Building from source

First thing, clone git repository for yourself (if you haven’t done it already), see Set up the git repository and dev environment.

You’re going to need the following tools to get started:

  • gcc or clang

  • meson

  • ninja

  • pkg-config

  • sphinx-build*

* optional, to build man-pages and html documentation

And the following dependencies:

  • cmocka [1]

  • linux-headers [2]

  • libpci [2]

  • libusb1 [2]

  • libftdi1 [2]

  • libjaylink [2]

  • NI-845x driver & library package [3]

  • libcrypto [4]

If you are cross compiling, install the dependencies for your target.

TL;DR

meson setup builddir
meson compile -C builddir
meson test -C builddir
meson install -C builddir

Installing dependencies

Linux

  • Debian / Ubuntu

    apt-get install -y \
gcc meson ninja-build pkg-config python3-sphinx \
libcmocka-dev libpci-dev libusb-1.0-0-dev libftdi1-dev libjaylink-dev \
libssl-dev

  • ArchLinux / Manjaro

    pacman -S --noconfirm \
gcc meson ninja pkg-config python-sphinx cmocka \
pciutils libusb libftdi libjaylink \
openssl

  • openSUSE / SUSE

    zypper install -y \
gcc meson ninja pkg-config python3-Sphinx \
libcmocka-devel pciutils-devel libusb-1_0-devel libftdi1-devel libjaylink-devel

  • NixOS / nixpkgs

    • There is a shell.nix under scripts/

    nix-shell -p \
gcc meson ninja pkg-config sphinx \
cmocka pciutils libusb1 libftdi1 libjaylink

  • Alpine Linux

    apk add \
build-base meson ninja pkgconf py3-sphinx \
cmocka-dev pciutils-dev libusb-dev libjaylink-dev

Windows

  • MSYS2

    Install MSYS2 and ensure it is fully updated.

    • libpci is not available through the package manager and pci based programmer are not supported on Windows.

    • ni845x_spi is only available with the proprietary library from National Instruments. Download and install the driver from ni.com and build flashrom for 32-bit. Add -Dprogrammer=ni845x_spi to your meson configuration.

    In the MINGW64 shell run:

    pacman -Sy \
mingw-w64-x86_64-gcc mingw-w64-x86_64-meson mingw-w64-x86_64-ninja mingw-w64-x86_64-pkg-config mingw-w64-x86_64-python-sphinx \
mingw-w64-x86_64-cmocka mingw-w64-x86_64-libusb mingw-w64-x86_64-libftdi mingw-w64-x86_64-libjaylink-git

    For building flashrom as 32-bit application, use the MSYS2 MINGW32 shell and run:

    pacman -Sy \
mingw-w64-i686-gcc mingw-w64-i686-meson mingw-w64-i686-ninja mingw-w64-i686-pkg-config mingw-w64-i686-python-sphinx \
mingw-w64-i686-cmocka mingw-w64-i686-libusb mingw-w64-i686-libftdi mingw-w64-i686-libjaylink-git

MacOS

  • Homebrew

    • libpci is not available through the package manager

    • libjaylink is not available through the package manager

    brew install \
meson ninja pkg-config sphinx-doc \
libusb libftdi

BSD

  • FreeBSD / DragonFlyBSD

    • libusb1 is part of the system

    • libjaylink is not available through the package manager

    pkg install \
meson ninja pkgconf py39-sphinx \
cmocka libpci libftdi1

  • OpenBSD

    • libjaylink is not available through the package manager

    pkg_add \
meson ninja pkg-config py39-sphinx\
cmocka pciutils libusb1 libftdi1

  • NetBSD

    pkgin install \
meson ninja pkg-config py39-sphinx \
cmocka pciutils libusb1 libftdi1

OpenIndiana (Illumos, Solaris, SunOS)

  • libpci missing, pciutils is build without it

  • libftdi1 & libjaylink are not available through the package manager

  • TODO: replace build-essential with the default compiler

pkg install build-essential meson ninja cmocka libusb-1

DJGPP-DOS

Run the following commands in the the pciutils directory to build libpci for DOS.
Replace <DOS_INSTALL_ROOT> with your cross-compile install root.
make install-lib \
    ZLIB=no \
    DNS=no \
    HOST=i386-djgpp-djgpp \
    CROSS_COMPILE=i586-pc-msdosdjgpp- \
    STRIP="--strip-program=i586-pc-msdosdjgpp-strip -s" \
    PREFIX=<DOS_INSTALL_ROOT>

Point pkg-config to the <DOS_INSTALL_ROOT>

export PKG_CONFIG_SYSROOT=<DOS_INSTALL_ROOT>

  • To compile flashrom use the meson_cross/i586_djgpp_dos.txt cross-file

  • You will need CWSDPMI.EXE to run flashrom

libpayload

Configuration

In the flashrom repository run:

meson setup [builtin options] [flashrom options] <builddir>

Mesons [builtin options] can be displayed with meson setup --help. The flashrom specific options can be found in meson_options.txt in the top-level directory of flashrom and are used like in cmake with -Doption=value Run meson configure to display all configuration options.

Configuration for Crossbuilds

Flashrom specific cross-files can be found in the meson_cross folder. To use them run:

meson setup --cross-file <path/to/crossfile> [builtin options] [flashrom options] <builddir>

The options are the same as the normal configuration options. For more information see https://mesonbuild.com/Cross-compilation.html

Compiling

Run:

meson compile -C <builddir>

Update configuration

If you want to change your initial configuration for some reason (for example you discovered that a programmer is missing), run:

meson configure [updated builtin options] [updated flashrom options] <builddir>

Unit Tests

To execute the unit tests run:

meson test -C <builddir>

You will get a summary of the unit test results at the end.

Code coverage

gcov

Due to a bug in lcov, the html file will only be correct if lcov is not installed and gcovr is installed. See https://github.com/linux-test-project/lcov/issues/168 and https://github.com/mesonbuild/meson/issues/6747

To create the coverage target add -Db_coverage=true to your build configuration. After executing the tests, you can run

ninja -C <builddir> coverage

to generate the coverage report.

lcov / llvm

https://clang.llvm.org/docs/SourceBasedCodeCoverage.html Make sure that you are using clang as compiler, e.g. by setting CC=clang during configuration. Beside that you need to add -Dllvm_cov=enabled to your build configuration

CC=clang meson setup -Dllvm_cov=enable <builddir>
meson test -C <builddir>
ninja -C <builddir> llvm-cov-tests

For additional information see the meson documentation

Installing

To install flashrom and documentation, run:

meson install -C <builddir>

This will install flashrom under the PREFIX selected in the configuration phase. Default is /usr/local.

To install into a different directory use DESTDIR, like this:

DESTDIR=/your/destination/directory meson install -C <your_build_dir>

You can also set the prefix during configuration with:

meson setup --prefix <DESTDIR> <your_build_dir>

Create distribution package

To create a distribution tarball from your builddir, run:

meson dist -C <builddir>

This will collect all git tracked files and pack them into an archive.

Current flashrom version is in the VERSION file. To release a new flashrom version you need to change VERSION file and tag the changing commit.