Building Linux-Kernel for Lichee Pi Nano

Prerequisites

Software Requirements

• Cross-compilation toolchain (see the hard-float vs soft-float section below — picking the wrong one silently breaks the build on older kernels)
• Git
• U-Boot (previously built, see three_uboot.rst in the official Lichee-Pi docs)
• Make and build essentials

Kernel Source Acquisition

There is no dedicated F1C100s/suniv defconfig shipped in mainline Linux — arch/arm/configs/ only has the generic sunxi_defconfig, which targets the ARMv7 sun4i–sun9i family (multi-core, VFP/NEON, HIGHMEM) and is the wrong architecture level for the Nano’s single ARMv5 core. Two source options actually work for this board:

# the community/vendor fork used by the official Lichee-Pi guide,
# pinned to an old-but-known-working config for this exact board.
git clone https://github.com/Lichee-Pi/linux.git --depth=1 -b nano-4.14-exp

This matches the lichee_nano_linux.config floating around the docs, but is a kernel 4.14 tree — see the toolchain section, it needs different compiler flags than a modern kernel.

Kernel Configuration

Load the nano defconfig

cp lichee_nano_linux.config .config
make ARCH=arm CROSS_COMPILE=arm-linux-gnueabi- oldconfig   # answers prompts for symbols new to your tree

oldconfig re-derives your config against the Kconfig of the tree you actually have — a raw cp of a years-old config over a modern source tree leaves it inconsistent (missing symbols that didn’t exist yet, stale ones that were removed).

Manual Configuration

make ARCH=arm CROSS_COMPILE=arm-linux-gnueabi- menuconfig

Essential Configuration Options

# System V IPC (required for fakeroot/packages)
General setup --->
    [*] System V IPC

Early console / low-level debug for seeing any boot output

1. Console is actually configured

(This section is to confirm that we got kernel log out of ttyS0 UART if you not configure that in boot.cmd (in previous u-boot post))

By default the kernel’s command line comes entirely from what U-Boot passes in (ARM_ATAG_DTB_COMPAT_CMDLINE_FROM_BOOTLOADER). If your boot.cmd/boot.scr never sets a console= in bootargs, the kernel has nowhere to print regardless of anything else below. Force a sane default that still lets the bootloader add its own args on top:

Boot options --->
    Kernel command line type (Extend bootloader kernel arguments)  --->
    Default kernel command string (CMDLINE): "console=ttyS0,115200n8 earlyprintk"

Toolchain: hard-float vs soft-float

The F1C100s core (ARM926EJ-S, ARMv5TE) has no hardware FPU. But in some sunxi guideline, they often recommend using the gnueabihf one. arm-linux-gnueabihf-gcc defaults to -mfloat-abi=hard, which is incompatible with that architecture level:

$ arm-linux-gnueabihf-gcc -march=armv5te -c test.c -o test.o
cc1: error: '-mfloat-abi=hard': selected architecture lacks an FPU

Modern kernel trees (mainline, 6.x/7.x) explicitly force -msoft-float in KBUILD_CFLAGS, so arm-linux-gnueabihf- still works fine there — build with hf for a current tree without issue.

Older kernels (e.g. the 4.14 Lichee-Pi fork) are different. arch/arm/Makefile decides the -march flag with a compiler probe

Fix: use the soft-float toolchain for this kernel, matching what the original Lichee-Pi guide specifies:

sudo apt-get install gcc-arm-linux-gnueabi   # note: no "hf" suffix
make ARCH=arm CROSS_COMPILE=arm-linux-gnueabi- HOSTCFLAGS="-fcommon" zImage -j$(nproc) 

Kernel Compilation

Build Kernel Image

# Old 4.14-era tree:
make ARCH=arm CROSS_COMPILE=arm-linux-gnueabi- HOSTCFLAGS="-fcommon" -j$(nproc) zImage

The compiled kernel will be located at arch/arm/boot/zImage.

Build Device Tree Blobs

make ARCH=arm CROSS_COMPILE=arm-linux-gnueabi- -j$(nproc) dtbs

For Lichee Pi Nano, the relevant DTB is:

• 4.14 tree: arch/arm/boot/dts/suniv-f1c100s-licheepi-nano.dtb

Build Modules (Optional)

make ARCH=arm CROSS_COMPILE=arm-linux-gnueabi- -j$(nproc) HOSTCFLAGS="-fcommon" modules
make ARCH=arm CROSS_COMPILE=arm-linux-gnueabi- INSTALL_MOD_PATH=./modules_install modules_install

Build Headers (Optional)

make ARCH=arm INSTALL_HDR_PATH=./headers_install headers_install

Flashing and Boot Command

Match the kernel/dtb load addresses U-Boot uses in boot.cmd to what your build actually produces;

setenv bootargs console=tty0 console=ttyS0,115200 panic=5 rootwait root=/dev/mmcblk0p2 rw
load mmc 0:1 0x80C00000 suniv-f1c100s-licheepi-nano.dtb
load mmc 0:1 0x80008000 zImage
bootz 0x80008000 - 0x80C00000

See the SD card partitioning guide for the full bootloader-to-kernel partition layout. This will help you to partition the sdcard into 3 region for boot, kernel and rootfs.

After copying zImage/*.dtb onto the SD card’s FAT partition, always sync before unmounting. A cp without a following sync/umount can leave the old file’s data still on the card even though the directory entry looks updated — the single most common reason a “rebuilt” image boots identically to the previous one.

Result

[    0.000000]     lowmem  : 0xc0000000 - 0xc2000000   (  32 MB)
[    0.000000]     pkmap   : 0xbfe00000 - 0xc0000000   (   2 MB)
[    0.000000]     modules : 0xbf000000 - 0xbfe00000   (  14 MB)
[    0.000000]       .text : 0xc0008000 - 0xc0700000   (7136 kB)
[    0.000000]       .init : 0xc0900000 - 0xc0a00000   (1024 kB)
[    0.000000]       .data : 0xc0a00000 - 0xc0a34fe0   ( 212 kB)
[    0.000000]        .bss : 0xc0a3a548 - 0xc0a785d4   ( 249 kB)
[    0.000000] SLUB: HWalign=32, Order=0-3, MinObjects=0, CPUs=1, Nodes=1
[    0.000000] NR_IRQS: 16, nr_irqs: 16, preallocated irqs: 16
[    0.000045] sched_clock: 32 bits at 24MHz, resolution 41ns, wraps every 89478484971ns
[    0.000109] clocksource: timer: mask: 0xffffffff max_cycles: 0xffffffff, max_idle_ns: 79635851949 ns
[    0.000601] Console: colour dummy device 80x30
[    0.000682] Calibrating delay loop... 203.16 BogoMIPS (lpj=1015808)
[    0.070223] pid_max: default: 32768 minimum: 301
[    0.070544] Mount-cache hash table entries: 1024 (order: 0, 4096 bytes)
[    0.070587] Mountpoint-cache hash table entries: 1024 (order: 0, 4096 bytes)
[    0.071950] CPU: Testing write buffer coherency: ok
[    0.073513] Setting up static identity map for 0x80100000 - 0x80100058
[    0.075923] devtmpfs: initialized
[    0.081470] clocksource: jiffies: mask: 0xffffffff max_cycles: 0xffffffff, max_idle_ns: 19112604462750000 ns
[    0.081530] futex hash table entries: 256 (order: -1, 3072 bytes)
[    0.081784] pinctrl core: initialized pinctrl subsystem
[    0.083545] random: get_random_u32 called from bucket_table_alloc+0x80/0x1a4 with crng_init=0
[    0.083780] NET: Registered protocol family 16
[    0.084948] DMA: preallocated 256 KiB pool for atomic coherent allocations
[    0.086651] cpuidle: using governor menu
[    0.108814] SCSI subsystem initialized
[    0.109148] usbcore: registered new interface driver usbfs
[    0.109290] usbcore: registered new interface driver hub
[    0.109478] usbcore: registered new device driver usb
[    0.109876] pps_core: LinuxPPS API ver. 1 registered
[    0.109901] pps_core: Software ver. 5.3.6 - Copyright 2005-2007 Rodolfo Giometti <giometti@linux.it>
[    0.109958] PTP clock support registered
[    0.110556] Advanced Linux Sound Architecture Driver Initialized.
[    0.111393] random: fast init done
[    0.113207] clocksource: Switched to clocksource timer
[    0.138375] NET: Registered protocol family 2
[    0.139654] TCP established hash table entries: 1024 (order: 0, 4096 bytes)
[    0.139722] TCP bind hash table entries: 1024 (order: 0, 4096 bytes)
[    0.139770] TCP: Hash tables configured (established 1024 bind 1024)
[    0.140027] UDP hash table entries: 256 (order: 0, 4096 bytes)
[    0.140081] UDP-Lite hash table entries: 256 (order: 0, 4096 bytes)
[    0.140494] NET: Registered protocol family 1
[    0.141439] RPC: Registered named UNIX socket transport module.
[    0.141478] RPC: Registered udp transport module.
[    0.141494] RPC: Registered tcp transport module.
[    0.141510] RPC: Registered tcp NFSv4.1 backchannel transport module.
[    0.142342] NetWinder Floating Point Emulator V0.97 (double precision)
[    0.144201] Initialise system trusted keyrings
[    0.144745] workingset: timestamp_bits=30 max_order=13 bucket_order=0
[    0.160615] NFS: Registering the id_resolver key type
[    0.160710] Key type id_resolver registered
[    0.160731] Key type id_legacy registered
[    0.173144] Key type asymmetric registered
[    0.173271] Asymmetric key parser 'x509' registered
[    0.173506] Block layer SCSI generic (bsg) driver version 0.4 loaded (major 251)
[    0.173537] io scheduler noop registered
[    0.173554] io scheduler deadline registered
[    0.174254] io scheduler cfq registered (default)
[    0.174285] io scheduler mq-deadline registered
[    0.174303] io scheduler kyber registered
[    0.175280] sun4i-usb-phy 1c13400.phy: Couldn't request ID GPIO
[    0.184614] suniv-pinctrl 1c20800.pinctrl: initialized sunXi PIO driver
[    0.346147] Serial: 8250/16550 driver, 8 ports, IRQ sharing disabled
[    0.352372] console [ttyS0] disabled
[    0.372610] 1c25000.serial: ttyS0 at MMIO 0x1c25000 (irq = 22, base_baud = 6250000) is a 16550A
[    0.852757] console [ttyS0] enabled
[    0.861578] SCSI Media Changer driver v0.25
[    0.867151] ehci_hcd: USB 2.0 'Enhanced' Host Controller (EHCI) Driver
[    0.873779] ehci-platform: EHCI generic platform driver
[    0.879236] ohci_hcd: USB 1.1 'Open' Host Controller (OHCI) Driver
[    0.885518] ohci-platform: OHCI generic platform driver
[    0.891091] usbcore: registered new interface driver usb-storage
[    0.898014] udc-core: couldn't find an available UDC - added [g_cdc] to list of pending drivers
[    0.907029] i2c /dev entries driver
[    0.973328] sunxi-mmc 1c0f000.mmc: base:0xc2853000 irq:18
[    0.980660] usbcore: registered new interface driver usbhid
[    0.986347] usbhid: USB HID core driver
[    1.007693] NET: Registered protocol family 17
[    1.012377] Key type dns_resolver registered
[    1.018785] Loading compiled-in X.509 certificates
[    1.033143] usb_phy_generic usb_phy_generic.0.auto: usb_phy_generic.0.auto supply vcc not found, using dummy regulator
[    1.044803] ------------[ cut here ]------------
[    1.049497] WARNING: CPU: 0 PID: 3 at drivers/usb/musb/sunxi.c:410 sunxi_musb_ep_offset+0x3c/0x54
[    1.058454] sunxi_musb_ep_offset called with non 0 offset
[    1.063891] Modules linked in:
[    1.066969] CPU: 0 PID: 3 Comm: kworker/0:0 Not tainted 4.14.0-licheepi-nano+ #1
[    1.074380] Hardware name: Allwinner suniv Family
[    1.079112] Workqueue: events deferred_probe_work_func
[    1.084363] [<c010df30>] (unwind_backtrace) from [<c010ae50>] (show_stack+0x10/0x14)
[    1.092117] [<c010ae50>] (show_stack) from [<c01161a4>] (__warn+0xcc/0xfc)
[    1.099054] [<c01161a4>] (__warn) from [<c0115e2c>] (warn_slowpath_fmt+0x38/0x48)
[    1.106597] [<c0115e2c>] (warn_slowpath_fmt) from [<c047b988>] (sunxi_musb_ep_offset+0x3c/0x54)
[    1.115345] [<c047b988>] (sunxi_musb_ep_offset) from [<c046efd0>] (ep_config_from_hw+0x70/0x144)
[    1.124168] [<c046efd0>] (ep_config_from_hw) from [<c04707f8>] (musb_probe+0x51c/0xc08)
[    1.132188] [<c04707f8>] (musb_probe) from [<c03f55a0>] (platform_drv_probe+0x50/0xb4)
[    1.140163] [<c03f55a0>] (platform_drv_probe) from [<c03f3de8>] (driver_probe_device+0x27c/0x394)
[    1.149083] [<c03f3de8>] (driver_probe_device) from [<c03f1ec0>] (bus_for_each_drv+0x70/0xa0)
[    1.157647] [<c03f1ec0>] (bus_for_each_drv) from [<c03f3824>] (__device_attach+0xd4/0x14c)
[    1.165950] [<c03f3824>] (__device_attach) from [<c03f2ed4>] (bus_probe_device+0x84/0x8c)
[    1.174161] [<c03f2ed4>] (bus_probe_device) from [<c03f0748>] (device_add+0x3c4/0x5e4)
[    1.182086] [<c03f0748>] (device_add) from [<c03f53a8>] (platform_device_add+0xe4/0x20c)
[    1.190218] [<c03f53a8>] (platform_device_add) from [<c03f5de4>] (platform_device_register_full+0xc4/0x144)
[    1.200015] [<c03f5de4>] (platform_device_register_full) from [<c047b5cc>] (sunxi_musb_probe+0x228/0x408)
[    1.209640] [<c047b5cc>] (sunxi_musb_probe) from [<c03f55a0>] (platform_drv_probe+0x50/0xb4)
[    1.218129] [<c03f55a0>] (platform_drv_probe) from [<c03f3de8>] (driver_probe_device+0x27c/0x394)
[    1.227040] [<c03f3de8>] (driver_probe_device) from [<c03f1ec0>] (bus_for_each_drv+0x70/0xa0)
[    1.235602] [<c03f1ec0>] (bus_for_each_drv) from [<c03f3824>] (__device_attach+0xd4/0x14c)
[    1.243907] [<c03f3824>] (__device_attach) from [<c03f2ed4>] (bus_probe_device+0x84/0x8c)
[    1.252086] [<c03f2ed4>] (bus_probe_device) from [<c03f32f4>] (deferred_probe_work_func+0x84/0x12c)
[    1.261183] [<c03f32f4>] (deferred_probe_work_func) from [<c012a330>] (process_one_work+0x1b8/0x3f8)
[    1.270362] [<c012a330>] (process_one_work) from [<c012ac44>] (worker_thread+0x254/0x598)
[    1.278586] [<c012ac44>] (worker_thread) from [<c012f514>] (kthread+0xf8/0x138)
[    1.285949] [<c012f514>] (kthread) from [<c0107768>] (ret_from_fork+0x14/0x2c)
[    1.293158] ---[ end trace 4936c8cbef917524 ]---
[    1.297826] musb-sunxi 1c13000.usb: Error unknown readb offset 128
[    1.304134] musb-hdrc musb-hdrc.1.auto: musb_init_controller failed with status -22
[    1.311914] musb-hdrc: probe of musb-hdrc.1.auto failed with error -22
[    1.321413] ALSA device list:
[    1.324505]   #0: Loopback 1
[    1.328697] Waiting for root device /dev/mmcblk0p2...
[    1.370506] mmc0: host does not support reading read-only switch, assuming write-enable
[    1.380634] mmc0: new high speed SDHC card at address 59b4
[    1.387174] mmcblk0: mmc0:59b4 LX32G 29.5 GiB
[    1.393736]  mmcblk0: p1 p2
[    1.425341] EXT4-fs (mmcblk0p2): couldn't mount as ext3 due to feature incompatibilities
[    1.452017] EXT4-fs (mmcblk0p2): mounted filesystem with ordered data mode. Opts: (null)
[    1.460305] VFS: Mounted root (ext4 filesystem) readonly on device 179:2.
[    1.468730] devtmpfs: error mounting -2
[    1.477079] Freeing unused kernel memory: 1024K
[    1.481823] Kernel panic - not syncing: No working init found.  Try passing init= option to kernel. See Linux Documentation/admin-guide/init.rst for guidance.
[    1.495965] CPU: 0 PID: 1 Comm: swapper Tainted: G        W       4.14.0-licheepi-nano+ #1
[    1.504203] Hardware name: Allwinner suniv Family
[    1.508979] [<c010df30>] (unwind_backtrace) from [<c010ae50>] (show_stack+0x10/0x14)
[    1.516729] [<c010ae50>] (show_stack) from [<c0115f60>] (panic+0xb4/0x22c)
[    1.523613] [<c0115f60>] (panic) from [<c0662934>] (kernel_init+0xd0/0x104)
[    1.530579] [<c0662934>] (kernel_init) from [<c0107768>] (ret_from_fork+0x14/0x2c)
[    1.538141] Rebooting in 10 seconds..
[   12.497211] Reboot failed -- System halted

Reference

Kernel guideline Sunxi guideline How-to