Build and Install the IgH Master

Building and Installing the IgH Master

This chapter describes the generic IgH build procedure. When using a customized package from the Rockchip SDK, refer first to Chapter 8, because its master and stmmac driver include platform-specific adaptations.

3.1 Obtaining the Source Code

git clone https://gitlab.com/etherlab.org/ethercat.git
cd ethercat

For product development, pin the source to a verified tag or commit instead of depending directly on the continuously changing master branch.

3.2 Configuring Build Options

First generate configure:

./bootstrap

Native build example:

./configure \
  --prefix=/opt/etherlab \
  --with-linux-dir=/lib/modules/$(uname -r)/build \
  --enable-generic=yes

Cross-compilation example:

export ARCH=arm64
export CROSS_COMPILE=aarch64-none-linux-gnu-

./configure \
  --host=aarch64-none-linux-gnu \
  --prefix=/opt/etherlab \
  --with-linux-dir=/path/to/kernel \
  --enable-generic=yes

Common options:

Option	Description
`--with-linux-dir=<path>`	Specifies the configured target kernel source directory
`--enable-generic=yes`	Builds the generic network driver `ec_generic`
`--enable-<driver>=yes`	Builds the specified native network driver supported by IgH
`--enable-wildcards=yes`	Allows wildcard matching in master device configuration; a fixed interface is still recommended for products
`--prefix=<path>`	Specifies the installation path for user-space libraries and tools

Available driver options vary by IgH version. Check the output from the current source tree:

./configure --help | less

3.3 Building and Installing

make -j$(nproc) all modules
sudo make modules_install install
sudo depmod -a

For cross-compilation, you can first install the files into a staging directory:

make -j$(nproc) all modules
make DESTDIR=$PWD/output modules_install install

Then deploy the kernel modules, shared libraries, headers, tools, and service files under output to the corresponding directories on the target system.

3.4 Verifying the Installation

find /lib/modules/$(uname -r) -name 'ec_*.ko*'
command -v ethercat
ldconfig -p | grep libethercat

If ethercat runs but reports that it cannot open the master device, continue checking the kernel modules and /dev/EtherCAT0 instead of checking only the user-space tool.