BeagleBoardDebian
This page is about running a (ARM EABI) Debian distribution at BeagleBoard. BeagleBoard will boot the (ARM EABI) Debian distribution from SD card. To prepare the SD card and install (ARM EABI) Debian on it, QEMU on host PC will be used, following Aurélien Jarno's excellent Debian on an emulated ARM machine howto.
Note: Debian armel deb's are compiled for armv4t, this allows debian to support a larger number of arm devices with a single port, at only the sacrifice of speed. For a more optimized and faster system checkout: Mojo Project (armv5el & armv6el-vfp editions). The OMAP3530 on the Beagle Board is armv7-a. See Handhelds Mojo (ARM) at BeagleBoard (formerly known as Ubuntu (ARM)) page, too.
Contents
- 1 Recommended Kernel
- 2 Native Install via debian-installer (NON QEMU based)
- 3 QEMU install method via debian-installer (emulated arm core via Desktop PC)
- 4 Beagleboard First Boot, uboot, general notes
- 5 Current Issues
- 6 Advanced: Building a Native Debian Kernel
- 7 Deb Builder
- 8 Rebuilding *.deb Kernel's from Source
Recommended Kernel
So like any big document, it's hard to keep everything up to date. So if your trying Debian/Mojo for the first time, here's what i recommend, (and it's the same thing i'm running on the build beagle.)
Considered Stable: 2.6.27-oer4 : for lenny http://www.rcn-ee.com/deb/kernel/beagle/lenny/v2.6.27-2a3408b-oer4/
Uboot: 2008-rc2 or +
Currently Testing with Build Beagle: http://www.rcn-ee.com/deb/kernel/beagle/lenny/v2.6.28-401b285-oer5/
Native Install via debian-installer (NON QEMU based)
Note: This install method requires an LCD+usb(keyboard,etc), and uboot 2008-rc2 (Upgrading u-boot (2.6.27's and later)) or later..
Testing First Release:
PC: Format SD Card
You will need a 1GB SD card or greater.
Standard System : ~455MB + Desktop environment (GNOME) : ~2.9GB
Starting with an empty SD card and using gparted, create:
50 MiB Primary Partition, fat32 Leave remaining space for the Debian-Installer
PC: Setup SD uboot Partition
Mount your SD card fat32 partition. (/media/disk/)
RC-1 (Files dated Nov)
cd /media/disk/ wget http://www.rcn-ee.com/deb/kernel/CC-v2.6.27-2a3408b-oer4 wget http://ftp.nl.debian.org/debian/dists/testing/main/installer-armel/current/images/versatile/netboot/initrd.gz mv CC-v2.6.27-2a3408b-oer4 uImage gzip -d initrd.gz dd if=initrd of=initrd.pad ibs=8388608 conv=sync
RC-2 (Files dated Jan23)
cd /media/disk/ wget http://www.rcn-ee.com/deb/kernel/CC-v2.6.28-9a6536c-oer8 wget http://ftp.debian.org/debian/dists/sid/main/installer-armel/current/images/versatile/netboot/initrd.gz mv CC-v2.6.28-9a6536c-oer8 uImage gzip -d initrd.gz dd if=initrd of=initrd.pad ibs=8388608 conv=sync
Beagleboard
Mount SD card
For Kernel 2.6.26 and 2.6.27 setenv bootcmd 'mmcinit; fatload mmc 0:1 0x80300000 uImage; fatload mmc 0:1 0x81600000 initrd.pad; bootm 0x80300000' setenv bootargs 'console=ttyS2,115200n8 console=tty0 ramdisk_size=8192 root=/dev/ram0 rw rootfstype=ext2 initrd=0x81600000,8M video=omapfb:mode:1280x720@60' saveenv boot For Kernel 2.6.28 and higher using DSS2 setenv bootcmd 'mmcinit; fatload mmc 0:1 0x80300000 uImage; fatload mmc 0:1 0x81600000 initrd.pad; bootm 0x80300000' setenv bootargs 'console=ttyS2,115200n8 console=tty0 ramdisk_size=8192 root=/dev/ram0 rw rootfstype=ext2 initrd=0x81600000,8M omap-dss.def_disp=lcd omapfb.video_mode=1280x720MR-24@60' saveenv boot
The debian-installer should load via the framebuffer, if the screen remains blank, try different resolutions for the bootargs:
video=omapfb:mode:1280x720@60 Modes: "640x480@60""800x600@60""1024x768@60""1280x720@60"480p60""576p50""720p50""720p60""1080p24""1080p25""1080p30",
Continue the install without loading kernel modules? : <yes>
DON'T Select "Guided - use entire disk" <- Loose the fat boot partition.
Recommended: Select Guided - Use the largest continuous free space
Example:
Partition #2 of SCSI1 (0,0,0) (sda) as ext3 Partition #5 of SCSI1 (0,0,0) (sda) as swap
Continue without installing a kernel? : <yes>
Standard System
No BootLoader: <ok>
Install complete
Reboot (aka remove power)
Uboot update bootcmd & bootargs
For Linux Kernel 2.6.26 and 2.6.27 setenv bootcmd 'mmcinit; fatload mmc 0:1 0x80300000 uImage; bootm 0x80300000' setenv bootargs 'console=ttyS2,115200n8 console=tty0 root=/dev/mmcblk0p2 rootdelay=2 rootfstype=ext3 ro video=omapfb:mode:1280x720@60' saveenv boot
For Linux Kernel 2.6.28 and higher using DSS2 setenv bootcmd 'mmcinit; fatload mmc 0:1 0x80300000 uImage; bootm 0x80300000' setenv bootargs 'console=ttyS2,115200n8 console=tty0 root=/dev/mmcblk0p2 rootdelay=2 rootfstype=ext3 ro omap-dss.def_disp=lcd omapfb.video_mode=1280x720MR-24@60' saveenv boot
Debian will fix the ext3 partition, it'll try to reboot, after halting remove and reapply power.
Login & Install kernel-image
cd /home/<user> sudo apt-get install uboot-mkimage wget http://www.rcn-ee.com/deb/kernel/beagle/lenny/v2.6.27-2a3408b-oer4/linux-image-2.6.27-oer4_1.0lenny_armel.deb sudo dpkg -i linux-image*
Extract linux-image's vmlinuz-*
dpkg -x linux-image* ./temp
Mount fat32 partition
sudo mount /dev/mmcblk0p1 /mnt
Build uboot compatible image and copy to fat32 boot partition
sudo mkimage -A arm -O linux -T kernel -C none -a 0x80008000 -e 0x80008000 -n "Linux" -d ./temp/boot/vmlinuz-* /mnt/uImage
Clean up
rm -rfd temp
Sync, umount Partitions and Reboot
QEMU install method via debian-installer (emulated arm core via Desktop PC)
Install QEMU on your host PC. This assumes that your host PC is running Debian as well. If not, install QEMU the way your host PC distribution uses.
apt-get install qemu
Note: If your debian armel image crashes while fscking the partition, rebuild qemu from trunk.
PC: Format SD Card
You will need a 1GB SD card or greater.
Standard System : ~455MB + Desktop environment (GNOME) : ~2.9GB
Starting with an empty SD card and using gparted, create:
50 MiB Primary Partition, fat32 Leave remaining space for the Debian-Installer
PC: Preparation
Create a working directory to keep your files organized.
mkdir debian-armel cd debian-armel/ wget ftp://ftp.us.debian.org/debian/dists/lenny/main/installer-armel/current/images/versatile/netboot/initrd.gz wget ftp://ftp.us.debian.org/debian/dists/lenny/main/installer-armel/current/images/versatile/netboot/vmlinuz-2.6.26-1-versatile
PC: Install Debian in QEMU
Quick Note: Debian Lenny is undergoing Beta/RC testing so these debian installers are currently way out of date, so it will tell you their are unavailable kernel modules, just ignore the question and continue. These modules will be provided later, with the provided linux-image deb.
To install (ARM EABI) Debian inside QEMU:
sudo qemu-system-arm -M versatilepb -kernel vmlinuz-2.6.26-1-versatile -initrd initrd.gz -m 256 -hda /dev/sdX -append "root=/dev/ram mem=256M"
Note: root/sudo access is required to access /dev/sdX directly (verify mmc card with fdisk -l)
Partition disks, default settings should work for most: Guided - use the largest continuous free space
PC: Running Debian in QEMU (Optional)
Note: This section is only useful for people with out a usb-network device for their beagle who would like to install additional applications, otherwise just skip to the next subsection to install your linux-kernel by copying files from your desktop pc to a SD card.
sudo qemu-system-arm -M versatilepb -kernel vmlinuz-2.6.26-1-versatile -m 256 -hda /dev/sdX -append "root=/dev/sda2 mem=256M"
Note: Time will be incorrect.
sudo apt-get install ntpdate ntpdate pool.ntp.org
Install default deb packages for linux-image & linux-headers.
Stable 2.6.27 wget http://www.rcn-ee.com/deb/kernel/beagle/lenny/v2.6.27-2a3408b-oer4/linux-image-2.6.27-oer4_1.0lenny_armel.deb wget http://www.rcn-ee.com/deb/kernel/beagle/lenny/v2.6.27-2a3408b-oer4/linux-headers-2.6.27-oer4_1.0lenny_armel.deb sudo dpkg -i *.deb
Note: It's easier to download these straight to the sd card after you've mounted the SD card to copy uImage to the FAT partition.
PC: Linux Kernel Preparation
Install uboot-mkimage utility
sudo apt-get install uboot-mkimage
Remount SD card, Ubuntu remounts SD card like this:
/media/disk/ <fat32> /media/disk-1/ <ext3>
Download Kernel-Image
cd /media/disk-1/home/<user>/ wget http://www.rcn-ee.com/deb/kernel/beagle/lenny/v2.6.27-2a3408b-oer4/linux-image-2.6.27-oer4_1.0lenny_armel.deb
Extract linux-image's vmlinuz-*
dpkg -x linux-image* ./temp
Build uboot compatible image and copy to /media/disk/ <fat32 boot partition>
mkimage -A arm -O linux -T kernel -C none -a 0x80008000 -e 0x80008000 -n "Linux" -d ./temp/boot/vmlinuz-* /media/disk/uImage
Clean up
rm -rfd temp
Sync, umount Partitions and Install sd card in beagleboard
Beagleboard First Boot, uboot, general notes
Insert SD Card and power up Beagleboard.
Boot
Using a terminal program, stop u-boot and add these commands:
For Linux Kernel 2.6.26 and 2.6.27 setenv bootcmd 'mmcinit; fatload mmc 0:1 0x80300000 uImage; bootm 0x80300000' setenv bootargs 'console=ttyS2,115200n8 console=tty0 root=/dev/mmcblk0p2 rootdelay=2 rootfstype=ext3 ro video=omapfb:mode:1280x720@60' saveenv boot
video=omapfb:mode:1280x720@60 Modes: "640x480@60""800x600@60""1024x768@60""1280x720@60"480p60""576p50""720p50""720p60""1080p24""1080p25""1080p30",
For Linux Kernel 2.6.28 and higher using DSS2 setenv bootcmd 'mmcinit; fatload mmc 0:1 0x80300000 uImage; bootm 0x80300000' setenv bootargs 'console=ttyS2,115200n8 console=tty0 root=/dev/mmcblk0p2 rootdelay=2 rootfstype=ext3 ro omap-dss.def_disp=lcd omapfb.video_mode=1280x720MR-24@60' saveenv boot
The Beagleboard will reboot 3-4 times while the ext3 filesystem is repaired. (may have to remove power etc)
Upgrading u-boot (2.6.27's and later)
Using gparted, create a new 50MB Primary fat32 Parition on blank SD card.
wget http://www.angstrom-distribution.org/demo/beagleboard/u-boot.bin cp u-boot.bin /media/disk
uboot
mmcinit fatload mmc 0 0x80200000 u-boot.bin nand unlock nand ecc sw nand erase 80000 160000 nand write.i 0x80200000 80000 160000 reset
Debian on Beagleboard
Debian on BeagleBoard uses the following configuration:
- Console log = Serial Terminal
- User Console = HDMI port + usb (keyboard, mouse, etc)
If you want to log in with the serial port, you will have to add to /etc/inittab
S:2345:respawn:/sbin/getty 115200 ttyS2
And if you want to log in as root on the serial port, add ttyS2 to /etc/securetty.
Xorg
Modify /etc/X11/xorg.conf
Section "Device" Identifier "Configured Video Device" Option "UseFBDev" "true" Driver "fbdev" EndSection
Note: 'fbdev' is normally *slow* since it completely relies on the system cpu to update the framebuffer. Once the video processing core's driver is released this will no longer be an issue.
Current Issues
- Swap disabled: change /dev/hda5 -> /dev/mmcblk0p5 in /etc/fstab (artifact of qemu install to /dev/hdaX)
- RTC seems to be not enabled: use ntpdate when ethernet works, or issue date MMDDHHMMYYYY
Advanced: Building a Native Debian Kernel
Note, these are just general build hints.
Install Dependencies
apt-get install git-core kernel-package fakeroot build-essential curl libncurses-dev
u-boot
There is a debian package for this now:
apt-get install uboot-mkimage
If you must build from upstream:
wget -nc http://beagleboard.googlecode.com/files/u-boot_beagle_revb.tar.gz tar -xf u-boot_beagle_revb.tar.gz cd u-boot/ make CROSS_COMPILE= distclean make CROSS_COMPILE= omap3530beagle_config make CROSS_COMPILE= tools
Add /tools/ to $PATH
PATH=/home/<user>/u-boot/tools:"${PATH}"
Linux Kernel
git clone git://git2.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/tmlind/linux-omap-2.6.git cd linux-omap-2.6/ git checkout -b beagle <tag you wish to use>
Patch Kernel with patches you need:
patch -p1 < ~/dl/patches/*.patch
Setup Kernel .config
make CROSS_COMPILE= distclean
Copy or Make your defconfig
cp ~/dl/defconfig .config or make CROSS_COMPILE= menuconfig
Create Debian linux-image* & linux-headers* Package
make-kpkg --cross_compile - clean fakeroot make-kpkg --cross_compile - kernel_image kernel_headers
Create U-boot uImage
make CROSS_COMPILE= uImage
Deb Builder
Auto builds for lenny, sid, and mojo's; linux-image and linux-headers's in appropriate schroot's.
Rebuilding *.deb Kernel's from Source
Note, this is done native on the BeagleBoard...
GIT Checkout, Beagleboard patches, and defconfig.
Requires:
sudo aptitude install git-core gcc wget kernel-package fakeroot build-essential
For this example lets look at: http://cgit.openembedded.net/cgit.cgi?url=openembedded/commit/&id=2d2df68f89a7f8dffd87cb9db42cad8c46891c28
All build that i do are logged here: http://www.rcn-ee.com/deb/kernel/changes.txt
Retrieve the GIT checkout
GIT Checkout: 15f75b6226c2d3b82062bb721e7cb9a1d6f35efd or Shorthand: 15f75b6
git-clone git://git2.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/tmlind/linux-omap-2.6.git cd linux-omap-2.6/ or if you already downloaded it.. cd linux-omap-2.6/ git pull git checkout 15f75b6 git checkout -b v2.6.28-15f75b6 git archive --format=tar --prefix=v2.6.28-15f75b6/ v2.6.28-15f75b6 | gzip > ../v2.6.28-15f75b6.tar.gz git checkout master git branch v2.6.28-15f75b6 -D cd ..
Copy patches and defconfig
Open linux-omap**.bb: http://cgit.openembedded.net/cgit.cgi?url=openembedded/tree/packages/linux/linux-omap_git.bb&id=2d2df68f89a7f8dffd87cb9db42cad8c46891c28
This contains 20+ patches need to form a specific (oe) Openembedded release, too keep things neat and simple for my beagle builder, I'll usually combine this into a single diff located here along with the defconfig. http://rcn-ee.homeip.net:81/dl/omap/beagle/v2.6.28-15f75b6-oer9/
wget http://rcn-ee.homeip.net:81/dl/omap/beagle/v2.6.28-15f75b6-oer9/v2.6.28-15f75b6-oer9.diff wget http://rcn-ee.homeip.net:81/dl/omap/beagle/v2.6.28-15f75b6-oer9/defconfig
Rebuild Deb
Extract Kernel Source
tar -xf v2.6.28-15f75b6.tar.gz cd v2.6.28-15f75b6/
Apply Patch
patch -p1 < ../v2.6.28-15f75b6-oer9.diff
Copy Defconfig
cp ../defconfig .config
Testing Changes
make menuconfig
Clean
make-kpkg --cross_compile - clean
Build
fakeroot make-kpkg --cross_compile - kernel_image kernel_headers
(and wait 2hr 15mins)