Running Yocto on Pandaboard

I just bought a Pandaboard to experiment with Embedded Linux. As mentioned in my last post, OpenEmbedded is my weapon of choice for now, specifically the ‘Poky’ distro from The Yocto Project. Here’s how to get it started.

Getting Started Yocto for ARM

Looking for the best way to explore embedded Linux, I found Open Embedded. OE is a nice middle-ground between the options on each extreme. On one hand, you can run a full distribution like Ubuntu on ARM. On the other, you can pull together the kernel and BSP and software you need, plus a toolchain for your kit, and compile straight away. OE gives you the control of compiling everything yourself–I had a fully functioning machine on the network, with an SSH server, using 10MB storage without too much tweaking. Plus it gives you the power of a distribution by collecting piles of software to choose from.