Can't compile kernel module for BeagleBone Debian

Question

I'm following Derek Molloys guide to building loadable kernel modules, but get stuct at some points.

I have the kernel code in a .c-file: hello.c

#include <linux/init.h>             // Macros used to mark up functions e.g., __init __exit
#include <linux/module.h>           // Core header for loading LKMs into the kernel
#include <linux/kernel.h>           // Contains types, macros, functions for the kernel

MODULE_LICENSE("GPL");              ///< The license type -- this affects runtime behavior
MODULE_AUTHOR("Derek Molloy");      ///< The author -- visible when you use modinfo
MODULE_DESCRIPTION("A simple Linux driver for the BBB.");  ///< The description -- see modinfo
MODULE_VERSION("0.1");              ///< The version of the module

static char *name = "world";        ///< An example LKM argument -- default value is "world"
module_param(name, charp, S_IRUGO); ///< Param desc. charp = char ptr, S_IRUGO can be read/not changed
MODULE_PARM_DESC(name, "The name to display in /var/log/kern.log");  ///< parameter description

/** @brief The LKM initialization function
 *  The static keyword restricts the visibility of the function to within this C file. The __init
 *  macro means that for a built-in driver (not a LKM) the function is only used at initialization
 *  time and that it can be discarded and its memory freed up after that point.
 *  @return returns 0 if successful
 */
static int __init helloBBB_init(void){
   printk(KERN_INFO "EBB: Hello %s from the BBB LKM!\n", name);
   return 0;
}

/** @brief The LKM cleanup function
 *  Similar to the initialization function, it is static. The __exit macro notifies that if this
 *  code is used for a built-in driver (not a LKM) that this function is not required.
 */
static void __exit helloBBB_exit(void){
   printk(KERN_INFO "EBB: Goodbye %s from the BBB LKM!\n", name);
}

/** @brief A module must use the module_init() module_exit() macros from linux/init.h, which
 *  identify the initialization function at insertion time and the cleanup function (as
 *  listed above)
 */
module_init(helloBBB_init);
module_exit(helloBBB_exit);

and the makefile as this: Makefile

obj-m+=hello.o

all:
make -C /lib/modules/$(shell uname -r)/build/ M=$(PWD) modules
clean:
make -C /lib/modules/$(shell uname -r)/build/ M=$(PWD) clean

when I try to run make in a directory with onl the two above files, i get

Make: Nothing to be done for all

I'm running 3.8.13-bone47 , but I wasn't able to find the exact header files matching on this link that Derek recommended, so I downloaded 3.8.13-bone71 instead. Could that be the problem? Do I have to download the headers, when I'm compiling in directly on the BeagleBone? I have also tried change the lines in the Makefile to a hardcoded distribution name that matches mine (3.8.13-bone47), doesn't work either.

Thank you very much guys!

Answer 1

I solved my question. I had two problems:

Missing Tabs in Makefile I added a tab to the beginning of each line with a make statement. It has to be an actually tab, the <\\t> didn't work for me.

Wrong Header files It turns out that the proper version of the header files is quite important :) I got the ones from http://rcn-ee.net/deb/trusty-armhf/v3.8.13-bone47/ and added the mach/timex.h file, and was the able to follow Derek's guide from then on.