Qt X Compiling

Intro

It is a quite common case when developing Qt based applications for an Embedded Linux system is carried out on a host machine with a different architecture. In order to prepare the host machine for X-compiling some manual configuration steps required.

This is a brief manual that shows:

• how to setup Yocto SDK with Qt5 support
• how to use the SDK with QtCreator:
  • configure QtCreator for use with SDK
  • build a sample project using QtCreator
• how to use the SDK without QtCreator:
  • command line method

Assumptions

• SDK install path is /opt/fsl-imx-xwayland/4.14-sumo

Requirements

• Linux Debian/Ubuntu desktop
• Install build-essential:

  sudo apt-get install build-essential

• Install QtCreator:

  sudo apt-get install qtcreator

• Yocto SDK with Qt5 support
  • Make sure that the SDK is installed:

  [[ -f /opt/fsl-imx-xwayland/4.14-sumo/environment-setup-aarch64-poky-linux ]] && echo "Installed" || echo "Not Installed"

  • Make sure that the Qt5 support is enabled:

  [[ -f /opt/fsl-imx-xwayland/4.14-sumo/sysroots/x86_64-pokysdk-linux/usr/bin/qt5/qmake ]] && echo "enabled" || echo "off"

QtCreator Setup

The following example shows how to setup QtCreator with Yocto Project SDK built using Sumo distribution for a Linux x86_64 host:

• open a terminal application and source the cross compiling environment setup with:

  . /opt/fsl-imx-xwayland/4.14-sumo/environment-setup-aarch64-poky-linux

• in the same terminal window start QtCreator:

  qtcreator &

• open the Tools, Options... menu and select the Kits section

• use the following line as qmake location in Qt versions tab:

  /opt/fsl-imx-xwayland/4.14-sumo/sysroots/x86_64-pokysdk-linux/usr/bin/qt5/qmake

  

• use the following line as C compiler path and select ABI arm-linux-generic-elf-64bit in the Compilers tab:

  /opt/fsl-imx-xwayland/4.14-sumo/sysroots/x86_64-pokysdk-linux/usr/bin/aarch64-poky-linux/aarch64-poky-linux-gcc

  

• use the following line as C++ compiler path and select ABI arm-linux-generic-elf-64bit in the Compilers tab:

  /opt/fsl-imx-xwayland/4.14-sumo/sysroots/x86_64-pokysdk-linux/usr/bin/aarch64-poky-linux/aarch64-poky-linux-g++

  

• use the following line as debugger path in Debuggers tab:

  /opt/fsl-imx-xwayland/4.14-sumo/sysroots/x86_64-pokysdk-linux/usr/bin/aarch64-poky-linux/aarch64-poky-linux-gdb

  

• open the Devices section

• in the Devices tab create a new device of type Generic Linux Device, specify IP address and authentication details:

• return to the Kits section
• create a new kit with name X-compile ARM 64bit selecting the configurations we just created
  use the following line as sysroot path:

  /opt/fsl-imx-xwayland/4.14-sumo/sysroots/aarch64-poky-linux

  
• click Apply and exit Qt Creator

GUI Build Method

ℹ️ Make sure that the how to configure and use the SDK inside QtCreator ⤴️ was carried out first.

• open a terminal application and source the cross compiling environment setup with:

. /opt/fsl-imx-xwayland/4.14-sumo/environment-setup-aarch64-poky-linux

• start QtCreator from the current command line:

qtcreator

• create a new example project using the Qt Widgets Application template
• name the project hello-qt
• select the X-compile ARM 64bit kit we just created and finish
• edit the hello-qt.pro adding:

# install
target.path=/home/root/
INSTALLS += target

• Build the project
• Run
• the hello-qt application should now start on the target embedded Linux device. Success!

Command Line Build Method

• open a terminal application and source the cross compiling environment setup with:

. /opt/fsl-imx-xwayland/4.14-sumo/environment-setup-aarch64-poky-linux

• make the Qt5 SDK examples available for the developer:

sudo chown ${USER}:${GROUPS} -R /opt/fsl-imx-xwayland/4.14-sumo/sysroots/aarch64-poky-linux/usr/share/qt5/examples

• goto the opengl/hellogl2 project directory:

cd /opt/fsl-imx-xwayland/4.14-sumo/sysroots/aarch64-poky-linux/usr/share/qt5/examples/opengl/hellogl2

• issue this sequence:

qmake -config release
make -j 8

• issue file command and make sure that the produced binary is an ARM64 executable file:

file hellogl2 | grep -q aarch64 && echo "good" || echo "bad"

• if it is a good, then copy this binary file to the target device and run it.
• if it is a bad, then re-issue the entire procedure command line method.