Build from Source

The Demos (gst-ai-*) and Python Apps use precompiled GStreamer plugins from apt. If you need to modify plugin source code (e.g., customize postprocessing logic, add custom model support) or write your own C/C++ inference programs, you can compile directly on the device.

Hello-QIM: Minimal C/C++ Example

Hello-QIM is a minimal runnable GStreamer application showing how to create a pipeline and capture camera frames in C++. Use it as a starting point for custom applications.

Download Source

radxa@airbox$

git clone https://github.com/quic/sample-apps-for-qualcomm-linux
cd sample-apps-for-qualcomm-linux/Hello-QIM

Prepare Source File

radxa@airbox$

cp main.cc gst-appsink.cc

Create Makefile

CC = g++
CFLAGS = -Wall -g $(shell pkg-config --cflags gstreamer-1.0)
LDFLAGS = $(shell pkg-config --libs gstreamer-1.0)

all: gst-appsink

gst-appsink: gst-appsink.o
	$(CC) -o $@ $^ $(LDFLAGS)

gst-appsink.o: gst-appsink.cc
	$(CC) $(CFLAGS) -c $<

clean:
	rm -f gst-appsink gst-appsink.o

Compile and Run

radxa@airbox$

make
./gst-appsink -w 1280 -h 720

Expected output:

Hello-QIM: Success creating pipeline and received camera frame.

If the device has no camera connected, pipeline creation still succeeds — it just won't receive frames.

Compiling QIM Plugins (Advanced)

If you need to modify the GStreamer plugins themselves (not just call them), compile all plugins from source.

Install Build Dependencies

radxa@airbox$

sudo apt install -y \
    qcom-adreno-dev \
    libgstreamer1.0-qcom-sample-apps-utils-dev

Download and Compile

radxa@airbox$

cd ~
apt source gst-plugins-qti-oss
cd gst-plugins-qti-oss-*
mkdir build && cd build

cmake \
   -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX=/usr \
   -DCMAKE_INSTALL_LIBDIR=lib/aarch64-linux-gnu \
   -DCMAKE_INSTALL_BINDIR=bin \
   -DCMAKE_INSTALL_SYSCONFDIR=/etc \
   -DGST_VERSION_REQUIRED=1.24.0 \
   -DENABLE_GST_PLUGIN_BASE=ON \
   -DENABLE_GST_ML_PLUGINS=ON \
   -DENABLE_GST_VIDEOPROC_PLUGINS=ON \
   -DENABLE_GST_SAMPLE_APPS=ON \
   ..

make -j$(nproc)
sudo make install

This produces approximately 34 plugin shared libraries (libgstqtimltflite.so, libgstqtimlvclassification.so, etc.).

Troubleshooting

CMake cannot find GStreamer

Check that GStreamer development packages are installed:

radxa@airbox$

pkg-config --modversion gstreamer-1.0

If not found:

radxa@airbox$

sudo apt install libgstreamer1.0-dev