Developer Image 1.6 Configuration Question

[Meyer]

I have a question about the Zaurus Developer Image version 1.6 package published by Anton Maslovsky on the Embedded Linux Software Index (www.elsix.org) back in 2005.

The setup scripts call for both a mount point for the image squashfs file and a symbolic link to the mount point at /home/zaurus/develop. Then additional symbolic links are created in the standard file hierarchy (/usr/bin, /usr/lib, /usr/local/include, etc.) to the various compilers, libraries, and tools in the image, all referencing the link /home/zaurus/develop. Why is the link /home/zaurus/develop necessary? Couldn't all the compiler, library, and tool links reference the squashfs mount point directly?

[stefb]

I'm not an expert.

All tools need some sort of standard path to tools, include dirs, lib dirs... without links all these settings need the addition of the mount location. This is a lot of work.

For the mount location itself: /home/zaurus/develop is as good as every other location. When you use the default /home/zaurus/develop you don't need to change the settings in the install script (and other settngs in the image if there are such)

My questions: Are the dev_img16.img from elsix for Sharp ROM and OpenZaurus the same? Can the Image be used on the SL5500, too?

[Meyer]

My questions: Are the dev_img16.img from elsix for Sharp ROM and OpenZaurus the same? Can the Image be used on the SL5500, too?

ELSIX has only a single version of Developer Image 1.6 (http://www.elsix.org/downloads/dev-img/dev-img-1.6.zip) that gets downloaded no matter what ROM you specify on the download page. The package documentation says Sharp and Cacko ROMs are supported, but it might work on OpenZaurus if you a) stay away from GUI applications, b) provide the Qtopia runtime on OZ for Qtopia apps, or c) provide X-related headers and libraries for the compiler for X apps. Also, the image file is in squashfs format, so you will need the squashfs kernel module for whatever platform you want to use the image on. After years of on-and-off search I've finally found a squashfs module IPKG that works on my SL-C1000 (Sharp ROM 1.1 JP). I'm in the middle of testing the module on my SL-C860, but haven't tried it on anything else. (I don't have anything else to test it on.) (I plan on putting the IPKG on ELSIX after I've completed the testing.)

UPDATE: The squashfs package I'm testing is here: http://zaurus.up.seesaa.net/software/kerne...-2.2-r2_arm.ipk. Am I correct to assume that since squashfs is released under GPL (as is everything on Sourceforge?), I'm free to upload the package to ELSIX whether or not I can contact the original author? I suppose since it's GPL I'd also need to post the source files, too.

[Meyer]

Another update: The squashfs module I found appears not to work on my SL-C860, so I assume it won't work on the SL-5500, either.

[stefb]

Thanks! Space on SD-card or CF-card is a lot cheaper than in former times. I'll try to extract the dev-image on a desktop linux with squashfs-support (e.g. with Slax or Puppy LiveCD) and transfer the files on a SD card for the Zaurus.

[Meyer]

Thanks! Space on SD-card or CF-card is a lot cheaper than in former times. I'll try to extract the dev-image on a desktop linux with squashfs-support (e.g. with Slax or Puppy LiveCD) and transfer the files on a SD card for the Zaurus.

That is a great idea, & here's one better: Repack the uncompressed image files in cramfs format, which is supported by default at least in Sharp's C860  ROM. Developer Image version 1.5 was provided in cramfs format, though that package has long since disappeared from the Internet.

[stefb]

Thanks! Space on SD-card or CF-card is a lot cheaper than in former times. I'll try to extract the dev-image on a desktop linux with squashfs-support (e.g. with Slax or Puppy LiveCD) and transfer the files on a SD card for the Zaurus.

That is a great idea, & here's one better: Repack the uncompressed image files in cramfs format, which is supported by default at least in Sharp's C860  ROM. Developer Image version 1.5 was provided in cramfs format, though that package has long since disappeared from the Internet.

Done.

You don't need a special Linux with squashfs support. BTW. often squashfs support in modern linux is squashfs 4.0 and that can not mount squashfs 2 which is the version of the dev-image 1.6.

For most linux distros there is a package squashfs-tools with unsquashfs, a tool to extract squashfs archives. And this tool can extract squashfs version 2 too. unsquashfs (or modern 7-zip which can also extract squashfs) is available for Windows too, but i didn't try these because i was afraid that symlinks in the dev-image will get broken.

After extraction you can make a cramfs archive with mkcramfs from the cramfsprogs package.