[U-Boot] Newbie to u-boot needs help! Please help if you can

[James Chargin]

Hello Kevin Alexander,

On 01/11/2016 03:13 PM, Kevin Alexander wrote:
>   Hello
> I am making a bigeffort to try to acquire knowledge regarding embedded Linux.

A big effort is a great idea. A long association is also beneficial as a 
lot of stuff happens that is not documented well (or at all) and being 
around provides for exposure to this type of change.

> Myprimary reference is the book entitled 'Embedded Linux Primer, SecondEdition A Practical, Real-World Approach' by Christopher Hallinan,published 2010

U-Boot has recently (at least when compared to the time taken to write 
and publish a book) gone through three major changes that I'm aware of.

My work includes some U-Boot customization so I have some exposure to 
this, but I'm anything but an expert or core U-Boot developer.

1) The configuration system has changed from one based primarily on 
large number of #define in header files to something based closely on 
KConfig as used in the Linux kernel.

2) The build system has moved quite close to KBuild as used in the Linux 
kernel.

3) A unified device driver model has been introduced and conversion of 
existing drivers is currently under way.

> I have reachedchapter 7, 'Bootloaders', and I am having a few problems with thischapter. In section 7.3 it starts to make mention of u-boot. Aftergit cloning and examining the latest u boot source tree, it isapparent that the description in the book about how to configure andbuild u-boot is not congruent the latest u-boot source tree. Cansomeone reply to this message, or  point me to a(nother) mailing list(s),wikis or urls that would allow me to acquire a good understanding onhow configure and build u-boot as represented by the latest u-bootsource tree.

I'm not sure official U-Boot documentation has been modified yet to 
reflect these changes. Even if it had, it is likely to assume 
familiarity with the Linux kernel KConfig and KBuild systems. Referring 
to the Linux documentation for these subsystems might be helpful in 
understanding how the similar U-Boot facilities operate.

The main documentation for U-Boot is the README file at the top 
directory level. Also, see files in the doc subdirectory. However, as I 
said, don't be too surprised if these sources are not up to date.

>
> Many thanks in advance

Good luck, and welcome to U-Boot.

If you end up developing understanding of these parts of the system by 
exploration, others in the community (like me) and other newbie's could 
really benifit from your knowledge. Please consider writing up what you 
find and submitting patches to README (or the wiki at 
http://www.denx.de/wiki/DULG/Manual)

Best Regards,
Jim
-- 
Jim Chargin
AJA Video Systems                       jimc at aja.com
(530) 271-3334                          http://www.aja.com