I have been developing with Xenomai on a real-time embedded project and just got around to getting my desktop system rigged up with Adeos and Xenomai. I had been primarily doing driver development on the embedded platform, so I didn’t need Xenomai on my PC. However, I am now working on more of the application layer and would really like to build first on the PC and then port to the embedded platform.

The first step is getting a Ubuntu kernel built with Xenomai/Adeos. I had some trouble getting the patched Ubuntu sources to take the Adeos patch without freezing during the boot process, so I went with vanilla 2.6.19 sources from Kernel.org and rolled them into a Debian package.

Step 1. Get pre-requisite packages

apt-get install build-essential
apt-get install kernel-package
apt-get install gcc
apt-get install libncurses5
apt-get install libncurses5-dev

(additional packages may be needed, but most will be available on a developer’s workstation)

Step 2. Download Sources

Download Xenomai 2.3.0, the Linux Kernel 2.6.19.7. Also grab the up-to-date Adeos patch for 2.6.19 from the Adeos site.

Step 3. Extract Files

Create a directory (as root) /usr/src/xenomai-kernel and extract the kernel and xenomai sources into this directory.

Step 4. Apply the Adeos Patch

cd /usr/src/xenomai-kernel/linux-2.6.19.7
patch -p1 < ../adeos-ipipe-2.6.19-i386-1.7-03.patch


Step 5. Add Xenomai to the Kernel

cd /usr/src/xenomai-kernel/xenomai-2.3.0
scripts/prepare-kernel.sh --linux=../linux-2.6.19.7 --arch=i386


Step 6. Configure Kernel

There are a number of configuration gotchas that are not all documented very well. What documentation does exist can be found in the Xenomai FAQ.

I found the following issues particular troublesome:

• Disable Frequency Scaling
• Disable HPET (there are two settings for this on different screens - grep the .config file for HPET if in doubt)
• Select a processor that is Pentium Classic or greater to get TSC support (user-land programs will complain loudly if not present). In particular, 586/K5/5×86/6×86/6×86MX is a less than ideal processor choice since it does not provide TSC.

The config that I used can be downloaded here. Copy it into the Linux source directory as “.config” and then run make menuconfig to customize.

Step 7. Build Debian Kernel Packages

From the Linux kernel directory run:
make-kpkg --initrd kernel_image kernel_headers


The two debs (one for the headers and one for the image) will be deposited in the parent directory.

Step 8. Install Packages

dpkg -i linux-image-2.6.19.7-adeos-xenomai2.3.0_2.6.19.7-adeos-xenomai2.3.0-10.00.Custom_i386.deb
dpkg -i linux-headers-2.6.19.7-adeos-xenomai2.3.0_2.6.19.7-adeos-xenomai2.3.0-10.00.Custom_i386.deb


I then edited /boot/grub/menu.lst to remove the quiet and splashscreen parameters from this kernel (so that I could see console output).

Step 9. Install Third Party Modules

After booting into the new kernel, I had to re-install the NVidia drivers. For this I use Albert Milone’s Envy script. If you have that installed and need to update the ATI or NVidia drivers, just run “envy” after your X Server fails to start. Follow the prompts (elect to NOT have it modify the Xorg.conf file) and you’ll be set to go.

I’m not sure that I would install Kernel Debs from an unknown source, but for the less scrupulous out there, here are the debs that I created from following this procedure:

• 
  linux-headers-2.6.19.7-adeos-xenomai2.3.0_2.6.19.7-adeos-xenomai2.3.0-10.00.Custom_i386.deb
  
• 
  linux-image-2.6.19.7-adeos-xenomai2.3.0_2.6.19.7-adeos-xenomai2.3.0-10.00.Custom_i386.deb
  

These debs were built with the previously referenced configuration and could be considered a kitchen-sink build. The kernel targets an SMP Pentium Classic with lots of drivers available as modules.