psc-kernel-payload

Reproducible, from-source build of the AutoBleem PlayStation Classic kernel-flasher payload — the kernel/ artefacts that abflashkit writes to the console:

Artefact	What it is
boot.img	U-Boot FIT image = LZ4 Linux 4.4.22 kernel + device tree, for the PSC's MediaTek MT8167 (aiv8167/rockman). dd'd onto the BOOTIMG1 partition.
abrootfs.tgz	The AutoBleem rootfs overlay unpacked to /data/autobleem/rootfs: the BlueZ Bluetooth stack (+ DualShock sixaxis plugin), WiFi (wpa_supplicant, iw, wireless .ko modules), SSH (dropbear), ntfs-3g/exfat, mc, nano, busybox — a self-contained glibc 2.28 userland plus the kernel's modules & firmware.
boot.md5, abrootfs.md5, recovery-{on,off}.img, install_payload.sh	flasher metadata + the on-console unpack script.

This replaces the lost old-GitLab pipeline (which shipped these as hand-assembled static artefacts) with one Buildroot external tree that rebuilds everything from source, incrementally and selectively, in the AutoBleem Docker build image.

What builds what

• Kernel → our own fork autobleem2/psc-kernel (Linux 4.4.22, board/psc/linux_autobleem_config), built separately from Buildroot by board/psc/build-kernel.sh with the console's own gcc-6 cross toolchain (Buildroot's newer gcc breaks the 4.4 fork's __asmeq asserts); post-image.sh wraps Image into the FIT boot.img exactly as the old uboot-support/packit.sh did (lz4 + size trailer + mkimage -f kernel.its).
• Userland → ~20 stock Buildroot packages (configs/psc_defconfig), built from source against a Buildroot-built glibc toolchain — no external cross toolchain needed.
• Bluetooth DualShock fix → board/psc/patches/bluez5_utils/ (the archived "DanTheMans" sixaxis.c patch), applied to Buildroot's bluez5_utils 5.54.
• AutoBleem-specific files (configs, systemd units, helper scripts, abnet) → board/psc/overlay/ (the rootfs overlay).

The kernel is autobleem2/psc-kernel (public; sources/psc-kernel is its submodule). psc-bluez, psc-rootfs and the 2020 abflashkit are private archives, mirrored from the old gitlab.autobleem.tk.

Quick start (on the build server)

git clone --recurse-submodules git@github.com:autobleem2/psc-kernel-payload.git
cd psc-kernel-payload

# one-time: extend the build image with Buildroot host deps (optional — the base
# autobleem-build image works too)
docker build -t autobleem-kernel-build -f docker/Dockerfile .

# full build (fetches + pins Buildroot, builds toolchain + kernel + userland,
# assembles the payload). First run is long; it is fully cached afterwards.
docker/run.sh scripts/build.sh all

# the payload:
ls output/images/psc-payload/kernel/

Incremental & selective (the fast test loop)

Everything is cached per package, so you rebuild only what changed:

docker/run.sh scripts/build.sh kernel          # rebuild ONLY the kernel + repack boot.img
docker/run.sh scripts/build.sh bluez5_utils    # rebuild ONLY BlueZ + reassemble abrootfs.tgz
docker/run.sh scripts/build.sh wpa_supplicant  # ...any Buildroot package by name
docker/run.sh scripts/build.sh clean dropbear  # force a from-scratch rebuild of one package
docker/run.sh scripts/build.sh assemble        # just repack the payload (no compiling)
docker/run.sh scripts/build.sh menuconfig      # change the config...
docker/run.sh scripts/build.sh savedefconfig   # ...then shrink it back into configs/psc_defconfig
docker/run.sh scripts/build.sh verify          # compare the result against reference/
docker/run.sh scripts/build.sh payload         # copy the payload out to ./payload/kernel

Kernel hacking is the tightest loop: edit sources/psc-kernel/, then scripts/build.sh kernel recompiles it from that working tree (via board/psc/build-kernel.sh, decoupled from Buildroot) and repacks boot.img in seconds.

Two variants: faithful vs improved

scripts/build.sh all               # faithful baseline (psc): 4.4 + BlueZ 5.54, matches today
scripts/build.sh -V next all       # improved image: newer BlueZ + userland, more WiFi dongles
scripts/build.sh -V next bluez5_utils   # ...selective, per variant

Both build the same GPU-safe 4.4 kernel and the same hand-tuned kernel config; next only adds — newer userland (Buildroot 2024.02), and more in-tree USB-WiFi drivers (ath9k_htc/carl9170/rtl8192cu) via a config fragment layered on top of your config, plus the full firmware set. The kernel major version is pinned at 4.4 by the PowerVR GPU blob (no mainline

CI: the rolling nightly release

Every successful build of develop replaces the assets of the rolling nightly pre-release and moves the nightly tag to that commit. autobleem2/autobleem-console-tools' build.yml kernel-payload job takes this release for every non-tag build (develop, master, a pull request, a manual run); a v* tag build takes the payload released under that same tag. A missing release or asset fails the job loudly — there is no fallback path to the old checked-in 2020 kernel/abrootfs files.

Keeping the nightly release current is what lets old alpha releases be deleted later without a console-tools develop build silently reverting to old payload files that were once left in the repo. driver), so "newer" means a modernised 4.4 + newer userland, not a newer kernel. See CLAUDE.md.

Installing a freshly built payload

Copy output/images/psc-payload/kernel/ over autobleem2/autobleem-console-tools → payload/Apps/abflashkit/kernel/, then build/flash through abflashkit as usual. ⚠ Flashing modifies the console's internal storage — always keep the LBOOT.EPB recovery backup the flasher makes.

Status

The psc baseline is flashed and running on a real console (2026-09-25/26: boots, the launcher runs, modules load, DS3 by cable + DS4 over Bluetooth pair, WiFi joins, pairings survive a reboot - see the hub's docs/todo.md KERNEL-1). See CLAUDE.md for the developer context, the reference-vs-build differences, and the remaining wiring (the AutoBleem overlay files, abnet source, firmware sets).

Licence

The kernel is GPL-2.0 (Linux); BlueZ is GPL-2.0; Buildroot recipes are GPL-2.0. Per-component upstream licences apply. AutoBleem-authored glue here is GPL-3.0-or-later, matching AutoBleem2.