PineNote: Building Kernel

This page contains information on how to build a linux kernel for the PineNote.

Available Kernel Repositories

The following PineNote-specific kernel repositories are available:

https://github.com/m-weigand/linux/ (based mainly on the repository from smaeul, with additional patches pulled in from other sources, Debian packages available)
https://git.sr.ht/~hrdl/linux (based on Maximilian’s kernel tree, which improves display responsiveness with per pixel scheduling and the automatic redraw of pixels among other improvements)

Building the kernel

There are currently a couple of up to date trees to choose from.

Maximilian’s kernel is found on the default Debian based operating system shipped with the community edition devices. Currently the most stable option.
hrdl’s tree is more experimental with new features such as per pixel scheduling and the automatic redrawing of pixels.

Prerequisites

Building on Debian:

Building on device (or another 64bit arm device) will require you to install build-essential.
If you are wanting to cross compile you are required to install gcc-12-aarch64-linux-gnu-base (or equivalent) and build-essential.

m-weigand kernel

Found at https://github.com/m-weigand/linux/

# Clone the kernel repository and set up the working environment.
$ git clone --depth 1 --branch branch_pinenote_6-6-30 https://github.com/m-weigand/linux
$ cd linux

# Set the PineNote defconfig and compile the kernel. 
# Remember to pick the commands that reflect your compilation environment below. 

# For cross compilation
$ make ARCH=arm64 CROSS_COMPILE=aarch64-linux-gnu- pinenote_defconfig
$ make -j 2 ARCH=arm64 CROSS_COMPILE=aarch64-linux-gnu- LOCALVERSION=-pinenote-`date +%Y%m%d%H%M` KBUILD_IMAGE=arch/arm64/boot/Image

# For aarch64 host compilation
$ make pinenote_defconfig
$ make -j 2 LOCALVERSION=-pinenote-`date +%Y%m%d%H%M` KBUILD_IMAGE=arch/arm64/boot/Image

Once finished you will have your Image and vmlinux files.

To install your modules and dtbs:

# Make a folder to store these files
$ mkdir pack

# For cross compilation
$ make ARCH=arm64 CROSS_COMPILE=aarch64-linux-gnu- INSTALL_MOD_PATH=${PWD}/pack modules_install
$ make ARCH=arm64 CROSS_COMPILE=aarch64-linux-gnu- INSTALL_PATH=${PWD}/pack dtbs_install

# For aarch64 host compilation
$ make INSTALL_MOD_PATH=${PWD}/pack modules_install
$ make INSTALL_PATH=${PWD}/pack dtbs_install

# Copy these to store them in our pack folder.
$ cp ./arch/arm64/boot/dts/rockchip/rk3566-pinenote-v1.2.dtb pack/
$ cp ./arch/arm64/boot/Image pack/

hrdl kernel

Found at https://git.sr.ht/~hrdl/linux/


# Clone the kernel repository
$ git clone --depth 1 https://git.sr.ht/~hrdl/linux hrdl-linux
$ cd hrdl-linux

# Set the PineNote defconfig and compile the kernel. 
# Remember to pick the commands that reflect your compilation environment below. 

# For cross compilation
$ make ARCH=arm64 pinenote_defconfig
$ make ARCH=arm64 -j$(($(nproc)-1))
$ make ARCH=arm64 INSTALL_PATH=pack INSTALL_MOD_PATH=pack modules_install dtbs_install

# For aarch64 host compilation
$ make pinenote_defconfig
$ make LLVM=1 -j$(($(nproc)-1))
$ make INSTALL_PATH=pack INSTALL_MOD_PATH=pack modules_install dtbs_install