BeagleBoardDebian

This page is about running a (ARM EABI) Debian distribution at BeagleBoard. BeagleBoard will boot the (ARM EABI) Debian distribution from SD card. Debian's NetInstall will be used to install Debian onto your Beagle.

= 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
 * v3.13.x kernel branch
 * Development Kernel source code


 * 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)

= Official BeagleBoard.org Images for shipping with BeagleBone Black =
 * http://beagleboard.org/source

= Recommended 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

= Debian NetInstall =

Scripts: git clone https://github.com/RobertCNelson/netinstall.git cd netinstall

Device Options: BeagleBoard --dtb omap3-beagle BeagleBoard xM --dtb omap3-beagle-xm BeagleBone (serial) --dtb am335x-bone-serial BeagleBone (video via cape) --dtb am335x-bone-video BeagleBone Black --dtb am335x-boneblack PandaBoard (A1->A3) --dtb omap4-panda PandaBoard (A4->Ax) --dtb omap4-panda-a4 PandaBoard ES --dtb omap4-panda-es

You will need a 1GB SD card or greater. Standard System : ~455MB + Desktop environment (GNOME) : ~2.9GB

Debian Wheezy
Quick Install script for "board" sudo ./mk_mmc.sh --mmc /dev/sdX --dtb "board" --distro wheezy-armhf

So For the BeagleBoard xM: sudo ./mk_mmc.sh --mmc /dev/sdX --dtb omap3-beagle-xm --distro wheezy-armhf


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

= Demo Image =

Debian Stable (wheezy)
Default username/password:
 * username: debian
 * password: temppwd

Image Updated:
 * 2014-04-18
 * Beagle/Beagle xM: v3.13.10-armv7-x11 kernel
 * BeagleBone/BeagleBone Black: v3.8.13-bone47 kernel
 * 2014-02-16
 * Beagle/Beagle xM: v3.13.3-armv7-x10 kernel
 * BeagleBone/BeagleBone Black: v3.8.13-bone40 kernel
 * 2014-01-24
 * Beagle/Beagle xM: v3.13.0-armv7-x9 kernel
 * BeagleBone/BeagleBone Black: v3.8.13-bone37 kernel

Services Active: Note: Depending on your internal network these may work out of the box Apache, Port 80: http://arm/ (Bone: via usb) http://192.168.7.2 SSH, Port 22: ssh debian@arm (Bone: via usb) debian@192.168.7.2 Getty, Serial Port

Default user: debian pass: temppwd

Get prebuilt image: wget https://rcn-ee.net/deb/rootfs/wheezy/debian-7.4-console-armhf-2014-04-18.tar.xz

Verify Image with: md5sum debian-7.4-console-armhf-2014-04-18.tar.xz e189927a635c90f462c55a74f9e05337 debian-7.4-console-armhf-2014-04-18.tar.xz

Unpack Image: tar xf debian-7.4-console-armhf-2014-04-18.tar.xz cd debian-7.4-console-armhf-2014-04-18

Install Image:

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

[board] options:
 * BeagleBone/Black    - bone

So for the BeagleBone: sudo ./setup_sdcard.sh --mmc /dev/sdX --uboot bone

Quick install script for [board] (using new --dtb option) sudo ./setup_sdcard.sh --mmc /dev/sdX --dtb board

board options:
 * BeagleBoard Ax/Bx/Cx/Dx   - omap3-beagle
 * BeagleBoard xM            - omap3-beagle-xm

So for the BeagleBoard xM: sudo ./setup_sdcard.sh --mmc /dev/sdX --dtb omap3-beagle-xm

Advanced: Build Image:

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

git clone https://github.com/RobertCNelson/omap-image-builder.git cd omap-image-builder git checkout v2014.04.1 -b tmp touch release ./rcn-ee_image.sh

Debian Testing (jessie)
Image Updated:
 * 2014-04-18
 * Beagle/Beagle xM: v3.13.10-armv7-x11 kernel
 * BeagleBone/BeagleBone Black: v3.8.13-bone47 kernel
 * 2014-02-16
 * Beagle/Beagle xM: v3.13.3-armv7-x10 kernel
 * BeagleBone/BeagleBone Black: v3.8.13-bone40 kernel
 * 2014-01-24
 * Beagle/Beagle xM: v3.13.0-armv7-x9 kernel
 * BeagleBone/BeagleBone Black: v3.8.13-bone37 kernel

Get prebuilt image: wget https://rcn-ee.net/deb/rootfs/jessie/debian-jessie-console-armhf-2014-04-18.tar.xz

Verify Image with: md5sum debian-jessie-console-armhf-2014-04-18.tar.xz 5d445652d214d00a0892268ea4dcaec3 debian-jessie-console-armhf-2014-04-18.tar.xz

Unpack image: tar xf debian-jessie-console-armhf-2014-04-18.tar.xz cd debian-jessie-console-armhf-2014-04-18

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

= Flasher =

eMMC: BeagleBone Black
This image can be written to a 2GB (or larger) microSD card, via 'dd' on linux or the win32 image program linked to on CircuitCo's wiki page. First press and hold the boot select button (next to the microSD card), then apply power (same procedure as the official CircuitCo images). The board should boot into Debian and begin flashing the eMMC, once completed all 4 LED's should be full ON. Simply remove power, remove the microSD card and Debian will now boot directly from eMMC.

Script for reference: (this is the script that writes to the eMMC) https://github.com/RobertCNelson/boot-scripts/blob/master/tools/beaglebone-black-eMMC-flasher.sh

BTW: we are only writing about 500 megabytes to the eMMC, so the script will only take about 5-6 Minutes after power on.

Notes:
 * If only two LED's stay lit and nothing happens, the board has crashed due to lack of power. Retry with a 5Volt DC power supply connected.
 * If the 4 LED's blink a constant pattern, the eMMC write has failed. First REMOVE ALL capes, then retry again.
 * (error -84: which may mean you've reached the max number of erase/write cycles...)

User: debian pass: temppwd

Image Updated:
 * 2014-04-18
 * BeagleBone Black: v3.8.13-bone47 kernel
 * 2014-02-16
 * BeagleBone Black: v3.8.13-bone40 kernel
 * 2014-01-24
 * BeagleBone Black: v3.8.13-bone37 kernel

Get prebuilt image: wget https://rcn-ee.net/deb/flasher/wheezy/BBB-eMMC-flasher-debian-7.4-2014-04-18-2gb.img.xz

Verify Image with: md5sum BBB-eMMC-flasher-debian-7.4-2014-04-18-2gb.img.xz a87a9d10203047c522f37a8ad4518952 BBB-eMMC-flasher-debian-7.4-2014-04-18-2gb.img.xz

Follow the "standard" update procedure. http://circuitco.com/support/index.php?title=Updating_The_Software

Linux: unxz BBB-eMMC-flasher-debian-7.4-2014-04-18-2gb.img.xz sudo dd if=./BBB-eMMC-flasher-debian-7.4-2014-04-18-2gb.img of=/dev/sdX

= raw microSD img =

BeagleBoard xM
This image can be written to a 2GB (or larger) microSD card, via 'dd' on linux or the win32 image program linked to on CircuitCo's wiki page. First press and hold the boot select button (next to microSD card), then apply power (same procedure as the official CircuitCo images). The board should boot into Debian.

User: debian pass: temppwd

Auto partition resize: cd /opt/scripts/tools git pull ./grow_partition.sh sudo reboot

Image Updated:
 * 2014-04-18
 * Beagle/Beagle xM: v3.13.10-armv7-x11 kernel
 * 2014-02-16
 * Beagle/Beagle xM: v3.13.3-armv7-x10 kernel

Get prebuilt image: wget https://rcn-ee.net/deb/microsd/wheezy/bbxm-debian-7.4-2014-04-18-2gb.img.xz

Verify Image with: md5sum bbxm-debian-7.4-2014-04-18-2gb.img.xz fab897c791cbca729d1516d52fdc9ac0 bbxm-debian-7.4-2014-04-18-2gb.img.xz

Linux: unxz bbxm-debian-7.4-2014-04-18-2gb.img.xz sudo dd if=./bbxm-debian-7.4-2014-04-18-2gb.img of=/dev/sdX

BeagleBone/BeagleBone Black
This image can be written to a 2GB (or larger) microSD card, via 'dd' on linux or the win32 image program linked to on CircuitCo's wiki page. First press and hold the boot select button (next to microSD card), then apply power (same procedure as the official CircuitCo images). The board should boot into Debian.

User: debian pass: temppwd

Auto partition resize: cd /opt/scripts/tools git pull ./grow_partition.sh sudo reboot

Image Updated:
 * 2014-04-18
 * BeagleBone/BeagleBone Black: v3.8.13-bone47 kernel
 * 2014-02-16
 * BeagleBone/BeagleBone Black: v3.8.13-bone40 kernel
 * 2014-01-24
 * BeagleBone/BeagleBone Black: v3.8.13-bone37 kernel

Get prebuilt image: wget https://rcn-ee.net/deb/microsd/wheezy/bone-debian-7.4-2014-04-18-2gb.img.xz

Verify Image with: md5sum bone-debian-7.4-2014-04-18-2gb.img.xz 23d5d6490b3a0f0447a866349d3c4ff2 bone-debian-7.4-2014-04-18-2gb.img.xz

Linux: unxz bone-debian-7.4-2014-04-18-2gb.img.xz sudo dd if=./bone-debian-7.4-2014-04-18-2gb.img of=/dev/sdX

= Debian Configuration =

Serial Ports
To start a login console on ttyO2 (the serial header next to P9), edit /etc/inittab and add: T0:23:respawn:/sbin/getty -L ttyO2 115200 vt102

To start a console on the USB ACM device, add the following to /etc/inittab, GS0:23:respawn:/sbin/getty -L ttyGS0 115200 vt102

Install Latest Kernel Image
Script: cd /opt/scripts/tools git pull

Stable: ./update_kernel.sh

Testing: ./update_kernel.sh --beta-kernel

Custom: (has to be on rcn-ee.net) ./update_kernel.sh --kernel v3.8.13-bone37

Reboot with your new Kernel Image.

Xorg Drivers
Script: cd /opt/scripts/tools/ git pull

BeagleBoard/PandaBoard: cd /opt/scripts/tools/graphics/ ./ti-omapdrm.sh

BeagleBone/BeagleBone Black: cd /opt/scripts/tools/graphics/ ./ti-tilcdc.sh

= Building Kernel =

Note, this section use to have a lot of details, but maintenance of the two wiki's became a pain, so for now on we will just link to my other pages:

Beagle/Beagle xM
http://eewiki.net/display/linuxonarm/BeagleBoard

BeagleBone
http://eewiki.net/display/linuxonarm/BeagleBone

BeagleBone Black
http://eewiki.net/display/linuxonarm/BeagleBone+Black

Panda/Panda ES
http://eewiki.net/display/linuxonarm/PandaBoard

= Upgrading from Debian 5 to Debian 6 =

Upgrading from Debian 5 to Debian 6 report and tutorial.

= Upgrading from Debian 6 (Squeeze) to Debian 7 (Wheezy) =

Note, this only goes over "armel" -> "armel"... For users wishing to switch from "armel" -> "armhf" just re-install...

sudo apt-get update ; sudo apt-get upgrade sudo sed -i -e "s/squeeze/wheezy/g" /etc/apt/sources.list sudo apt-get update ; sudo apt-get install -y apt aptitude udev dpkg sudo aptitude update ; sudo aptitude -y safe-upgrade ; sudo aptitude -y dist-upgrade