.git;a=tree;f=arch/arm/mach-mx3;h=8021c7efda789b8fe5ae3e896b62ae125b231958;hb=795abaf1e4e188c4171e3cd3dbb11a9fcacaf505) isn't a Freescale link, is it?
> 
> Marten, please read carefully the latest of Wolfgang's mails again, and
> stop posting the same question over and over again: Wolfgang answered.
> If you did not understand something in this answer, please tell us what
> you did not understand, but stop skipping the answer.
> 

Besides, the link you post is to a kernel which has not even been
released yet.

When adapting the I-pipe patch to a new kernel, we only work with
released kernel, because we have to be sure that there is no other bugs
than I-pipe bugs when validating the I-pipe. And even this is not even
sufficient since, for instance, 2.6.35 and 2.6.37 were releases with
bugs which prevented the from running on ARM.

And for the ARM architecture, we only release patches to odd version
numbers. So, you will have to wait for 2.6.39.

-- 
                                                                Gilles.

Re: [Xenomai-help] Xenomai on Freescale iMX35

[Marten Lootsma]

Hi,

Thanks for clarifying. I am quite blue to git/kernel/versioning and in
my optimism I underestimated the complexity of versioning and patching.
I guess therefore I did not understand the answer of Wolfgang totally. 

Do I understand correct that: Xenomai support for iMX35 depends fully on
the developers of Freescale to put their patches into the mainline
kernel? 

Is there a way to be involved/contribute on that?

Thanks,
Marten


 
В Сб., 19/02/2011 в 20:34 +0100, Gilles Chanteperdrix пишет:
> Gilles Chanteperdrix wrote:
> > Marten Lootsma wrote:
> >> Hi Flavio,
> >>
> >> But the second link
> >> (http://git.kernel.org/?p=linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux-2.6.git;a=tree;f=arch/arm/mach-mx3;h=8021c7efda789b8fe5ae3e896b62ae125b231958;hb=795abaf1e4e188c4171e3cd3dbb11a9fcacaf505) isn't a Freescale link, is it?
> > 
> > Marten, please read carefully the latest of Wolfgang's mails again, and
> > stop posting the same question over and over again: Wolfgang answered.
> > If you did not understand something in this answer, please tell us what
> > you did not understand, but stop skipping the answer.
> > 
> 
> Besides, the link you post is to a kernel which has not even been
> released yet.
> 
> When adapting the I-pipe patch to a new kernel, we only work with
> released kernel, because we have to be sure that there is no other bugs
> than I-pipe bugs when validating the I-pipe. And even this is not even
> sufficient since, for instance, 2.6.35 and 2.6.37 were releases with
> bugs which prevented the from running on ARM.
> 
> And for the ARM architecture, we only release patches to odd version
> numbers. So, you will have to wait for 2.6.39.
> 

Re: [Xenomai-help] Xenomai on Freescale iMX35

[Gilles Chanteperdrix]

Marten Lootsma wrote:
> Hi,
> 
> Thanks for clarifying. I am quite blue to git/kernel/versioning and in
> my optimism I underestimated the complexity of versioning and patching.
> I guess therefore I did not understand the answer of Wolfgang totally. 
> 
> Do I understand correct that: Xenomai support for iMX35 depends fully on
> the developers of Freescale to put their patches into the mainline
> kernel? 

The thing is, there are various degrees of support. The mainline kernel
probably only supports part of what the iMX35 proposes. This is probably
sufficient for porting Xenomai. The freescale kernel probably supports
much more than that, but needs more work to get Xenomai running. Now, it
all depends on what you need.

-- 
                                                                Gilles.

Re: [Xenomai-help] Xenomai on Freescale iMX35

[Wolfgang Denk]

Dear Marten Lootsma,

In message <1298156382.3304.13.camel@domain.hid> you wrote:
> 
> Do I understand correct that: Xenomai support for iMX35 depends fully on
> the developers of Freescale to put their patches into the mainline
> kernel?

No, the community does not depend on Freescale.  If we did, we would
not be where we are today.

You need to understand that Freescales primary (and sometimes only)
purpose is to sell their chips.  Sometimes they do have to provide a
certain level of enablement services, but they surely don;t get paid
for providing best in class community support.

The community is driven by some people who work on their own time for
free, but more often by people or companies that get paid for such
services by their respective customers.  For example, that's how I've
been earning my bread (and butter) for the past 12 years.


Of course you can ask Freescale to provide better mainline integration
of their code, and most likely they will even listen, but I would not
hold my breath to actually see any quick improvements.

If you need certain features in mainline Linux quickly (or, say,
Xenomai support for a specific kernel version and/or for a specific
piece of hardware), you can either throw in your own ressources, or
you can hire some experts.  There are a number of companies who
provide exactly this type of services.


Best regards,

Wolfgang Denk

-- 
DENX Software Engineering GmbH,     MD: Wolfgang Denk & Detlev Zundel
HRB 165235 Munich, Office: Kirchenstr.5, D-82194 Groebenzell, Germany
Phone: (+49)-8142-66989-10 Fax: (+49)-8142-66989-80 Email: wd@domain.hid
The inappropriate cannot be beautiful.
             - Frank Lloyd Wright _The Future of Architecture_ (1953)

Re: [Xenomai-help] Xenomai on Freescale iMX35

[Gilles Chanteperdrix]

Marten Lootsma wrote:
> Hi,
> 
> Thanks for clarifying. I am quite blue to git/kernel/versioning and in
> my optimism I underestimated the complexity of versioning and patching.
> I guess therefore I did not understand the answer of Wolfgang totally. 
> 
> Do I understand correct that: Xenomai support for iMX35 depends fully on
> the developers of Freescale to put their patches into the mainline
> kernel? 
> 
> Is there a way to be involved/contribute on that?

Hi Marten,

it turns out 2.6.35, on which I am currently working, has some support
for imx35, so, you can give it a try.

The current status of my work is on this git repository:
git://git.xenomai.org/ipipe-gch.git
The branch which interests you would be for-ipipe-2.6.35-arm.

Regards.

-- 
                                                                Gilles.