Compiling a System for MaixCAM MaixPy

Why Customize the System?

Typically, you can download the latest system for MaixCAM directly from this link. However, there are some scenarios where you might need to customize the system:

  • For example, if you are mass-producing 1,000 products and want each to have your own application that automatically starts on boot, without configuring each one individually, you can modify the builtin_files and package a system. Once this system is flashed onto the boards, they will all include your custom files, eliminating the need to copy them again after booting.
  • If the official system does not include the software packages or drivers you need, you can compile your own system and select the packages you want to include.

Obtaining the Base System

The principle is to use a system from this link as the base (note that this system cannot be directly flashed onto MaixCAM as it may damage the screen), then copy the MaixCAM-specific files into the base system and repackage it into a system usable by MaixCAM.

If you don't need to customize the base system, you can directly download the latest system image from here.

If the base system doesn't meet your requirements, such as needing to add or remove some software packages and drivers, follow the instructions in the LicheeRV-Nano-Build repository README to compile the system. It's recommended to use Docker for compilation to avoid environment issues and to use bash instead of zsh.

Remember, the compiled system should not be flashed directly onto MaixCAM, as it might damage the screen.

Copying Files for MaixCAM

Prepare the following:

  • The base system, which is a .img or .img.xz file.
  • Additional files for MaixCAM can be downloaded from the MaixPy release page. Download the latest builtin_files.tar.xz.

If you need to add custom files to the system, you can extract the files and add them to the appropriate directory. For example, if you want a cat.jpg file to be in the /root directory after flashing, simply place cat.jpg in the root directory.

  • Download or clone the MaixPy source code locally.
  • Compile MaixPy to obtain the .whl installation package, or you can download the latest installation package from the MaixPy release page.

In the MaixPy/tools/os directory, run the following command:

./gen_os.sh <base_os_filepath> <maixpy_whl_filepath> <builtin_files_dir_path> [skip_build_apps] [device_name]

Here’s what each parameter means:

  • base_os_filepath: The path to the base system, in .img or .img.xz format.
  • maixpy_whl_filepath: The MaixPy package, in .whl format.
  • builtin_files_dir_path: The custom files for MaixCAM, which can be downloaded from the MaixPy release page.
  • skip_build_apps: Skip compiling built-in applications, optional arg. Set to 1 to skip, no this arg it will compile and copy apps from MaixCDK and MaixPy into the system.
  • device name: Can be maixcam or maixcam-pro

Example command:

./gen_os.sh '/home/xxx/.../LicheeRV-Nano-Build/install/soc_sg2002_licheervnano_sd/images/2024-08-13-14-43-0de38f.img' ../../dist/MaixPy-4.4.21-py3-none-any.whl '/home/xxx/.../sys_builtin_files' 0 maixcam-pro

After waiting for the built-in apps to compile and copy, you should find a maixcam-pro-2024-08-15-maixpy-v4.4.21.img.xz system image in the MaixPy/tools/os/tmp directory.