This is the RetroBSD source directory.

Source Roadmap

bin         User commands.
etc         Template files for /etc.
include     System include files.
lib         System libraries.
libexec     System binaries.
sbin        System administration commands.
share       Shared resources.
sys         Kernel sources.
tools       Build tools and simulators.

Supported hardware

• Fubarino SD board.
• Olimex Duinomite, Duinomite-Mini, Duinomite-Mega and Duinomite-eMega boards.
• Olimex Pinguino-Micro board with PIC32MX795F512H microcontroller.
• Maximite and Colour Maximite computers.
• Majenko SDXL board.
• 4D Systems Picadillo-35T board.
• MikroElektronika MultiMedia Board for PIC32MX7.
• chipKIT Max32 board with SD card shield.
• chipKIT WF32 board with 2.4" LCD TFT display shield.
• Sparkfun UBW32 board with SD card slot.
• Microchip Explorer 16 board, with PIC32 CAN-USB plug-in module and SD & MMC pictail.
• Microchip PIC32 USB or Ethernet Starter Kit, with I/O Expansion board and SD & MMC pictail.

Build

To compile everything from sources, you'll need some packages installed, namely: Berkeley YACC, GNU bison, flex, groff, ELF library and FUSE library. Under Ubuntu, for example, you can do it by command:

$ sudo apt-get install bison byacc flex groff-base libelf-dev libfuse-dev

You can change a desired filesystem size and swap area size, as required. Default is:

FS_MBYTES   = 100
SWAP_MBYTES = 2

To compile the kernel and build a filesystem image, run:

$ make

A resulting root filesystem image is in file sdcard.img. A kernel is in file unix.hex in your target board subdirectory.

Filesystem image

You need to put a filesystem image on a SD card. On Windows, use Win32DiskImager utility (https://launchpad.net/win32-image-writer/+download). On Linux, run:

$ sudo dd if=sdcard.img of=/dev/XYZ

Here XYZ is a device name of SD card, as recognized by Linux (sdb in my case).

Install kernel

Kernel image should be written to PIC32 flash memory. The procedure depends on a board used.

Max32 board:

Use a pic32prog utility (http://code.google.com/p/pic32prog/) and a USB cable to install a kernel:

$ pic32prog -d /dev/ttyUSB0 sys/pic32/max32/unix.hex

Here you need to change AVRTOOLS path and tty name according to your system.

UBW32 board:

Use a pic32prog utility (http://code.google.com/p/pic32prog/) and a USB cable to install a kernel:

$ pic32prog sys/pic32/ubw32/unix.hex

Maximite:

Use the bootload program for Windows, available for download by link: http://geoffg.net/Downloads/Maximite/Maximite_Update_V2.7B.zip

Explorer 16 board:

There is an auxiliary PIC18 chip on the Explorer 16 board, which can be used as a built-in programmer device. You will need a PICkit 2 adapter to install a needed firmware, as described in article: http://www.paintyourdragon.com/?p=51 (section "Hack #2: Lose the PICkit 2, Save $35"). This should be done only once.

Then, you can use a pic32prog utility (http://code.google.com/p/pic32prog/) and a USB cable to install a kernel:

$ pic32prog sys/pic32/explorer16/unix.hex

PIC32 Starter Kit:

Use PICkit 2 adapter and software to install a boot loader from file sys/pic32/starter-kit/boot.hex. This should be done only once.

Then, you can use a pic32prog utility (http://code.google.com/p/pic32prog/) and a USB cable to install a kernel:

$ pic32prog sys/pic32/starter-kit/unix.hex

Simulator

You can use a MIPS32 simulator to develop a debug a RetroBSD software, without a need for hardware board. By default, a simulator is configured to imitate a Max32 board. To build it:

$ cd tools/virtualmips
$ make

Run it:

$ ./pic32

Configuration of simulated board is stored in file pic32_max32.conf.