Open Source Summit + ELC North America 2020

This session is targeted for those who are bringing up Linux on a board based on an existing board supported in the Linux source tree and fairly new to Linux. To make a better “initial” board bring-up experience a functionally minimal Device Tree Source (DTS) approach will be discussed from which a board developer can take the initial DTS to full board functionality.

The session will first look at how examining the existing board’s DTS file for how it is constructed and what to look for in terms of what is processor specific and what is board specific and why that matters.

Next a method will be discussed on testing a new board DTS file on the existing reference board while waiting for the new board. Overall this method can be described as a “Hello World” type minimal DTS for a board which can be used for board bring up and kernel version upgrades. To close out the session will be a discussion on preparing for kernel upgrades as sometimes projects take years to complete.

While it will not be possible to future proof a board there will be some pointers as a summary that highlight why topics presented earlier in the session that are useful as well during a kernel version upgrade.