Scenyx Entertainment Community > Lalee's Efforts For Xbox Linux Kernel 2.6.21

Full Version: Lalee's Efforts For Xbox Linux Kernel 2.6.21

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ldotsfan

Jun 5 2011, 05:28 AM

http://web.archive.org/web/20071211202321/...6#CurrentStatus
http://sourceforge.net/mailarchive/forum.p...&viewday=11

CODE

Attachments

    * initrd-2.6.18-xbox.fc6.img (2.0 MB) - added by lalee on 01/15/07 21:24:46.
    * kernel-2.6.18xbox.fc6-1.i386.rpm (3.6 MB) - added by lalee on 01/15/07 21:26:44.
    * linuxboot.cfg (1.4 kB) - added by lalee on 01/15/07 21:27:31.
    * xbox-patches-cvs_2.6.16.tar.bz2 (200.6 kB) -"Snapshot of kernel-2.6 as of 2007-Jun-10 - used as base for patches.", added by lalee on 06/10/07 22:22:58.
    * xbox-patches-cvs_2.6.17.tar.bz2 (201.3 kB) -"kernel-2.6 (2007-Jun-10 Snapshot) Updated for 2.6.17", added by lalee on 06/10/07 22:24:46.
    * xbox-patches-cvs_2.6.18.tar.bz2 (204.3 kB) -"kernel-2.6 (2007-Jun-10 Snapshot) Updated for 2.6.18", added by lalee on 06/10/07 22:25:10.
    * xbox-patches-cvs_2.6.19.tar.bz2 (209.5 kB) -"kernel-2.6 (2007-Jun-10 Snapshot) Updated for 2.6.19", added by lalee on 06/10/07 22:25:32.
    * xbox-patches-cvs_2.6.20.tar.bz2 (210.2 kB) -"kernel-2.6 (2007-Jun-10 Snapshot) Updated for 2.6.20", added by lalee on 06/10/07 22:26:12.
    * xbox-patches-cvs_2.6.21.tar.bz2 (210.3 kB) -"kernel-2.6 (2007-Jun-10 Snapshot) Updated for 2.6.21", added by lalee on 06/10/07 22:26:34.
    * xbox-linux-2.6.16_to_2.6.17.patch (42.2 kB) -"kernel-2.6 (2007-Jun-10 Snapshot) Patch-Only Update to 2.6.17", added by lalee on 06/10/07 22:27:39.
    * xbox-linux-2.6.17_to_2.6.18.patch (54.6 kB) -"kernel-2.6 (2007-Jun-10 Snapshot) Patch-Only Update 2.6.17 to 2.6.18", added by lalee on 06/10/07 22:28:15.
    * xbox-linux-2.6.18_to_2.6.19.patch (77.9 kB) -"kernel-2.6 (2007-Jun-10 Snapshot) Patch-Only Update 2.6.18 to 2.6.19", added by lalee on 06/10/07 22:28:45.
    * xbox-linux-2.6.19_to_2.6.20.patch (28.3 kB) -"kernel-2.6 (2007-Jun-10 Snapshot) Patch-Only Update 2.6.19 to 2.6.20", added by lalee on 06/10/07 22:29:16.
    * xbox-linux-2.6.20_to_2.6.21.patch (42.1 kB) -"kernel-2.6 (2007-Jun-10 Snapshot) Patch-Only Update 2.6.20 to 2.6.21", added by lalee on 06/10/07 22:29:43.
    * fatx-2.6.21.patch (4.8 kB) -"FATX patch for 2.6.18 through 2.6.21 !! UNTESTED !!", added by lalee on 06/12/07 02:31:50.
    * i2c-xbox.patch (0.6 kB) -"[PATCH 2.6.21] xbox-linux i2c fix", added by lalee on 06/22/07 13:56:08.
    * config.gz (10.7 kB) -"Kernel Config-File used by Lalee for 2.6.21", added by lalee on 07/08/07 23:43:57.
    * kernel-2.6.21xbox.fc7-2.i386.rpm (3.7 MB) -"XFedora Kernel 2.6.21 (rpm containing Kernel and Compiled Modules)", added by lalee on 07/09/07 00:50:32.
    * initrd-2.6.21-xbox.fc7.img (2.1 MB) -"XFedora Kernel 2.6.21 (matching initrd image)", added by lalee on 07/09/07 01:02:26.

Some of these were archived. I will attempt to reconstruct his efforts if I get the time.

ldotsfan

Jun 5 2011, 11:39 AM

Seems like it went to 2.6.22.
http://web.archive.org/web/20080109091439/...404.com/node/52
http://web.archive.org/web/20070731170204/...ode/5#comment-1

The general way to merge patches:
http://web.archive.org/web/20080109091434/...404.com/node/33

NobodyHere

Jun 5 2011, 04:13 PM

This would be nice. I've never installed Linux on my xbox, because I can't install it natively to a partition past 'F:'.

It's too bad nobody ever made a boot-loader that would allow that, or even multi-boot setups.

But, yeah. A 2.6 kernel would be the sh*t as far as newer apps, and bug fixes, are concerned.

Good luck. If you get this working, I'll test it out.

ldotsfan

Jun 6 2011, 03:59 PM

Other efforts: http://forums.gentoo.org/viewtopic-t-566672-start-0.html
Unfortunately the linked patch is no longer available.

ldotsfan

Jun 8 2011, 03:58 PM

I followed the steps from this howto and got the files from here and used the following kernel config and was able to boot the 2.6.22.1 kernel which was compiled without FATX support on a 1.6 console with the following linuxboot.cfg:

CODE

kernel linux2622
initrd initrd.gz
append root=/dev/ram0 init=/linuxrc video=xbox:640x480,nohwcursor,hoc=13,voc=13
kbd-reset

I couldn't continue further as the kernel didn't like the initrd.gz I recycled from LUD disc. But nevertheless good news since this work can be continued.

lalee said that he may release xbox linux kernel 2.6.29 at https://github.com/lalee so let's see.

ldotsfan

Jun 10 2011, 04:44 PM

Used the Microcore linux(variant of TinyCore Linux) initramfs as a base - chosen as this was the smallest initramfs I could find, remastered the cpio archive that makes up the initramfs with the kernel modules of 2.6.22.1-xbox. Recompiled the kernel with FATX as I was having issues with getting initrd loaded off the UDF disc and this promptly booted to a linux console prompt. Network didn't seem to work so I need to hunt for a spare USB keyboard.

Incidentally the creator of MicroCore Linux was associated with DSL for a long time and that was used as for the base for X-DSL.

An interesting turn of affairs but more work is needed.

luther349

Jun 10 2011, 09:21 PM

wile we need more then a up2date kernel to bring life back into xbox linux it is the first step we badly need. th nextsteps will be patching xorg and alisa again.

ldotsfan

Jun 11 2011, 05:58 AM

1. I intend to abandon Xorg. I'm thinking of DirectFB and XDirectFB. This link showed that there was some attempts for Xbox support in the past.

2. I got the network working (but not DHCP) with a recompile of the kernel. Boot Log

3. The hda5x device nodes are missing from the micro core linux and require fixing.

4. Will need to integrate squashfs 3.4 into the kernel to use tinycore linux application extensions.

5. I mounted hda50-55 by mknod the device nodes under /dev and mount the FATX partitions. I was able to view the partitions without errors. I also stored the boot log on E drive without error.

Will continue to work on this again if I can find the time.

Master13

Jun 12 2011, 09:39 AM

Nice Work While I am not totally into Linux its cool to see development and updates on Xbox Linux it seemed Xbox Linux was completely dead

luther349

Jun 13 2011, 06:29 AM

you need xorg patched for tv out directfb is just the driver you use. you also will need to have a new video driver being the kernel uses nevu now.

joesnose

Jun 14 2011, 10:47 AM

Good to see someone still working on this. Would be amazing to see an updated kernel. Sorry I do not have the expertise to offer any help, also sounds like a lot of work, with the video drivers and all!

Good luck fellas.

Clockface

Jun 16 2011, 11:36 AM

I don't know anything about Linux, but I'd be really interested in this if it could be used to run the Linux version of Unreal Tournament and Quake 3 (mainly UT), will it, do you think?

Also, I've heard that Linux can be used to run both DOS and Windows games, is this possible under XBox Linux?

Thanks for any answers.

joesnose

Jun 16 2011, 09:05 PM

off topic.

It is reported here

www.xbox-scene.com/xbox1data/sep/EEFEkpyFVuirgnKzbP.php

That there is a quake 3 port, I am guessing this would play much better than running in linux, I don't think the xbox linux graphics driver supports 3D, though I may be wrong. Also a simple google search found the story about the quake 3 port, did you search for it?

NobodyHere

Jun 17 2011, 05:50 AM

QUOTE(joesnose @ Jun 14 2011, 10:47 AM)

Have you ever compiled in Linux?

A good start would be having a proper build environment, followed by the needed patches. Of course if your doing the patches yourself, it'll be a lot less fun...

QUOTE(ldotsfan @ Jun 10 2011, 04:44 PM)

I applaud the idea of using TCL as a base. I've used it as recently as about a year back, and found once your internet connectivity is configured, the rest of the set-up is a breeze. I'd consider it even more minimalistic than DSL.

I like Openbox way more than Fluxbox. Unlike what may have been the situation at the time of X-DSL, I actually think the current version of OpenB uses less resources than FluxB.

With an basic Openbox/Wbar base, anyone can tack on what they need for their device. You could add extensions to build a system with limited resources for...

Networking, media center, internet browsing/streaming, classic linux gaming (native ports, or wine), or text/pdf/photo document processing. This would leave the maximum amount of resources available for the Xbox. Of course you could always go with a slower general purpose setup as well.

A note on the newer kernel, it's needed for the latest versions of DOSBox, and Wine. While I'm unsure if the extra overhead of the latest Wine release would nullify, it has a much higher compatibility than X-DSL's 0.9.x series.

DOSBox on the other hand has gotten way faster, and with an increased compatibility. You actually want the latest, assuming you're not using some uber SVN build, with tacked on features.

If I had a PS/2, or an USB, adapter for my box, I'd like to help more. Unfortunately, I don't.

joesnose

Jun 17 2011, 02:11 PM

I did sort of make some attempt at porting Tiny core linux over, I however was trying to use a 2.4 kernel until they told me in the TCL forums it would be quite difficult as it wants a 2.6 kernel. It was all a little out of my scope.

I would like to add that making a usb adaptor is very simple. An easy way of doing it is by cutting the break away adaptor off of your xbox controller cable and replacing it using male and female usb ports, ignore the yellow wire it is only needed for light guns, this has the added bonus of allowing you to plug your controller into a pc. A usb port can also be easily added to a controller replacing one of the memory card slots, the only downside of this I you can not plug in a usb hub as the controller is already a hub, meaning only a single item may be plugged in. Making the first adaptor allows you plug in a usb hub and plugging in both keyboard and mouse.

Finally TCL would be superb on the xbox, I think if it was available for a native install I would be willing to lose my xbmc dash to be quite honest. A dual boot kernel would be special, I too am wondering why this has never been achieved.

NobodyHere

Jun 17 2011, 05:22 PM

QUOTE(joesnose @ Jun 17 2011, 02:11 PM)

Finally TCL would be superb on the xbox, I think if it was available for a native install I would be willing to lose my xbmc dash to be quite honest. A dual boot kernel would be special, I too am wondering why this has never been achieved.

I would actually like to install Linux natively to an ext2/3/4 partition, but retain my fatx partitions for Xbox gaming/homebrew.

If there was some way to chainload Grub4Dos, or Syslinux from a Xbox executable (xbe), you should be able to pass any kernel options you need to boot from Linux partitions.

I have a feeling that their might some type of bios issues involved in implementing this though.
http://forums.xbox-scene.com/index.php?showtopic=535384

ldotsfan

Jun 20 2011, 02:41 PM

An update on my attempts with MicroCore Linux:
1. I managed to compile a kernel with DHCP networking working, USB working ( keyboard and flash drive single partition formatted to ext2). The ALSA sound modules were incorporated into initramfs as well. Telnetd was started manually. A native install to sda1 aka the usb flash drive was possible by modifying linuxboot.cfg. Yes, this leaves the FATX partitions alone. MicroCore recognises the persistent storage at the flash drive's ext2 partition (connected at usb 1.1).
2. I attempted to get X going following the TCL wiki and got stuck. TCL/MicroCore uses Squashfs4.0 to compress its application extensions and SquashFS 4.0 isn't supported on a kernel of version 2.6.22. Yes, SquashFS 3.4 and 4.0 aren't inter-compatible due to its limitations of inclusion into mainline kernel tree. Puppy Linux went through the route of the conversion AFAIK.
3. I then attempted to include Squashfs 3.4 patch inside the xbox linux kernel. I manually uncompressed a test XVesa.tcz app with Squash4.0 's unsquashfs, recompressed with squashfs 3.4 and a mount -t squashfs -o loop on the resultant file yielded an empty directory. Unless I can figure out what went wrong, I cannot use any of TCL's app from its repository and this leaves a barebone initramfs which is entirely busybox only. This is still useful for stuff like chimp2618/lpartx/LUD though.

I will look at Slitaz instead as it supports cromfs which is FUSE (userland) based and doesn't have to use squashfs 4.X's patches in-kernel which is messy with an old kernel like 2.6.22. Alternatively Puppy Wary 5. But even Puppy Wary uses a more recent kernel than 2.6.22.

I will post updates if I make any progress - and if I can find time to work on this

NobodyHere

Jun 20 2011, 03:11 PM

QUOTE(ldotsfan @ Jun 20 2011, 02:41 PM)

A native install to sda1 aka the usb flash drive was possible by modifying linuxboot.cfg. Yes, this leaves the FATX partitions alone. MicroCore recognises the persistent storage at the flash drive's ext2 partition (connected at usb 1.1).

Nice. I've only tried the Cromwell loader xbe included with the Xdsl distro, and I haven't flashed it to my bios. I assumed it would work with booting any of the other Xbox distros if there were installed frugally, or through loopback, to one of the fatx partitions. Does this mean I can use it to boot from Ext2/3/4 partitions on the internal Xbox hdd? When I used the xboxhd softmod install method it automatically used all the free space for drive "f:". Can I resize/recreate f: somehow, and then create a Linux partition for install on my Xbox's hdd instead of an usb drive?

QUOTE(ldotsfan @ Jun 20 2011, 02:41 PM)

I attempted to get X going following the TCL wiki and got stuck. TCL/MicroCore uses Squashfs4.0 to compress its application extensions and SquashFS 4.0 isn't supported on a kernel of version 2.6.22. Yes, SquashFS 3.4 and 4.0 aren't inter-compatible due to its limitations of inclusion into mainline kernel tree. Puppy Linux went through the route of the conversion AFAIK.

That sucks, but sound about right. Good luck with the SliTaz testing. I realize you're doing all the heavy lifting, but I'm sure any of the people who've responded in this thread would be more than happy to help in any way we can.

Peace.

ldotsfan

Jun 20 2011, 03:47 PM

I'm using Gentoox Loader which is Cromwell derived but it shouldn't matter. I'm using the XBE version as well so there's no need to flash any bios.

In my x-dsl remake thread at http://forums.xbox-scene.com/index.php?showtopic=713355, I attempted to make x-dsl work with the xbpartitioner partitions after F/G, ie hda57+. I cannot recall the details now but http://web.archive.org/web/20081121045826/...ki/Boot_Process and http://web.archive.org/web/20081011162714/...ki/Partitioning should get things going.

Also take a look at this archived post, http://blog.gmane.org/gmane.linux.ports.xb.../month=20061201

CODE

Darren Wilkinson | 19 Dec 16:46
sector 0 and sector 1 on the hard disk (esp for Torne Wuff)
Darren Wilkinson <chipsugar <at> chipsugar.plus.com>
2006-12-19 15:46:10 GMT

I am thinking of using the hda=remap option in my linuxboot.cfg in order
to obtain that wonderous thing: co-existing ext2/3 and fatx F: partition
tables using a 2.6.x kernel on my 80gb drive.

AFAIK the remap option just maps anything on sector 1 to where it would
be on sector 0. This leaves sector 0 free to hold the LBA48 patched
partition table used by xbpartitioner which I can create a "dead" space
where the linux partition is and use the rest for fatx. Everywhere I
read tells me the xbox ms kernel doesn't use sector 0 but nowhere tells
me if it uses sector 1 in any way.

I don't want to ruin my current xbox games setup though so I want to
know does the xbox use sector 1 for any purpose whatsoever?

For Torne Wuff - due to your knowledge about oz_paulb's partition table
and your interest in porting it to kernel 2.6.x you seemed the person to
ask. I hope you don't mind.

Thanks to anyone for any help.

Any resizing of f is destructive on the data in the partition.

I'll deposit a file dump to sourceforge of my work at the next logical milestone if anybody else wants to have a go at it as well.

NobodyHere

Jun 20 2011, 06:00 PM