Can't Build New Device Driver

[Robert S. Grimes]

Angelo Fraietta wrote:
> Robert S. Grimes wrote:
>   
>> Hi all,
>>
>> How does one develop a new device driver for RTEMS?
>>
>> I am trying to develop the low-level driver for SPI support on the
>> powerpc/virtex BSP, to support the new libi2c developments Thomas has
>> been doing.  I'm starting with the RTEMS-4.8.0 release, and trying to
>> add the new stuff necessary.  With Thomas' help, I've kind of determined
>> the code I need to write, but I can't seem to get the
>> automake/configure/bootstrap stuff to work.
>>
>>     
>
> It seems there are really two issues.
>   
Yes, that's true, and it is both - though my email refers to the latter 
issue.

> 1 - Developing the Device Driver
> 2 - Including it in the main RTEMS tree so it will build when you build
> RTEMS
>
> If it is the former, I would not worry about including in the RTEMS tree
> until you have it working. Just develop the device driver separately and
> link it with your app. This way you don't need to worry about bootstrap,
> automake, and the likes. Once you have the device driver working, then
> you can work at including it in the RTEMS tree.
>   
I had not even considered this option!  It certainly sounds like a way 
of avoiding all that stuff I don't understand.  It certainly would help 
with respect to keeping my project on schedule!  It also sounds a wise 
approach for a couple of drivers I'll need to do that are custom, 
proprietary, and otherwise not of interest to the community.

BTW - I started this way also because it is really more of a BSP feature 
that I'm adding to the virtex BSP, and it really could be of interest to 
others, so I do want to eventually get it done right.  Of course, once 
it is working, perhaps someone more expert would be willing to help get 
it into the tree.  So to that end, I'm still interested in resolving the 
issue - though now I'm not under the same time pressure!

Thanks!
-Bob