Overview

This guide provides step-by-step instructions for bringing up RDK using a Raspberry Pi as the target device. The document covers the necessary hardware & build setup, build instructions, and detailed flashing instructions to get your Raspberry Pi ready to run the RDK software.

The RDK port for Raspberry Pi makes the RDK software stack available on a popular hardware device. Raspberry Pi (RPI) for RDK-V supports Dunfell builds. A variety of images based on requirements can be built for RPI, such as Media Client, Media Gateway Hybrid, and and IP Client STB.

Table of Contents

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Build Instructions

Build Requirements: Setting up the Host Environment

Requirement

Yocto 4.0 (Kirkstone)

Linux

64 bit Ubuntu 20.04 LTS

Shell BASH

https://docs.yoctoproject.org/kirkstone/ref-manual/system-requirements.html

Free HDD Space

Layer	GB
RDKE OSS	75GB
RDKE Vendor	50GB
RDKE Middleware	120GB
RDKE Application	50GB
RDKE Image Assembler	30GB

Host Tools Versions

Git 1.8.3.1 or greater

tar 1.28 or greater

Python 3.9.0 or greater

gcc 10.1 or greater

GNU make 4.0 or greater

Raspberry Pi development kit

RPI4

Ensure that python exists in /usr/bin/python. If not, create a softlink for /usr/bin/python to python executable.

Code Block

language	bash
theme	RDark

$ which python
 
(should give)
/usr/bin/python

Install the following packages for setting up your host VM before building an image

The instructions provided below are meant to be executed via the command line on an Ubuntu machine.

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# essential package installation
# super user mode is required

# major essential packages
sudo apt install ant build-essential chrpath cmake curl diffstat fd g++ g++-multilib gcc gcc-multilib \
git git-flow git-man jq libbz2-dev libffi-dev libglib2.0-dev libldap2-dev liblzma-dev libncurses5-dev \
libreadline-dev libsasl2-dev libsqlite3-dev libslang2-dev libssl-dev libxml2-dev libxmlsec1-dev \
llvm make nnn python3.8 ripgrep sysstat texinfo tk-dev tree wget \
xz-utils zip zlib1g-dev zstd

You also need to ensure you have the en_US.UTF-8 locale enabled:

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locale --all-locales | grep en_US.utf8

Configure repo

In order to use Yocto build system, first you need to make sure that repo is properly installed on the machine:

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language	bash
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# create a bin directory
mkdir ~/bin
export PATH=~/bin:$PATH

# Download the repo tool and ensure that it is executable
curl http://commondatastorage.googleapis.com/git-repo-downloads/repo > ~/bin/repo
chmod a+x ~/bin/repo

*Note: It is also recommended to put credentials in .netrc when interacting with the repo. A sample .netrc file is illustrated below.

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# RDK Central Gerrit
machine code.rdkcentral.com
    login <RDK Central SSO email address>
    password <PAT>
 
# RDK Central Github
machine github.com
    login <Public GitHub UserID>
    password <PAT>

Creating your Personal Access Tokens - PAT

Gerrit:

Set your Gerrit PAT here: https://code.rdkcentral.com/r/settings/#HTTPCredentials

Github:

For GitHub to create a PAT navigate to Settings - Developer Settings - Personal access tokens - Tokens (classic)

https://github.com/settings/profile ← click on "Developer settings" here

Note: for git actions (clone/push/pr) you need to select at least the following scopes:

repo write:packages

Build Steps

The following steps tells how to build each of the required layers and finally generate a full stack image by building the image assembler layer.

Note each layer depends on the IPK's generated by the previous layer. The IPK paths given are examples only, the actual path will depend on how you store your IPK's.

Step 1. Building the OSS (open-source) Layer

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$ repo init -u "https://github.com/rdkcentral/rdke-oss-manifest/" -b refs/tags/4.6.2-community -m rdk-arm.xml
$ repo sync
 
$ MACHINE=rdk-arm64 source ./scripts/setup-environment
 
$ bitbake lib32-packagegroup-oss-layer
 
This produces IPK objects that can be packaged into the OSS IPK feed:
 
The OSS IPK feed is located in `build-rdk-arm64/tmp/deploy/ipk/rdk-arm64-oss/`
1, Locate the `opkg-make-index` utility that is part of the native built components.
 
   For OSS layer, this should be located in `build-rdk-arm64/tmp/work/x86_64-linux/opkg-utils-native/0.5.0-r0/git/opkg-make-index`
 
2, Run the opkg-make-index utility to create the IPK Package index
   ->
   $ ./build-rdk-arm64/tmp/work/x86_64-linux/opkg-utils-native/0.5.0-r0/git/opkg-make-index ./build-rdk-arm64/tmp/deploy/ipk/rdk-arm64-oss/ > ./build-rdk-arm64/tmp/deploy/ipk/rdk-arm64-oss/Packages
 
3, Compress the package index
   ->
   $ cd build-rdk-arm64/tmp/deploy/ipk/rdk-arm64-oss/
   $ gzip -c9 Packages > Packages.gz
    
4, Copy or rsync the IPK feed into a location in the local file system, e.g.
   ->
   Rsyncing from ./build-rdk-arm64/tmp/deploy/ipk/rdk-arm64-oss/* to ${HOME}/community_shared/rdk-arm64-oss/4.6.2-community/ipk/

OSS layer is a common layer and not platform specific. The above-mentioned configuration is building OSS for arm64 machine and can be reused for any platforms with the same configuration.

Step 2. Building the Vendor Layer

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$ repo init -u "https://github.com/rdkcentral/vendor-manifest-raspberrypi/" -b refs/tags/RDK7-1.0.0 -m rdke-raspberrypi.xml
$ repo sync
 
Setup the IPK feed(s)
Please note for local IPK feed in local file system, the "file:/" prefix and the "/" suffix are important.
 
1, OSS IPK feed
 
   Modify this file:
   rdke/common/meta-oss-reference-release/conf/machine/include/oss.inc
 
   and set `OSS_IPK_SERVER_PATH` to the IPK feed location in the local file system,
   e.g:
   OSS_IPK_SERVER_PATH = "file:/${HOME}/community_shared/rdk-arm64-oss/4.6.2-community/ipk/"
 
$ MACHINE=raspberrypi4-64-rdke source ./scripts/setup-environment
 
$ echo 'DEPLOY_IPK_FEED = "1"' >> conf/local.conf
 
$ bitbake lib32-packagegroup-vendor-layer (to build vendor layer IPK feed for other layers to consume)
OR
$ bitbake lib32-vendor-test-image (wrapper over packagegroup-vendor-layer to compile a bootable vendor layer test image)
 
At least either one of packagegroup or test-image is required to be successful to produce the IPK feed for the next layer. Ideally both should succeed.
 
The produced IPK objects that can be found here: ./build-raspberrypi4-64-rdke/tmp/deploy/ipk/raspberrypi4-64-rdke-vendor/
 
1, Copy or rsync the IPK feed into a location in the local file system, e.g.
   ->
   Rsyncing from ./build-raspberrypi4-64-rdke/tmp/deploy/ipk/raspberrypi4-64-rdke-vendor/* to ${HOME}/community_shared/raspberrypi4-64-rdke-vendor/RDK7-1.0.0/ipk/

Step 3. Building the Middleware Layer

Code Block

language	bash
theme	RDark

$ repo init -u "https://github.com/rdkcentral/middleware-manifest-rdke/" -b refs/tags/RDK7-1.0.0 -m raspberrypi4-64.xml
$ repo sync
 
Setup the IPK feed(s)
Please note for local IPK feed in local file system, the "file:/" prefix and the "/" suffix are important.
 
1, OSS IPK feed
 
   Modify this file:
   rdke/common/meta-oss-reference-release/conf/machine/include/oss.inc
 
   and set `OSS_IPK_SERVER_PATH` to the IPK feed location in the local file system,
   e.g.
   OSS_IPK_SERVER_PATH = "file:/${HOME}/community_shared/rdk-arm64-oss/4.6.2-community/ipk/"
 
2, Vendor IPK feed
 
   Modify this file:
   rdke/vendor/meta-vendor-release/conf/machine/include/vendor.inc
 
   and set `VENDOR_IPK_SERVER_PATH` to the IPK feed location in the local file system,
   e.g.
   VENDOR_IPK_SERVER_PATH = "file:/${HOME}/community_shared/raspberrypi4-64-rdke-vendor/RDK7-1.0.0/ipk/"
 
$ MACHINE=raspberrypi4-64-rdke source ./scripts/setup-environment
 
$ echo 'DEPLOY_IPK_FEED = "1"' >> conf/local.conf
 
$ bitbake lib32-packagegroup-middleware-layer (to build middleware layer IPK feed for other layers to consume)
OR
$ bitbake lib32-middleware-test-image (wrapper over packagegroup-middleware-layer to compile a bootable middleware layer test image)
 
At least either one of packagegroup or test-image is required to be successful to produce the IPK feed for the next layer. Ideally both should succeed.
 
The produced IPK objects that can be packaged into the Middleware IPK feed can be found here: ./build-raspberrypi4-64-rdke/tmp/deploy/ipk/raspberrypi4-64-rdke-middleware/
 
1, Copy or rsync the IPK feed into a location in the local file system, e.g.
   ->
   Rsyncing from ./build-raspberrypi4-64-rdke/tmp/deploy/ipk/raspberrypi4-64-rdke-middleware/* to ${HOME}/community_shared/raspberrypi4-64-rdke-middleware/RDK7-1.0.0/ipk/

Step 4. Building the Application Layer

Code Block

language	bash
theme	RDark

$ repo init -u "https://github.com/rdkcentral/application-manifest-rdke/" -b refs/tags/RDK7-1.0.0 -m raspberrypi4-64.xml
$ repo sync
 
Setup the IPK feed(s)
Please note for local IPK feed in local file system, the "file:/" prefix and the "/" suffix are important.
 
 1, OSS IPK feed
 
   Modify this file:
   rdke/common/meta-oss-reference-release/conf/machine/include/oss.inc
 
   and set `OSS_IPK_SERVER_PATH` to the IPK feed location in the local file system,
   e.g.
   OSS_IPK_SERVER_PATH = "file:/${HOME}/community_shared/rdk-arm64-oss/4.6.2-community/ipk/"
 
2, Vendor IPK feed
 
   Modify this file:
   rdke/vendor/meta-vendor-release/conf/machine/include/vendor.inc
 
   and set `VENDOR_IPK_SERVER_PATH` to the IPK feed location in the local file system,
   e.g.
   VENDOR_IPK_SERVER_PATH = "file:/${HOME}/community_shared/raspberrypi4-64-rdke-vendor/RDK7-1.0.0/ipk/"
 
3, Middleware IPK feed
 
   Modify this file:
   rdke/middleware/meta-middleware-release/conf/machine/include/middleware.inc
 
   and set `MW_IPK_SERVER_PATH` to the IPK feed location in the local file system,
   e.g.
   MW_IPK_SERVER_PATH = "file:/${HOME}/community_shared/raspberrypi4-64-rdke-middleware/RDK7-1.0.0/ipk/"
 
$ MACHINE=raspberrypi4-64-rdke source ./scripts/setup-environment
 
$ echo 'DEPLOY_IPK_FEED = "1"' >> conf/local.conf
 
$ bitbake lib32-packagegroup-application-layer (to build application layer IPK feed for other layers to consume)
OR
$ bitbake lib32-application-test-image (wrapper over packagegroup-application-layer to compile a bootable application layer test image)
 
At least either one of packagegroup or test-image is required to be successful to produce the IPK feed for the next layer. Ideally both should succeed.
 
The produced IPK objects that can be packaged into the Application IPK feed can be found here: ./build-raspberrypi4-64-rdke/tmp/deploy/ipk/raspberrypi4-64-rdke-application/ 
 
1, Copy or rsync the IPK feed into a location in the local file system, e.g.
   ->
   Rsyncing from ./build-raspberrypi4-64-rdke/tmp/deploy/ipk/raspberrypi4-64-rdke-application/* to ${HOME}/community_shared/raspberrypi4-64-rdke-application/RDK7-1.0.0/ipk/

Step 5. Building the Image Assembler or Full Stack Image Layer

Code Block

language	bash
theme	RDark

$ repo init -u "https://github.com/rdkcentral/image-assembler-manifest-rdke/" -b refs/tags/RDK7-1.0.0 -m raspberrypi4-64.xml
$ repo sync
 
Setup the IPK feed(s)
Please note for local IPK feed in local file system, the "file:/" prefix and the "/" suffix are important.
 
1, OSS IPK feed
 
   Modify this file:
   rdke/common/meta-oss-reference-release/conf/machine/include/oss.inc
 
   and set `OSS_IPK_SERVER_PATH` to the IPK feed location in the local file system,
   e.g.
   OSS_IPK_SERVER_PATH = "file:/${HOME}/community_shared/rdk-arm64-oss/4.6.2-community/ipk/"
 
2, Vendor IPK feed
 
   Modify this file:
   rdke/vendor/meta-vendor-release/conf/machine/include/vendor.inc
 
   and set `VENDOR_IPK_SERVER_PATH` to the IPK feed location in the local file system,
   e.g.
   VENDOR_IPK_SERVER_PATH = "file:/${HOME}/community_shared/raspberrypi4-64-rdke-vendor/RDK7-1.0.0/ipk/"
 
3, Middleware IPK feed
 
   Modify this file:
   rdke/middleware/meta-middleware-release/conf/machine/include/middleware.inc
 
   and set `MW_IPK_SERVER_PATH` to the IPK feed location in the local file system,
   e.g.
   MW_IPK_SERVER_PATH = "file:/${HOME}/community_shared/raspberrypi4-64-rdke-middleware/RDK7-1.0.0/ipk/"
 
4, Application IPK feed
 
   Modify this file:
   rdke/application/meta-application-release/conf/machine/include/application.inc
 
   and set `APPLICATION_IPK_SERVER_PATH` to the IPK feed location in the local file system,
   e.g.
   APPLICATION_IPK_SERVER_PATH = "file:/${HOME}/community_shared/raspberrypi4-64-rdke-application/RDK7-1.0.0/ipk/"
 
$ MACHINE=raspberrypi4-64-rdke source ./scripts/setup-environment
 
$ bitbake lib32-rdk-fullstack-image (for full stack image)
 
(Final flash'able image will be present in ./build-raspberrypi4-64-rdke/tmp/deploy/images/raspberrypi4-64-rdke/<imagename>.wic.bz2

Flashing Instructions

The micro SD card should be formatted before writing the RPI image to it. The minimum SD card size recommended is 8GB. It is preferred to use more (16 or 32 GB) considering the downloadable apps support in RDK. After flashing, remove the SD card and insert it to the Raspberry Pi 4 device' SD card slot.

Option1: Using Linux

Using dd on linux/macOS:

bzcat <IMAGE_NAME>.wic.bz2 | sudo dd of=/dev/sdb bs=4M iflag=fullblock oflag=direct conv=fsync

Option 2: Using Windows

Using balenaEtcher:

To flash the image on an SD card, you will need to download the balenaEtcher application - https://www.balena.io/etcher/

Open the application → Select the image from your download folder → Select the drive containing your SD card → Click “Flash” to copy the image onto the SD card.

Image Removed Image RemovedImage Added Image Added

In some cases, we have seen an error where latest versions of BalenaEtcher gets stuck at 7% flashing:

In this case, try downgrading Balena Ether Etcher version to 1.18.11

Power on the Raspberry Pi:

TV screen will display the default RDK UI as shown below.

Image AddedImage Removed

To view the Raspberry Pi's IP address(referred as machineIP from now), Go to 'Settings → Network Configuration → Network Info → check for 'IP Address''.

Image RemovedImage Added

For ssh, we can use ssh root@<ip-address>
For verifying the image details, we can use cat /version.txt command.

RDK Resources

[RDK Preferred]

Code Management Facility

RDK Forums

[RDK Conferences]

RDK Support

Archives

Versions Compared

Old Version 1

New Version Current

Key

Overview

Build Instructions

Build Requirements: Setting up the Host Environment

Install the following packages for setting up your host VM before building an image

Configure repo

Creating your Personal Access Tokens - PAT

Gerrit:

Github:

Build Steps

Step 1. Building the OSS (open-source) Layer

Step 2. Building the Vendor Layer

Step 3. Building the Middleware Layer

Step 4. Building the Application Layer

Step 5. Building the Image Assembler or Full Stack Image Layer

Flashing Instructions

Option1: Using Linux

Option 2: Using Windows

RDK Resources

[*RDK Preferred*]

Code Management Facility

RDK Forums

[RDK Conferences]

RDK Support

Archives

Page History

Versions Compared

Old Version 1

New Version Current

Key

Overview

Build Instructions

Build Requirements: Setting up the Host Environment

Install the following packages for setting up your host VM before building an image

Configure repo

Creating your Personal Access Tokens - PAT

Gerrit:

Github:

Build Steps

Step 1. Building the OSS (open-source) Layer

Step 2. Building the Vendor Layer

Step 3. Building the Middleware Layer

Step 4. Building the Application Layer

Step 5. Building the Image Assembler or Full Stack Image Layer

Flashing Instructions

Option1: Using Linux

Option 2: Using Windows

[RDK Preferred]