Embedded board for experimenting Linux proting and DD

Hi,
I want to experiment porting linux to any basic embedded board having ARM or i386 or any compatable processor.
I got lot of information from internet for building cross-platform tool chain and linux kernel.
Now I am searching for "embedded board kit" but not able to find.
can anyone help me to prepare one for my experiments or atleast provide some contacts to purchase...

How "embedded" are you looking to get? Many people would be content to play around with an EPIA motherboard and a CF adapter. Though some might want to go the full route and use PC/104.

Of course, ARM is a totally different animal entirely...

Hi,
these the specifications I am looking for...

Processor with 180 MHz, 200 MIPS
64 MB RAM
16 MB of Flash
32 MB NAND Flash
16 KB bootloader EEPROM
SD/MMC socket
Parallel LCD interface
10/100 Ethernet port
USB 2.0 host and device ports
IrDA transceiver
RS-232 serial port for debugging
On-board temperature sensor
User-programmable LEDs and switches
Power supply
Serial and Ethernet crossover cables
regards
kiran

Is it expensive abroad? In China, many in expensive embedded platform are available. They can work very well. But the technical support is not well.

Hi MS3FGX,

I got the following list of EPIA motherboard. .
Model: EPIA-5000AG
Model: EPIA-ME6000G
Model: EPIA-ML6000EAG
Model: EPIA-LN10000EG
Model: EPIA-LN10000EAG

another two VIA embedded boards
model: VIA VB7001
model: VIA VB6002

I am confused which to select for porting linux and experiments.

regards
kiran

They are all basically the same, you just need to pick how much processing power you want and what other features are important to you. For instance, do you need a fanless system? Do you want TV-out? How much power consumption is acceptable for your project? Etc, etc.

And this Intel Mini-ITX board http://support.intel.com/products/mo...1gly/index.htm may be suitable for you. This board cost is only 67$ and 3k in Indian rupee[nclude tax]. Its a inbuilt celeran processor board.
Try this also, http://www.kwikbyte.com/KB9202.html

Hi,

I need help to port linux to AT91RM9200 board. the vender delivered the board with minimal utilities like bootloader, busybox, linux kernel, telnet installed on the board.
Now I want to install tool chain and stuck without any guidance.
I want to know how I can build the tool chain for the processer and install.
Also want to know how can I debug the lonux kernel on the board. Is there any debugger like KDE which I can build along with the tool chain and install?

Clearly a tool chain must already exist for it, as the system is running Linux and Linux software. Have you contacted the vendor about getting a copy of the tool chain? I imagine they would have to give you access under the GPL, since it is obviously going to be based on GCC and friends.

well the vender provided a CD with a sample snapshot for cross compiler tool chain. The recommoned approach they suggested is to download these sources online and rebuild. So can I rebuild only the tool chain and install or do I need to rebuild tool chain along with the linux kernel and install? I gone through many documents for this porting. each of the document mentions its own ideas which is confusing and not able to follow. It will be great help if anyone can provide some links where I can follow step by step without any abstructions.

Maybe you should explain what you are trying to do a little better. Linux is already running on the device, you don't need to "port" anything to it.

Are you just trying to build applications for the device?

yes, Actually I powered on the board according to the instructions and guidance provided by the vender. Then I found some sample applications already loaded and built on the board. I tried to run those applications and it executed successfully.
Then I tried to modify the code and built using "make" command. but it failed. the error I got is "make command not found"
Then I tried with gcc and g++. Both failed.
So I approached the vender. He mentioned that the board is shipped with minimum utilities installed like busybox, linux kernel, filesystem, sample applications and telnet.
I learned that all the compilers debuggers etc., are build along with linux kernel before installing on board, but this is something which I couldn't understand.

Sounds like you are expected to use a traditional desktop host as a cross-development platform. In that scenario, you would build/install the tool-chain on a desktop-style host. Then, using the tools on that host, develop applications and/or drivers for the ARM-based target. The method used to move new object code to the target will depend upon the target board itself, but is probably prescribed by the vendor. This is a common approach in the world of embedded systems.
--- rod.

Hi, Thankyou very much for the suggestion. Just from my vender too I get the same. So it means for developing any application for this ARM board, first I need to prepare a cross tool chain on my host?
I didn't understand why they didn't build the cross platform tool chian and install along with kernel on the target?
It makes life easier to develop or build any application on target itself, rather than on host right? Anyways I am still a learner in this world of embedded systems and need to understand alot.
thanks once again
kiran

Most embedded systems are minimalist; only enough resources to support the application requirements. Developing software is usually not the domain of such systems. Also, very often there is a production element to embedded systems. If your company is producing thousands of devices, you want to build the software product once, and distribute it to the target hosts once each, not use each host as its own build environment.
--- rod.