Customer Reviews

Embedded Linux®: Hardware, Software, and Interfacing

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

As of 4/2004, the book relies on a free distribution of Hard Hat linux that is no longer available on Montavista's site (as they charge $25K for a single seat, I guess they felt they were giving too much away ;-) HOWEVER: Hollanaugh has copies of them with all of his scripts on his site, so look for them there. His scripts are also now modified to point to the new locations. Though even this distribution is somewhat out of date, this book does a pretty reasonable job of getting you through it all. I found finding free (useful, current) distributions of embedded linux very hard to find but eventually did.. Check out www.denx.de and store.yahoo.com/snapgear/snemlidi.html for current multiplatform distributions. The denx distribution ELDK appears to have morphed from the original Hard Hat distibution as many of the utilities still exist, I used this and was able to "generally" follow along. It's a more recent distribution and supports more platforms (at least for the PPC). I would definately repurchase this book again..
His site is:
http://www.embeddedlinuxinterfacing.com/overview.shtml

Part I ('Getting Started') is a head start for newbie, but the emphasis is more on setting up a development and
debugging environment for an embedded linux project and not on the process of porting linux for an embedded system.
None of the issues related to the porting of kernel loader or porting of the actual kernel for any of the reference target
boards are addressed.Not enough information for a newbie trying to port linux for a custom board.
After getting past these issues (with help from resources on web) and having a working kernel on the board, Part II ('Interfacing')
of the book is quite useful.

The overall impression is good. Focusing an embedded project following a potential practical case is a good idea.

Its also a good idea to bring three diferent platforms as a case study, making it clear that linux gives enough abstraction level.

I didn't rate it 5 because it relays on hardhat (tm) already built development tools, which is far from being the standrad way to build those tools. Is not that dificult to explain how to make them from source.

With over 200 of the 400 pages dedicated to interfacing, it seems the emphasis of the title should have reflected this. A more appropriate title would be "Interfacing in an example embedded Linux application". There are many pages of entire listings which could have been made available for download instead.

Although the hardware diagrams are appreciated, they are not specific to Linux. Overall, you may find the examples useful, but you will need to dig deeper to understand the real issues.

Dr. Hollabaugh has certainly shed useful light on the concept of embedded linux. He intelligently sets the stage and walk you through real steps for deploying a fully embedded linux control and monitoring system. The diagram, table, and code examples will leave you with a very clear understanding of the subject matter (providing you have some background with linux development). Personally, I was totally captivated and found myself extremely happy that I have chosen this book to help thrust foward my own intelligence of embedded linux. This book and website....has become a primary reference for future embedded linux application.

Hey embedded Linux developers,

This book is great. The simple examples clearly illustrate how to get a development system up and running, then how to develop simple device drivers to exercise hardware. I learned from these examples and put them to work on my project immediately. I read the other reviews below and don't know why they didn't like this book, did they even read it?

Its a great book, buy it now (its the best [money]spent on embedded Linux available).

Satisfied Customer

This book is clearly the best reference I have for embedded projects under linux; future and present inclusive. The author covers USB device integration quite well, and gives a well worded approach to mounting and setting up your own usb-devfs.
Along with clear examples, the author mainly tries to format the text from an on-lookers prospective to an "embedded ski lift monitor" project- i.e. "My data from working along-side the team" Great effort there-
Another pro to this book is that there are many code samples (all but one I got working, first try) that keep the flow of the book geared towards a beginning hardware-level programmer, with teach by example in mind.
The biggest down side to the text is the beginning material about setting up the workspace environment. A friend tried the same book, and had much trouble simply because they didn't know what pitfalls to expect when installing Debian. Although, the setup does allow for multiple-processor compilations of source code. A Great plus, and another reason for me using the book as a reference.

Out of all the good and bad, this book earned the 4 star rating and with honors. If you want a place to begin embedded systems, and aren't weary of installing a fresh copy of an older model of Debian, have at this book!
Hope this helps-

I picked this book up -- in a word, excellent. Much of the work in this book is very similar to the current embedded project that my company is working on.

The specific hardware related topics, and the pictures of oscilliscopes and block diagrams will make the hardware people in my company happy -- the scripts and code will me the software people happy.

This book is well written, comprehensive, and a high recommended text for companies undergoing embedded linux project development.

This is the best Embedded Linux book I have read so far. The Author has an excellent approach on the subject. He takes a real life application and proposes real solutions. Another strong point about this book is that the Author use of 4 different uP platforms as example (i.e. PowerPC, StrongARM, x86, COTS x86). This provides the reader with a wide view of the extraordinary possibilities of embedded Linux. The Chapter on setting-up a reference development platform is very useful. This is maybe obvious for many engineer out there but unfortunately I have seen to many time that is not a universal approach. Maybe some of the scripts listing should have been left to an include floppy disk.

Embedded Linux: Hardware, Software, And Interfacing by Linux computer expert Craig Hollabuagh is a straightforward, comprehensive guide to the development and use of interfacing applications on Linux. Individual chapters address how to boot Linux, debugging with gdb, parallel port interfacing, USB interfacing, memory I/O interfacing, synchronous serial communication interfacing, system integration and much more. Tips, tricks, techniques, tables and selections of code round out this useful, complete, highly recommended reference for serious Linux programmers.