One Kernel Can Now Handle Multiple ARM Platforms

Written by Michael Larabel in Linux Kernel on 3 October 2012 at 08:01 AM EDT. 4 Comments
LINUX KERNEL
The Linux 3.7 kernel gets even more exciting with the merging of ARM multi-platform support. This work allows for a single Linux kernel build to contain support for multiple ARM SoCs/platforms.

Up to this point there's basically been a Linux kernel build for each ARM target/platform, which has been one of several problems complicating the ARM Linux platform. Fortunately with this multi-platform work merged for Linux 3.7, a single build is now able to target multiple platforms, in a somewhat similar manner to an x86 kernel image.

Not all ARM platforms are initially supported this way for the Linux 3.7 kernel. In this next kernel, the platforms where you can now have a single kernel image include highbank, vexpress, mvebu, socfpga, and picoxcell.

As Olof Johansson explains in the Git commit, "This is a pretty significant branch. It's the introduction of the first multiplatform support on ARM, and with this (and the later branch) merged, it is now possible to build one kernel that contains support for highbank, vexpress, mvebu, socfpga, and picoxcell. More platforms will be convered over in the next few releases."
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Michael Larabel is the principal author of Phoronix.com and founded the site in 2004 with a focus on enriching the Linux hardware experience. Michael has written more than 20,000 articles covering the state of Linux hardware support, Linux performance, graphics drivers, and other topics. Michael is also the lead developer of the Phoronix Test Suite, Phoromatic, and OpenBenchmarking.org automated benchmarking software. He can be followed via Twitter, LinkedIn, or contacted via MichaelLarabel.com.

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