QT : Cross-compiling ( WINDOWS --> LINUX )

[andre_luis]

Dear friends,



I have Windows XP installed at my laptop, and due to some constraints, for while, I cannot install Linux at this laptop.
However, immediately I must compile within this Windows environment a program to run on other embedded system, but with Linux OS.

The reason to ask this question is the fact that I purchased a development board ( PCduino ) in which installation of QtCreator under Linux, despite be perfectly possible, would occupy almost its entire memory, and therefore the generation of executable need to be done externally at the Laptop, and then loaded into the breadboard.

Anybody knows how to perform this cross-compilation ?


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[bigdogguru]

You can build a cross compiler toolchain which will run under Windows XP Pro and compiler for an ARM target.

Your situation is similar to that of the Raspberry PIs:

Windows-to-RaspberryPi Cross Compiler Guide

Development Environment for the Raspberry Pi using a Cross Compiling Toolchain and Eclipse

Sourcery CodeBench Lite Edition for ARM GNU/Linux

You can also use the Eclipse IDE for the cross compiler toolchain:

Raspberry Pi Eclipse Tutorial

Windows Eclipse Programming of the RPi

You can also utilize the CygWin environment or virtual machine with Linux installed.

Cross Compiling to Raspberry Pi from Windows 7

Keep in mind while both the Raspberry Pi and pcDuino are ARM based, they are different architectures, therefore you will need to change some of the compiler settings.


BigDog

 

[andre_luis]

Hi Big,


I took an overview at some link you gave, and confirms there are not yet avaliable a ready-to-use freeware cross-compiler SDK focused to ARM CORTEX A8 platform. Some links shows steps about how to build it, other link guide where to purchase, and another link sugested a Virtual Machine, but it´s out of scope.

Thanks a lot for the help; I will take a more accurate look on links you gave trying to understand better.


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[bigdogguru]

I took an overview at some link you gave, and confirms there are not yet avaliable a ready-to-use freeware cross-compiler SDK focused to ARM CORTEX A8 platform. Some links shows steps about how to build it, other link guide where to purchase, and another link sugested a Virtual Machine, but it´s out of scope.

You are correct, there does not appear to be a "ready to use" compiler toolset compatible with Windows.

I have been using a Linux box for all my BeagleBone and Raspberry Pi development, perhaps this weekend I will attempt to implement a Windows compatible installation.


BigDog

 

[andre_luis]

...perhaps this weekend I will attempt to implement a Windows compatible installation...

Nice to hear : So, if you get this task successful, please don´t forget to share the main steps to achieve that, ok ?


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[andre_luis]

Hi Big,


In order to preserve the limited amount of hardware resources avaliable at PCDUINO, I´m considering to cross-compile under VIRTUAL BOX on my Laptop and thus load generated executable into the board. The compiler IDE is QTcreator, which could require much of Flash and Dram of the board.

I reserved at this virtualization somewhat 10GB-"HDD" and 512MB-"RAM" to a emulate a Linux Ubuntu machine, but maybe it is too much, because my Laptop is lazzy. HDD is not a problem, but concerning memory, dould you estimate how much is the minimum required RAM ?

( I have just 2GB RAM on my Laptop )


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