[beagleboard] Qt Cross compiler for Beagleboard running ubuntu

However, I need to install a cross compiler on my host system so that
I can build my application for us on my target (the Beagleboard).
This is where I am running into issues. I cannot find anything online
for help with getting this to work.

Your message suggests you've picked an embedded distribution for
BeagleBoard on which you want to run a Qt-based application. If this is
the case then you should use the cross toolchain used to create that
embedded distribution. Angstrom works with Codesourcery or you can
build your own using Angstrom build commands. Ubuntu's distribution has
one you can install from their repos. This is the route I'd suggest
based on my understanding of your situation.

There is a page devoted to toolchains on eLinux.org:
http://www.elinux.org/Toolchains

Robert Nelson does a lot of work with Ubuntu for BeagleBoards. I found
a response from him that says to use this to get the toolchain on Ubuntu
for 12.04:

sudo apt-get install gcc-arm-linux-gnueabihf

See Redirecting to Google Groups!
topic/beagleboard/SxpmILBZrKI

If you're building your own distribution using something like
Buildroot/Busybox then you can roll your own toolchain with
Crosstool-NG.

If anyone has any experience with Qt on embedded linux, I would
greatly appreciate your input.

You need to make sure that Qt is included in the embedded distribution's
root file system. Angstrom probably has it available as an optional
package. I'm guessing, but Ubuntu probably does too since its likely to
be a big package and embedded systems try to reduce their rootfs
footprint. The trick to cross compiling individual applications is to
make sure you don't accidentally pick up any libraries or headers on the
host build system. You want to make sure you link against the files in
your rootfs of your embedded distribution.

Note that this description implies the use of a native toolchain, not a
cross toolchain. A native toolchain would be used to compile programs
on your BeagleBoard that is running an embedded distribution, in your
case Ubuntu. A cross toolchain is designed to allow you to build on
your host system (your destkop, for example) and run the compiled
program on your target system, re: your BeagleBoard. Robert Nelson's
comment was in response to a need for a cross toolchain.

My previous discussions were about getting a cross toolchain. I assume
your Ubuntu embedded distribution supports a native toolchain. In that
case you would install it just like any other package. You just have to
find out the name of the package. I'm guessing installling the
"build-essentials" package on your Ubuntu distro on the BeagleBoard
would get a native compiler, but I'm don't use Ubuntu much so that's
just a guess.