What is this about?
This distribution provides files for development of Elphel cameras
(models 313 and 323).
See http://www.elphel.com for more information.
License
This is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or (at your option) any later version.
This is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU General Public License for more details.
You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License along with this; if not, write to the Free Software Foundation, Inc., 59 Temple Place, Suite 330, Boston, MA 02111-1307 USA
General Installation Instructions
You will need a Linux computer, or compatible, with typical host software development tools installed (gcc etc.)
The elphel software is distributed in the form of a file named
elphel_$REVNUM.tar.gz where $REVNUM varies
(for example, for elphel_6.2.7.tar.gz , $REVNUM is 6.2.7);
please substitute as required.
Change directory to a suitable directory.
[Note: The recommended directory structure is to place beneath this directory
the elphel_$REVNUM.tar.gz file as well as
the various axis and linux files requested by the elphel_install script
(see below) and as well as the compiler tools directory "cris" needed for
the building the software.]
Unpack the elphel_$REVNUM.tar.gz file:
gtar xzvf elphel_$REVNUM.tar.gz
This will create a subdirectory elphel_$REVNUM containing the following files:
README -- this file
LICENSE -- license to use this software
install_elphel -- executable installation script
elphelcamera.tar -- what is installed
Change directory to this subdirectory and run:
./elphel_install
This elphel_script is interactive.
You will be prompted for the model number (313 or 323).
You will be prompted for needed files from Axis and Linux and
instructed where to find them; get them onto your computer
(e.g. using another window) and tell elphel_install where they are placed.
(This includes installing and compiling a version of gcc specifically
for the camera's cpu).
The install_elphel script will ask you where you want to install the
elphel/linux/axis software (excluding the compiler, which you must
have installed elsewhere), and will install it there.
The script will provide you an opportunity to build the software,
or you can build it later (see below).
To later run the tool to actually reflash the camera you will need
low-level access to the network and so will need root privileges.
At the end of installation, if you selected the default output path, you will have a subdirectory named elphel$MODEL (where $MODEL is 313 or 323). You can repeat the installation for a different model if desired. You can change directory to elphel$MODEL to use the software.
Modifying the software
Changing the target (313/323) will require everything to be made all over again, so it is better just to do a fresh installation. It is sufficient, however, to return to the directory where you did ./elphel_install and run this command again, this time selecting a different camera model and a different output directory (selecting default output directory works).
Also, moving either the directory path of your installation or of the cris compiler tools is best handled by doing a fresh installation, due to problems with "make clean" not removing some files.
You may build the software from the install_elphel script or later.
To build later:
With your current directory as the directory where the software is installed,
(specified when running ./install_elphel) use one of
the following scripts (generated by the install process):
./build -- complete recompilation -- takes a while
./rebuild -- optimized, but sometimes buggy, recompilation
The rebuild script is buggy because it is difficult to express all dependencies
properly to make, and make itself has some limits.
However, for many simple changes to files, rebuild is quite adequate and
is much faster than build.
If you encounter any strange problems with rebuild, then run ./build instead.
Or you can do the build the long way:
Setup your environment with
. ./init_env # requires that your shell be bash
'make help' shows the needed targets.
First you need to select the product ('make 313' or 'make 323'),
then use 'make' in the following commands:
make tools
make cris-axis-linux-gnu
make kernel
make install
make images
If you'll later modify kernel (drivers) run
make kernel
make images
If - any of the applications and related files:
make install
make images
General Usage Instructions
To transfer the images to the camera you need:
- Put the camera into download mode by holding a pushbutton (under a green dot on the overlay) while appying power (inserting cable)
- Run ./flashit (don't forget to '. ./init_env' - you'll see "boot_linux: command not found" if you did) Using ./flashitall (instead of ./flashit) will overwrite boot block that also stores the product serial number / ethernet address. You may need to prefix these commands with "sudo" to gain super user permission requiredd.
OR -- An alternate approach to transferring images to the camera's flash is explained in the documentation in the flashstation subdirectory. The flashstation/reflash script will guide you step by step in a friendly fashion, including correct network configuration setup.
You may prepare compressed images that can be used by the other OS loader using target:
make other_os
Have fun!
Creating a new distribution:
Starting with an installed distribution: -- Make sure that REVNUM in the main Makefile is updated.
It may be a fairly arbitrary string; for example, add your own name to the end of it (no spaces...). -- Make sure that any files added are accounted for in src.list .
Remember that this is a list of files to be added or replaced on top
of the axis/linux installation.
If you want a file to NOT exist that came from the axis/linux distribution,
you will have to modify install_elphel.
-- Run "make distro". This will create elphel_$REVNUM.tar.gz