here's how to compile a gtk native app for the kindle touch

chris_c · 08-29-2012, 10:55 AM

I present here by way of a loose tutorial sufficient instruction to begin programming a native gtk application without needing to chroot into some large build environment.... , I'm assuming Ubuntu Linux here but any Linux should be workable...

install the package gcc-4.6-arm-linux-gnueabi this *should* install everything else that you need as well.

You also need to install libgtk2.0-dev we'll be using this as a convienience for the headers, don't worry that you have somehow have gtk PC headers and you surely need gtk ARM headers regardless of platform they're all the same thing and in any case we'll be using an ARM compiler with them.... (

so let's not hear any more on the subject - you know who you are

)

make a place were we can set stuff up

Code:

mkdir kindle-dev
cd kindle-dev

fisrt we'll grab the libs we need from the kindle

Code:

 
ssh root@kindle
cd /usr
tar -cpvzf /mnt/us/libs.tar.gz lib
exit

this tar ball should be created as I have above, if you've got the symlinks and not copied libs multiple times (will break our builds later) the tar ball should be around 35mb

Code:

scp root@<your kindles ip address>:/mnt/us/libs.tar.gz .
ssh root@<your kindles ip address> rm /mnt/us/libs.tar.gz
tar zxvf libs.tar.gz

its probably worth cd-ing into the lib directory and just checking you have the libs and their sym links all okay...

alas some are NOT linked relative....

Code:

cd lib
rm libglib-2.0.so
rm libglib-2.0.so.0
ln -s libglib-2.0.so.0.2918.0 libglib-2.0.so
ln -s libglib-2.0.so.0.2918.0 libglib-2.0.so.0
rm libgio-2.0.so
rm libgio-2.0.so.0
ln -s libgio-2.0.so.0.2918.0 libgio-2.0.so
ln -s libgio-2.0.so.0.2918.0 libgio-2.0.so.0
rm libgobject-2.0.so
rm libgobject-2.0.so.0
ln -s libgobject-2.0.so.0.2918.0 libgobject-2.0.so
ln -s libgobject-2.0.so.0.2918.0 libgobject-2.0.so.0
rm libffi.so
rm libffi.so.5
ln -s libffi.so.5.0.10 libffi.so
ln -s libffi.so.5.0.10 libffi.so.5
rm libgmodule-2.0.so
rm libgmodule-2.0.so.0
ln -s libgmodule-2.0.so.0.2918.0 libgmodule-2.0.so
ln -s libgmodule-2.0.so.0.2918.0 libgmodule-2.0.so.0
rm libgthread-2.0.so
rm libgthread-2.0.so.0
ln -s libgthread-2.0.so.0.2918.0 libgthread-2.0.so
ln -s libgthread-2.0.so.0.2918.0 libgthread-2.0.so.0
cd ..

you may discover others depending what libs you use.... (I will resist the urge to pass comment on whomever linked these files with an absolute path)

We're going to use this simple example to prove everything works, so plagiarise and paste errrm I mean copy and paste this into a file called test.c and save it to our work directory

Code:

#include <gtk/gtk.h>

static void hello( GtkWidget *widget,gpointer data ) {
    gtk_main_quit ();
}

static gboolean delete_event( GtkWidget *widget, GdkEvent  *event, gpointer   data ) {
    g_print ("delete event occurred\n");
    return FALSE; // we do want to quit
}

static void destroy( GtkWidget *widget, gpointer   data ) {
    gtk_main_quit ();
}

int main( int   argc, char *argv[] ) {

    GtkWidget *window;
    GtkWidget *button;

    gtk_init (&argc, &argv);

    window = gtk_window_new (GTK_WINDOW_TOPLEVEL);
    g_signal_connect (window, "delete-event", G_CALLBACK (delete_event), NULL);
    g_signal_connect (window, "destroy", G_CALLBACK (destroy), NULL);
    gtk_container_set_border_width (GTK_CONTAINER (window), 10);
    button = gtk_button_new_with_label ("Hello World");
    g_signal_connect (button, "clicked", G_CALLBACK (hello), NULL);
    gtk_container_add (GTK_CONTAINER (window), button);
    gtk_window_set_title ( GTK_WINDOW(window) , "L:A_N:application_ID:test");
    gtk_widget_show_all (window);

    gtk_main ();
    return 0;
}

first of all lets just make sure we can compile it all okay on the PC - after all one of the nice things is that we can compile, run and test our apps on the PC and just test now and again on the kindle, this makes developing much faster and easier!

Code:

gcc test.c -o test `pkg-config gtk+-2.0 --cflags --libs`

Notice the back tick operator ( ` ) this is the character above the tab key (usually!) this replaces the command with the output of pkg-config which in the case of gtk makes a whole load of spew because gtk uses a LOT of libraries - but then thats what makes it so useful! ( that and the fact it's C and not some insane language like c++

)

one thing to note is that unlike most "normal" apps this one has been given a wierd title

Code:

    gtk_window_set_title ( GTK_WINDOW(window) , "L:A_N:application_ID:test");

The kindle will only show windows with a sepcific title - the way this title is encoded is also very "interesting" - I would recommend reading the forum post about this discovery...

So now to actually (finally!) compile a kindle executable :-o

take a deep breath its a commmand and a half....

Code:

arm-linux-gnueabi-gcc-4.6 test.c -o test `pkg-config gtk+-2.0 --cflags` -L/usr/arm-linux-gnueabi/lib/ -L./lib/ -lgtk-x11-2.0 -lgdk-x11-2.0 -lXrender -lXinerama -lXext -lgdk_pixbuf-2.0 -lpangocairo-1.0 -lXdamage -lXfixes -latk-1.0 -lcairo -lpixman-1 -lpng12 -lxcb-shm -lxcb-render -lX11 -lxcb -lXau -lXdmcp -lgio-2.0 -lpangoft2-1.0 -lpango-1.0 -lfontconfig -lfreetype -lz -lexpat -lgobject-2.0 -lffi -lgmodule-2.0 -lgthread-2.0 -lglib-2.0

obviously if you were using a makefile you'd use a variable for the libs...

Code:

LIBS = -lgtk-x11-2.0 -lgdk-x11-2.0 ... etc!

bogus: bogus.c
	arm-linux-gnueabi-gcc-4.6 $(LIBS) ....

so now to test!

Code:

scp test root@<your kindles ip address>:/mnt/us/
ssh root@<your kindles ip address>
/mnt/us/test

It should be noted that the way a gtk app on the kindle lays out and displays its widgets is different to the rest of the world.
Amazon have played fast and loose with gtk in away I'm not too sure I'm terribly impressed with....

Taking it further - well ya on ya own

I will not answer general questions about gcc not gtk programming, I will however gladly answer specifics to do with this method of creating a kindle native application....

Enjoy!

twobob · 08-29-2012, 11:18 AM

*patter of applause*

knc1 · 08-29-2012, 11:31 AM

ldconfig is usually used to update the **system** cache and library sym-links . . .
But it can also be used to create the proper sym-links of a manually specified directory.

In this thread, it could be used in place of that long list of manually entered "ln -s ..." commands. Details in the ldconfig manual page.

O.T:
No number of simlies substitutes for public courtesy, even when you disagree with someone.

chris_c · 08-29-2012, 12:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by knc1

ldconfig is usually used to update the **system** cache and library sym-links . . .
But it can also be used to create the proper sym-links of a manually specified directory.

In this thread, it could be used in place of that long list of manually entered "ln -s ..." commands. Details in the ldconfig manual page.

O.T:
No number of simlies substitutes for public courtesy, even when you disagree with someone.

I'm really *very* sorry if my "attempt" at humour has upset you in any way that was not my intent.

I'd be interested in how you'd use ldconfig like this, would bad sym links need removing manually first?

knc1 · 08-29-2012, 12:59 PM

No delete required, it will correct the soname conventions.
man ldconfig
should give the details.
Hmm...
-v verbose (sounds nice)
-n only process directories on the command line
-N don't rebuild the cache
-f conf use conf instead of /etc/ld.so.conf
-r root change to and use root as the root directory
All sound like likely members of a command to manually fix those links.
There may be more info in the man page.
Be sure to always use "-N" so you don't trash your system cache.

chris_c · 08-29-2012, 01:03 PM

I'd already read the man page before posting the tutorial - I was however unable to get it to work as I wanted - how would you do it?

knc1 · 08-29-2012, 01:05 PM

What did you do?
What where the results?
Please be specific, we can't see the command(s) you are typing.

sandman7920 · 08-29-2012, 02:41 PM

ldconfig will create symlink only to soname attribute used in linker
if we have
g++ -Wl,-soname,libmylib.so.2 -shared -o output/libmylib.so.2.0.1 -fPIC main.o

ldconfig -N /some/place/lib
will create libmylib.so.2 -> libmylib.so.2.0.1

libmylib.so will not be created automatically libmylib.so is not needed to run application it is needed only for linker

P.S. Sorry for my english

knc1 · 08-29-2012, 03:34 PM

That is correct.

-lmylib ==> libmylib.so for the linkage step of compiling.

The Kindle system images have these "development" links removed from the shipped image.
The O.P. was originally renaming the most specific name (actual file) to the development name.

twobob · 12-21-2012, 12:01 AM

Step 1) me@dev ~/k3-dev $ CFLAGS="-U_FORTIFY_SOURCE -fno-stack-protector -O2 -fno-finite-math-only -ffast-math -march=armv6j -mtune=arm1136jf-s -mfpu=vfp -pipe -fomit-frame-pointer -fPIC" /opt/arm-2007q3/bin/arm-none-linux-gnueabi-gcc test.c -o test `~/GIT/buildroot-2012.03/output/host/usr/bin/pkg-config gtk+-2.0 --cflags` -L~/GIT/buildroot/output/host/usr/arm-unknown-linux-gnueabi/sysroot/lib/ -L./lib/ -lgtk-directfb-2.0 -lgdk-directfb-2.0 -lgdk_pixbuf-2.0 -lpangocairo-1.0 -latk-1.0 -lcairo -lpixman-1 -lpng12 -lgio-2.0 -lpangoft2-1.0 -lpango-1.0 -lfontconfig -lfreetype -lz -lexpat -lgobject-2.0 -lgmodule-2.0 -lgthread-2.0 -lglib-2.0 -ljpeg -ldirectfb-1.2 -lfusion -ldirect-1.2

That works for a 3. will make okay

2007q3 TC, using "loaned" headers from another TC for those parts that 2007 can not build.

Step 2) prep directfb
[root@kindle bin]# cat > /tmp/root/.directfbrc
no-vt
linux-input-devices=/dev/input/event0,/dev/input/event1

Step 3) run it

Quote:

[root@kindle bin]# ./test

Spoiler:

Step 4) [root@kindle root]# echo 1 > /proc/eink_fb/update_display
for quick redraw testing. assumedly this could be shoved into a relevant repaint event.

but a worker.

08-29-2012, 10:55 AM	#1
chris_c Member Retired Posts: 38 Karma: 134108 Join Date: Aug 2012 Device: kindle touch	here's how to compile a gtk native app for the kindle touch I present here by way of a loose tutorial sufficient instruction to begin programming a native gtk application without needing to chroot into some large build environment.... , I'm assuming Ubuntu Linux here but any Linux should be workable... install the package gcc-4.6-arm-linux-gnueabi this should install everything else that you need as well. You also need to install libgtk2.0-dev we'll be using this as a convienience for the headers, don't worry that you have somehow have gtk PC headers and you surely need gtk ARM headers regardless of platform they're all the same thing and in any case we'll be using an ARM compiler with them.... ( so let's not hear any more on the subject - you know who you are ) make a place were we can set stuff up Code: mkdir kindle-dev cd kindle-dev fisrt we'll grab the libs we need from the kindle Code: ssh root@kindle cd /usr tar -cpvzf /mnt/us/libs.tar.gz lib exit this tar ball should be created as I have above, if you've got the symlinks and not copied libs multiple times (will break our builds later) the tar ball should be around 35mb Code: scp root@<your kindles ip address>:/mnt/us/libs.tar.gz . ssh root@<your kindles ip address> rm /mnt/us/libs.tar.gz tar zxvf libs.tar.gz its probably worth cd-ing into the lib directory and just checking you have the libs and their sym links all okay... alas some are NOT linked relative.... Code: cd lib rm libglib-2.0.so rm libglib-2.0.so.0 ln -s libglib-2.0.so.0.2918.0 libglib-2.0.so ln -s libglib-2.0.so.0.2918.0 libglib-2.0.so.0 rm libgio-2.0.so rm libgio-2.0.so.0 ln -s libgio-2.0.so.0.2918.0 libgio-2.0.so ln -s libgio-2.0.so.0.2918.0 libgio-2.0.so.0 rm libgobject-2.0.so rm libgobject-2.0.so.0 ln -s libgobject-2.0.so.0.2918.0 libgobject-2.0.so ln -s libgobject-2.0.so.0.2918.0 libgobject-2.0.so.0 rm libffi.so rm libffi.so.5 ln -s libffi.so.5.0.10 libffi.so ln -s libffi.so.5.0.10 libffi.so.5 rm libgmodule-2.0.so rm libgmodule-2.0.so.0 ln -s libgmodule-2.0.so.0.2918.0 libgmodule-2.0.so ln -s libgmodule-2.0.so.0.2918.0 libgmodule-2.0.so.0 rm libgthread-2.0.so rm libgthread-2.0.so.0 ln -s libgthread-2.0.so.0.2918.0 libgthread-2.0.so ln -s libgthread-2.0.so.0.2918.0 libgthread-2.0.so.0 cd .. you may discover others depending what libs you use.... (I will resist the urge to pass comment on whomever linked these files with an absolute path) We're going to use this simple example to prove everything works, so plagiarise and paste errrm I mean copy and paste this into a file called test.c and save it to our work directory Code: #include <gtk/gtk.h> static void hello( GtkWidget widget,gpointer data ) { gtk_main_quit (); } static gboolean delete_event( GtkWidget widget, GdkEvent event, gpointer data ) { g_print ("delete event occurred\n"); return FALSE; // we do want to quit } static void destroy( GtkWidget widget, gpointer data ) { gtk_main_quit (); } int main( int argc, char argv[] ) { GtkWidget window; GtkWidget *button; gtk_init (&argc, &argv); window = gtk_window_new (GTK_WINDOW_TOPLEVEL); g_signal_connect (window, "delete-event", G_CALLBACK (delete_event), NULL); g_signal_connect (window, "destroy", G_CALLBACK (destroy), NULL); gtk_container_set_border_width (GTK_CONTAINER (window), 10); button = gtk_button_new_with_label ("Hello World"); g_signal_connect (button, "clicked", G_CALLBACK (hello), NULL); gtk_container_add (GTK_CONTAINER (window), button); gtk_window_set_title ( GTK_WINDOW(window) , "L:A_N:application_ID:test"); gtk_widget_show_all (window); gtk_main (); return 0; } first of all lets just make sure we can compile it all okay on the PC - after all one of the nice things is that we can compile, run and test our apps on the PC and just test now and again on the kindle, this makes developing much faster and easier! Code: gcc test.c -o test `pkg-config gtk+-2.0 --cflags --libs` Notice the back tick operator ( ` ) this is the character above the tab key (usually!) this replaces the command with the output of pkg-config which in the case of gtk makes a whole load of spew because gtk uses a LOT of libraries - but then thats what makes it so useful! ( that and the fact it's C and not some insane language like c++ ) one thing to note is that unlike most "normal" apps this one has been given a wierd title Code: gtk_window_set_title ( GTK_WINDOW(window) , "L:A_N:application_ID:test"); The kindle will only show windows with a sepcific title - the way this title is encoded is also very "interesting" - I would recommend reading the forum post about this discovery... So now to actually (finally!) compile a kindle executable :-o take a deep breath its a commmand and a half.... Code: arm-linux-gnueabi-gcc-4.6 test.c -o test `pkg-config gtk+-2.0 --cflags` -L/usr/arm-linux-gnueabi/lib/ -L./lib/ -lgtk-x11-2.0 -lgdk-x11-2.0 -lXrender -lXinerama -lXext -lgdk_pixbuf-2.0 -lpangocairo-1.0 -lXdamage -lXfixes -latk-1.0 -lcairo -lpixman-1 -lpng12 -lxcb-shm -lxcb-render -lX11 -lxcb -lXau -lXdmcp -lgio-2.0 -lpangoft2-1.0 -lpango-1.0 -lfontconfig -lfreetype -lz -lexpat -lgobject-2.0 -lffi -lgmodule-2.0 -lgthread-2.0 -lglib-2.0 obviously if you were using a makefile you'd use a variable for the libs... Code: LIBS = -lgtk-x11-2.0 -lgdk-x11-2.0 ... etc! bogus: bogus.c arm-linux-gnueabi-gcc-4.6 $(LIBS) .... so now to test! Code: scp test root@<your kindles ip address>:/mnt/us/ ssh root@<your kindles ip address> /mnt/us/test It should be noted that the way a gtk app on the kindle lays out and displays its widgets is different to the rest of the world. Amazon have played fast and loose with gtk in away I'm not too sure I'm terribly impressed with.... Taking it further - well ya on ya own I will not answer general questions about gcc not gtk programming, I will however gladly answer specifics to do with this method of creating a kindle native application.... Enjoy!

08-29-2012, 11:18 AM	#2
twobob ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°){ʇlnɐɟ ƃǝs}Týr Posts: 6,586 Karma: 6299991 Join Date: Jun 2012 Location: uti gratia usura (Yao ying da ying; Mo ying da yieng) Device: PW-WIFI\|K5-3G+WIFI\| K4\|K3-3G\|DXG\|K2\| Rooted Nook Touch	patter of applause Attached Thumbnails Last edited by twobob; 12-20-2012 at 10:06 PM.

08-29-2012, 11:31 AM	#3
knc1 Going Viral Posts: 17,212 Karma: 18210809 Join Date: Feb 2012 Location: Central Texas Device: No K1, PW2, KV, KOA	ldconfig is usually used to update the system cache and library sym-links . . . But it can also be used to create the proper sym-links of a manually specified directory. In this thread, it could be used in place of that long list of manually entered "ln -s ..." commands. Details in the ldconfig manual page. O.T: No number of simlies substitutes for public courtesy, even when you disagree with someone. Last edited by knc1; 08-29-2012 at 11:35 AM.

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08-29-2012, 12:59 PM	#5
knc1 Going Viral Posts: 17,212 Karma: 18210809 Join Date: Feb 2012 Location: Central Texas Device: No K1, PW2, KV, KOA	No delete required, it will correct the soname conventions. man ldconfig should give the details. Hmm... -v verbose (sounds nice) -n only process directories on the command line -N don't rebuild the cache -f conf use conf instead of /etc/ld.so.conf -r root change to and use root as the root directory All sound like likely members of a command to manually fix those links. There may be more info in the man page. Be sure to always use "-N" so you don't trash your system cache.

08-29-2012, 01:03 PM	#6
chris_c Member Retired Posts: 38 Karma: 134108 Join Date: Aug 2012 Device: kindle touch	I'd already read the man page before posting the tutorial - I was however unable to get it to work as I wanted - how would you do it?

08-29-2012, 01:05 PM	#7
knc1 Going Viral Posts: 17,212 Karma: 18210809 Join Date: Feb 2012 Location: Central Texas Device: No K1, PW2, KV, KOA	What did you do? What where the results? Please be specific, we can't see the command(s) you are typing.

08-29-2012, 02:41 PM	#8
sandman7920 Junior Member Posts: 9 Karma: 4352 Join Date: Jul 2012 Device: Kindle Voyage	ldconfig will create symlink only to soname attribute used in linker if we have g++ -Wl,-soname,libmylib.so.2 -shared -o output/libmylib.so.2.0.1 -fPIC main.o ldconfig -N /some/place/lib will create libmylib.so.2 -> libmylib.so.2.0.1 libmylib.so will not be created automatically libmylib.so is not needed to run application it is needed only for linker P.S. Sorry for my english

08-29-2012, 03:34 PM	#9
knc1 Going Viral Posts: 17,212 Karma: 18210809 Join Date: Feb 2012 Location: Central Texas Device: No K1, PW2, KV, KOA	That is correct. -lmylib ==> libmylib.so for the linkage step of compiling. The Kindle system images have these "development" links removed from the shipped image. The O.P. was originally renaming the most specific name (actual file) to the development name.

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