Custom Linux Kernel and BusyBox Setup#

Step 1: Install Dependencies#

First things first, let’s make sure we have all the necessary tools and packages. Run the following command:

1
sudo apt update && sudo apt install wget bzip2 libncurses-dev flex bison bc libelf-dev libssl-dev xz-utils autoconf gcc make libtool git vim libpng-dev libfreetype-dev g++ extlinux nano

Step 2: Download and Prepare the Linux Kernel#

1. Download the Linux Kernel:

   1
   wget https://cdn.kernel.org/pub/linux/kernel/v6.x/linux-6.9.4.tar.xz
   

2. Extract the Kernel:

   1
   tar xf linux-6.9.4.tar.xz
   2
   cd linux-6.9.4
   

3. Configure the Kernel:

   1
   make menuconfig
   

4. Compile the Kernel:

   1
   make -j 4
   

5. Create a Directory for the Distro:

   1
   mkdir /distro
   2
   cp arch/x86/boot/bzImage /distro/
   

Step 3: Set Up BusyBox#

1. Download BusyBox:

   1
   cd ~
   2
   wget https://busybox.net/downloads/busybox-1.36.1.tar.bz2
   

2. Extract BusyBox:

   1
   tar xf busybox-1.36.1.tar.bz2
   2
   cd busybox-1.36.1
   

3. Configure BusyBox:

   1
   make menuconfig
   

4. Compile and Install BusyBox:

   1
   make -j 4
   2
   make CONFIG_PREFIX=/distro install
   

Step 4: Set Up MicroWindows#

1. Clone MicroWindows:

   1
   git clone https://github.com/ghaerr/microwindows
   2
   cd microwindows/src/
   

2. Configure MicroWindows:

   1
   cp Configs/config.linux-fb config
   2
   nano config
   

3. Compile MicroWindows:

   1
   make -j 4
   2
   make install
   3
   make x11-demo
   

4. Set Up a Sample GUI Application:

   1
   mkdir x11-demo
   2
   cd x11-demo/
   3
   nano gui.c
   

5. Compile the GUI Application:

   1
   cd ..
   2
   mv x11-demo /distro/
   3
   cd /distro/x11-demo/
   4
   gcc gui.c -lNX11 -lnano-X -I /microwindows/src/nx11/X11-local/
   5
   mv a.out /distro/nirs-test-app
   

Step 5: Prepare the Distro Environment#

1. Create Necessary Directories:

   1
   mkdir -p /distro/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/
   2
   mkdir /distro/lib64
   

2. Copy Required Libraries:

   1
   cp /lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libpng16.so.16 /distro/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libpng16.so.16
   2
   cp /lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libz.so.1 /distro/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libz.so.1
   3
   cp /lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libfreetype.so.6 /distro/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libfreetype.so.6
   4
   cp /lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libc.so.6 /distro/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libc.so.6
   5
   cp /lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libm.so.6 /distro/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libm.so.6
   6
   cp /lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libbrotlidec.so.1 /distro/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libbrotlidec.so.1
   7
   cp /lib64/ld-linux-x86-64.so.2 /distro/lib64/ld-linux-x86-64.so.2
   8
   cp /lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libbrotlicommon.so.1 /distro/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libbrotlicommon.so.1
   

3. Copy Nano-X Binaries:

   1
   cp -r /microwindows/src/bin /distro/nanox
   2
   cp /microwindows/src/runapp /distro/nanox/
   

Step 6: Create the Bootable Image#

1. Create and Format the Image:

   1
   cd /distro/
   2
   truncate -s 200MB boot.img
   3
   mkfs boot.img
   4
   mkdir mnt
   5
   mount boot.img mnt
   

2. Install Extlinux:

   1
   extlinux -i mnt/
   

3. Copy Files to the Image:

   1
   mv bin bzImage lib lib64 linuxrc nanox nirs-test-app sbin usr mnt
   

4. Create Additional Directories:

   1
   cd mnt/
   2
   mkdir var etc root dev tmp proc
   

5. Unmount the Image:

   1
   cd ..
   2
   umount mnt
   

Release Notes#