Latest kernel version for bubba, compile kernel modules

[mountaindude]

I am running 2.6.16.16, not sure if that is the latest version or not? At least Excito's servers don't give me any later when updating..

Main question though:
I am trying to connect a Logitech "QuickCam Web" webcam to the bubba (1st gen), in order to take regular snap shots and create a time-lapse video.

Seems I need the qc-usb module for this to work, but it is only available as source. Soo.. how do I compile kernel modules for the original bubba? There are some tutorials for doing this on bubba2, haven't found any for bubba1 though.

So far I fail on the point of getting the 2.6.16.16 source properly configured. When trying to compile qc-usb it fails when the /lib/modules/2.6.16.16/build/.config doesn't exist..

Any ideas?
Thx.

[DanielM]

I think kernel version would depend on which distro version you're running. I'm running Etch on my B1, and I've also got kernel 2.6.16.16.

I fiddled around with the same thing some months ago (different webcam though). I'm not quite sure here, but I think http://download.excito.net/kernel/2.6.1 ... .16.tar.gz is the file for you to download. I'm sure someone from the Excito crew has better answers though

/Daniel

[carl]

It's a dangerous hazel to upgrade the kernel for the BubbaServer due to that it's located in flash, and not on disk; It's possible to upgrade it, but one failed move will brick the device

[DanielM]

It's a dangerous hazel to upgrade the kernel for the BubbaServer due to that it's located in flash, and not on disk; It's possible to upgrade it, but one failed move will brick the device

Read again. We're not talking about upgrading the kernel, he just needs the kernel source to compile kernel modules...

/Daniel

[mountaindude]

It's a dangerous hazel to upgrade the kernel for the BubbaServer due to that it's located in flash, and not on disk; It's possible to upgrade it, but one failed move will brick the device

Read again. We're not talking about upgrading the kernel, he just needs the kernel source to compile kernel modules...

/Daniel

Correct, I am only looking for a way to compile and use a kernel module.

[tor]

Hi mountaindude,

Recompiling the kernel and modules is of course possible.

We have sources for the kernel http://download.excito.net/kernel/2.6.16/ complete patched and ready src is here http://download.excito.net/kernel/2.6.1 ... ex.tar.bz2

The toolchain we used to compile it all for Bubba|Server http://download.excito.net/kernel/arm-g ... 2-1.tar.gz its a compiled (For x86 Linux) toolchain that is supposed to be extracted as root in / and then installs under /opt/crosstool/gcc-4.0.1-glibc-2.3.2/arm-unknown-linux-gnu/

A detailed howto that should provide info on how to do it is here Compiling Kernel and/or modules using Crosstool But skip the patching and crosstools compile if you use code mentioned above.

I hope this would get you started.

/Tor

[mountaindude]

Tor, once again you provide quick, precise and great info - thanks!

[mountaindude]

After a lot of struggling I still haven't been able to use the cross compiler to compile the qc-usb kernel module for Logitech Webcams.

The modules source actually compiles fine on the bubba, but as pointed out in this post and in the qc-usb README, the kernel module needs to be compiled with the same version of GCC as the kernel it will be installed in.

Now, the kernel on my bubba is compiled with GCC 4.0.1 according to a "cat /proc/version":

Code: Select all

Linux version 2.6.16.16 (tor@sid) (gcc version 4.0.1) #1 Tue May 16 21:45:07 CEST 2006

But the GCC installed on the bubba is 3.5.2, according to "gcc --version"

Code: Select all

gcc (GCC) 3.3.5 (Debian 1:3.3.5-13)
Copyright (C) 2003 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
This is free software; see the source for copying conditions.  There is NO
warranty; not even for MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.

Regarding the cross compile on the X86 Ubuntu machine, it actually generates what first seem to be a good quickcam.ko module, but when transferred to the bubba and installed there with "insmod ./quickcam.ko" i get the following error:

Code: Select all

insmod: error inserting './quickcam.ko': -1 Invalid module format

A quick check with dmesg shows that there still is a version mismatch:

Code: Select all

quickcam: version magic '2.6.16.16 ARMv5 gcc-4.0' should be '2.6.16.16 ARMv4 gcc-4.0'

How do I force make to use ARM v4 architecture rather than v5?


Worth pointing out here that I can build the modules included in Excito's source kit without trouble, it's the separately downloaded source of qc-usb that causes trouble.


My thinking at this point is: wouldn't it be easier to get GCC 4.0.1 installed on the bubba? I thought so, but where do I find it? Not in the standard repositories, it seems..
Is GCC 4.0.1 not available for Debian Sarge?


Any other ideas or suggestions..?
thanks
G

[mountaindude]

Problem solved.

Not sure the sources at http://download.excito.net/kernel/2.6.1 ... ex.tar.bz2 are correctly configured, or maybe I managed to mess them up before compiling the module I've been working on.

When following the steps in http://forum.excito.net/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=303 (downloading the various source packages etc) things worked fine, and I got around the armv5 vs the bubba's armv4 architecture mismatch from the previous post in this thread.

The module crosscompiled under Ubuntu 9.04, and loaded nicely in the bubba, and showed up as a dev/video0 device. Nice!

Problem now is that it doesn't produce correct images, see below.
Images captured by vgrabbj, but also tried the motion tool - same result.

pic.jpg (16.96 KiB) Viewed 12547 times

The camera (an old Logitech Quickcam Web) works under Windows, so it's not a hardware problem.
Rather I am leaning towards the bubba not being able to handle the incoming data stream from the camera fast enough... but that's just pure speculation.

So, will try it on the bubba2 instead (yup, got one of each).
Might continue this thread in the bubba2 forum instead of here.