Help finding relevant bibliography for troubleshooting embeded systems

Greetings.

I am new here so I hope that I’m posting this in the right section (or that a moderator would be able to move it to the right section). I have got a new job in which soon we will be giving technical support for embedded development for linux, using Intel products. Since the linux technical support is something new here and nobody is really familiar with linux my boss gave me the task of researching the most pertinent topics that should be studied for the people that will enter this section in the future.
My background in linux is pretty basic, just a couple of commands, basic to intermediate shell scripting, installing a few kernel modules. Never went as far as installing patches or recompiling a kernel
I majored in Electronic Engineering, and basic knowledge of computers architecture at hardware level.
Here is a list of the topics that I think are important.

1) File system hierarchy of the main distributions.

2) Installing and uninstalling packages

2.1) yum && rpm (redhat , fedora, centos,etc)
2.2) apt-get && dpkg (debian, ubuntu, linuxmint,etc)
2.3) compiling packages from the source.

3) Shell Scripting

4) Booting and shutting down

4.1) Grub2 CLI commands
4.2)Grub2 backup and restoring
4.3) Grub2 menu editing
4.3.1) Kernel parameters.
4.4) Systemd and Upstart
4.5)Troubleshooting

5) Controlling Processes

5.1) Identify a process
5.2) Process manipulation, SIGNALS, background y foreground.
5.3) Timing process cron, at,

6) Kernel Modules checking, installing and uninstalling

7) Hardware adminstration

7.1) Mounting and unmounting filesystems
7.2) Finding detected and installed devices
7.3) Finding hardware logs

8) Dumpfiles

8.1) Enabling coredumps
8.2) Interpreting a cmos dump

1)I hope that you can help me improve this list suggesting more topics, or topics that could be irrelevant. And point me in the right direction as where to find the right bibliography and tutorials.
2)I would also like to know what are the main distros that should be important to be familiar with, for embedded development. I’m currently using a virtual machine with Debian 7.4 to practice some concepts.
3)Can you give me suggestions about what are the most commands for debbugin hardware issues

Hi,

Welcome to LQ!

The first two links in the quote below will be very helpful. While the other links will be icing on the cake.

Just a few links to aid you to gaining some understanding; 1 Linux Documentation Project 2 Rute Tutorial & Exposition 3 Linux Command Guide 4 Bash Beginners Guide 5 Bash Reference Manual 6 Advanced Bash-Scripting Guide 7 Linux Newbie Admin Guide 8 LinuxSelfHelp 9 Ultimate Linux Newbie Guide 10 Linux Home Networking 11 Virtualization- Top 10 The above links and others can be found at 'Slackware-Links'. More than just Slackware® links!

Be sure to look at this sticky: Links for Helpful Linux Embedded & Single-board articles & books

You did state which ARM the project will be using is Intel. You can contact Intel IA for helpful information for their chips or product families. Intel does provide SDK for developers. You would need to get their pricing or visit a vendor for help.

[PDF] ARM * to Intel® is a good white paper;

Introduction At Intel, our engineers do not perform migrations from ARM* to Intel Architecture. We strive to create the best microprocessors and chipsets, based on x86 architecture and enable developers to use them by assuring the best resources and information is available. To help us understand the challenges of an ARM to IA migration, we enlisted the services of an independent engineering and design firm that had an actual migration task at hand. This paper will describe their experience and how they successfully migrated to IA.

I do maintain Slackware®-Links which will provide additional links to helpful information.

Hope this helps.

Thanks for your answer onebuck. I've already saved the links that you suggested. My boss told me that Intel will give us Development Boards but I don't know yet the models. I would like to know in your experience what are the most used distros for embedded development on IA and also I would like to know your opinion on the list of topics that I put in my original post if it could be improved or if there are topics that could be unnecessary.

Thanks in advance.

Hi,

Most of what your OP listed are general and you should be able to get information relative to the topic(s) listed. Be sure to look at LDP for Linux topics along with detailed information. RUTE is a good guide/tutorial. I forgot to include Linux File System in my original response.

I use SlackwareARM for my experiments and bench setups.

As to Intel, you should be able to get the tools along with the development kit. Intel does provide loads of on-line information. You should request any Intel reference set for the family to be used. Lately most are provided either by links to on-line material or CD/DVD containing information. Print media for data books are getting expensive.

If IA-32 & IA-64 you do have

From AE Linux; Arium Embedded Linux (AE Linux) is a compact distribution that includes the basic components needed for embedded products based on IA-32 and Intel® 64 processors. AE Linux includes a pre-built kernel as well as all of the source and the complete tool chain for building the kernel and applications. The package is designed for fast and easy Linux development with scripts to aid developers into designing and debugging kernel and user space code quickly. AE Linux includes all source, a pre-build kernel with Arium debug hooks, and deployment scripts which include target flash programming. The distribution uses the standard Linux build flow and is made from unmodified public distributions so that migration to newer or different Linux components is unencumbered. The distribution is very lean while providing complete support for the targeted simpler IA-based designs. This allows small file systems (CF or similar). A professional programmer should easily install the entire kit and bring up a target in one hour or less. There is no need for the developer to build any host side standard tools. The distribution also includes Arium's debug hooks to accommodate a seamless debug environment using Arium JTAG debuggers. Developers can debug from board reset through UEFI, kernel boot, kernel module drivers, and application code.

Have Fun!