Building from source

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]
[1]
optional, for building unit testing
[2](1, 2, 3, 4, 5)
optional, depending on the selected programmer
[3]
optional, proprietary and Windows only. (See Windows build instructions)

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

  • ArchLinux / Manjaro

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

  • 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.