From 61b5ce20f25c5785e41574998a12c6d06eb05a5e Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Thomas Albers Date: Wed, 8 Mar 2023 23:43:00 +0100 Subject: Restructure build system and directory structures --- src/arm/adventures.org | 58 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 1 file changed, 58 insertions(+) create mode 100644 src/arm/adventures.org (limited to 'src/arm') diff --git a/src/arm/adventures.org b/src/arm/adventures.org new file mode 100644 index 0000000..8712435 --- /dev/null +++ b/src/arm/adventures.org @@ -0,0 +1,58 @@ +#+title: New adventures in ARM +#+author: Thomas Albers Raviola +#+date: 2022-10-10 + +* Backgroud +If you have read my poorly written articles about my Z80 computers, it is +probably no surprise that I ended up playing with ARM processors. + +Way back I bought a Beaglebone Black based on the Sitara AM335x series of armhf +processors. I never really gave it much use as I got more interested in Z80 and +the idea of myself building and soldering my own computer. + +This changed some weeks ago, when while enjoying the free time between semesters +at university I decided to buy a Pinenote from Pine64. I had seen before the +E-Ink tablet of one of my tutors and wanted to replace taking notes on paper for +some kind of digital form. Initially I used my X200T laptop for this end but the +battery life does leave some performance to wish for. + +The alternatives I found in the market shared all the same disadvantages. For +example, the reMarkable tablet of my Tutor seems to work in some kind of +restricted ecosystem with cloud syncing bullshit I don't care about. + +If I am not able to run the software I want, I don't care about the product. + +The Pinenote on the other hand, while still in development and with basically no +finished software ready, is designed to leave complete freedom to the user. + +My plan was to experiment with my Beaglebone, learning to compile a kernel and a +GNU/Linux distro for ARM and then apply this knowledge to port some system to +the Pinenote. + +This however was not at all necessary, as there are already people who have +reverse engineered the DRM driver for the display and documented how to comile a +custom kernel to run on the ARM processor of the Pinenote. This process ended up +being actually really easy. + +I won't claim to be able to explain it better. Nonetheless I have documented (or +will) the process as part of this series of articles about my experiments with +low-level ARM hacking. + +This topic evolved rapidly into an extremly deep rabbit hole. As I still plan to +learn how the boot process for ARM devices work by writing a bare-bones blink +LED code, the Hello World! of low-level programming, for my Beaglebone. I plan +this to be the continuation of me learning low-level stuff as with my Z80. + +I also discovered that the ebook reader I had and that now is left redundant by +my Pinenote also has an ARM processor (I know, not a big surprise). But instead +of writing the system to a eMMC, tolino packed a SD card with the system, +rendering the process of testing other code a trivial one. + +Given my despise for Android and how satisfied I am with my Pinenote, I actually +decided to buy the Pinephone Pro and the Pinebook Pro. When the time comes, I +would like to also write articles on how I port my favourite GNU/Linux distro, +GNU/Guix, to these platforms. Hopefully I won't need to use a damn Android +device ever again and will actually be able to use my devices the way I want. + +Ranting aside, I now invite you to check the writings about the findings in my +new adventures in the ARM world. -- cgit v1.2.3