[linuxsh-dev] stable SH4 environment

[NIIBE Y. <gn...@m1...>]

Bryan Rittmeyer wrote:
 > 1) What is currently the most stable SH4 kernel version for production
 > use?

I think that it's the one around 2.4.5 but it's slow.  For me, our
2.4.8 is stable but it's not tested much.

 > 2) What is currently the most stable toolchain for building the kernel?
 > Still the 2.97 version described by Masahiro Abe's instructions?
 > 
 > (I'm a little reluctant to use an experimental compiler for production
 > stuff, especially on the kernel)

Yes, it's still 2.97.

I'm trying 3.0 now, with help of Kaz and Takeshi.

However, glibc does not support 3.0 yet, it's difficult to just move
to 3.0.

 > 3) What is the status of gcc 3.0, as we will shortly need it for
 > building user code? (I've heard the kernel and glibc are still
 > most stable/fast when built with older gcc).
 > 
 > I know kaz Kojima has patches here:
 > http://dodo.nurs.or.jp/~kkojima/index.html, but
 > is anyone using them in a real production environment?

I'm currently trying to build (part of ) Debian SH-4 with 3.0.  I
think I will have time for this work at San Francisco this weekend.

 > 4) what is an approximate timeframe for getting binutils and gcc patches
 > for LinuxSH merged with the mainline GNU trees? My work with Linux
 > on the PPC405 has led me to think that this should be a _really_ high
 > priority for all embedded forks of Linux/GNU tools. If my employer
 > allows, I could be able to spend some time assisting in what ever way
 > possible.
 > 
 > Thanks! I'm looking forward to working with all of you again.

Yes, I think so too.  I'm not sure for the timeframe, I expects Kaz
comments for that.  I explain the current status here.

This two weeks, I've tried to provide GNU/SH tool-chain for Debian.
I've done some work based on binutils-2.11.2 and GCC 3.0.1.

I think that binutils is ready for use.  I sent diffs to Takeshi for
comments.  I expect new binutils-sh-linux Debian package comes soon by
Takeshi.  And I sent the needed diff to Kaz for comments, then, he
tried it to current CVS version.  Next comes, send them to mainline
binutils development.

For GCC, I think that it's not ready.  Major concern is the definition
of multilibbed environment.  I built my own Debian gcc-sh-linux 3.0.1
package.  I'm now using this for my experiment, and try to build some
sort of Debian SH-4 distribution with this 3.0.1.  While I'm doing
this week, I encountered issues of name of libgcc shared library, 
still not solved.
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