Linux on the Shanling Q1

[amachronic]

Hello everyone, I wanted to share the progress I've made getting Linux running on the Shanling Q1 and more generally X1000-based players. This is in the really early stages but maybe one day it could be a way to get Bluetooth and WiFi working with Rockbox on the Q1. It's not that interesting right now since audio and the LCD don't work - only a basic root shell over USB serial. But it's a start.

If anyone actually wants to run it, it requires an upgraded bootloader which is still in gerrit, so that has to be built manually.

You can check out my github repo here:
https://github.com/amachronic/buildroot/tree/rockbox
(all development will be happening in the "rockbox" branch.)

[7o9]

That looks like a fun project.

I compiled it all fine. Took a good while to do so too.

Too bad gerrit is down so no chance to play with it more.

Besides it being a start and the obvious goal, what is the reason to do this? Being able to create a complete running Rockbox on Linux from source without needing anything from the original firmware? Would it be possible to distribute a complete disk image like many embedded Linux solutions do?

[amachronic]

Yeah, aside from hardware support (bluetooth, wifi, and flash) and the obvious extra features Linux could bring, having a fully free firmware is a goal. And yes, it would be possible to distribute disk images like openwrt or similar projects do.

Potentially this kernel could be used on other targets - Agptek Rocker, Eros Q, and the xDuuo x3ii & x20 IIRC all have bluetooth and/or wifi, and could easily make use of this since they are X1000-based. So the benefit to rockbox overall is potentially bigger, and this kind of thing could even be a viable way to get new ports - assuming that Linux mostly supports the SoC, it is a lot easier to get Linux running than it is to port Rockbox to a new SoC. But this is all just wishful thinking on my part, of course I won't be doing any of it.

Anyhow, I went ahead and built a bootloader for you. Should be OK to flash if you want - as far as I know there's no regressions.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1pPEhtWrn_hWLLqwWhdxmp2zPbUwhhRhU/view?usp=sharing

Hopefully gerrit will be back up soon, so I can get this and multiboot merged.

[7o9]

Took me a bit, but I got it to work.

The hardest part was trying to format my sd card properly but in the end I managed to do that and boot linux on my Q1!

Gerrit is back so good luck with merging all your patches. The list is impressive.