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During the development of an embedded system, I made some changes on the Linux kernel and compiled it to get the uImage, u-boot.bin and .dts file. Now the last thing booting the system needs is to update rootfs. My questions are:

1) Do I really need to update rootfs after I reconfigured the kernel and rebuilt it?

2) If yes, how can I update the rootfs accordingly? I have the old one (compressed file rootfs_ext2.gz.uboot). I guess I need to uncompress it and make changes according to the changes I made for the kernel, and then compress it back in order to be used in boot. Am I right? What files I need to update in the rootfs?

Thanks in advance!

Hetty
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1 Answers1

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The answer to your first question is - do you really need to update the rootfs (you know it better, it's your system). If your current rootfs is running fine, then I don't think it's required. Another way to find this answer might be trying figuring out what's wrong with your rootfs, rootfs is basically consist of software i.e editor, various tools, daemons etc. If you found anything wrong with those, then you should consider updating rootfs.

Answer to your 2nd question: first figure out how you built your rootfs (incase of embedded systems it's common that people uses busybox), if busybox is used rebuild is required unless you've support for package management system. If package management system is present, then you can just remove any component and install any updated version. Or, if you have compiler present on your rootfs - then you'll be able to compile and update any software from source. Hope you'll get some idea.

rakib_
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  • Thanks for your reply. My target system is busybox, and my build machine is ubuntu. How do I know if my busybox supports "package management system"? And how do I know if the rootfs has compiler? Where should I find out? – Hetty Mar 26 '14 at 16:56
  • @Hetty - If you've built the rootfs, you had to configure busybox, from the configuration menu you'll find package management system option. And, to find out whether you've gcc - after booting into your rootfs - type "gcc" then you'll find whether gcc is present or not. – rakib_ Mar 26 '14 at 17:02
  • OK. I just typed gcc and it said "-sh: gcc: not found". – Hetty Mar 26 '14 at 17:10
  • That means gcc isn't installed. – rakib_ Mar 26 '14 at 17:11
  • And the current rootfs was not built by me. I just got it (the compressed file for uboot) from others. So I guess I 'll have to rebuild it to support my changes in kernel. – Hetty Mar 26 '14 at 17:13