[yocto] using Hob to run images on a custom simulator, other than qemu

[Mirela Rabulea]

Hello yocto world :)

This is my first message on any yocto list, I'm not sure which list to address, so I choose the ones which seemed the most generic and suited to my purpose. Please redirect me if a more specific list is better suited to ask this question.

The problem I see at present is: there is one single button in Hob, "Run Image", which is active only for qemu images, and it is triggering the execution of the "poky\scripts\runqemu" script. Please scroll down to the picture at end of this email to see what I'm talking about.

The question I want to ask is if it would be acceptable to add more buttons to the "Image details" dialog (or a new dialog to pop-up when "Run Image" is clicked), in order to allow the customization of the simulator to be launched, basically to specify the location & command line of such custom simulator. Who may advise in this matter? I am willing to contribute with changes.

The changes I anticipate would be necessary are:

1.       Changes in the GUI, somewhere in the python scripts from "poky\bitbake\lib\bb\ui\crumbs\", especially in imagedetailspage.py, maybe in builder.py

2.       Be more permissive with the types of images that are allowed to run. Currently, there are these restrictions related to the name and extension of the image in "poky\meta\classes\ image_types.bbclass", these need to be extended/customized:
RUNNABLE_IMAGE_TYPES ?= "ext2 ext3"
RUNNABLE_MACHINE_PATTERNS ?= "qemu"

BTW, here is how Hob "Image details" dialog currently looks like, note that the highlighted "Run Image" button shows up only for qemu images :
[cid:image001.png at 01D138CD.E6089BB0]

Regards,
Mirela

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