Conclusion

Building embedded Linux systems on the x86 PC platform doesn't have to be painful especially when you can use off the shelf, small form-factor PC hardware and simple step by step instructions. We found VMware to be a great teaching aid and an invaluable tool when experimenting with embedded Linux development. We used VMware extensively to work out any kinks in the boot process. Once we were satisfied with the boot process and system configuration it was a simple matter to move to physical hardware and polish our application.

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Bibliography . . .

• Johnson, Gary W. and Jennings, Richard, “LabVIEW Graphical Programming, Third Edition”, McGraw-Hill, New York, 2001, ISBN 0-07-137001-3
  
• Welsh, Matt, et.al., “Running Linux, Third Edition,” O'Reilly & Associates, Inc. Sebastopol, CA, 1999.
  
• Fawcett, Tom, The Linux Bootdisk HOWTO, 2000.

Copyright © 2001 Richard Jennings. Used with permission.

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About the author: Richard Jennings is a Senior Technologist at Sandia National Laboratories in Livermore, California. He has an AA degree in Laser-Electro Optics from Texas State Technical College in Waco, Texas. In his current job he's working on next generation telemetry systems with LabVIEW and embedded Linux. At home with his wife Patty and four children, Elizabeth, Danny, Chris and David, Richard just enjoys being a Dad.

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Story navigation . . .

• Part 1: Introduction
  
• Part 2: What is LabVIEW?
  
• Part 3: Why use a desktop OS to build an embedded system?
  
• Part 4: Getting to know VMware
  
• Part 5: Six steps to Building an Embedded Linux System
  
• Part 6: Deploying on the hardware
  
• Part 7: Conclusion

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