BeagleBoardUbuntu

(For BeagleBoardAngstrom, click here.)

This page is about running a distribution (ARM EABI) Ubuntu at BeagleBoard. BeagleBoard will boot the (ARM EABI) Ubuntu distribution from the SD card. Since much of this page is generic, it has also be extended to help support devices such as the PandaBoard and BeagleBone.


 * For the best experience, make sure you have an LCD/HDMI monitor attached to the BeagleBoard's HDMI port, 2 GB/4 GB/8 GB SD card, and a known good USB 2.0 hub with mouse and keyboard.

= Help =

If you need any help:


 * Kernel related help:
 * Email Beagleboard user group *Recommended method
 * #beagle: Beagle IRC on Freenode, accessible also by web interface (logs)
 * Kernel Tree's
 * Stable (3.2.x) branch
 * Stable (3.6.x) branch
 * Development Kernel source code


 * Ubuntu related help:
 * #ubuntu-arm: Ubuntu's ARM IRC on Freenode (logs -> year -> month -> day -> #ubuntu-arm.html)


 * When asking for help, please provide some debugging information:
 * U-Boot Version installed on board
 * Kernel Version: uname -a
 * pastebin dmesg
 * Copy from serial port or use "dmesg | pastebinit" (sudo apt-get install pastebinit)

= Required Beagle Software =

Mainline U-Boot:
 * All old Ax, Bx, Cx and Dx boards are required to upgrade to at least these U-Boot versions.
 * XM Boards have no NAND, so MLO/u-boot.img is always required on the first partition
 * Directions: Upgrade X-loader and U-Boot

= Omap Serial Changes =

boot.scr/boot.cmd changes:

With 2.6.35: console=ttyS2,115200n8

With 2.6.36/37+: console=ttyO2,115200n8

Serial console login: /etc/init/ttyO2.conf start on stopped rc RUNLEVEL=[2345] stop on runlevel [!2345] respawn exec /sbin/getty 115200 ttyO2

= Method 1: Download a Complete Pre-Configured Image =

Canonical/Ubuntu Images
Support: #ubuntu-arm: Ubuntu's ARM IRC on Freenode (logs -> year -> month -> day -> #ubuntu-arm.html)

Canonical only supports certain boards with images, at this moment. https://wiki.ubuntu.com/ARM/OMAP
 * BeagleBoard xM -> "omap"
 * PandaBoard & PandaBoard ES -> "omap4"

Demo Image

 * These demonstration images contain a custom Mainline based kernel with experimental enhancements to the boards supported. They are usually updated about once a month, as new features/enhancements get added by the community. Currently, this image ships with two kernel's "x" which is for mainline omap3+ devices (BeagleBoard/PandaBoard) and the "psp" which is for specifically the BeagleBone, as much of the kernel support for this device is currently in a TI Git kernel tree on arago-project. The kernel is stress tested by a farm of Panda/Beagle's running 24/7 under a heavy load (building gcc trunk/mainline kernel).

git clone git://github.com/RobertCNelson/stable-kernel.git cd stable-kernel (Panda) git checkout origin/v3.2.x -b v3.2.x (Beagle/Panda ES) git checkout origin/v3.6.x -b v3.6.x ./build_kernel.sh git clone git://github.com/RobertCNelson/linux-dev.git cd linux-dev git checkout origin/am33x-v3.2 -b am33x-v3.2 ./build_kernel.sh https://github.com/RobertCNelson/omap-image-builder
 * Advanced Users only: Beagle/Panda Kernel source, used in these demo images: https://github.com/RobertCNelson/stable-kernel
 * Advanced Users only: BeagleBone Kernel source, used in these demo images: https://github.com/RobertCNelson/linux-dev/tree/am33x-v3.2
 * Advanced Users only: Userspace, used in these demo images:

If the script in these demo images fail: email "bugs@rcn-ee.com" I need: terminal command, terminal log, distribution name, arch...

Quantal 12.10 armhf
Image Updated:
 * 2012-11-29: r2
 * Beagle/Panda ES: v3.6.8-x4 kernel
 * Panda: v3.2.34-x15 kernel (kernel bug, crashes with v3.6.x after a few hours)
 * Bone: v3.2.33-psp26 kernel (next release should be v3.7.x based)
 * October 19th: r1
 * Beagle/Panda ES: v3.6.2-x3 kernel
 * Panda: v3.2.32-x15 kernel (kernel bug, crashes with v3.6.x after a few hours)
 * Bone: v3.2.32-psp25 kernel
 * September 27th: beta2
 * Beagle/Panda: v3.2.30-x14 kernel
 * Bone: v3.2.30-psp23 kernel
 * September 10th: beta1
 * Beagle/Panda: v3.2.28-x14 kernel
 * Bone: v3.2.28-psp21 kernel (now with "backlight" support for CircuitCo LCD3)

Services Active: Note: Depending on your internal network these may work out the box Apache, Port 80: http://arm/ SSH, Port 22: ssh ubuntu@arm Getty, Serial Port

Default user: ubuntu pass: temppwd

Get prebuilt image:

wget http://rcn-ee.net/deb/rootfs/quantal/ubuntu-12.10-r2-minimal-armhf-2012-11-29.tar.xz mirrors (will take some time to update): wget http://ynezz.ibawizard.net/beagleboard/quantal/ubuntu-12.10-r2-minimal-armhf-2012-11-29.tar.xz

Verify image with: md5sum ubuntu-12.10-r2-minimal-armhf-2012-11-29.tar.xz b0ee1964a3f8196f4f1a501d1d2ac83a ubuntu-12.10-r2-minimal-armhf-2012-11-29.tar.xz

Unpack image: tar xJf ubuntu-12.10-r2-minimal-armhf-2012-11-29.tar.xz cd ubuntu-12.10-r2-minimal-armhf-2012-11-29

If you don't know the location of your SD card: sudo ./setup_sdcard.sh --probe-mmc

You should see something like

Are you sure? I don't see [/dev/idontknow], here is what I do see... fdisk -l: Disk /dev/sda: 500.1 GB, 500107862016 bytes <- x86 Root Drive Disk /dev/mmcblk0: 3957 MB, 3957325824 bytes <- MMC/SD card mount: /dev/sda1 on / type ext4 (rw,errors=remount-ro,commit=0) <- x86 Root Partition


 * In this example, we can see via mount, /dev/sda1 is the x86 rootfs, therefore /dev/mmcblk0 is the other drive in the system, which is the MMC/SD card that was inserted and should be used by ./setup_sdcard.sh...

Install image:

Quick install script for "board" sudo ./setup_sdcard.sh --mmc /dev/sdX --uboot board

"board" options:
 * BeagleBoard Ax/Bx - beagle_bx
 * BeagleBoard Cx/Dx - beagle_cx
 * BeagleBoard xM   - beagle_xm
 * BeagleBone Ax    - bone
 * PandaBoard Ax    - panda
 * PandaBoard ES    - panda_es

So for the BeagleBoard xM: sudo ./setup_sdcard.sh --mmc /dev/sdX --uboot beagle_xm


 * Additional Options
 * --rootfs
 * --swap_file 
 * --addon pico
 * --svideo-ntsc <use ntsc over dvi for video)
 * --svideo-pal <use pal over dvi for video)

You should now be able to unmount the SD card from you PC, insert into your Board, reboot and have the OS loaded.

For a basic framebuffer driven desktop environment: (make sure network is setup): Ethernet: "sudo ifconfig -a" and "sudo dhclient usb1" or "sudo dhclient eth0" Wireless: http://elinux.org/BeagleBoardUbuntu#Wifi_Networking_.28command_line.29

Then run: /bin/bash /boot/uboot/tools/ubuntu/minimal_lxde_desktop.sh

Additional Expansion Options:

Add "camera=li5m03" to uEnv.txt and run: /boot/uboot/tools/pkgs/aptina-media-ctl-n-yavta.sh /boot/uboot/tools/pkgs/aptina-test-capture.sh
 * Beagle xM with Leopard Imaging: li5m03
 * http://shop.leopardimaging.com/product.sc?productId=17

Advanced: Build Image:

Built with a fork of project-rootstock (ARM native mode, run directly on BeagleBoard), using a script from omap-image-builder:

git clone git://github.com/RobertCNelson/omap-image-builder.git cd omap-image-builder git checkout v2012.12-1 -b v2012.12-1 touch release ./build_image.sh

Precise 12.04 armhf
Image Updated:
 * Note: dropping after raring 2nd snapshot
 * 2012-11-29
 * Beagle/Panda ES: v3.6.8-x4 kernel
 * Panda: v3.2.34-x15 kernel (kernel bug, crashes with v3.6.x after a few hours)
 * Bone: v3.2.33-psp26 kernel (next release should be v3.7.x based)
 * October 19th: r8
 * Beagle/Panda ES: v3.6.2-x3 kernel
 * Panda: v3.2.32-x15 kernel (kernel bug, crashes with v3.6.x after a few hours)
 * Bone: v3.2.32-psp25 kernel
 * September 27th: r7
 * Beagle/Panda: v3.2.30-x14 kernel
 * Bone: v3.2.30-psp23 kernel
 * September 10th: r16
 * Beagle/Panda: v3.2.28-x14 kernel
 * Bone: v3.2.28-psp21 kernel (now with "backlight" support for CircuitCo LCD3)

Services Active: Note: Depending on your internal network these may work out the box Apache, Port 80: http://arm/ SSH, Port 22: ssh ubuntu@arm Getty, Serial Port

Default user: ubuntu pass: temppwd

Get prebuilt image:

wget http://rcn-ee.net/deb/rootfs/precise/ubuntu-12.04-r9-minimal-armhf-2012-11-29.tar.xz mirrors (will take some time to update): wget http://ynezz.ibawizard.net/beagleboard/precise/ubuntu-12.04-r9-minimal-armhf-2012-11-29.tar.xz

Verify image with: md5sum ubuntu-12.04-r9-minimal-armhf-2012-11-29.tar.xz 8ed60e5a86671366825f7adb1c0e7a27 ubuntu-12.04-r9-minimal-armhf-2012-11-29.tar.xz

Unpack image: tar xJf ubuntu-12.04-r9-minimal-armhf-2012-11-29.tar.xz cd ubuntu-12.04-r9-minimal-armhf-2012-11-29

If you don't know the location of your SD card: sudo ./setup_sdcard.sh --probe-mmc

You should see something like

Are you sure? I Don't see [/dev/idontknow], here is what I do see... fdisk -l: Disk /dev/sda: 500.1 GB, 500107862016 bytes <- x86 Root Drive Disk /dev/mmcblk0: 3957 MB, 3957325824 bytes <- MMC/SD card mount: /dev/sda1 on / type ext4 (rw,errors=remount-ro,commit=0) <- x86 Root Partition


 * In this example, we can see via mount, /dev/sda1 is the x86 rootfs, therefore /dev/mmcblk0 is the other drive in the system, which is the MMC/SD card that was inserted and should be used by ./setup_sdcard.sh...

Install image:

Quick install script for "board" sudo ./setup_sdcard.sh --mmc /dev/sdX --uboot "board"

"board" options:
 * BeagleBoard Ax/Bx - beagle_bx
 * BeagleBoard Cx/Dx - beagle_cx
 * BeagleBoard xM   - beagle_xm
 * BeagleBone Ax    - bone
 * PandaBoard Ax    - panda
 * PandaBoard ES    - panda_es

So for the BeagleBoard xM: sudo ./setup_sdcard.sh --mmc /dev/sdX --uboot beagle_xm


 * Additional Options
 * --rootfs
 * --swap_file 
 * --addon pico
 * --svideo-ntsc <use ntsc over dvi for video)
 * --svideo-pal <use pal over dvi for video)

You should now be able to unmount the SD card from you PC, insert into your board, reboot and have the OS loaded.

For a basic framebuffer driven desktop environment: (make sure network is setup): Ethernet: "sudo ifconfig -a" and "sudo dhclient usb1" or "sudo dhclient eth0" Wireless: http://elinux.org/BeagleBoardUbuntu#Wifi_Networking_.28command_line.29

Then run: /bin/bash /boot/uboot/tools/ubuntu/minimal_lxde_desktop.sh

Additional Expansion Options:

Add "camera=li5m03" to uEnv.txt and run: /boot/uboot/tools/pkgs/aptina-media-ctl-n-yavta.sh /boot/uboot/tools/pkgs/aptina-test-capture.sh
 * Beagle xM with Leopard Imaging: li5m03
 * http://shop.leopardimaging.com/product.sc?productId=17

Advanced: Build Image:

Built with a fork of project-rootstock (ARM native mode, run directly on beagleboard), using a script from omap-image-builder:

git clone git://github.com/RobertCNelson/omap-image-builder.git cd omap-image-builder git checkout v2012.12-1 -b v2012.12-1 touch release ./build_image.sh

Raring 13.04 armhf (development snapshot)
Image Updated:
 * 2012-11-29
 * Beagle/Panda ES: v3.6.8-x4 kernel
 * Panda: v3.2.34-x15 kernel (kernel bug, crashes with v3.6.x after a few hours)
 * Bone: v3.2.33-psp26 kernel (next release should be v3.7.x based)

Get prebuilt image:

wget http://rcn-ee.net/deb/rootfs/raring/ubuntu-raring-snapshot-minimal-2012-11-29.tar.xz

Verify image with: md5sum ubuntu-raring-snapshot-minimal-2012-11-29.tar.xz 6446224cab8dee94fee174f618096862 ubuntu-raring-snapshot-minimal-2012-11-29.tar.xz

Unpack image: tar xJf ubuntu-raring-snapshot-minimal-2012-11-29.tar.xz cd ubuntu-raring-snapshot-minimal-2012-11-29

Then follow directions show above with the other images...

= Method 2: Use the NetInstall method=

You will need a 1GB/2GB SD card or greater. Standard system : ~700 MB

Report Bugs/Issues to: https://github.com/RobertCNelson/netinstall/issues (anywhere else will be ignored..)

Download netinstall script: git clone git://github.com/RobertCNelson/netinstall.git cd netinstall

Current Support Ubuntu distributions: --distro oneiric (11.10) --distro precise-armhf (12.04) --distro quantal-armhf (12.10)

Old selection: *BeagleBoard Ax/Bx - beagle_bx *BeagleBoard Cx   - beagle_cx *BeagleBoard xMA/B/C   - beagle_xm *BeagleBone Ax    - bone *PandaBoard Ax    - panda *PandaBoard ES    - panda_es

Install script for sudo ./mk_mmc.sh --mmc /dev/sdX --uboot --distro

New selection: *BeagleBoard xMx - omap3-beagle-xm

Install script for new selection: (slowly migrating all devices to this method) sudo ./mk_mmc.sh --mmc /dev/sdX --dtb --distro

So for the xM: with quantal-armhf: sudo ./mk_mmc.sh --mmc /dev/sdX --uboot beagle_xm --distro quantal-armhf (or) sudo ./mk_mmc.sh --mmc /dev/sdX --dtb omap3-beagle-xm --distro quantal-armhf


 * Other Options:
 * --firmware : installs firmware
 * --serial-mode : debian-installer uses Serial Port

Place SD card into BeagleBoard and boot:

Configure the network: usb0: USB net <- (usually the OTG port) eth0: USB net <- (usually the smsc95xx adapter on the BeagleBoard and PandaBoard) wlan0: Wifi <- Your USDB-Wi-Fi device..

See my notes for my testing procedure: https://github.com/RobertCNelson/netinstall/blob/master/test.Ubuntu

Troubshooting: If boot fails.. nand erase 260000 20000
 * Hold the user button down to force booting from MMC
 * Upgrade X-loader and U-boot Upgrade X-loader and U-Boot
 * Clear U-boot's Environment Variables in nand:

NetInstall assumptions: Assume asll 's... Thanks you preseed.conf!!!

= Method 3: Manual Install (no automatic scripts)=

For this section, you can use the files from above: Demo Images: http://elinux.org/BeagleBoardUbuntu#Demo_Image Rootstock: http://elinux.org/BeagleBoardUbuntu#Build_an_Ubuntu_root_file_system_with_RootStock

BUT it assumes you have your own kernel uImage/modules from any of the many sources..

Partition SD Card
You will need a 1 GB SD card or greater. Standard Console System : ~286 MB + Desktop environment (lxde,gdm) : ~479 MB

Starting with an empty SD card and using gparted, create: 50 MiB Primary Partition, FAT16/FAT32 Rest as ext2/ext3/ext4/btrfs

First, blank the MMC card's partition table with parted: (/dev/sdX as an example) sudo parted -s /dev/sdX mklabel msdos

With fdisk: (note: GNU Fdisk doesn't work..) sudo fdisk /dev/sdX << __EOF__ n p 1 +64M t e p w __EOF__

Make sure to set the partition boot flag sudo parted --script /dev/sdX set 1 boot on

And format it as vfat: sudo mkfs.vfat -F 16 /dev/sdX1 -n boot

The rootfs partition, doesn't need any special options, so just use fdisk, gparted, etc. to create and format your rootfs partition..

Gparted Example: http://nishanthmenon.blogspot.com/2008/08/how-to-boot-beagle.html

Boot Partition
Requirements:

Mount the fatfs partition of your SD card.

Mount such as: (/dev/sdX1 is the fat Boot Partition) mkdir -p ./tmp sudo mount /dev/sdX1 ./tmp

Beagle/Beagle xM
Download and copy MLO and U-Boot from here:

First download "http://rcn-ee.net/deb/tools/beagleboard/MLO-beagleboard-v2012.10-r0" as MLO to the Boot Partition Then download "http://rcn-ee.net/deb/tools/beagleboard/u-boot-beagleboard-v2012.10-r0.img" as u-boot.img to the Boot Partition

BeagleBone
Download and copy MLO and U-Boot from here:

First download "http://rcn-ee.net/deb/tools/beaglebone/MLO-beaglebone-v2012.10-r1" as MLO to the Boot Partition Then download "http://rcn-ee.net/deb/tools/beaglebone/u-boot-beaglebone-v2012.10-r1.img" as u-boot.img to the Boot Partition

Panda/Panda ES
Download and copy MLO and U-Boot from here:

First download "http://rcn-ee.net/deb/tools/pandaboard/MLO-pandaboard-v2012.10-r1" as MLO to the Boot Partition Then download "http://rcn-ee.net/deb/tools/pandaboard/u-boot-pandaboard-v2012.10-r1.img" as u-boot.img to the Boot Partition

U-Boot Boot Scripts
The version of U-Boot installed or recommended to install uses boot scripts by default. This allows users to easily switch between multiple SD cards with different OS's with different parameters installed. Ubuntu/Debian requires a slight modification to the bootargs line vs. Angstrom, 'ro' vs 'rw'.

fixrtc: (only uInitrd) Resets RTC based on last mount buddy=${buddy}: (both) Kernel Zippy1/2 Support mpurate=${mpurate}: (recommended core clock)

boot.scr -> uEnv.txt
Newer version's of u-boot now look for a uEnv.txt file vs the older boot.scr, since most boards still use the older boot.scr here's an easy compatibility script:

create a new file: uEnv.txt bootenv=boot.scr loaduimage=fatload mmc ${mmcdev} ${loadaddr} ${bootenv} mmcboot=echo Running boot.scr script from mmc ...; source ${loadaddr}

Beagle Bx/Cx
create a new file: uEnv.txt console=ttyO2,115200n8 vram=12MB defaultdisplay=dvi dvimode=1280x720MR-16@60 optargs=console=tty0 mmcroot=/dev/mmcblk0p2 ro mmcrootfstype=ext4 rootwait fixrtc xyz_load_image=fatload mmc 0:1 0x80300000 zImage xyz_load_initrd=fatload mmc 0:1 0x81600000 initrd.img; setenv initrd_size ${filesize} xyz_load_dtb=fatload mmc 0:1 0x815f0000 /dtbs/${dtb_file} video_args=setenv video vram=${vram} omapfb.mode=${defaultdisplay}:${dvimode} omapdss.def_disp=${defaultdisplay} expansion_args=setenv expansion buddy=${buddy} buddy2=${buddy2} musb_hdrc.fifo_mode=5 mmcargs=setenv bootargs console=${console} ${optargs} ${video} root=${mmcroot} rootfstype=${mmcrootfstype} ${expansion} device_args=run video_args; run expansion_args; run mmcargs xyz_mmcboot=run xyz_load_image; run xyz_load_initrd; echo Booting from mmc ... loaduimage=run xyz_mmcboot; run device_args; bootz 0x80300000 0x81600000:${initrd_size}
 * 1) zImage and initrd.gz:
 * 1) zImage only:
 * 2) xyz_mmcboot=run xyz_load_image; echo Booting from mmc ...
 * 3) loaduimage=run xyz_mmcboot; run device_args; bootz 0x80300000

Beagle xM
Create a new file: uEnv.txt console=ttyO2,115200n8 vram=12MB defaultdisplay=dvi dvimode=1280x720MR-16@60 optargs=console=tty0 mmcroot=/dev/mmcblk0p2 ro mmcrootfstype=ext4 rootwait fixrtc xyz_load_image=fatload mmc 0:1 0x80300000 zImage xyz_load_initrd=fatload mmc 0:1 0x81600000 initrd.img; setenv initrd_size ${filesize} xyz_load_dtb=fatload mmc 0:1 0x815f0000 /dtbs/${dtb_file} video_args=setenv video vram=${vram} omapfb.mode=${defaultdisplay}:${dvimode} omapdss.def_disp=${defaultdisplay} expansion_args=setenv expansion buddy=${buddy} buddy2=${buddy2} camera=${camera} mmcargs=setenv bootargs console=${console} ${optargs} ${video} root=${mmcroot} rootfstype=${mmcrootfstype} ${expansion} device_args=run video_args; run expansion_args; run mmcargs xyz_mmcboot=run xyz_load_image; run xyz_load_initrd; echo Booting from mmc ... loaduimage=run xyz_mmcboot; run device_args; bootz 0x80300000 0x81600000:${initrd_size}
 * 1) zImage and initrd.gz:
 * 1) zImage only:
 * 2) xyz_mmcboot=run xyz_load_image; echo Booting from mmc ...
 * 3) loaduimage=run xyz_mmcboot; run device_args; bootz 0x80300000

BeagleBone
Create a new file: uEnv.txt console=ttyO2,115200n8 mmcroot=/dev/mmcblk0p2 ro mmcrootfstype=ext4 rootwait fixrtc xyz_load_image=fatload mmc 0:1 0x80300000 zImage xyz_load_initrd=fatload mmc 0:1 0x81600000 initrd.img; setenv initrd_size ${filesize} xyz_load_dtb=fatload mmc 0:1 0x815f0000 /dtbs/${dtb_file} mmcargs=setenv bootargs console=${console} ${optargs} root=${mmcroot} rootfstype=${mmcrootfstype} xyz_mmcboot=run xyz_load_image; run xyz_load_initrd; echo Booting from mmc ... loaduimage=run xyz_mmcboot; run mmcargs; bootz 0x80300000 0x81600000:${initrd_size}
 * 1) zImage and initrd.gz:
 * 1) zImage only:
 * 2) xyz_mmcboot=run xyz_load_image; echo Booting from mmc ...
 * 3) loaduimage=run xyz_mmcboot; run mmcargs; bootz 0x80300000

Panda/Panda ES
Create a new file: uEnv.txt console=ttyO2,115200n8 vram=16MB defaultdisplay=dvi dvimode=1280x720MR-16@60 optargs=console=tty0 mmcroot=/dev/mmcblk0p2 ro mmcrootfstype=ext4 rootwait fixrtc xyz_load_image=fatload mmc 0:1 0x80300000 zImage xyz_load_initrd=fatload mmc 0:1 0x81600000 initrd.img; setenv initrd_size ${filesize} xyz_load_dtb=fatload mmc 0:1 0x815f0000 /dtbs/${dtb_file} video_args=setenv video vram=${vram} omapfb.mode=${defaultdisplay}:${dvimode} omapdss.def_disp=${defaultdisplay} expansion_args=setenv expansion buddy=${buddy} buddy2=${buddy2} mmcargs=setenv bootargs console=${console} ${optargs} ${video} root=${mmcroot} rootfstype=${mmcrootfstype} ${expansion} device_args=run video_args; run expansion_args; run mmcargs xyz_mmcboot=run xyz_load_image; run xyz_load_initrd; echo Booting from mmc ... loaduimage=run xyz_mmcboot; run device_args; bootz 0x80300000 0x81600000:${initrd_size} Umount the boot partition:
 * 1) zImage and initrd.gz:
 * 1) zImage only:
 * 2) xyz_mmcboot=run xyz_load_image; echo Booting from mmc ...
 * 3) loaduimage=run xyz_mmcboot; run device_args; bootz 0x80300000

sudo umount ./tmp

RootFS Partition
Root File System

Mount your SD card's larger root file system partition (assuming /dev/sdX2) and 'untar' the rootfs into it.

mkdir -p ./tmp sudo mount /dev/sdX2 ./tmp sudo tar xfp arm*-rootfs-*.tgz -C ./tmp sudo umount ./tmp

Enable Network Access
Modify /etc/network/interfaces auto eth0 iface eth0 inet dhcp

Manual: From the command line sudo ifconfig -a sudo dhclient ethX (or wlanX/etc..)

Additional network setup information can be found HERE.

= Advanced =

Script File
Latest Stable is: https://github.com/RobertCNelson/stable-kernel

export DIST=oneiric (options are lucid/maverick/natty/oneiric/precise/squeeze/wheezy) export ARCH=armel (options are armel/armhf (armhf only for precise)) Beagle/Panda export BOARD=omap BeagleBone export BOARD=omap-psp wget http://rcn-ee.net/deb/${DIST}-${ARCH}/LATEST-${BOARD} wget $(cat ./LATEST-${BOARD} | grep STABLE | awk '{print $3}') /bin/bash install-me.sh

Reboot with your new uImage.

Upgrade X-loader and U-boot

 * Note: the functionality of the "X-Loader" project has been merged as u-boot spl.

Compatible with old Ax, Bx, Cx, and Dx BeagleBoards

Note: Sometimes on these older boards, you just have to clear out the stored U-Boot environment variables in nand to make this script work: nand erase 260000 20000

Or: To fully erase the NAND.. nand erase.chip

Requires MMC card..

git clone git://github.com/RobertCNelson/flasher.git cd flasher

For the Beagle Ax/Bx sudo ./mk_mmc.sh --mmc /dev/sdX --uboot beagle_bx

For the Beagle Cx/Dx sudo ./mk_mmc.sh --mmc /dev/sdX --uboot beagle_cx

1: Plug Serial Cable in and Start Serial terminal program 2: Place MMC card in Beagle 3: Push and hold the user button 4: Plug-in power 5: Wait for U-Boot countdown to finish, and let off user button 6: Wait for flashing/script to end 7: Power down, remove and reformat MMC card to final OS

If you don't know the location of your SD card: sudo ./mk_mmc.sh --probe-mmc

You should see something like

Are you sure? I don't see [/dev/idontknow], here is what I do see... fdisk -l: Disk /dev/sda: 500.1 GB, 500107862016 bytes <- x86 Root Drive Disk /dev/mmcblk0: 3957 MB, 3957325824 bytes <- MMC/SD card mount: /dev/sda1 on / type ext4 (rw,errors=remount-ro,commit=0) <- x86 Root Partition


 * In this example, we can see via mount, /dev/sda1 is the x86 rootfs, therefore /dev/mmcblk0 is the other drive in the system, which is the MMC/SD card that was inserted and should be used by ./mk_mmc.sh...

SGX armel/armhf v3.4.x+

 * Note: This is a still a work in progress, but so far all the basic sgx demos seem to work on my Beagle xM C... Thanks to TI for the special armhf binaries!!! --RobertCNelson 19:48, 17 July 2012 (UTC)


 * Test with: Precise/12.04 armhf demo image with v3.4.5-x1, desktop was lxde via: "sudo apt-get install lxde lxde-core lxde-icon-theme"

Re-Build Kernel and SGX Kernel Modules
git clone git://github.com/RobertCNelson/stable-kernel.git cd stable-kernel git checkout origin/v3.6.x -b v3.6.x ./build_kernel.sh (and then follow the directions as the script runs...)

Build kernel ./build_kernel.sh

Build SGX modules ./sgx_build_modules.sh

Insert SD card, make sure to modify MMC in system.sh ./tools/install_image.sh

Place SD card into the device and boot... cd /opt/sgx sudo tar xf GFX_4.0*_libs.tar.gz sudo ./install-sgx.sh

Reboot, check modules (lsmod): Module                 Size  Used by bufferclass_ti          5727  0 omaplfb               11512  0 pvrsrvkm             165208  2 bufferclass_ti,omaplfb

Blit Test: ubuntu@omap:/usr/bin/armhf/es5.0$ ./sgx_blit_test -- SGX 3D Blit test - --- Start --- Call PVRSRVConnect with a valid argument: OK Get number of devices from PVRSRVEnumerateDevices: OK .... Reported 1 devices .... Device Number | Device Type 0000   | PVRSRV_DEVICE_ID_SGX Attempt to acquire device 0: OK Getting SGX Client info OK .... ui32ProcessID:1133 Display Class API: enumerate devices OK PVRSRVEnumerateDeviceClass returns 1 display device(s) OK Display Class API: open device OK Display Class API: Get display info OK .... Name:PowerVR OMAP Linux Display Driver .... MaxSwapChains:1 .... MaxSwapChainBuffers:1 .... MinSwapInterval:0 .... MaxSwapInterval:1 Display Class API: enumerate display formats OK OK .... Display format 0 - Pixelformat:1 Display Class API: enumerate display dimensions OK OK .... Display dimensions 0 - ByteStride:2560 Width:1280 Height:720 Attempt to create memory context for SGX: OK .... Shared heap 0 - HeapID:0x7000000 DevVAddr:0x1000 Size:0x87fe000 Attr:0x2014200 .... Shared heap 1 - HeapID:0x7000001 DevVAddr:0xc800000 Size:0xfff000 Attr:0x2024200 .... Shared heap 2 - HeapID:0x7000002 DevVAddr:0xe400000 Size:0x7f000 Attr:0x2024200 .... Shared heap 3 - HeapID:0x7000003 DevVAddr:0xf000000 Size:0x3ff000 Attr:0x2024200 .... Shared heap 4 - HeapID:0x7000004 DevVAddr:0xf400000 Size:0x4ff000 Attr:0x2014200 .... Shared heap 5 - HeapID:0x7000005 DevVAddr:0xfc00000 Size:0x1ff000 Attr:0x2014200 .... Shared heap 6 - HeapID:0x7000006 DevVAddr:0xdc00000 Size:0x7ff000 Attr:0x2014200 .... Shared heap 7 - HeapID:0x7000007 DevVAddr:0xe800000 Size:0x7ff000 Attr:0x2014200 .... Shared heap 8 - HeapID:0x7000008 DevVAddr:0xd800000 Size:0x3ff000 Attr:0x2024200 .... Shared heap 9 - HeapID:0x7000009 DevVAddr:0x8800000 Size:0x0 Attr:0x2024200 .... Shared heap 10 - HeapID:0x700000a DevVAddr:0x8800000 Size:0x3fff000 Attr:0x2014200 Display Class API: get the system (primary) buffer OK Display Class API: map display surface to SGX OK Attempt to create transfer context for SGX: OK Do a SRCCOPY blit to the bottom right quadrant of the display: (bottom right quadrant should be red on blue background): OK OK Do a SRCCOPY blit to the top left quadrant of the display: (top left quadrant should be striped (r/g/b/w) on blue background): OK OK Do a CUSTOMSHADER blit to the top right quadrant of the display: (top right quadrant should be yellow): 0xb6acd000 (host) 0xf407000 (device): Device mem for custom shader program 0xb6acb000 (host) 0xf408000 (device): Device mem for texture USE custom shader program: 0x28841001.c0000000	mov.end o0, sa0 OK Do a SRCCOPY blit with COLOUR DOWNSAMPLING from ARGB8888 to RGB565 and then present the RGB565 to the bottom right quadrant of the screen (bottom right quadrant should be a red gradient): OK OK  OK  OK Free the off screen surfaces: OK OK  OK  OK Destroy the transfer context: OK Display Class API: unmap display surface from SGX OK Destroy Device Memory Context Display Class API: close the device OK Release SGX Client Info: OK Disconnect from services: OK -- SGX 3D Blit test - End

SGX Legacy armel only upto v3.2.x
NOTE: this only works on BeagleBoard hardware, BeagleBone stuff is in development..

Requirements: stable-kernel (the Demo Images hosted on rcn-ee.net meet this requirement) https://github.com/RobertCNelson/stable-kernel

Note: Due to a bug (seems to only effect older Beagle Bx/Cx boards, use v3.0.8-x3 based kernels) https://github.com/RobertCNelson/stable-kernel/issues/8 oneiric: wget http://rcn-ee.net/deb/oneiric/v3.0.8-x3/install-me.sh /bin/bash install-me.sh

SDK unPackage Script
Download the latest version of the "create_sgx_package.sh" script 2.6.37 wget https://raw.github.com/RobertCNelson/tools/master/x86/ti_omap/create_sgx_package_2.6.37.sh 2.6.38->3.2.x wget https://raw.github.com/RobertCNelson/tools/master/x86/ti_omap/create_sgx_package_3.2.x.sh

Make script executable chmod a+x ./create_sgx_package_*.sh

Run script ./create_sgx_package_*.sh

After Successfully running:

GFX_Linux_SDK.tar.gz                           : -> Copy to Beagle (DEMO's) Graphics_SDK_setuplinux_X_XX_XX_XX.bin SDK SDK_BIN

Beagle: GFX_*_libs.tar.gz
tar xf GFX_4_00_00_01_libs.tar.gz (extracts install-SGX.sh and run-SGX.sh) ./install-SGX.sh (copies necessary SGX libs and startup script) ./run-SGX.sh (force run the new init script, or you can just reboot...)

On successful install: Stopping PVR Starting PVR Starting SGX fixup for ES2.x (or ES3.x) (or ES5.x xM)

Reboot for good measure (Maverick's Alpha-1 needs this....) sudo reboot

Beagle: GFX_Linux_SDK.tar.gz
tar xf GFX_Linux_SDK.tar.gz cd GFX_Linux_SDK tar xf OGLES.tar.gz

Test SGX with a DEMO
cd OGLES/SDKPackage/Binaries/CommonX11/Demos/EvilSkull ./OGLESEvilSkull

Trouble Shooting
sudo rm /etc/powervr-esrev sudo depmod -a omaplfb sudo /etc/init.d/pvr restart

gst-dsp
The following Gstreamer elements will be installed:

$ gst-inspect | grep dsp dvdspu: dvdspu: Sub-picture Overlay dsp: dspdummy: DSP dummy element dsp: dspvdec: DSP video decoder dsp: dspadec: DSP audio decoder dsp: dsph263enc: DSP video encoder dsp: dspmp4venc: DSP MPEG-4 video encoder dsp: dspjpegenc: DSP video encoder dsp: dsph264enc: DSP video encoder dsp: dspvpp: DSP VPP filter dsp: dspipp: DSP IPP

Please note that h264 encoder (dsph264enc) will not work because of missing h264venc_sn.dll64P DSP part. According to this message, it is not available due to a licensing restriction.

Requirements: Kernel built with: "CONFIG_TIDSPBRIDGE=m", for reference, here is what rcn-ee.net's image/deb's are configured for: ubuntu@arm:~$ zcat /proc/config.gz | grep TIDSP CONFIG_TIDSPBRIDGE=m CONFIG_TIDSPBRIDGE_MEMPOOL_SIZE=0x600000 CONFIG_TIDSPBRIDGE_RECOVERY=y
 * 1) CONFIG_TIDSPBRIDGE_CACHE_LINE_CHECK is not set
 * 2) CONFIG_TIDSPBRIDGE_NTFY_PWRERR is not set
 * 3) CONFIG_TIDSPBRIDGE_BACKTRACE is not set

On the xM: if 3.2.x is too jerky, try 3.4.x and use the create_dsp_package.sh script, as the module changed..

Download the latest version of the "create_dsp_package.sh" script wget https://raw.github.com/RobertCNelson/tools/master/x86/ti_omap/create_dsp_package.sh

Make script executable chmod a+x ./create_dsp_package.sh

Package script: ./create_dsp_package.sh

Copy DSP_Install_libs.tar.gz to Beagle

Setup network...

Extract: ubuntu@arm:~$ tar xf DSP_Install_libs.tar.gz

Install: ubuntu@arm:~$ ./install-DSP.sh

What got installed: ubuntu@arm:~$ ls -lh /lib/dsp/ total 7.1M -rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 1.3M Dec 3 10:56 baseimage.dof -rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 51K Dec  3 10:56 conversions.dll64P -rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 13K Dec  3 10:56 dctn_dyn.dll64P -rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 2.5M Dec 3 10:56 h264vdec_sn.dll64P -rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 481K Dec 3 10:56 jpegdec_sn.dll64P -rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 229K Dec 3 10:56 jpegenc_sn.dll64P -rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 767K Dec 3 10:56 m4venc_sn.dll64P -rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 890K Dec 3 10:56 mp4vdec_sn.dll64P -rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 707K Dec 3 10:56 mpeg4aacdec_sn.dll64P -rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 15K Dec  3 10:56 qosdyn_3430.dll64P -rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 14K Dec  3 10:56 ringio.dll64P -rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 9.1K Dec 3 10:56 TSPA_Object_Code_Software_License_Agreement.txt -rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 53K Dec  3 10:56 usn.dll64P -rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 245K Dec 3 10:56 vpp_sn.dll64P

Building gst-dsp stuff:

If you installed this image via the demo images or netinstall, the gst-dsp build script is installed:

Update arm tools directory to the latest: ubuntu@arm:~$ cd /boot/uboot/tools/ ubuntu@arm:/boot/uboot/tools$ sudo ./update.sh

Otherwise, install via git: git clone git://github.com/RobertCNelson/tools.git

Change to the pkgs directory ubuntu@arm:~$ cd /boot/uboot/tools/pkgs (or if just cloned) ubuntu@arm:~$ cd ~/tools/pkgs

Build gst-dsp stuff.. ./ti-tidspbridge.sh

Start dspbridge (or just reboot) sudo /etc/init.d/dsp_init start

Test dspbridge sudo dsp-test

Playbin: sudo gst-launch playbin2 uri=file://(file)

Example: (using http://www.bigbuckbunny.org/index.php/download/ 854x480 mp4 ) Note: it seems broken in Ubuntu precise armhf...

sudo gst-launch playbin2 uri=file:///home/USER/big_buck_bunny_480p_surround-fix.avi

Screenshot: (on my xm it's a little jerky at the moment, investigating..) http://rcn-ee.net/bugs/dsp/dsp_v3.2.1-x2-test.jpg

Xorg omapfb Drivers
By default Ubuntu will try to use the FBDEV video driver, however for the BeagleBoard we can take advantage of a more software optimized driver (still not using the sgx video hardware) using the NEON extensions of the Cortex-A8 core.

cat /var/log/Xorg.0.log | grep FBDEV (II) FBDEV: driver for framebuffer: fbdev (II) FBDEV(0): using default device (II) FBDEV(0): Creating default Display subsection in Screen section (==) FBDEV(0): Depth 16, (==) framebuffer bpp 16 (==) FBDEV(0): RGB weight 565

Login into Ubuntu and open a new terminal, xorg has to be running..

xvinfo -display :0.0 X-Video Extension version 2.2 screen #0 no adaptors present

Drivers
Note: These are built with neon optimizations: http://git.debian.org/?p=collab-maint/xf86-video-omapfb.git;a=blob;f=debian/rules;h=c2f0d5391c96c5abb60b1e691ad86bb27e0c17d8;hb=HEAD (line 48/49)

Lucid: sudo apt-get install xserver-xorg-video-omap3

To verify it was correctly installed, reboot and:

cat /var/log/Xorg.0.log | grep omapfb (II) LoadModule: "omapfb" (II) Loading /usr/lib/xorg/modules/drivers//omapfb_drv.so (II) Module omapfb: vendor="X.Org Foundation" (II) omapfb: Driver for OMAP framebuffer (omapfb) and external LCD controllers: (WW) Error opening /sys/devices/platform/omapfb/ctrl/name: No such file or directory (II) omapfb(0): VideoRAM: 1800KiB (SDRAM) (II) omapfb(0): Creating default Display subsection in Screen section (**) omapfb(0): Depth 16, (--) framebuffer bpp 16 (==) omapfb(0): RGB weight 565 (==) omapfb(0): Default visual is TrueColor (--) omapfb(0): Virtual size is 1280x720 (pitch 1280) (**) omapfb(0): Built-in mode "current" (==) omapfb(0): DPI set to (96, 96) (II) omapfb(0): DPMS enabled (II) omapfb(0): Video plane capabilities: (II) omapfb(0): Video plane supports the following image formats: (II) omapfb(0): XVideo extension initialized

Login into Ubuntu and open a new terminal, xorg has to be running..

xvinfo -display :0.0 X-Video Extension version 2.2 screen #0 Adaptor #0: "OMAP XV adaptor" number of ports: 1 port base: 56 operations supported: PutImage supported visuals: depth 16, visualID 0x21 number of attributes: 1 etc..

Changing DVI output resolution
Ubuntu 10.10 above defaults to a resolution of 1284x768@16. This is set in the boot.cmd file in the boot partition of the SD card. To change the resolution the DVI output, edit boot.cmd accordingly then recreate the boot.scr file by:

mkimage -A arm -O linux -T script -C none -a 0 -e 0 -n "Ubuntu 10.10" -d ./boot.cmd ./boot.scr

Then reboot the BeagleBoard.

S-Video
(For configuring S-Video on Angstrom, click here).

Process for setting up S-Video
S-video is tested to be working on 2.6.35-rc5-dl9. BeagleBoard s-video output has traditionally been enabled by "using bootargs (boot arguments) at uboot". In newer versions of the BeagleBoard, the developers have made things easier by instructing U-Boot to look for a .scr file about a dozen lines long that is called cmd.boot.scr, and then follow said parameters. In Angstrom, no boot.scr file is needed, instead, an even easier system is used, where a simple editable .txt file called uEnv.txt containing these parameters suffices (Env is for "environment"). For some reason, in the Ubuntu download files, typically there a bit of convoluted process where uEnv.txt is called up, uEnv.txt says "Go read conf.boot.scr", and cmd.boot.scr sets up the s-video.

To make cmd.boot.scr, create a text file named cmd.boot, then convert it into a .scr file with mkimage by running the following commands on the terminal:

First, you will probably need to get mkimage with apt-get. Run

sudo apt-get install mkimage

Next, convert your cmd.boot.scr

mkimage -A arm -O linux -T script -C none -a 0 -e 0 -n 'Execute uImage' -d boot.cmd boot.scr

Bootargs: make this cmd.boot to set s-video

 * NTSC

omapfb.mode=tv:ntsc omapdss.def_disp=tv

Bootargs that has been validated.

setenv bootargs 'console=tty0 console=ttyO2,115200n8 root=/dev/mmcblk0p2 rootwait ro vram=12M omapfb.mode=tv:ntsc omapdss.def_disp=tv fixrtc buddy=unknown'

Screen cutoff problem
NTSC resolution is supposed to be 640x480. However the edge bands around the TV screen differ from TV to TV. Output of fbset shown below:

mode "720x482-30" # D: 13.500 MHz, H: 15.734 kHz, V: 29.970 Hz        geometry 720 482 720 482 32 timings 74074 16 58 6 31 64 6 rgba 8/16,8/8,8/0,0/0 endmode

Depending on your TV device, and what desktop you are running a certain amount of screen cutoff is likely to occur. This is called overscan. Typically, around 5-10% of the left and right edges of display are off the screen (using Ubuntu with xfce). This seems to be due to the fact that there is only one display resolution that is set for NTSC: 720 X 482. It is not possible to change this setting in the xfce4 Settings Manager like one would normally be able to do, because other options are greyed out/do not exist. Normally, even if the Settings Manager did not allow for it, a different resolution setting could be obtained by editing the xorg.conf file in /etc/X11/xorg.conf-4, or some similar place. HOWEVER there is no xorg.conf file in the Beagle version of xfce. xrandr shows the display is set to the minimum of 720x574. Adding an xorg.conf does not fix the problem, because Beagle takes its (analog) display resolution settings directly from the display driver, where 720 X 480 (720 X 574 for PAL ) is hard coded in.

An inelegant but usable workaround for the xfce desktop environment is simply to create vertical and horizontal panels that fill up the space that is cut off on the screen. This is not a complete solution, but at least it will prevent maximized windows from going off into nowhere land.

Truly fixing this would involve going into the display driver and reprogramming it to include additional S-video settings besides just NTSC and PAL. Specifically, to make the whole framebuffer fit on the screen you would need to adjust the overlay in the display driver, the OMAP DSS2. (Didn't test this yet. Some pointers from the driver's documentation below)

/sys/devices/platform/omapdss/overlay? directory: enabled		0=off, 1=on input_size		width,height (ie. the framebuffer size) manager		Destination overlay manager name name output_size		width,height position		x,y screen_width	width global_alpha  	global alpha 0-255 0=transparent 255=opaque

Building Kernel
https://github.com/RobertCNelson/stable-kernel

Download SRC git clone git://github.com/RobertCNelson/stable-kernel.git

Build kernel ./build_kernel.sh

Optional building the deb file ./build_deb.sh

= Swapfile =

Using a File for Swap Instead of a Partition
On the Bealgeboard you should expect to need a swap file given the limitation of how much RAM they have (between 256 MB and 512 MB). Some system programs like apt-get will only run properly when some swap space is present (due to 256 MB not being enough RAM).

Some images such as those from Linaro.org do not come with a swap partition or any swap space allocated.

Under Linux swap space can be either a dedicated partition or a single file. Both can be mounted as swap which the OS can access.

Creating a Swapfile
The following commands will create a 1 gigabyte file, lock access to only root, format it as swap and then advertise it to the OS.

sudo mkdir -p /var/cache/swap/ sudo dd if=/dev/zero of=/var/cache/swap/swapfile bs=1M count=1024 sudo chmod 0600 /var/cache/swap/swapfile sudo mkswap /var/cache/swap/swapfile sudo swapon /var/cache/swap/swapfile

To ask the OS to load this swapfile on each start up, edit the /etc/fstab file to include the following additional line:

/var/cache/swap/swapfile   none    swap    sw    0   0

To verify that the swapfile is accessilble as swap to the OS, run "top" of "htop" at a console.

= Ubuntu Software =

/etc/network/interfaces
It is possible and relatively easy to configure a Wi-Fi card from the command line.

You will need to edit the /etc/network/interfaces file. There are several guides available via Google.

This is a particularly useful guide http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=202834

A sample /etc/network/interfaces file for a WPA2 encrypted access point is:

auto lo iface lo inet loopback auto wlan0 iface wlan0 inet dhcp wpa-driver wext wpa-ssid  wpa-ap-scan 1 wpa-proto RSN wpa-pairwise CCMP wpa-group CCMP wpa-key-mgmt WPA-PSK wpa-psk < INSERT KEY XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX>

Your Wi-Fi card will automatically load these settings on start up and give network access.

Lightweight window managers
If you intend to use Ubuntu on the BeagleBoard you can install JWM or IceWM to improve performance.

JWM in particular uses little RAM. On a BeagleBoard with 256 MB, using JWM will leave about 60 MB free to run applications in.

Midori
Given that the BeagleBoard has fewer resources than a desktop a light-weight browser is more responsive. Midori is a light-weight browser that still supports flash, etc. It is available from the standard repositories. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Midori_%28web_browser%29

Motion
If you have a video source (webcam, IP cam, etc.) which appears as /dev/video0, etc. then you can use the Linux surveillance software "motion" to monitor the video stream and record periods of activity.

Motion is also available from the standard repositories. http://www.debian-administration.org/article/An_Introduction_to_Video_Surveillance_with_%27Motion%27 Using a 960x720 resolution webcam with a 15 fps rate under the UVC driver the Rev C BeagleBoard under Xubuntu reports ~60% CPU utilisation.

To make the BeagleBoard automatically start recording on boot do the following:


 * Auto Login - run "gdmsetup" from a terminal and select a user to automatically login
 * Sessions - make sure you don't save any previous X Windows sessions so that it doesn't prompt you for which one you want
 * motion.conf - amend /etc/motion/motion.conf to the settings you want (that is, video output directory, record only video, record in MPEG-4, set frame rate, etc). Do this with "sudo medit /etc/motion/motion.conf" at a prompt.
 * Boot script - create a new script in /etc/rc2.d called "S65motion_client" and set permissions appropriately ("sudo chmod 777 /etc/rc2.d/S65motion_client"). Then edit the file so it has the following text in it:

/usr/bin/motion -c /etc/motion/motion.conf
 * 1) ! /bin/sh

This will now launch the motion client as root when you boot up.

Also note that unless your BeagleBoard can remember the time (battery backed up clock installed) the timestamps will not be correct until you update the time. If your BeagleBoard has an Internet connection this can be achieved with the ntpdate application.

ROS
Willow Garage hosts the open source Robotic Operating System (ROS). Whilst it is natively supported in Ubuntu, the official packages are only for the x86 platform. ROS can be installed from source and is generally easy to do so (although slow).

Following the instructions from here will build and install ROS on your BeagleBoard:

http://www.ros.org/wiki/cturtle/Installation/Ubuntu/SVN

You will need an Internet connection for your BeagleBoard for these scripts to work.

For more information about ROS, see www.ros.org.