Author Topic: Mainline or TI Kernel?  (Read 1041 times)

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Offline JVRTopic starter

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Mainline or TI Kernel?
« on: August 20, 2019, 10:02:44 am »
I'm hoping someone with some experience can chime in here, I'm starting my foray into Linux from the ground up, using buildroot on a AM335X CPU.

I've gotten the latest mainline kernel to build (2019.02) and run, but I see that the EVM boards config pull the kernel from the TI Processor SDK.

I would think that the TI kernel would have some bugs specific to the CPU arch fixed when it comes from TI, things that might not have been merged up the trunk yet. But there is also the risk that TI just decides to go another way, and the kernel ceases to exist on their GIT repo.

SO my question is this, do I base my development efforts on the TI kernel, or on the Mainline kernel?
 

Offline thinkfat

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Re: Mainline or TI Kernel?
« Reply #1 on: August 20, 2019, 11:19:48 am »
The main difference between the TI kernel and the mainline kernel is not about bug fixes but drivers and driver frameworks. The AM335x have a lot of nice peripherals like the PRUs, for which drivers have not been integrated into mainline, for whatever reason. If you want the best coverage of functionality, go with the TI kernel. Especially regarding power management, if it's important to you.
Everybody likes gadgets. Until they try to make them.
 

Offline JVRTopic starter

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Re: Mainline or TI Kernel?
« Reply #2 on: August 20, 2019, 11:21:51 am »
Power management is one of the main things I'm looking at yes. I assume if I have the source for the kernel in GIT, not much will stop dev from continuing?

This also raises the question, do I use buildroot or just their SDK?
 

Offline thinkfat

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Re: Mainline or TI Kernel?
« Reply #3 on: August 20, 2019, 11:41:21 am »
Hm, I cannot answer that one. It depends on what you want to do eventually. Buildroot is more or less a kit to build a root filesystem for an embedded device. If that's what you're after, there ya go. The SDK is probably more targeted towards, well, system development. If you want to port your own OS to the platform, the SDK is the right thing, or if you want to build hardware based on the platform.
Everybody likes gadgets. Until they try to make them.
 


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