Unslung/WL500g packages available for Oleg's firmware

[Jean-Fabrice]

uclibc 0.9.28 crosstoolchain based on gcc 3.3.6 / binutils 2.16 builds without error using uclibc buildroot plus openwrt uclibc config file.
There's no challenge here

JF

[oleo]

My suggestion is to take one step at the time.

Upgrade just uClibc to 0.9.28 and keep broadcom 3.2.3 toolchain.

Here is my uClibc build script which proves this:

#!/bin/sh
PATH="/opt/brcm/hndtools-mipsel-linux/bin:/opt/brcm/hndtools-mipsel-uclibc/bin:${PATH}"
export PATH

VERSION=0.9.28
UCLIBC=uClibc-${VERSION}
CONFIG=uClibc-${VERSION}.config

[ ! -f ${UCLIBC}.tar.bz2 ] && wget  http://www.uclibc.org/downloads/${UCLIBC}.tar.bz2
rm -rf ${UCLIBC}
tar xjf ${UCLIBC}.tar.bz2
patch -d${UCLIBC} -p1 < Makefile.patch
make -C ${UCLIBC} clean
cat ${CONFIG} > ${UCLIBC}/.config
make -C ${UCLIBC} all install CROSS=mipsel-linux- TARGET_ARCH=mips

Attached Oleg config aligned for new uClibc, build script and tiny install tar conformance patch for Makefile.

Of course, one should take a look for changes of patches from http://wl500g.dyndns.org/uClibc-0.9.19/ and possible reintroduction.

[oleo]

After many hours I have managed to port uClibc++ library to 3.2.3 toolchain used to build Oleg firmware. This port enabled many previously non working optware packages to start working! (eg. python, py-*, mysql, ctorrent, groff, man, mutt, nmap, nload, nagios-plugins & nrpe, appweb, cdargs, cogito, cherokee, ruby, ...) Visit http://ipkg.nslu2-linux.org/feeds/unslung/wl500g/ for complete list of packages.

See Optware wl-500g Build FAQ page for details of this wl500g toolchain upgrade.

There are still many packages that we wish to be built but they are limited with current firmware uClibc library. The biggest limitation is lack of wchar support needed by many packages. There are also some issues with linking of shared libraries (resolved in uClibc 0.9.22). I hope that with all this advances Oleg will take an effort and resolve this issues with upgrade to latest uClibc in his upcoming firmware.

Here are some of my notes on still broken packages:

WL500G_BROKEN_PACKAGES = \
asterisk = xscale dependent
atk = glib
bitlbee = glib iconv
bzflag = c++
cvs = wchar
dict = ?
elinks = xbel.c:15:19: expat.h: No such file or directory
erlang = Makefile Cross compile problem \
ficy = http.cc:20: `getline' not declared
freetds = ld: cannot find -lreadline
gawk = wchar
gettext = ?
giftcurs = glib
git-core = iconv
glib = iconv
gnupg = wchar
gtk = iconv
hnb = uClib stdio problem
ice = x11
iperf = missing thread
iptables = conntrack?
ivorbis-tools = ASM problem
jabber = modf undefined
jamvm = mipsel not supported
ldconfig = ?
libdvb = fpros
libftdi = linking PIC files with non-PIC files
libgc = esdep.h
libtorrent = ambiguous overload for `std::basic_istream
libvorbisidec = ASM problem
lsof = configure
mdadm = ftw.h
mod-fastcgi = ipkg problem
mod-python = configure
monotone = libboost_filesystem failure
mtr = resolver missing
nail = define problem
nfs-server = innetgr undefined
nfs-utils = download problem
nget = C++ map
ntp = tm_gmtoff
pango = iconv
py-mssql = -lreadline
py-sqlobject = svn download
unslung-devel \
qemu = unslung
qemu-libc-i386 = unslung
rtorrent = bencode c++
sdl = x11
ser = undefined reference to `__res_search'
sm = MB_CUR_MAX' undeclared
snownews = wctomb
sqsh = -lreadline
sudo = errx
tethereal = No iconv()
transcode = libiconv missing
unrar = unicode.cpp
vte = No iconv()
wget-ssl = clock_getres
x11 = stdc_wcstocts
xauth
xaw
xchat
xcursor
xdpyinfo
xext
xfixes
xft
xmu
xpdf
xpm
xrender

[Cryptic]

All wl500g packages on http://ipkg.nslu2-linux.org/feeds/unslung/wl500g/
are gone. Does anybody have any idea what happened and when they will be back ?

[oleo]

The problem is with sourceforge which happend to change their repositories names. jp30 is responsible for update change. And maybe rwhitby will help with this. I suggest to wait a day or two for rebuild.

[rwhitby]

We have moved the Optware source code repository from sourceforge.net to our new svn.nslu2-linux.org site.

http://svn.nslu2-linux.org/svnroot/optware

You can also browse the source with the nice Trac interface at:

http://trac.nslu2-linux.org/optware

If you are an Optware developer, you need an NSLU2-Linux SSL client certficate to write to the new repository. All sourceforge.net write access has been disabled. Contact me if you need a certificate.

There is no change to the feed contents or location.

-- Rod

[oleo]

After many rip & build cycles, buildroot uClibc toolchain is finished and
ready for testing on mipsel arch.

It provides:

1. uclibc-0.9.28 with wchar support target for base instalation into /opt/lib
2. target toolchain 3.4.6 for packages cross compilation w/ ccache
3. native toolchain for compilation on embeded system w/ ccache
4. uClibc++ 0.2.0 for C++ packages

I have prepared uClibc buildroot toolchain to compile within optware. It
creates both host and target toolchain along with uClibc 0.9.28.
Target uClibc is installed into /opt/lib along with loader ld-uClibc.so

For testing purposes I've prebuild packages at http://www.wlan-sat.com/boleo/optware/oleg

Instalation scenario should be:

1. Prepare /opt directory as usual
2. ipkg.sh update
3. ipkg install ipkg
4. ipkg install uclibc
5. edit /opt/etc/ipkf.conf to src unslung http://www.wlan-sat.com/boleo/optware/oleg
6. ipkg update
7. ipkg install foobar

For people wanting native compiling on router one should install buildroot package instead of uclibc package only. Please note that this should be clean install of /opt packages to prevent search path clashes.

I have tested many packages on stock WL500gx-1.9.2.7-7f-pre4.trx and
confirmed that they works as expected. Native compilation verified.

Many packages now works as intended. Most notable mysql, svn, enhanced-ctorrent, elinks, ...

Here is complete list of 400+ AVAILABLE packages for Oleg firmware for testing: http://www.wlan-sat.com/boleo/optware/oleg/Packages

I am talking to Rod Whitby to provide official support for package download from nslu2-linux.org for Oleg and DD-WRT firmware.

[oleo]

Today official support for Oleg firmwares got additional package feed which completely replaces buggy uClibc 0.9.19 provided in firmware.

The main feature of this packages is that it installs all required files under /opt with 400+ ported applications. With buildroot toolchain is added also system library indenpendence. This means that packages now depends od /opt/lib/uClibc.so and dynamic loader also in /opt/lib with separate /opt/etc/ld-opt.so.conf for custom .so cache. Applications are built with wchar and locale support which makes uClibc library somewhat greater than other uClibc packages, but still far smaller than glibc based aplications.


Buildroot toolchain features:

• GCC 3.4.6
• uClibc 0.9.28 with patches
• uClibc++ 0.2.1
• Native POSIX Threads Library (NPTL) Support for uClibc

Users using package feed should change /opt/etc/ipkg.conf to

src unslung http://ipkg.nslu2-linux.org/feeds/optware/oleg/cross/stable         
dest root /

And then run ipkg update.

First we will install uClibc library which is required by all packages.

~ # ipkg install uclibc
Downloading http://ipkg.nslu2-linux.org/feeds/optware/oleg/cross/stable/uclibc_0.9.28-1_mipsel.ipk ... 
Connecting to ipkg.nslu2-linux.org[212.18.63.81]:80
uclibc_0.9.28-1_mips 100% |*************************************************************|   440 KB 00:00:00 ETA 
Done.
Unpacking uclibc...Done.
Configuring uclibc...Updating /opt/etc/ld-opt.so.cache
Done.

Alternatively if one wants to have C and C++ compiler to do native compiling on router, ipkg install buildroot can be issued instead. But this requires al least 100MB of free space for the whole toolchain.

Old application from http://ipkg.nslu2-linux.org/feeds/unslung/wl500g should be reinstalled with

ipkg install -force-reinstall package

Tho get a list of installed packages use:

ipkg list_installed

[jensm]

Hi,

I am afraid that I don't have the skills to compile packages myself - anybody interested in having a go at sdparm and sg_start as described in http://www.wl500g.info/showthread.php?t=6197&page=2 ?

Thanks,

Jens

[ptnemot]

Oleo mentions above that he has succeeded in providing an updated uClibc package removing some of the issues with the current uClibc package - which is great news because I'm actually stuck on some of the current packages I want to get compiled because of uClibc issues.

However from the post I can't understand how I am supposed to be using this new package. I am currently compiling packages following the instructions at http://www.nslu2-linux.org/wiki/Unsl...ckageToUnslung, together WL500g recommendations at http://www.nslu2-linux.org/wiki/FAQ/OptwareWl500gBuild and I don't get how I should get the new uClibc from oleo installed (probably because I'm still not very clear on the whole toolchain story). So I'd like to have some concrete guidance on how to use this or if possible a complete step-by-step overview on how to cross-compile C/C++ programs for the WL-500g.

Any help on this would be very much appreciated!

[oleo]

Wrong pointer. Build is not wl500g but oleg. See http://www.nslu2-linux.org/wiki/FAQ/Optware-uClibcBuild

[ptnemot]

Hi Oleo,

Thanks for the fast reply - indeed I was compiling with the wrong target (wl500g instead of oleg). So I will adjust my MakeFile to use the right target. But I will off course also need to get the correct toolchain (with uClibc 0.9.28) installed. I was using the one mentioned at the build page for WL500g (downloaded from http://www.wlan-sat.com/boleo/optwar...0.1.12.tar.bz2 which included uClibc 0.9.19. How can I now get/create a toolchain with uClibc 0.9.28?

And another question: in order to use these packages on my WL-500g I guess I will have to use the "oleg" feed (mentioned in your post), so this means I have to reinstall all packages I already had installed from the "wl500g" feed right?

Sorry for these probably basic questions but I'm still quite new to the whole cross-compiling topic...

Kind regards,

Peter.

[oleo]

Reinstall is necessary due to built in /opt//lib search path for shared libs in wl500g package feed.

Building toolchain is simple enough:

svn co http://svn.nslu2-linux.org/svnroot/optware/trunk optware
cd optware
export OPTWARE_TARGET=oleg
make directories
make toolchain

toolchain will reside in toolchain/mipsel-linux-uclibc. Add toolchain/mipsel-linux-uclibc/gcc-3.4.6-uclibc-0.9.28/bin to search path and use toolchain/mipsel-linux-uclibc/gcc-3.4.6-uclibc-0.9.28/lib and toolchain/mipsel-linux-uclibc/gcc-3.4.6-uclibc-0.9.28/include
for building.
Although I recomend using Optware build facilities with

make make/mypackage.mk

and edit make/mypackage.mk
When finished, I can include this package in the Optware.

[ptnemot]

Hi Oleo,

Thanks for the info - I think I'm actually starting to understand the whole "chain". I'll give your suggestion a try later on when I get home (and can access my router), in the meantime I have tried to summarise all info about this updated uClibc topic on one single webpage (mainly to make sure I understand and remember myself, but also to share with others who may be in my position...)

I have put this online at http://www.freewebs.com/ptnemot/wl50...clibcsumm.html, feel free to have a look and give any comments you may have. If you think this is useful it can also be added to the Unslung Wiki.

Kind regards,

Peter.

[oleo]

Great introduction. Feel free to include this info on nslu2 wiki page.

Bear in mind that updated uClibc is also available for dd-wrt firmware. See http://www.dd-wrt.com/wiki/index.php/Optware and maybe the same introduction is missing there.

My wonder firmware would be dd-wrt GUI, QOS, with NFS, ext3 and other server functionality from Oleg firmware. But until then Oleg is a choice no.1.