Just a quick heads up: over 4100 packages compile now, which is over 80% of all packages. Java is there, but part of KDE and GNOME is still missing.

openSUSE ARM is progressing nicely. Over 3500 packages from Factory compile now. There were many package and qemu fixes. The next big step is to get java and mono compiled, which block many of the remaining packages.

For more details, check the thread at http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-arm/2011-11/msg00048.html and the blog post at http://www.wafaa.eu/entry/opensuse-arm-update-25nov2011-1-75.html

Some quick updates about the porting effort:

- almost 3000 packages compile now in openSUSE:Factory:ARM

- EFIKA MX smarttops are used to compile packages natively, which don't compile using the openSUSE Build Service's hybrid cross compilation method

- EFIKA MX smartbooks are now at Embedded Linux Conference in Prague running the current state of openSUSE ARM (no KDE or Gnome yet...).

There was a long silence, but the openSUSE ARM porting effort is restarted now, and advancing at a much larger speed than last time. The fresh start was announced right after the openSUSE conference and initial work was done during the SuSE hack week, when SuSE employees are free to work on the opensource project of their choice. It is going full speed ahead ever since by enhancing the build infrastructure and fixing packages to build on ARM.

It is bootstrapped now, and many packages are already fixed and compiled. The next goal is to have a complete base system available.

For the latest status report, please visit http://news.opensuse.org/2011/10/04/hackweek-results-for-opensuse-arm/

openSUSE 11.2 is now being ported to ARM. The base compile system is finally ready (there were some troubles due to incompatible Build Service changes), just as the third of the rest of the packages. Right now I'm reviewing failed packages, as these block the building of many others. My first fix was just accepted, and suddenly the compile farm started to work on many new 11.2 ARM packages again :-)

This time I was able to boot the system without a chroot. It is still just the base system, but with some tricks, it is also possible to boot it directly, without the need of the chroot.

The next step is to install a lot more packages, including YaST and most major desktops and applications.

Today another important milestone: openSUSE ARM binaries run in chroot. This is the base system, just enough for bootstrapping and compiling packages. It can't even boot on its own, as some packages are missing, like udev & Co.

The chroot environment is actually a byproduct of osc, the command line client for the openSUSE Build Service. It is also able to do local builds, and for that it creates a chroot environment.

And a mandatory copy&paste:

root@ubuntu:~# chroot suse
suse:/> gcc -v
Using built-in specs.
Target: armv7l-suse-linux-gnueabi
Configured with: ../configure --prefix=/usr --infodir=/usr/share/info --mandir=/usr/share/man --libdir=/usr/lib --libexecdir=/usr/lib --enable-languages=c,c++,objc,fortran,obj-c++ --enable-checking=release --with-gxx-include-dir=/usr/include/c++/4.4 --enable-ssp --disable-libssp --with-bugurl=http://bugs.opensuse.org/ --with-pkgversion='SUSE Linux' --disable-libgcj --disable-libmudflap --with-slibdir=/lib --with-system-zlib --enable-__cxa_atexit --enable-libstdcxx-allocator=new --disable-libstdcxx-pch --enable-version-specific-runtime-libs --program-suffix=-4.4 --enable-linux-futex --without-system-libunwind --build=armv7l-suse-linux-gnueabi
Thread model: posix
gcc version 4.4.0 [gcc-4_4-branch revision 147703] (SUSE Linux)

I got my board a while ago, and it did not rest much ever since. Even when I did not have time for testing, it was in use, as it has fantastic audio quality :-)

As the openSUSE ARM port is not there yet, that one could install it, I spent my time getting better known with the hardware, firmware and software available.

The board came pre installed with Ubuntu, so I first experimented with that.

Then I tried Debian. I had some troubles configuring Xorg, and other minor glitches, but for the rest it was a pleasant experience, and felt slightly faster and more responsive on the same hardware than Ubuntu.

I tested the Fedore ARM port, but gave up after half a day not being able to go ahead with it.

The Movial demo was really impressive on the board, HD movie playback, and other features of the board demoed. Of course, this is not a Linux designed for hacking, but rather a nice interface for a PMP, so I quickly switched back to Debian.

Today I reached an important milestone: the first self compiled kernel is running. As a first step, I added support for an USB Ethernet converter, as I prefer to use Ethernet instead of WiFi. This is also an important step towards openSUSE support, as to install and boot openSUSE on the board, I need a custom configured kernel to the distributions need.