Build Environments: Getting started with Ubuntu x86
Embedded Wizard GUI application as Ubuntu x86 executable.
The following article explains all necessary steps to create an Embedded Wizard UI application for Ubuntu x86 using OpenGL ES 2.0 and Wayland.
Please follow these instructions carefully and step by step in order to ensure that you will get everything up and running on your target. In case you are not familiar with Embedded Wizard, please read first the chapter basic concepts and the Quick Tour tutorial to understand the principles of Embedded Wizard and the GUI development workflow. Moreover, this article assumes that you are familiar with Linux.
Prerequisites
First, make sure you have all of the following items:
Hardware components
★x86 based system with Ubuntu (e.g. version 23.04).
Software components
★Embedded Wizard Studio
You can download Embedded Wizard Studio directly from the following link:
EmbeddedWizard_Studio_x64-V15.00.msi
Customers can also find all their licensed software packages in the Embedded Wizard Download Center (login required).
★Embedded Wizard Build Environment for Ubuntu x86 with OpenGL and Wayland (Ubuntu-x86-OpenGL-Wayland)
You can download the suitable Build Environment from the following link:
Ubuntu-x86-OpenGL-Wayland-BuildEnvironment-V15.00.00.00.zip
Customers can also find the latest version of the Build Environment and their licensed Platform Package source codes in the Embedded Wizard Download Center (login required).
Preparing the Target
Prepare your Ubuntu-x86 reference platform (target):
★Install additional packages:
sudo apt install build-essential libgles2-mesa-dev libwayland-dev wayland-protocols
★Enable Wayland on Ubuntu, if not already enabled: Open /etc/gdm3/custom.conf and change line WaylandEnable=false to #WaylandEnable=false. If you are using the latest Ubuntu release, Wayland is already supported by default.
★Restart the display manager, if custom.conf was changed:
sudo systemctl restart gdm3
★Log out
★Log in with Ubuntu on Wayland option (at log-in dialog click the settings button (gear wheel) and select then the Ubuntu on Wayland option).
As a result, the Ubuntu-x86 target is now able to support applications using Wayland.
Installing Tools and Software
★Step 1: Install the latest version of Embedded Wizard Studio on your Windows PC.
★Step 2: Unpack the provided Embedded Wizard Build Environment for Ubuntu-x86 with OpenGL and Wayland (Ubuntu-x86-OpenGL-Wayland) into a new directory on your Windows PC(e.g. C:\Ubuntu-x86).
★Step 3: Share the directory of the Embedded Wizard Build Environment for Ubuntu-x86 with your Linux system (e.g. /mnt/hgfs/Ubuntu-x86).
TIP
In case you want to use Embedded Wizard Studio on a Linux environment, please follow our recommendations to run Embedded Wizard Studio with WINE on Linux.
Exploring the Build Environment
The provided Embedded Wizard Build Environment for Ubuntu-x86-OpenGL-Wayland contains everything you need to create, compile and link an Embedded Wizard UI application for the Ubuntu-x86 target. After unpacking, you will find the following subdirectories and files:
•\Application - This folder contains a ready-to-use project to compile and link an Embedded Wizard generated UI application. It is used for all provided examples and it can be used to build your own UI applications.
•\GeneratedCode - This folder is used to receive the generated code from an Embedded Wizard UI project. The template project is building the UI application out of this folder. You can create your own UI project and generate the code into the subdirectory \GeneratedCode without the need to adapt the project.
•\Project - This folder contains the prepared project for GCC (make).
•\Source - This folder contains the files main.c and ewmain.c. There you will find the initialization of the system and the main loop to drive an Embedded Wizard GUI application. The file ewconfig.h contains general configuration settings for the target system, like memory ranges and display parameter and configuration settings for the Embedded Wizard Graphics Engine and Runtime Environment.
•\Examples\<ScreenSize> - These folders contain a set of demo applications prepared for a dedicated screen size of 480x272 pixel, 800x480 pixel and 1280x720 pixel. Each example is stored in a separate folder containing the entire Embedded Wizard UI project. Every project contains the necessary profile settings for the Ubuntu-x86 target. For a complete overview and detailed descriptions of all available examples, including their features and usage, see Examples.
•\PlatformPackage - This folder contains the necessary source codes and/or libraries of the Linux OpenGL Platform Package: The Graphics Engine (in the subdirectory \RGBA8888) and the Runtime Environment (in the subdirectory \RTE).
•\TargetSpecific - This folder contains all configuration files and platform specific source codes. The different ew_bsp_xxx files implement the bridge between the Embedded Wizard UI application and the underlying Linux drivers in order to access the display, the serial interface and the touch driver.
Creating the UI Examples
For the first bring up of your system, we recommend to use the example 'HelloWorld':
Example 'HelloWorld' within Embedded Wizard Studio.
The following steps are necessary to generate the source code of this sample application:
★On your PC, navigate to the directory \Examples\<ScreenSize>\HelloWorld.
★Open the project file HelloWorld.ewp with your previously installed Embedded Wizard Studio. The entire project is well documented inline. You can run the UI application within the Prototyper by pressing Ctrl+F5.
★To start the code generator, select the menu items - or simply press F8. Embedded Wizard Studio generates now the sources files of the example project into the directory \Application\GeneratedCode.
Building the Binary
The following steps are necessary to build the Embedded Wizard UI sample application:
★Open a terminal window and change into the subfolder /Application/Project of the Embedded Wizard Build Environment.
★Change into the subfolder /Application/Project of the shared directory of the Embedded Wizard Build Environment for Ubuntu-x86:
cd /mnt/hgfs/Ubuntu-x86/Application/Project
★Compile and link the example application:
make
The resulting binary of the application EmbeddedWizard-Linux-OpenGL-Wayland will be stored in the current directory.
Executing the Binary
★Start the application:
./EmbeddedWizard-Linux-OpenGL-Wayland
As a result, the GUI application appears on the desktop of the Linux system.
All other examples can be created in the same way: Just open the desired example with Embedded Wizard Studio, generate code, rebuild the application and download it to the target.
Creating your own UI Applications
In order to create your own UI project suitable for the Ubuntu-x86 target, you can create a new project and select one of the 'Linux-OpenGL-<ScreenSize>' project templates that fits to your display:
As a result you get a new Embedded Wizard project, that contains the necessary Profile attributes suitable for the Ubuntu-x86 target:
The following profile settings are important for your target:
★The attribute PlatformPackage should refer to the Linux OpenGL Platform Package.
★The attribute ScreenSize should correspond to the display size of the Ubuntu-x86 target.
★The attribute OutputDirectory should refer to the \Application\GeneratedCode directory within your Build Environment. By using this template, it will be very easy to build the UI project for your target.
★The attribute CleanOutputDirectories should be set to true to ensure that unused source code within the output directory \Application\GeneratedCode will be deleted.
Now you can use the template project in the same manner as it was used for the provided examples to compile and link the binary.
After generating code, just build and execute your GUI application in the same way as described above.
Project settings related to the GUI application are taken directly out of the generated code - all other settings can be made directly within the file ewconfig.h, which contains general configuration settings for the target system.
Console output
The SSH client is very helpful to receive error messages or to display simple debug or trace messages from your Embedded Wizard UI application.
During a successful application startup, the console displays the following information:
Initialize Display... [OK] Initialize Touch Driver... [OK] Initialize Memory Manager... [OK] Initialize Platform Package... [OK] Initialize Invocation Queue... [OK] Create Embedded Wizard Root Object... [OK] Create Embedded Wizard Viewport... [OK] Starting Embedded Wizard main loop - press <p> to shutdown application... --------------------------------------------- Embedded Wizard System Info --------------------------------------------- Target system Ubuntu x86 (OpenGL ES 2.0/EGL/Wayland) Color format RGBA8888 Build Environment version V15.00.00.00 Runtime Environment (RTE) version V15.00 Graphics Engine (GFX) version V15.00 MemoryPool address 0xA738D3E0 MemoryPool size 33554432 bytes Display interface wayland Display size 800 x 480 Viewport size 800 x 480 Viewport rotation 0 EwScreenSize 800 x 480 Graphics accelerator OpenGL ES 2.0 Warp function support enabled Vector graphics support enabled Gradients support enabled Blur support enabled Mask support enabled Tint support enabled Bidirectional text support enabled Compression support enabled Index8 bitmap resource support enabled RGB565 bitmap resource support enabled Native bitmap resource support enabled Max surface cache size 8388608 bytes Glyph cache size 512 x 512 Max issue tasks 512 Operating system Embedded Linux Toolchain GCC C-Compiler version 13.3.0 Build date and time Nov 28 2025, 18:12:30 ---------------------------------------------
It can be used for all trace statements from your Embedded Wizard UI applications or for all debug messages from your C code.
Release notes
The following section contains the version history of the Build Environment (including Graphics Engine and Runtime Environment) for Ubuntu x86 with OpenGL and Wayland (Ubuntu-x86-OpenGL-Wayland). These release notes describe only the platform specific aspects - for all general improvements and enhancements please see the Embedded Wizard release notes.
Version 15.00.00.00
★Using Graphics Engine (GFX) and Runtime Environment (RTE) V15.00.
★Verified with Ubuntu 23.04 with 'Ubuntu on Wayland' option.