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SDK/Docs/1.1/MeeGo SDK with Xephyr
The MeeGo SDK with Xephyr provides a development environment on Linux workstations for Netbook and Handheld applications.
This environment consists of a MeeGo image, converted for use as a chroot, combined with Xephyr, an X server for running the image's UX.
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Install a chroot
You have two alternatives here. Either:
- Download the MeeGo SDK Image for your target as described on the Getting Started page.
OR
- Make a chroot yourself by unpacking a stock image, as described in Building a MeeGo chroot on Linux. This is only recommended if you are comfortable with using Linux. If you build your own chroot, you will need to install some extra software into it, as described later.
Configure X on the host
This is to allow Xephyr to access the display:
$ xhost +SI:localuser:<user name>
Example for user named "bob":
$ xhost +SI:localuser:bob
(You need to do this once before running Xephyr or Qt Creator after each reboot)
"Change root" into the MeeGo image
You need MeeGo Image Creator (MIC) for this: install it using the instructions at http://wiki.meego.com/Image_Creation#Installation if you haven't already.
Run this command to chroot into the unpacked image:
$ sudo mic-chroot /path/to/chroot/dir
The output from running meego-sdk-chroot should look like this:
mount --bind /proc /home/ell/meego-sdk-0524/proc mount --bind /sys /home/ell/meego-sdk-0524/sys mount --bind /dev /home/ell/meego-sdk-0524/dev mount --bind /dev/pts /home/ell/meego-sdk-0524/dev/pts mount --bind /tmp /home/ell/meego-sdk-0524/tmp mount --bind /var/lib/dbus /home/ell/meego-sdk-0524/var/lib/dbus mount --bind /var/run/dbus /home/ell/meego-sdk-0524/var/run/dbus cp /etc/resolv.conf /home/ell/meego-sdk-0524/etc/resolv.conf root@meego-handset-sdk:/#
This is now a MeeGo chroot terminal. It behaves just like a terminal running in the MeeGo OS: paths, programs, libraries, and environment are all the same as those on a MeeGo OS netbook or handset.
Caution: If you later decide to delete the directory that you created, you should unmount the image first. Otherwise the contents of the image will be destroyed.
$ sudo umount <image destination directory>
Install extra software (if building your own chroot)
You only need to follow these steps if you are creating your own chroot from a stock image.
Start the MeeGo UI with Xephyr
- Check for Intel graphics chipset using this procedure.
If your system does not have Intel graphics, you cannot start Xephyr with the MeeGo image. However, you can still use the chroot to run MeeGo applications run on your desktop, or compile MeeGo software. Go to Application Development, below, for more details. - Launch Xephyr from inside the MeeGo chroot terminal with:
$ startmeego &
This starts the Xephyr server and runs a script to start the MeeGo UI.
MeeGo Handset UI in Xephyr
MeeGo Netbook UI in Xephyr
When you're done, stop Xephyr by closing the Xephyr window (click X in the upper corner).
Finally, exit the MeeGo chroot terminal with:
$ exit
This closes down any processes started inside the chroot and unmounts directories used by the chroot environment. The output should look something like this:
umount /home/ell/meego-sdk-0524/proc umount /home/ell/meego-sdk-0524/sys umount /home/ell/meego-sdk-0524/dev/pts umount /home/ell/meego-sdk-0524/dev umount /home/ell/meego-sdk-0524/tmp umount /home/ell/meego-sdk-0524/var/lib/dbus umount /home/ell/meego-sdk-0524/var/run/dbus
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Debugging the Simulator
If you are having issues running Xephyr, use the debug script to see what's happening:
startmeego-debug
This shows the console output from the script, which may give you some clues if it's not working correctly.
Application Development
The MeeGo chroot terminal can be used to build, run, and debug your application. You can do this with or without Xephyr.
Running without Xephyr: If you run your application from the command-line, it will run normally on your workstation. Although it is not running inside the MeeGo OS UI, it is still using the MeeGo libraries. You can put temporary code in your application to manually set its window size to that of a netbook (1024x800) or handheld (800x480 or 480x800) device.
Running with Xephyr: If you have Xephyr running already, before you start your application from the command-line you need to set the $DISPLAY variable to :2 tell your application to display in the Xephyr window. Otherwise it will use the default DISPLAY value of :0 and show up on your workstation.
$ export DISPLAY=:2 $ <start your application>
Building your application in the MeeGo chroot terminal is the same as doing so on a MeeGo system. You can use gcc, emacs, or any other Linux development tools you are comfortable with. (See Qt Creator IDE, below.)
Source Code Management
Source code is often managed by a version control system and checked in/out on your host workstation. To have your source directory available within the MeeGo chroot, you can mount --bind your source directory to a subdirectory in the MeeGo chroot. From a terminal on your host workstation, outside the MeeGo chroot:
$ sudo mount --bind <full path to source directory on host workstation> <full path to MeeGo chroot directory>/<subdirectory in MeeGo>
For example, using the directories in the example above where the chroot folder is located at /opt/meego-handset, do the following:
$ sudo mkdir /opt/meego-handset/root/src <-- Create a folder inside MeeGo to mount the source to $ sudo mount --bind /home/bob/src/ /opt/meego-handset/root/src/
Caution: Be sure to unmount this directory when finished and before rm -rf /path/to/chroot/dir at some later date or your source directory will be destroyed.
Qt Creator IDE
Qt Creator is part of MeeGo. You can launch Qt Creator from the MeeGo chroot. The following will open Qt Creator IDE on your workstation (not in Xephyr):
$ export DISPLAY=:0 $ qtcreator
From Qt Creator you can now load your project, build, run, and debug it as you would normally.
Installing other software
You can install additional software into the MeeGo chroot environment. From the MeeGo chroot terminal:
$ zypper install <package>
You can also upgrade the whole MeeGo image using:
$ zypper dup
Known issues
- Panels which rely on DBus (like the battery, networking) don't report devices properly.
- Applications that rely on DBus might work inconsistently because the host workstation's system bus is used.