GCW Zero Build firmware from source and flash to device - jquenee/gcw0-guide GitHub Wiki

Based on: lubuntu-19.10 64bit

Introduction

For updating GCW Zero, we need to generate lot of different binary files as

gcw0-toolchain : libraries and binaries that allow us to compile application targeted for GCW0 device
rootfs.squashfs : applications on top of linux kernel
uzImage.bin : linux kernel for GCW0 device
modules.squashfs : linux drivers for GCW0 device
ubiboot-*.bin : boot system to start linux kernel
mininit-syspart : filesystem tool for reading squashfs files

Buildroot compilation

That step will output gcw0-toolchain and rootfs.squashfs

Install tools for doing the compilation

sudo apt install python mercurial make gcc g++ patch git curl m4

Clone buildroot OpenDingux repository

git clone --depth 1 -b opendingux https://github.com/jquenee/buildroot.git

Start the compilation

cd buildroot
sudo chmod 777 /opt
export CONFIG=gcw0
./rebuild.sh

Check rootfs.squashfs compression and structure

unsquashfs -s ./output/images/rootfs.squashfs
unsquashfs -l ./output/images/rootfs.squashfs

Linux kernel compilation

That step will output uzImage.bin and modules.squashfs

Install tools for doing the compilation

sudo apt install flex bison openssl libssl-dev u-boot-tools

Clone linux kernel OpenDingux repository

git clone --depth 1 -b jz-5.3-gcw0 https://github.com/OpenDingux/linux.git

Include gcw0-toolchain into PATH

export PATH=/opt/gcw0-toolchain/usr/bin/:$PATH

Compile the kernel

cd linux
make ARCH=mips gcw0_defconfig
make ARCH=mips CROSS_COMPILE=mipsel-gcw0-linux-uclibc- uzImage.bin

Add device tree into boot kernel image

mv uzImage.bin uzImage.bin.org
cat uzImage.bin.org ./arch/mips/boot/dts/ingenic/gcw0.dtb > uzImage.bin

Compile the modules (drivers)

make ARCH=mips CROSS_COMPILE=mipsel-gcw0-linux-uclibc- modules

Package modules

./create_modules_fs.sh

Check rootfs.squashfs structure

unsquashfs -l modules.squashfs

UBIBoot compilation

That step will output ubiboot-*.bin

Clone UBIBoot repository

git clone https://github.com/gcwnow/UBIBoot.git

Compile

cd UBIBoot
make ARCH=mips CROSS_COMPILE=mipsel-gcw0-linux-uclibc- CONFIG=gcw0

Mininit compilation

That step will output mininit-syspart

Clone Mininit repository

git clone https://github.com/OpenDingux/mininit.git

Compile

cd mininit
make CC=mipsel-gcw0-linux-uclibc-gcc

Build opk updater

That step will output gcw0-update-*.opk

Clone updater repository

git clone https://github.com/gcwnow/updater.git

Build opk

cd updater
cp ../UBIBoot/output/gcw0/*bin .
cp ../mininit/mininit-syspart .
cp ../linux/uzImage.bin .
cp ../linux/modules.squashfs .
cp ../buildroot/output/images/rootfs.squashfs .
./create_updater.sh

Check gcw0-update-*.opk structure

unsquashfs -l output/gcw0-update-*.opk

Upgrade GCW Zero

plug gcw0 in usb to your computer
backup your files

scp -r [email protected]:/media/data gcw0-backup

upload the updater

scp gcw0-update-*.opk [email protected]:/media/data/apps

restart gcw0 console
open OS Update app

Known Issues

buildroot compilation failed where filesystem is hosted in remote (e.g. sshfs)
GCW USB communication is not stable from VMWare OS (e.i. ingenic-boot)
Opendingux lower than 4.5 needs to be upgraded manually, see the following procedure: https://github.com/gcwnow/linux/wiki
Low level GCW battery can crash USB update procedure (e.i. ingenic-boot). Plug to power-supply.
squashfs zstd compression is not yet supported