Wind River Linux 4.x Board Support Package

The Wind River Linux 4.x Board Support Package course provides engineers with a fast, cost-effective way to acquire the knowledge necessary to develop new board support packages (BSPs) under Wind River Linux or migrate existing “vendor drop” BSPs into Wind River Linux.

After taking this course, participants will be able to do the following:

• Understand what is required in getting a Linux kernel to load and boot.
• Port Wind River Linux platform projects to new boards.
• Debug the Linux kernel on new hardware.

• Wind River Linux 4.2
• Wind River Simics 4.4
• P2020 target (PowerPC)

• Developers who are planning to use Wind River Linux on an unsupported board (hardware architecture is supported)
• Developers interested in learning how embedded targets boot

Day 1

The Linux Boot Sequence

• Overview
• Board Initialization
• Boot Loaders
• Boot Loader Implementations
• BIOS
• Kernel Image Formats
• Kernel Initialization
• Calling Conventions
• Flattened Device Trees
• Kernel Boot Line
• Root File System
• File System Images
• InitRD
• User-Space Initialization

Wind River Linux Overview

• Overview of Wind River Linux
• Build Environment
• BSP
• Kernel
• Rootfs
• Overview of Layers and Templates
• Layers
• Templates
• Template Inclusion

Wind River Linux Kernel Configuration and Patching

• Linux Kernel Configuration
• Kconfig
• Linux Kernel Configuration File
• Kernel Build System
• Kernel Patches
• Patch Example
• Wind River Linux Kernel Management
• SCC
• SCC Files
• Kernel Configuration Fragments
• Patch Management
• Git
• Wind River Linux Git Repository

Day 2

Wind River Linux BSP Overview

• Role of a Wind River Linux BSP
• Wind River Linux BSP Structure
• Setting up the Build Environment
• Kernel Configuration and Patching
• User-Space Configuration

Creating Wind River Linux BSPs

• BSP Development Overview
• Starting from Scratch
• Initial Board Template Creation
• Starting with Third-Party Code
• Enablement of Supported Boards
• Cloning BSPs
• Extending BSPs
• Packaging Wind River Linux BSPs
• Generating Patches
• Generating Configuration Fragments
• Organizing BSP Template

Boot-Time Debugging

• Overview
• Hardware Debugging
• KGDB
• printk()
• Early printk()
• Post-mortem printk() Examination
• Other Output Mechanisms
• LEDs, Speakers, Serial Ports, VGA Consoles, GPIO
• Speaker Example

Additional Considerations

• BSP Documentation
• README File
• Code and Documentation
• Patch Headers
• Boot Loaders
• Legal Requirements
• GPL
• Other Licenses
• BSP Validation
• Linux Test Project
• Open POSIX Test Suite

Additional Resources from Wind River

• Online Support (OLS)
• Customer Support
• Additional Training Classes
• Training Tracks (Trees)
• Training Videos
• Mentoring
• Your Instructor
• Your Technical Account Manager
• Professional Services
• Videos Available on OLS

Prerequisite Course

• Wind River Linux and Workbench Essentials

Prerequisite Skills

• Understanding of embedded operating systems and debugging techniques
• Knowledge of how the Linux kernel works, including device drivers and user-space interfaces
• One year of C programming experience on Linux/UNIX

• This two-day instructor-led course consists of lectures and lab sessions.
• Students gain hands-on experience and receive personal guidance from expert Wind River instructors.
• Students examine and exercise simulated network topologies in hands-on labs.
• Specific questions are addressed.

• Linux Device Drivers
• Linux Fast Boot