Re: [Linux-Xtensa] Re: xtensa port maintenance

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Hi Vadim,

On 08/06/2012 11:00 PM, Vadim Malenboim wrote:
Hi All,

I've beed dealing with the xtensa port for couple of months and I'd like to contribute / help as much as possible.

I have an ML605 Xilinx Evaluation Board and already succeeded running the clean-stable version from xtensa-linux on it.

I propose doing the testing on this board and any other tasks / issues you think I can help, I'd be glad to.

Excellent!! I'm looking forward to your help.

-Chris


Vadim.

On Tue, Aug 7, 2012 at 8:40 AM, Chris Zankel <chris@xxxxxxxxxx <mailto:chris@xxxxxxxxxx>> wrote:

    Hi Max,


    On 08/06/2012 04:38 PM, Max Filippov wrote:

        AFAIK xtensa linux port is currently in bad shape: it doesn't
        work in the
        mainline, it fails to build in the linux-next. The latest
        working kernels for
        xtensa are 2.6.29...31 trees hosted at the
        git.linux-xtensa.org <http://git.linux-xtensa.org>.

    I wouldn't say it's in bad shape, I just built an vmlinux image
    from the latest tree (3.6.0-rc1), but it might not be very stable.
    One of the major issues is not really the kernel but  there's
    actually no way to build a fairly recent version of the toolchain.
    I have been using a somewhat more recent buildroot version than
    what is on xtensa-linux.org <http://xtensa-linux.org>, but even
    that version of buildroot is rather old now and needed a few patches.

    The tree on linux-xtensa.org <http://linux-xtensa.org> has quite
    diverted from mainline now. Pete has done a great job maintaining
    those kernel versions, fixing a lot of bugs, and adding a ton of
    new additional features, but it will take quite some effort to
    merge them with the latest kernel.


        I have a goal to make xtensa arch in the linux mainline usable.

    Awesome!! Every help is very much appreciated.


        Currently I have a number of patches on top of Linus' tree
        that allow to build
        working allnoconfig, defconfig and allmodconfig kernels for
        ISS machine with
        dc232b and fsf core variants [1]. For the next several weeks
        I'm planning to

    You might expect that I'm more than curious to see those changes :-)



        forward-port patches accumulated in linux-xtensa.org
        <http://linux-xtensa.org> git trees and make the
        resulting kernels rock-solid. I'd like to restore xtensa
        participation in the
        linux-next. Further (currently undetailed) plans are to bring
        modern Linux
        features to the xtensa port, e.g. device trees.

    That would be great. Might I also add that we'd need to have a
    working toolchain and bootable image. For me, buildroot seems to
    be the quickest route here. That would also require possibly
    adding patches to the toolchain and uClibc that are currently
    missing. There's also the bootloader, etc.


        I have a couple of questions regarding the path of
        xtensa-specific patches
        upstream:
             - which git tree should they be targeted for? Should I
        set up a tree for
               pull requests, or will patches be picked up into some
        existing tree?
               (Looks like Linus' tree is the right target. AFAIK
        previously xtensa
               patches went mostly through akpm tree).

    Yes, Andrew has been very helpful stepping in and adding those
    patches. Most if not all of those patches were fixes because of
    generic kernel changes and not major fixes or changes to the core
    of the Xtensa port.

    Ideally, it would be great if you could create a git tree (I saw
    you already have a version on github already?) that would allow us
    to look over those patches. The goal should be to have a system to
    build toolchain, bootable image, and kernel, so we can run some
    regression tests on either the simulator (qemu) or an actual
    board. Once we have a regression test system in place, we can then
    add more features and funnel those patches either through me or
    more directly..

    What do you think?

    If you already have such a system in place, it would be great if
    you could send me some instructions to recreate it locally. We can
    give you also access to the wiki to add any information there.


             - which mailing lists should they go to?
               (I guess that besides linux-xtensa@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
        <mailto:linux-xtensa@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> list they should go
               to linux-kernel@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
        <mailto:linux-kernel@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> for general review.
        Anything else?)

    For now, I would really appreciate if you could hold off sending
    any major patch to the linux-kernel mailing list until we had a
    chance to look over them unless it's some generic patch (fixing an
    issue because of an API change to the kernel, etc.)

    Andrew is currently adding all Xtensa patches sent to that list,
    and I would hate having to irritate him having to ask to remove or
    change patches, etc.


        Should you wonder what I am:
        I am a member of St.Petersburg Open Source and Linux Lab [2].
        My previous contributions to Linux are related to p54spi
        wireless driver.
        I'm also a developer and maintainer of the target-xtensa QEMU
        port [3].

    That's so great!! I didn't know there was a QEMU port for Xtensa.

    Bottom line, I hope you agree with me that the kernel, although
    the most fun part, is only one piece of the puzzle, and we also
    need a running system. If you already have that in place, we can
    jump to the kernel fairly quickly.

    Thanks,
    -Chris


    _______________________________________________
    linux-xtensa mailing list
    linux-xtensa@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx <mailto:linux-xtensa@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
    http://lists.linux-xtensa.org/mailman/listinfo/linux-xtensa




--
*Vadim Malenboim.*
      Low Level Software Engineer.

      Cellular : +972(544)925862
      E-Mail   : vadim@xxxxxxxxxxxx <mailto:vadim@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
      WEB     : www.tangotec.com <http://www.tangotec.com>



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