How to build and use an SDK for QT

Revision as of 22:21, 24 September 2020 by Registered User
Under construction.png Coming soon

For internal use only. Not to be published as is.

STMicroelectronics does not distribute an SDK for QT, but it can be built following the information in this article.

1. Prerequisites[edit source]

Being able to rebuild an OpenSTLinux image

2. Build a QT OpenSTLinux image[edit source]

OpenSTLinux provides two examples of images that provides QT:

- based on weston/wayland; QT applications are displayed in independent windows and can coexist on the same screen with other non-QT applications; - based on EGLFS; only one QT application can access the screen and will be displayed in full-screen mode.

2.1. Build image QT with weston/wayland[edit source]

Under construction.png patches not merged yet in openSTlinux

This image will use QTwayland backend to run QT applications in independent windows managed by weston.

After (refrase this or link to another page)

 repo init ...
 repo sync

select the proper machine and distribution

 DISTRO=openstlinux-weston MACHINE=stm32mp1 source layers/meta-st/scripts/envsetup.sh

and read and accept EULA.

Then build the QT image and the QT SDK

 bitbake st-example-image-qtwayland
 bitbake meta-toolchain-qt5

The image can be flashed as usual (add link). Install the SDK in a folder (check if we suggest a folder):

 ./tmp-glibc/deploy/sdk/meta-toolchain-qt5-openstlinux-weston-stm32mp1-x86_64-toolchain-3.1-snapshot.sh -y -d <install_path_sdk>

2.2. Build image QT with EGLFS[edit source]

after (refrase this or link to another page)

 repo init ...
 repo sync

select the proper machine and distribution

 DISTRO=openstlinux-eglfs MACHINE=stm32mp1 source layers/meta-st/scripts/envsetup.sh

and read and accept EULA.

Then build the QT image and the QT SDK

 bitbake st-example-image-qt
 bitbake meta-toolchain-qt5

The image can be flashed as usual (add link). Install the SDK in a folder (check if we suggest a folder):

 ./tmp-glibc/deploy/sdk/meta-toolchain-qt5-openstlinux-eglfs-stm32mp1-x86_64-toolchain-3.1-snapshot.sh -y -d <install_path_sdk>

2.2.1. Select display resolution and size in EGLFS[edit source]

When using a display that accepts multiple resolutions, it is possible to specify the preferred resolution by editing the board file /usr/share/qt5/cursor.json. For example, for an HDMI display, change the line

{ "name": "HDMI1", "mode": "1280x720" },

and enter one of the valid resolutions reported by the command

 modetest

If the current display resolution is higher than the resolution requested by the QT application, QT will expand the application to run it in full screen. This can produce blurred images on the display and can impact the system performance.

It is possible to configure QT to use only one part of the overall display. For example, to use only an area of 400x300 pixels, add:

{ "name": "HDMI1", "mode": "1280x720", "size": "400x300" },


3. QT configuration[edit source]

By default, QT internal data use 64 bit per pixel (16 bit for each R, G, B, A components). It is possible to slightly improve the performance by forcing QT to use 32 bit per pixel (8 bit for each component). This can be achieved by editing the file layers/meta-st/meta-st-openstlinux/recipes-qt/qt5/qtbase_git.bbappend before the build

-QT_CONFIG_FLAGS += " -no-sse2 -no-opengles3"
+QT_CONFIG_FLAGS += " -no-sse2 -no-opengles3 -no-feature-raster-64bit"

The above setup can produce visible artefacts, so has to be evaluated case by case.

4. Build a QT application[edit source]

Enter in the folder that contains the application, enable the QT SDK and compile the application

 cd <path_of_app>
 . <install_path_sdk>/environment-setup-cortexa7t2hf-neon-vfpv4-ostl-linux-gnueabi
 qmake && make


5. Text taken from QT framework[edit source]

Qt[1][2][3] is a cross-platform application framework that is used to develop graphical user interfaces (GUIs) and multiplatform applications.

meta-qt5[4] is a Yocto compatible meta layer that provides recipes for Qt modules.

The OpenSTLinux distribution is ready to link with this meta layer.

The OpenSTLinux distribution offers the possibility to use an example of an image based on the QT framework (st-example-image-qt) as a demonstrator, not for developing products. For Qt-based products, the list of STMicroelectronics partners can be found on STMicroelectronics web site.

6. Reference list[edit source]

  1. https://www.qt.io/ Qt home page
  2. https://www.qt.io/qt-for-device-creation/ Qt for Embedded Devices
  3. https://www.qt.io/qt-for-application-development/ Qt for Application Development
  4. https://github.com/meta-qt5/meta-qt5/ Qt5 OpenEmbedded/Yocto Project layer