Tiny Core Linux

dCore Import Debian Packages to Mountable SCE extensions => dCore Armv7 => Topic started by: tc2cubie on May 21, 2024, 01:11:26 PM

Title: Install on Cubieboard 2 (Alwinner A20)
Post by: tc2cubie on May 21, 2024, 01:11:26 PM
I busted out my old Cubieboard 2 and would like to run Tinycore on it. Ideally I'd want to install to the builtin NAND but I'll be fine to settle for an SD install too.

As I can see, theres a port for the A20 available, however I am confused as to how to actually install it - All the instructions I have found involve links that are long dead so I am kinda stuck.

Thanks!
Title: Re: Install on Cubieboard 2 (Alwinner A20)
Post by: patrikg on May 21, 2024, 03:54:25 PM
I think you have to start here first:
https://linux-sunxi.org/Cubietech_Cubieboard
 (https://linux-sunxi.org/Cubietech_Cubieboard)
So you understand the FEL/Uboot/Kernel/initrd

And you may also visit the buildroot
https://github.com/cubieboard/buildroot (https://github.com/cubieboard/buildroot)

http://docs.cubieboard.org/tutorials/cb1/installation/cb1_making_embedded_linux_with_buildroot (http://docs.cubieboard.org/tutorials/cb1/installation/cb1_making_embedded_linux_with_buildroot)

https://www.msystechnologies.com/blog/how-to-setup-a-bootloader-for-an-embedded-linux-machine/
 (https://www.msystechnologies.com/blog/how-to-setup-a-bootloader-for-an-embedded-linux-machine/)
https://www.msystechnologies.com/blog/how-to-build-a-super-simple-linux-based-embedded-system-using-buildroot/
 (https://www.msystechnologies.com/blog/how-to-build-a-super-simple-linux-based-embedded-system-using-buildroot/)
https://www.msystechnologies.com/blog/how-to-cross-compile-embedded-linux-part-2-kernel/
 (https://www.msystechnologies.com/blog/how-to-cross-compile-embedded-linux-part-2-kernel/)
https://www.msystechnologies.com/blog/how-to-cross-compile-embedded-linux-part-3-buildroot/ (https://www.msystechnologies.com/blog/how-to-cross-compile-embedded-linux-part-3-buildroot/)
Title: Re: Install on Cubieboard 2 (Alwinner A20)
Post by: tc2cubie on May 21, 2024, 06:41:38 PM
Not gonna lie I had hoped for the process to be slightly more straight forward - I'm having a lot of trouble connecting all the pieces with the information being spread on multiple pages and partially not being specific to the Cubieboard / TC.

- Theres instructions for creating a u-boot-sunxi-with-spl.bin, but that already exists in the A20 port (http://www.tinycorelinux.net/dCore/armv7/Allwinner-A20/) so I guess I can skip that step?

- The cloned source does not have a defconfig for the cubieboard2, and how to aquire that isnt really obvious to me

- I cloned / took at look at the Buildroot repo but there is no A7 architecture, only A5 / A8 - And despite, the files this would generate (http://docs.cubieboard.org/tutorials/cb1/installation/cb1_making_embedded_linux_with_buildroot#what_is_generated) seem to also already exist?

- Do I even need to manually build everything to begin with?

Needless to say, nothing really makes sense to me right now and I think just installing debian might be easier 😅