Openembedded and the Z2

So after a long delay I finally have something concrete to add to the blog.

If you want to get started with the Zipit2 you'll probably have stumbled across the linux.zipitwireless.com site. Here there are links to all sorts of bits, one of which is an OpenEmbedded 'starter kit'. The problem is: the code you pull out of SVN to get started is very old and still relies on the monotone OpenEmbedded repository, which does not exist any more.

OpenEmbedded is complicated enough that broken setup scripts do not help in any way. So I have put together this package which should get you from zero to base-image in a fairly painless manner.

Currently the package will:

1. Install a local copy of BitBake
   
2. Pull the latest GIT repository of OpenEmbedded
3. Patch the repo for Z2 support
4. Build up a profile.sh script for you to run when you want a sane dev environment
5. Build up a local.conf file for the bitbake system and the Z2 machine
6. Add the linux-2.6.27.10 kernel build and all associated scripts

This is still very much a work in progress, and while I have tested the build (it works and generates a valid kernel and userland) many changes are going to be made in the near future.

Exciting stuff coming is a port to as new a kernel as possible, with the intent to get kernel patches pushed upstream and the Z2 integrated as proper machine. All of this thanks to the tireless persistence of GPSFan and some grunt work by me :)

Until the next update...
-(e)