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Introduction

The purpose of this guide is to help you get an STLinux system up and running on an ST40 or ST200 based System on Chip (SoC) platform. In addition to the SoC platform, you will also need:

  • an x86 PC running Linux, fitted with an NIC (Ethernet) card
  • a network router
  • suitable cables and connectors to link these devices, but only Ethernet is supported from Linux hosts
  • if you require access to the Linux console using a serial connection, a terminal that can plug into the RS232 port on the SoC platform or a serial cable to connect this port to the host PC (which will then emulate a terminal)
  • a U-Boot bootstrap agent already installed in non-volatile memory or a target board connection kit appropriate to your architecture

For the ST40 and ST200 architectures, you will also need an ST Micro Connect interface adapter and an appropriate ribbon cable to connect this to the SoC platform.

The purpose of the PC is to build and host the software to run on the SoC platform. It may also perform the roles of ST Micro Connect controller, Network File System (NFS) server, and terminal emulator. See Figure 1: Setting up the hardware.

Figure 1: Setting up the hardware

The outline procedure for setting up the SoC platform is:

  1. Download the ST Linux software to the host PC from the STLinux FTP site, either as individual RPMs or as a complete ISO disk image.
  2. Install the software on the host PC, either by running the installer script, using STMYUM to install the RPMs, burning the ISO image to a CD and installing from that, or by mounting the ISO image by using a loopback device.
  3. Either generate an SoC kernel image on the host PC, or use one of the pre-built Linux kernels provided with the distribution.
  4. Generate an exported network file system on the host PC. This file system will become the root file system of the SoC platform.
  5. Start an NFS server on the host PC to give the SoC platform access to its root file system.
  6. Load the SoC kernel image into the SoC platform RAM. This is done by one of the following:
    • run the SoC platform load program on the host PC
    • instruct ST Micro Connect to copy the SoC kernel image to the SoC platform RAM
    • use the U-boot bootstrap agent to download the kernel
    Note: The first two options are available for ST40 and ST200 architectures only.
  7. Use the physical terminal or the terminal emulator on the host to access a Linux shell on the SoC platform. Depending on your configuration, you may be able to log in to Linux remotely using TELNET or a similar network protocol.