Generic ARM Cortex A9 image for QEMU

This is the base Nerves System configuration for generic ARM platform emulated by QEMU.

Unlike other Nerves systems, this one does not contain a minimal configuration since it is expected to be used exclusively for debugging on a fast computer. Currently, it contains the following additional packages:

• The qt-webkit-kiosk fullscreen browser

As such, it takes a long time to build if you need to make custom modifications to it. The goal is that rebuilds are uncommon. However, if you need to build this system it needs more than 4 GB of DRAM. You may also consider stripping down the configuration if qt-webkit-kiosk isn’t needed.

Getting Started

The examples directory contains simple Nerves projects that demonstrate uses of nerves_system_qemu_arm. The hello_nerves example follows closely to the baseline Nerves getting started example with the additions of networking and ssh firmware update support. Here’s how to use it:

cd examples/hello_nerves
export MIX_TARGET=qemu_arm

# Check the config/config.exs file to make sure that the ssh authorized
# key logic works for you. The nerves_firmware_ssh project has more info.

# Build it
mix deps.get
mix firmware

# Create the base image file. This is like a virtual SDCard for the emulator.
# It just needs to be done once and then you can use over-the-air updates
mix firmware.image

# Generate a shell script to invoke qemu (only needs to be done once)
mix nerves.gen.qemu_script

# Start qemu
./run-qemu.sh

# It should open a window and boot to an iex prompt. Since it's the first
# boot and the application data partition hasn't been formatted, you should
# see some log messages about it being corrupt and then it being formatted.

# At this point, feel free to make an edit to the Elixir code. For example,
# have it IO.puts something.

# When you're ready, build, and run a firmware update.
mix firmware
mix firmware.push

# See the nerves_firmware_ssh project for troubleshooting firmware updates
# and using OpenSSH's ssh client.

Starting a local web browser for use as a kiosk

The hello_nerves example also contains a trivial single page website to demonstrate kiosk mode. To see it, start the example in QEMU and at the iex prompt, run this:

:os.cmd('qt-webkit-kiosk -platform linuxfb -c /etc/qt-webkit-kiosk.ini').