Boot to Qt Installation

bernardj100

Can someone please help?

I am trying to install the Boot to Qt project, but I am having difficulty following the instructions. I am running 64-bit Ubuntu 13.10 , and have successfully installed VirtualBox as per instructions. What I am having difficulty with is the next part of the instructions and that is to configure VirtualBox network settings. The instructions say to open VirtualBox network settings. Where do I do this in the VM VirtualBox Manager? Is that for a specific VM? VMs haven't been set up at this point. If so, there is no facility here to perform the File > Preferences (Network Tab) create network called vboxnet0 as per instructions. Is it in Ubuntu network settings? If so this still does not lead me to the required options. Can someone please guide me thru step by step how to get to this point? I'm sorry if this is all obvous to you, but it isn't to me. Your asistance will be appreciated.

koahnig

Welcome to devnet

I am wondering if you really mean "Boot", because what you are writing does not make sense to me. Are you referring to the "Boost" library and it is a typing error?

Otherwise you might have to give more details or a link to the webpage where you have downloaded the SW respectively to the instructions you are following.

bernardj100

Hi koahnig, yes I did mean Boot to Qt. See:
http://qt.digia.com/qtenterpriseembedded

The instructions are emailed to you once you register for the product. The part that I am having difficulty with is Configuring VirtualBox. See excerpt of instructions below:

Installing VirtualBox

The Boot to Qt emulator in Qt Enterprise Embedded relies on VirtualBox virtualization software. You can download it from https://www.virtualbox.org/wiki/Linux_Downloads or install it from the command line with the following command:

sudo apt-get install virtualbox

Configuring VirtualBox

Open VirtualBox network settings: Select File > Preferences... and click on the Network tab. Create a new network named vboxnet0 and edit its properties:

Change IPv4 address to 192.168.56.1 and IPv4 network mask to 255.255.255.0.
Check Enable Server in DCHP Server tab.
Change server address to 192.168.56.1.
Change both the lower and upper address bounds to 192.168.56.101.

koahnig

Right you are ;)
Did not come across this yet.

You might want to try also the official helpline of Digia. They want to sell after you have been convinced that this is good.

Mr_Ada

I'd like to use Boot To Qt on my project but it seems that I have to pay for a commercial subscription to do this?

Chris.

SGaist

Hi,

Indeed, it's a a product from Digia

Mr_Ada

For a non-commercial entity like myself (hobbyist), I cannot afford to subscribe to the service. I'd consider just paying a fee to get a download of it to start from as the devices they have isn't the one I have. I can't see paying $200+/month for however long. I don't need help with it, just the ability to use it.

Sad day.

SGaist

IIRC, they now proposes a monthly subscription, you should check Digia's site for details

Mr_Ada

$355-$399 per month! I downloaded the trial version and it is the same product as the free version as far as I can tell. So I am not understanding where Boot to Qt comes into play.

SGaist

See "here":http://qt.digia.com/Product/Qt-Enterprise-Embedded/ and contact Digia for more information about what you get for that

JKSH

Hi,

[quote author="Mr_Ada" date="1403792957"]I downloaded the trial version and it is the same product as the free version as far as I can tell. So I am not understanding where Boot to Qt comes into play.[/quote]The free product is the Qt libraries plus a number of tools (such as the Qt Creator IDE).

Boot to Qt (part of Qt Enterprise Embedded) is a software stack that is built with the free Qt libraries. Qt Enterprise Embedded also comes with a number of extra library components that are not available for free, such as a virtual keyboard, data visualization libraries, advanced UI components, and cloud services.

Boot to Qt is targeted at commercial embedded system designers. The software stack includes pre-built filesystem images, which you can flash into your embedded device and run Qt immediately -- this enables rapid prototyping which reduces time-to-market.

These images are not available for free, but they probably aren't important to hobbyists who don't need to worry about time-to-market.

[quote author="Mr_Ada" date="1403715661"]I'd like to use Boot To Qt on my project but it seems that I have to pay for a commercial subscription to do this?
Chris.[/quote]You can use Qt without using Boot to Qt. Hobbyists usually stick to the free components; you can configure + build your own system images.

What kind of project are you planning to do?

If you want to create an embedded system, set up a Linux filesystem on your device (e.g. Raspberry Pi or Beaglebone Black). Then, download the Qt source code and cross-compile Qt for your target device.

If you simply want to create an Android app, then you don't even need to worry about the filesystem or cross-compilation. Just download Qt for Android (which is free), build an app and upload it into your Android phone/tablet.

Mr_Ada

I am working currently on an automotive gauge project. I will expand to other applications later on. I am going to replace the analog gauges in my project car with these new gauges. I figured I'd use a tablet because they have great resolution and size, weight, etc. Getting a Pi or Beaglebone is not as powerful a system as I want it and a tablet is pretty much all there. My only project is that I have a tablet that isn't under any currently hobbyist radar like the Nexus ones are, etc. I have been able to get my boot times on my Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 7" down to 19 seconds but that is way too long. There is too much Android stuff running. I want something that will come up fast like the demo from Linutronix back in 2011. They has a slow ARM processor and Qt was up and running colliding mice within 2 seconds. Impressive. That is what I want. If I could take this Android device and "de-Android" it I would really love it. If I cannot then I want something that will bypass all of the Samsung/Sprint/junk that gets run and go directly to an app of my own. Basically the launcher would be my program.

I have been able to build a small gauge and make an APK file for my tablet so I know that I can do that but those boot up times are awful!

Other SW engineers I know say why not use the sleep feature of the tablet. I just want it to come up immediately without constantly drawing power to keep itself hibernated.

Chris

JKSH

You could root your tablet and install Ubuntu on it. It has apparently been done on a few Galaxy Tabs, but I haven't seen anything for Tab 3 7": https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Touch/Devices The page says that a few Nexus tablets are officially-supported, so you may want to get a different tablet to make life easier.

(I've used Angstrom before for a BeagleBoard-based project, but it doesn't seem well-maintained -- that's why I suggested Ubuntu)

agocs

@Chris: That's exactly what Boot2Qt's Embedded Android support provides: Deploying Qt onto an Android device (Nexus 7 for example) and modifying the environment to boot straight into your Qt app.

Mr_Ada

@JKSH: I think getting another tablet might be the answer. I have seen the page you are referring too and my unit the T217S isn't listed and I don't know how close/far the other tablets are to mine in terms of hardware, etc. I know an Ubuntu.img can run on the device as I have done that run on top of Android app (VNC based) and it worked once. After rooting and debloating it won't run any more. I have even considered doing a reverse engineer on the low level stuff so that I can build an API that I could use. A lot of work but I am trying easy options first.

@agocs: If I can figure out they do it, then I can do the same. I tried to follow the instructions on the yocto stuff and downloading using the Maintenance tool and the Boot2Qt doesn't exist. I suspect only if you pay for it will they let you look at it.

So the trial version of embedded Qt is a wash for me.

I may go to linutronix and maybe see if I can get that to work. I know they use Qt and Yocto so maybe their instructions are more straight forward.

JKSH

@Mr_Ada: All the best with your project. I also hope that your question about where Boot To Qt fits in has been answered.

agocs

@Mr_Ada No, with an Android device you would not use Yocto. You just take an Android toolchain, cross-compile Qt and deploy. You do not generate your own Linux image. Instead, Android remains as-is but only the baselayer will be used.

Mr_Ada

@agocs, I really want to get away from Android, unless I can get the boot times faster. I am still not able to get access to the Boot2Qt which is supposedly available from the Maintenance Tool.

Mr_Ada

It seems I had to get a trial version for that as well. Just got the link.

Phil_Martin

@bernardj100
Did you ever fix this problem?

I have a similar problem with booting to qt on a SabreSD board
it puts up the uboot splash screen, then nothing else happens
and I don't seem to get anything out of the console port