Subject: Mips cross toolchain

From: "Lyle Bainbridge" <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 20 Aug 2002 10:58:13 -0500

Hi,

I'm a linux kernel newbie, and this is my first linux-mips posting.
I have built a big endian, elf, cross toolchain for mips32 (I'm using
an Alchemy Au1500 SOC) based on the GCC 3.0.4, Binutils 2.11.2 and
Newlib 1.9.0.  My intention is to now use it to compile the 2.4.19 kernel.

I am still figuring out how to cross compile the kernel, but I was
wondering if I had used the correct versions of GCC and Binutils to
succesfully build a stable kernel.  Also, are there any patches I would
need? So far I've used the stock distributions from gnu.org.

Any advice would be most appreciated.

Thanks,
Lyle Bainbridge
Minneapolis, MN

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From: Pete Popov <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 20 Aug 2002 08:54:41 -0700

Just FYI, the oss code for the Alchemy boards is out of date. The latest
code is in the sourceforge.net mips tree.  I meant to create patches and
send them to Ralf but I'm doing less and less dev work these days and
haven't been able to find the time.

As far as your toolchain, the last MontaVista release which included the
Alchemy boards was 2.95.3 based.  I can also tell you that gcc 3.2 works
fine, but I'm not sure if we needed any patches.

Pete

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From: Daniel Jacobowitz <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 20 Aug 2002 12:05:32 -0400

> Any advice would be most appreciated.

You'll have better luck if you use the current releases.  That's 3.2
and 2.13 and (I think) 1.10.0.  Not sure if newlib 1.10.0 is released
or not.

-- 
Daniel Jacobowitz
MontaVista Software                         Debian GNU/Linux Developer

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From: Ralf Baechle <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 20 Aug 2002 18:02:23 +0200

> Any advice would be most appreciated.

Looks like you installed the toolchain in a different directory that
it was built for.

  Ralf

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From: Joe George <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 20 Aug 2002 10:29:21 -0600

I don't know of anyone using big endian with Alchemy at this point.
There may be some and I'd like to hear from them.

The OSS tree is actually not that far out of date now.  I have been
submitting patches and the basics work now (at least on my board).
I am currently working on the 36-bit support.  The 36-bit support only
works for little endian currently afaics.  I'm working to solve the endian
problems now.

Check out the howto at http://www.linux-mips.org/.  There are 3 of
us doing Alchemy work who hang out on the #mipslinux irc channel
on irc.openprojects.net you're welcome to join us.

Joe

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From: Pete Popov <[email-masked]>
Date: 20 Aug 2002 09:57:45 -0700

> submitting patches and the basics work now (at least on my board).

Where those patches created from the sourceforge tree or you created
them independently?  I would hate to see the two ports diverge.

> I am currently working on the 36-bit support. 

I already sent Ralf a patch for the 36bit support.  He told me the patch
looks fine but it doesn't seem like he's had time to merge it in.  The
code is in sourceforge.net

> The 36-bit support only

Again, I've done some work for big endian support and pushed it out in
sourceforge.net because I have write access there.  Most drivers work
just fine in BE mode.  The exception right now is the epson 1356/1386
video controller.  There might be some others but I don't remember.
Certainly all the SOC peripherals work fine.
 
> on irc.openprojects.net you're welcome to join us.

If you're submitting patches in oss, please take the latest work in
sourceforge.net first to sync up the two.  First, you might save
yourself some work. Second, it will keep the two ports from diverging.

Pete

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From: Joe George <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 20 Aug 2002 11:22:51 -0600

> them independently?  I would hate to see the two ports diverge.

I've been syncing the sf tree.

> code is in sourceforge.net

My initial patches on this came from the sf tree.  Ralf called out the
endian problem.
> Certainly all the SOC peripherals work fine.

The problems I'm working on are in your tlbex-mips32.S.

> yourself some work. Second, it will keep the two ports from diverging.

Couldn't of done it without your work, I really appreciate the work
you have done.

Joe

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From: Pete Popov <[email-masked]>
Date: 20 Aug 2002 10:41:40 -0700

> The problems I'm working on are in your tlbex-mips32.S.

I see of the 36 bit patch in oss now, but not the whole thing.  Is Ralf
waiting for you to fix the problems in tlbex-mips32.S?  Are those
problems endian related or something else?  I tested the pcmcia driver
in BE mode, and that driver uses the 36 bit code, so I thought it's
endian safe ...
 
> Couldn't of done it without your work, I really appreciate the work

Thanks for syncing up the oss tree!  I was afraid that if you're sending
independent patches some of the sourceforge work would get lost.

Pete

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From: "Lyle Bainbridge" <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 20 Aug 2002 13:47:01 -0500

-----Original Message-----
From: Joe George [mailto:[email-masked]]
Sent: Tuesday, August 20, 2002 11:29 AM
To: Lyle Bainbridge
Cc: [email-masked]
Subject: Re: Mips cross toolchain

>>There may be some and I'd like to hear from them.

Firstly, thanks to everyone for the advice.

Ideally I'd use big endian.  Is there any reason the toolchain
wouldn't support this.  I'm only using the Au1500 on-chip peripherals
with the addition of an external Highpoint HPT371 ATA controller.

Thanks
Lyle

---

From: Pete Popov <[email-masked]>
Date: 20 Aug 2002 12:04:06 -0700

On Tue, 2002-08-20 at 11:47, Lyle Bainbridge wrote:
> wouldn't support this.  

No.

> I'm only using the Au1500 on-chip peripherals

Any of the PCI peripherals on the Pb1500 would require the 36 bit code
support.  I ... think I tested the PCI bus support using the 36 bit
patch and BE mode and it worked fine.  Looks like Joe is working on some
bug fixes though so the 36 bit code is not complete yet in oss.

Pete