Common Kernel Errors & Debugging Tips

May 19, 2012 - 2 mins read

Kernel Errors The following are some typical errors. Some of these may be caught at compilation or link time, and some may only cause problems when you call insmod with the module. division by zero dereferencing a null pointer returning no value or a value other than zero from init_mod calling a C library routine (e.g., malloc() or printf()) from inside a kernel module Beware that errors in the kernel sometimes have no immediate visible effect, but they may have a delayed effect that is disastrous.

Compile Linux Kernel on Ubuntu 12.04 LTS (Detailed)

May 19, 2012 - 8 mins read

This tutorial will outline the process to compile your own kernel for Ubuntu. It will demonstrate both the traditional process using ‘make’ and ‘make install’ as well as the Debian method, using ‘make-dpkg’. This is the detailed version of this tutorial, see Compile Linux Kernel on Ubuntu 12.04 LTS for the quick overview. In any case, we begin by installing some dependencies: sudo apt-get install git-core libncurses5 libncurses5-dev libelf-dev asciidoc binutils-dev linux-source qt3-dev-tools libqt3-mt-dev libncurses5 libncurses5-dev fakeroot build-essential crash kexec-tools makedumpfile kernel-wedge kernel-package Note: qt3-dev-tools and libqt3-mt-dev is necessary if you plan to use ‘make xconfig’ and libncurses5 and libncurses5-dev if you plan to use ‘make menuconfig’.

Compile Linux Kernel on Ubuntu 12.04 LTS

May 19, 2012 - 3 mins read

This tutorial will outline the process to compile your own kernel for Ubuntu. It will demonstrate both the traditional process using ‘make’ and ‘make install’ as well as the Debian method, using ‘make-dpkg’. This is a quick overview of the compilation process, for a more thourough walkthrough, see Compile Linux Kernel on Ubuntu 12.04 LTS (Detailed). In both cases, we begin by installing some dependencies: sudo apt-get install git-core libncurses5 libncurses5-dev libelf-dev asciidoc binutils-dev linux-source qt3-dev-tools libqt3-mt-dev libncurses5 libncurses5-dev fakeroot build-essential crash kexec-tools makedumpfile kernel-wedge kernel-package Note: qt3-dev-tools and libqt3-mt-dev is necessary if you plan to use ‘make xconfig’ and libncurses5 and libncurses5-dev if you plan to use ‘make menuconfig’.

Compile Cyanogenmod 9 for Galaxy Nexus

May 16, 2012 - 3 mins read

This tutorial will outline the process to compile Cyanogenmod 9 for the Verizon (LTE) Galaxy Nexus (aka toro, a variant of the tuna) on Ubuntu 12.04 LTS. This process has changed a bit over time, notably with new hassles to configure the Oracle Java JDK. While the tutorial is specific to the Galaxy Nexus, it generalizes to most devices supported by Cyanogenmod 9. First, install and configure the Android SDK (more thorough info here):

OpenCV + Python

May 2, 2012 - 2 mins read

Here are some of the more interesting OpenCV demos using the Python wrapper. The installation process on Ubuntu is covered in my previous post, OpenCV + Ubuntu. The demo scripts are located in samples/python within the OpenCV release. The cam shift sample below demonstrates the color/object detection capability of OpenCV. To set the object/color to track, click and drag a box on the video using the mouse. The histogram window will display the target for OpenCV to locate and track within the field of view.