Subject: ARM Linux in space?

From: "Andy Dachs" <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 10 Sep 1998 17:25:51 +0100

Hi,

We're planning to fly an ARM processor on a nano-satellite (about 20cm
cube) which is being built as a student project.  Writing new flight
software is a problem so we'd like to reuse code from our other spacecraft
which run a commercial POSIX RTOS.  It seems a perfect opportunity to try
out and demonstrate Linux.

We will be building our own (reasonably) radiation tolerant hardware based
on the Mitel Butterfly processor.  Logically the hardware is quite simple
as it won't have any display, ethernet or hard disks.   We will have two
serial ports and, hopefully, two hdlc channels.  The memory size still has
to be determined but is likely to be quite limited: either 2 or 4Mb.

My plan is to build a gcc cross-compiler so that we can get started by
making standalone binaries.  Then I'd like to get ARM Linux running with
console I/O on one of the serial ports.

I'm still on the first step and have a whole heap of questions.  I got
binutils-2.7 and gcc-2.7.2.2 to compile (--target=arm-aout
--prefix=/usr/local) on my Slackware 3.4 i586 box but am not sure which
libraries to use (newlib, glib or none at all).  How does the
cross-compiler co-exist with my installed gcc?  Would egcs be a better bet?
 Is a.out the best option?  What problems am I likely to encounter when
getting ARM Linux to run?

Help or advice from anyone who has done something similar (or is just
interested) would be very much appreciated.

Thanks, 
Andy

--------------------------------------
Andy Dachs
Email: [email-masked]
Web:  http://www.ee.surrey.ac.uk/EE/CSER/UOSAT/

unsubscribe: body of `unsubscribe linux-arm' to [email-masked]

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From: Philip Blundell <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 10 Sep 1998 18:08:02 +0100

>binutils-2.7 and gcc-2.7.2.2 to compile (--target=arm-aout

You want --target=arm-linuxaout actually.  arm-aout is for ARM standalone 
systems and the binaries won't run on Linux.

>cross-compiler co-exist with my installed gcc?  Would egcs be a better bet?

The cross compiler installs itself in /usr/arm-linuxaout/... and as 
arm-linuxaout-gcc.  EGCS is probably less buggy than the old 2.7.2.2 so you 
certainly might consider changing.

>Is a.out the best option? 

It's more proven, yes. 

p.

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From: "Neil A. Carson" <[email-masked]>
Date: Fri, 11 Sep 1998 11:00:46 +0100

> to be determined but is likely to be quite limited: either 2 or 4Mb.

Kahum kahum. I thought the Mitel Butterfly doesn't have an MMU?

	Neil

-- 
Neil A. Carson