...

• Create a new folder in a known existing folder via mkdir software
• Change into the new folder via cd software
• Clone the git repository via git clone https://github.com/altera-opensource/linux-sodfpga.git
• Change into the new folder via cd linux-socfpga://git
• Look into the tags inside the repository via git tag -l rel*
• Select one of the tags and check it out via git checkout rel_socfpga-<selection>
• Load the default configuration for the kernel via make ARCH=arm socfpga_defconfig
• Install packages for kernel configuration via sudo apt-get install libncurses5-dev
• Open the kernel configuration dialogue via make ARCH=arm menuconfig
• Configure the kernel according its needs or close the kernel configuration if no configuration should be done.
• Generate the kernel via make ARCH=arm LOCALVERSION= zImage
• If the previous command does not work, try to use this one: make ARCH=arm CROSS-COMPILE=arm-linux-gnueabihf LOCALVERSION= zImage
• After compilation, which can can last a longer time, the kernel should be in folder arch/arm/boot

...

Root filesystem generation

This guide leads through the rootfile system generation.

• Create a new folder in a known existing folder via mkdir rootfs
• Change into the new folder via cd rootfs
  
• Clone the git repository via git clone https://github.com/buildroot/buildroot
  
• Change into the new folder via cd buildroot
• Look into the branch overview inside the repository via git branch -a
  
• Select one of the branches and check it out via git checkout <selection>
• Open the buildroot configuration dialogue via make nconfig
• Configure the buildroot in this window:
  • Target options → Target Architecture → ARM (little endian)
  • Target options → Target Architecture Variant → cortex-A9
  • Target options → Target ABI → EABI
  • Target options → Enable NEON SIMD extension support
  • Target options → Floating point strategy → NEON
  • Toolchain → Toolchain type → Buildroot toolchain
  • System Configuration → System hostname → <Select a name>
  • System Configuration → System banner → <Select a system banner>
    
  • System Configuration → Init System → BusyBox
    
  • System Configuration → /dev management → Dynamic using devtmpfs only
    
  • System Configuration → Enable root login with password
    
  • System Configuration → Root password → root
    
  • System Configuration →Enable Run a getty (login prompt) after boot
    
  • Filesystem images → Enable tar the root filesystem
• Save the configuration via F6 → Enter → Enter
• Exit the configuration menu via F9
• Configure BusyBox if desired via make busybox-menuconfig
• Generate the root filesystem via make all
• After compilation, which can can last a longer time, the root filesystem (rootfs.tar) should be in folder buildroot/output/images/