gcc explorations

[chuckr]

Well, I finally got myself on the list, so while I wait for one to arrive, I need to ask some questions. First, regarding gcc, does a gcc exist for native compilation, right on the Pandora itself? From what I can see so far, there can be no quibbling about whether the Pandora is a big enough platform. While my desktop hosts are faster/bigger, I can always stick a big USB disk on the Pandora, and the 600 Mhz processor is quite fast enough.

I haven't been able to find the specs for a Pandora gcc yet, either one for my FreeBSD intel host, my Gentoo Linux AMD64 host, or a native. Honestly, I'm greedy, I want both native and cross gcc's. If I need to build a cross-compiler on one of my two larger hosts (both of which have gccs on them), I need to at least know some hardware details, like what's the way that I should describe Pandora's CPU? I'm just a bit embarrassed to say that I can't yet find anything that looks like a formal specification for the Pandora, something that looks like the BeagleBoard's fine spec. I heard something about the Pandora being somewhat similar in nature to the BeagleBoard. Just how similar is that? I mean, if I found/built a compiler for the BeagleBoard, it would be fine for the Pandora? If it runs Linux, then it's got to have a glibc, right? What's the version, so I can build a glibc for my cross hosts?

You know, if only I could find a good spec for the Pandora, that would keep me busy a long time, reading about the hardware, the system software, etc. I would rather read what's available, before I bother folks here, but at least so far, I haven't been able to find anything that looks like a spec.

You'd think something like that would be posted, even if the Pandora is yet a very moving target, it's something that's so basically needed.

 

[Sphinxter]

The official wiki might have what your looking for by way of specification and some early devo details.
http://pandorawiki.org/Hardware_documentation
and the vital FAQ
http://pandorawiki.org/FAQ

 

[Tom`]

Once the Pandora is released, the details will certainly be made available via the wiki. The Ångström repository contains ARM packages for gcc and x86 and x86_64 packages for cross-compilers, which should work on the Pandora, but Pandora-specific packages may be available later as well.

Kernel build instructions are available on the wiki.

 

[Pickle]

You dont need to build your own toolchain, the one being used is maintained by code sourcery.
You should be able to find the links on the WIKI.

 

[javaJake]

I haven't been able to find the specs for a Pandora gcc yet, either one for my FreeBSD intel host, my Gentoo Linux AMD64 host, or a native. Honestly, I'm greedy, I want both native and cross gcc's. If I need to build a cross-compiler on one of my two larger hosts (both of which have gccs on them), I need to at least know some hardware details, like what's the way that I should describe Pandora's CPU? I'm just a bit embarrassed to say that I can't yet find anything that looks like a formal specification for the Pandora, something that looks like the BeagleBoard's fine spec. I heard something about the Pandora being somewhat similar in nature to the BeagleBoard. Just how similar is that? I mean, if I found/built a compiler for the BeagleBoard, it would be fine for the Pandora? If it runs Linux, then it's got to have a glibc, right? What's the version, so I can build a glibc for my cross hosts?

Hey, I've got what you're looking for! The Gentoo for Pandora project is currently in alpha (obviously), but we've got some good documentation already written, and will help you out in setting up a cross-compiler.

The documentation for creating a cross-compiler is contained in our tutorial titled "Creating an Image". The relevant parts for your purposes are the following pages (read in order):
http://gentoo.openpandora.org/wiki/inde ... nvironment
http://gentoo.openpandora.org/wiki/inde ... sdev_Tools

The entire tutorial is a WIP still, as we're still feeling our way around, but the two pages above are pretty much done. Feel free to join #gentoo-pandora on FreeNode and ask around if you have any questions.

Edit: Actually, now that I think about it, the second page "Installing Crossdev Tools" is the only one you really need to follow, as long as you don't use emerge, but use straight gcc for your projects.

As to your question about versions, you want to use at least v4.3, since they've got the most optimizations for the hardware on the OMAP3 board. Everything else is up to you.