Jim's Depository

Notes on using the OpenWRT backfire 10.03 kernel to run Debian on a WRTSl54GS.

1. Get backfire: svn co svn://svn.openwrt.org/openwrt/branches/backfire
2. make … install missing build packages, make… (40 minutes elapse)

3. Make a wee script to to the boot_wait kernel load for the wrtsl54gs

   #!/bin/sh                                                                                                             
   tftp 192.168.1.1 <<EOF
   binary
   rexmit=1
   trace
   put openwrt-wrtsl54gs-squashfs.bin
   EOF
   

   Note: tftp doesn’t like path names, that is a softlink to the real location.

4. The new kernel fails, as expected since I don’t have a root, but also confirms that it doesn’t load USB and probe for storage. Those must have been built as modules. Time to make my own kernel config.

5. It is not clear how I can customize the kernel configuration. At least make menuconfig isn’t being terribly helpful. A “diff” of the code it compiled and a clean kernel confirms that there is a lot of patching going on. I will try the EXTERNAL_KERNEL_TREE option using a copy of the tree that OpenWRT built, but with my own configuration. Build in SCSI device, SCSI disks, all the USB stuff for mass storage, and the Video USB capture while I’m here. Also kernel command line root=/dev/sda1 rootwait.

6. Install debootstrap, build a root with debootstrap –arch=mipsel testing rootfs
   W: Failure trying to run: chroot /home/jim/wrtsl54gs/rootfs mount -t proc proc /proc
   Why they heck would it chroot to something in an incompatible architecture?

7. Add --foreign (to fix problem) and --variant=minbase as long as I have a do-over.