• Android

  • Linaro Android has support for DS-5 v. 5.9.
  • Hardware accelerated Multimedia is now integrated on Origen.
  • EEMBC, denbench and coremark have been ported to Android and are running in LAVA.

  • android.net ConnectivityManager unit tests have been built and integrated in all builds.

  • Hardware decode of H264 and MPEG4, 1080P and 30 FPS is enabled on Origen.
  • Origen now has 1080p HDMI Graphics and Video Support.
  • Android runs on A15, A7 and A15/A7 fast models.
  • ARM's big.LITTLE has been tested running Android using a set of unit tests.
  • Pre-built image kernels can now be swapped out easily for most boards.
  • A script, derived from the build itself gets posted to the build page for people to download and run to reproduce the build.
  • Superfluous build specific branches have been removed.
  • Bluetooth and WIFI is working on Snowball.

• Developer Platform

  • Ubuntu LEB (as beta for 12.03) is now also available with armhf based images. See http://snapshots.linaro.org/precise/

  • Ubuntu LEB builds are now pushed directly to LAVA, enabling testing and validation at the moment a new image is generated.
  • Continuous multi-arch enablement on Ubuntu Precise, with 15 packages ported during this release cycle.
  • Users of the live-build image creation tool can now create armhf based images which can run natively on ARM or cross-compiled on an intel machine.
  • Pre-Built Ubuntu LEB images are now provided on a daily basis at snapshots.linaro.org.
  • Developer Platform now supports A15, A15/A7ARM Fast Models, with kernel packages and hwpacks available that are fully compatible with ARM Fast Models.
  • big.LITTLE ARM Reference Switcher has been validated and tested with the Ubuntu based rootfs on ARM Fast Model.
  • Linaro Toolchain Backports PPA now includes the latest version of the cross-compiling toolchain packages available on Ubuntu, with support for the Lucid (10.04) and Oneiric (11.10) releases.
  • Ubuntu LEB based sysroots are now generated automatically at ci.linaro.org.
  • Packaged Kernel CI (Continuous Integration) now includes the 3.2 and 3.3 based kernel packages for all the Linaro Landing Team development trees.
  • Final XBMC 11 Eden release is now available on the Overlay PPA and at the Linaro-TV XBMC images.
  • Contributions of more than 30 package uploads to Ubuntu 12.04 LTS Precise Pangolin release (now in beta).

• Infrastructure

  • Now provides ability for CI, android-build and ubuntu-build to easily and securely push files to snapshots to linaro.org.
    • Any build service (android-build, ci, ubuntu-build) with the access to appropriate private SSH keys can push files to snapshots.linaro.org web area and put them into their final destination.
  • Added support for native work items in Launchpad.
    • Launchpad parses/validates work items entered by users and stores them in a structured way in its database.
    • Work items are now a separate editable field from the whiteboard making blueprints more easily parsed.

• Graphics

  • glmark2 improvements and updates include:
    • Offscreen rendering support using framebuffer objects.
    • New command line switch to allow selection of end-of-frame method.
  • glcompbench improvements and updates include:
    • New 'blur' test.
    • Updated glproxy support.
  • glproxy includes enhanced selection of EGL vs. GLX based upon new detection API.
  • Unity3D compiz (core and plugins-main) updated to current trunk revision.

• Kernel

  • Samsung's UFS patches merged upstream into 3.4 kernel after intial review and feedback from Kernel Working Group (KWG) storage team.
  • Pinmux feature complete and device tree bindings almost completed. Member platform support progressing well.
  • Forward progress continues in support for eMMC4.5 features, including several patches upstreamed.

• Multimedia

  • Updated pulseaudio / alsa-lib including : Audio jack detection, new UCM configs for iMX6, Origen, and Snowball.

  • Initial source code only drop of TinyHal (aka UCM for Android) with support for Pandaboard.

  • libav AAC optimization complete improving software playback more than 2x on a8 but less than 2x on A9.

  • Speex for Android & Linux now includes NEON detection.

  • live-build updated to version (does a version # need to be added?) which includes : armhf support both native ARM and cross-compile, support for multistrap (and using the Linaro overlay as part of the bootstrap), support for build meta information.

• Power Management

  • Landed cpuidle enablement for member platforms.
    • Timekeeping code consolidation.
    • New cpuidle drivers for u8500 and i.MX6
    • Optimisations for exynos cpuidle driver.
  • Common struck clock was accepted for 3.4 kernel merge.
  • Cpuidle timekeeping consolidation work was accepted for 3.4 kernel merge.
  • Working on community feedback on common cpufreq cooling device for thermal management.

• Toolchain

  • The compiler now accounts for register pressure when scheduling instructions. This fixes many of the regressions seen in the past when using the vectoriser and some of the deeper optimisations. The backend now implements the ARM saturation and fixed to floating point instructions. These improvements were found when working on libav with the Linaro Multimedia Working Group during Linaro Connect Q1.12.
  • This month saw the upstream release of GCC 4.7.0. Our new work is already focused on Linaro GCC 4.7 with Linaro GCC 4.6 going into maintenance and Linaro GCC 4.5 going end of life. The first Linaro GCC 4.7 release will come out as part of next month’s 2012.04 bundle.
  • QEMU adds support for passing Device Tree blobs to the kernel. Interesting upstream improvements include new Samsung Exynos4210 and Calxeda Highbank models.
  • There is now GDB release for this month. We’re currently investigating first class upstream support for cross debugging Android NDK applications.

• Validation

  • LAVA can now do complex and long computations in the background if necessary.
  • LAVA Dispatcher can now be distributed to other machines using rabbitmq and celery.
  • Groups in LAVA can now be managed using Launchpad.
  • Added support for custom android command to users.

  • There is a lab health page showing every board health status on lava-server, available on http://validation.linaro.org/lava-server/scheduler/labhealth/.

  • LAVA now supports running access restricted jobs in the scheduler.

“Excellence is the Result of Caring more than others think is Wise, Risking more than others think is Safe, Dreaming more than others think is Practical, and Expecting more than others think is Possible.” ~ Ronnie Oldham

We are pleased to announce the release of Linaro 12.03.

Linaro 12.03 contains components delivered by all Linaro Teams –Working Groups, Landing Teams and Platform Teams– and brings an abundance of exciting updates and new features which are integrated on top of Android and Ubuntu. We, together with our members, partners and community continue to build future of Linux on ARM and the 12.03 release is one more step toward that future.

During the 12.03 release cycle, the Linaro Toolchain Working Group announced the 12.03 release of both Linaro GCC 4.6 and Linaro GCC 4.5. Linaro GCC 4.6 12.03 is the thirteenth release in the 4.6 series and is based off the latest GCC 4.6.3 release; it contains a new scheduler pressure pass, implements new instructions, and contains a number of bug fixes. Linaro GCC 4.5 12.03 is the nineteenth release in the 4.5 series and is based off the latest GCC 4.5.3+svn184976 release; this is a maintenance only update. Additionally, the Linaro Toolchain Working Group annouced the release of Linaro QEMU 12.03 which is based off upstream (trunk) QEMU, it includes a number of ARM-focused bug fixes and enhancements.

The Linaro Multimedia Working Group during the 12.03 Linaro release cycle added updates to the following: pulseaudio and alsa, initial source code only drop of TinyHal, libav AAC optimization and Speex for Android and Linux.

The Graphics Working Group also announced its contributions to the 12.03 release adding updates and improvements to the following components: glmark2, glcompbench, glproxy, nux and Unity.

Pre-built release images for the Android and Ubuntu LEBs are currenly available with each of the Linaro monthly releases; however, new with the Linaro 12.03 release is that now developers can get daily pre-builds of the Ubuntu LEB which will be based on the current release of Ubuntu. Pre-built images can be found at snapshots.linaro.org.

"The introduction of prebuilt images for Linaro's daily output will widen the reach of Linaro's integrated evaluation builds. One advantage to the availability of these daily builds is that it gives professionals using Windows and MacOSX the opportunity to more easily install these images using the standard tools which are commonly available in these environments", says Alexander Sack, Technical Director, Linaro Platforms.

Linaro Member Services Program Director, Vicky Janicki, says “Pre-built images save time and effort for our Members and their customers as a starting point for their work. Instead of hunting in different places for code, images, and working out licensing agreements, an engineer simply goes to the Linaro download site knowing all the pieces will work together. The engineer now has access to a current Linux kernel in less than 10 minutes.”

Additional items of interest from the Linaro 12.03 release cycle include:

Registration is now open for the Linaro Connect Q2.12 event being held at the Gold Coast Hotel in Hong Kong from 28 May through 1 June, and brings together some of the best software developers from the Linaro ecosystem to help develop and plan the future of Linux on ARM.

A 'Call for Submissions' for Linaro Connect Q2.12 Plenaries was also announced --Do you have a great idea you would like to present to the Linaro Connect Q2.12 attendees? Want to share a Linaro success story and motivate, inspire, excite or educate attendees? Then this is an opportunity for you to get involved in this Linaro Connect event. More information on how to submit your plenary talk ideas can be found in on the wiki.

We encourage everybody to use the 12.03 release. The download links for all images and components are available on our downloads page:

http://www.linaro.org/downloads/

See the detailed highlights of this release to get an overview of what has been accomplished by the Working Groups, Landing Teams and Platform Teams.

The release details are linked from the “Details” column for each released artifact on the release information:

http://wiki.linaro.org/Cycles/1202/Release#Release_Information

Using the Android-based images The Android-based images come in three parts: system, userdata and boot. These need to be combined to form a complete Android install. For an explanation of how to do this please see:

http://wiki.linaro.org/Platform/Android/ImageInstallation

If you are interested in getting the source and building these images yourself please see the following pages: http://wiki.linaro.org/Platform/Android/GetSource http://wiki.linaro.org/Platform/Android/BuildSource

Using the Ubuntu-based images The Ubuntu-based images consist of two parts. The first part is a hardware pack, which can be found under the hwpacks directory and contains hardware specific packages (such as the kernel and bootloader). The second part is the rootfs, which is combined with the hardware pack to create a complete image. For more information on how to create an image please see:

• http://wiki.linaro.org/Platform/DevPlatform/Ubuntu/ImageInstallation

Getting involved More information on Linaro can be found on our websites: * Homepage: http://www.linaro.org * Wiki: http://wiki.linaro.org

Also subscribe to the important Linaro mailing lists and join our IRC channels to stay on top of Linaro developments: * Announcements: http://lists.linaro.org/mailman/listinfo/linaro-announce * Development: http://lists.linaro.org/mailman/listinfo/linaro-dev * IRC: #linaro on irc.linaro.org or irc.freenode.net #linaro-android irc.linaro.org or irc.freenode.net Known issues with this release

For any errata issues, please see:

http://wiki.linaro.org/Cycles/1203/Release#Known_Issues

Bug reports for this release should be filed in Launchpad against the individual packages that are affected. If a suitable package cannot be identified, feel free to assign them to:

http://www.launchpad.net/linaro