Build EtherLAB master kernel

http://taste.tuxfamily.org/wiki/index.php?title=Build_EtherLAB_master_kernel

Etherlab

EtherLAB developed an EtherCAT master software that runs as a Linux kernel module. As a result, it is far faster than user-space implementation. However, building the Ethercat Master implementation with a Linux kernel requires to build it using the appropriate kernel version. As we build it with PREEMPT-RT, we shall have the appropriate version for the kernel, the PREEMPT-RT patch and Etherlab. It seems that the 2.6.33 release of the kernel meet these requirements.

Building a new kernel

You need the following files:

• The Linux kernel: http://www.kernel.org/pub/linux/kernel/v2.6/linux-2.6.33.tar.bz2
• The PREEMPT-RT patch : http://www.kernel.org/pub/linux/kernel/projects/rt/2.6.33/older/patch-2.6.33-rt8.bz2
• The EtherLAB implementation, take the current HEAD revision : http://www.etherlab.org/en/ethercat/index.php

Then, follow these instructions to build the kernel:

• Untar the kernel sources.

tar jxvf linux-2.6.33.tar.bz2

• Unzip the PREEMPT-RT patch

bunzip2 patch-2.6.33-rt8.bz2

• Patch the kernel sources

cd linux-2.6.33 && patch -p1 < patch-2.6.33-rt8

• Copy the configuration file into the linux kernel directory :

cp -f config-2.6.33-preemptrt linux-2.6.33/.config

A configuration file has been put in the TASTE subversion repository, you can find it here : https://tecsw.estec.esa.int/svn/taste/trunk/linux-distro/config/config-2.6.33-preemptrt . Be careful, if you configure everything by yourself, you have to make sure to disable ACPI settings and enable the RT nature of the kernel. See links below, the PREEMPT-RT HOWTO

• Build the kernel sources and headers :

cd linux-2.6.33 && make-kpkg --rootcmd fakeroot --initrd --config menuconfig kernel_image kernel_source kernel_headers

• Install the kernel:

dpkg -i linux-image* linux-headers*

• Reboot

Installing the EtherLAB/EtherCAT implementation

1. Untar the EtherLAB archive.

tar jxvf etherlabmaster....

1. Enter the directory

cd etherlabmaster....

1. Bootstrap the sources

./bootstrap

1. Configure the build

./configure --enable-r8169 --enable-8139too --enable-e100 --enable-e1000 --enable-e1000e --enable-generic

1. Build everything:

make all install modules modules_install install

1. EtherLAB is installed in /opt. Read the INSTALL file for configuration aspects.

Links

• EtherLAB: http://www.etherlab.org/en/ethercat/index.php
• PREEMPT-RT HOWTO: https://rt.wiki.kernel.org/index.php/RT_PREEMPT_HOWTO