👋 Embedded Systems & Linux Blog — Yair Gadelov
Here I share in-depth articles, practical guides, and personal insights from my work in embedded systems, Linux/Yocto BSP development, real-time firmware, and system-level software engineering.
You’ll also find explorations of adjacent domains — from kernel drivers and PCIe bring-up to data pipelines, machine learning for trading, and software architecture best practices.
Typical topics include:
This blog is both a knowledge base and a personal journal of my engineering journey —
from hands-on hardware bring-up to complex embedded Linux platforms and beyond.
gdbforge: A Vim-Inspired Terminal UI for GDB — Embedded Linux, MPSoC, STM32, and Kernel kgdb
Published at August 20, 2026 · 4 min read
Introducing gdbforge — a multi-pane terminal debugger front-end for GDB and Delve, with Lua workflows for embedded Linux (remotegdb), Zynq MPSoC, STM32 bare-metal, and Linux kernel kgdb. Covers internal IO vs external terminal and one-command probe bring-up.
Running a Lua VM on a Microcontroller: Lessons, Trade-offs, and Hard Limits
Published at January 1, 2026 · 6 min read
A deep dive into integrating a Lua VM on an MCU-based system using Zephyr RTOS. Covers memory allocation, GC behavior, fragmentation, realtime constraints, and when scripting on bare metal actually makes sense.
Bringing Up the LSM6DSL IMU on Raspberry Pi: DT Overlays, IIO, FIFO, and the No-IRQ Reality
Published at December 4, 2025 · 7 min read
A deep, practical walkthrough of integrating the LSM6DSL IMU with Raspberry Pi 5 using I²C: Device Tree overlays, IIO buffer behavior, FIFO frames, debugging probe failures, and implementing a user-space polling fallback when no IRQ is available.
Building Xilinx Yocto (Scarthgap 5.0.4) Inside Docker
Published at December 1, 2025 · 2 min read
A practical guide to building and running Xilinx’s Yocto Scarthgap (Release 5.0.4) in a clean Docker environment, including repo initialization, bitbake setup, Dockerfile explanation, and Xen builds.
Accessible Embedded Games with STM32, Zephyr, and Lua
Published at October 19, 2025 · 5 min read
Designing an embedded system that combines Zephyr RTOS, Lua scripting, and an RGB LED matrix to build flexible, accessible games on STM32 hardware.
PCIe, BAR0, and DMA Explained with QEMU
Published at September 24, 2025 · 9 min read
Deep dive into how PCIe BAR0 registers control DMA engines, how devices become Bus Masters, and how to debug the logic with QEMU and Linux kernel drivers.
Modular Data Injection Architecture for Embedded Systems
Published at September 5, 2025 · 5 min read
Designing a flexible and portable interface-based architecture for managing data injection across MCUs, Embedded Linux, and mock environments.
SWUpdate: build, sign & install a minimal .swu that updates only an app + config
Published at July 26, 2025 · 6 min read
Everything you need to reliably create, sign, (optionally encrypt), verify and install a .swu with SWUpdate — plus Lua/postinstall hooks, hashes, handlers, and troubleshooting.
Secure Boot Path: From BootROM to Userspace in ZynqMP and i.MX8
Published at July 18, 2025 · 5 min read
Understanding secure boot validation flow, FIT signatures, eFUSE keys, and runtime integrity from SoC reset to Linux userspace. Includes comparison between Xilinx ZynqMP and NXP i.MX8.
Securing U-Boot with FIT Signature and Key Injection on ZynqMP
Published at July 17, 2025 · 4 min read
Step-by-step guide to configure secure boot in U-Boot using FIT signatures, public key injection, and Yocto integration for ZynqMP and similar SoCs.