BeagleBoardUbuntu
(For BeagleBoardAngstrom, click here.) (Should Beagleboard:Ubuntu On BeagleBone Black be merged into this page?)
This page is about running a Linux distribution (ARM EABI) Ubuntu on the BeagleBoard. BeagleBoard will boot the (ARM EABI) Ubuntu distribution from the SD card. Since much of this page is generic, it has also been 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.
Contents
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 Trees
- Ubuntu related help:
- #ubuntu-arm: Ubuntu's ARM IRC on Freenode (logs -> year -> month -> day -> #ubuntu-arm.html)
- When requesting 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 older BeagleBoard (classic) 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
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 kernels "armv7" which is for mainline omap3+ devices (BeagleBoard/PandaBoard) and the "bone" which is specifically for the BeagleBone. The kernel is stress-tested by a farm of Panda/Beagles running 24/7 under a heavy load (building gcc trunk/mainline kernel).
- Advanced Users only: Beagle xM: Kernel source, used in these demo images: https://github.com/RobertCNelson/armv7-multiplatform
git clone https://github.com/RobertCNelson/armv7-multiplatform.git cd armv7-multiplatform git checkout origin/v3.14.x -b tmp ./build_kernel.sh
- Advanced Users only: BeagleBone/BeagleBone Black: Kernel v3.8.x source, used in these demo images: https://github.com/RobertCNelson/bb-kernel/tree/am33x-v3.8
git clone https://github.com/RobertCNelson/bb-kernel.git cd bb-kernel git checkout origin/am33x-v3.8 -b tmp ./build_kernel.sh
- Advanced Users only: Userspace, used in these demo images:
https://github.com/RobertCNelson/omap-image-builder
Trusty 14.04
Image Updated:
- 2014-06-05
- Beagle/Beagle xM: v3.14.5-armv7-x8 kernel
- BeagleBone/BeagleBone Black: v3.8.13-bone56 kernel
- OMAP5432 uEVM: v3.15.0-rc8-armv7-lpae-x4 kernel
- 2014-05-06
- Beagle/Beagle xM: v3.14.2-armv7-x5 kernel
- BeagleBone/BeagleBone Black: v3.8.13-bone49 kernel
- 2014-04-18
- Beagle/Beagle xM: v3.13.10-armv7-x11 kernel
- BeagleBone/BeagleBone Black: v3.8.13-bone47 kernel
Services Active:
Note: Depending on your internal network these may work out of the box Apache, Port 80: http://arm.local/ (Bone: via usb) http://192.168.7.2 SSH, Port 22: ssh ubuntu@arm.local (Bone: via usb) ubuntu@192.168.7.2 Getty, Serial Port
Default user: ubuntu pass: temppwd
Get prebuilt image:
wget https://rcn-ee.net/deb/rootfs/trusty/ubuntu-14.04-console-armhf-2014-06-05.tar.xz
Verify Image with:
md5sum ubuntu-14.04-console-armhf-2014-06-05.tar.xz 15f0237edd0f552e4fd65c0e5935ffdc ubuntu-14.04-console-armhf-2014-06-05.tar.xz
Unpack Image:
tar xf ubuntu-14.04-console-armhf-2014-06-05.tar.xz cd ubuntu-14.04-console-armhf-2014-06-05
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/sdd: 3957 MB, 3957325824 bytes <- MMC/SD card lsblk: NAME MAJ:MIN RM SIZE RO TYPE MOUNTPOINT sda 8:0 0 465.8G 0 disk ├─sda1 8:1 0 446.9G 0 part / <- x86 Root Partition ├─sda2 8:2 0 1K 0 part └─sda5 8:5 0 18.9G 0 part [SWAP] sdd 8:48 1 3.7G 0 disk ├─sdd1 8:49 1 64M 0 part └─sdd2 8:50 1 3.6G 0 part
- In this example, we can see via mount, /dev/sda1 is the x86 rootfs, therefore /dev/sdd 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 --dtb board
board options:
- BeagleBoard Ax/Bx/Cx/Dx - omap3-beagle
- BeagleBoard xM - omap3-beagle-xm
- BeagleBone/Black - beaglebone
- OMAP5432 uEVM - omap5-uevm
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 v2014.06 -b tmp
Stable:
./RootStock-NG.sh -c rcn-ee_console_ubuntu_stable_armhf
Testing:
./RootStock-NG.sh -c rcn-ee_console_ubuntu_testing_armhf
Utopic 14.10 (Testing)
Image Updated:
- 2014-06-05
- Beagle/Beagle xM: v3.14.5-armv7-x8 kernel
- BeagleBone/BeagleBone Black: v3.8.13-bone56 kernel
- OMAP5432 uEVM: v3.15.0-rc8-armv7-lpae-x4 kernel
- 2014-05-06
- Beagle/Beagle xM: v3.14.2-armv7-x5 kernel
- BeagleBone/BeagleBone Black: v3.8.13-bone49 kernel
Get prebuilt image:
wget https://rcn-ee.net/deb/rootfs/utopic/ubuntu-utopic-console-armhf-2014-06-05.tar.xz
Verify Image with:
md5sum ubuntu-utopic-console-armhf-2014-06-05.tar.xz 0db5f67332a333c4aeb431d76337c05c ubuntu-utopic-console-armhf-2014-06-05.tar.xz
Unpack image:
tar xf ubuntu-utopic-console-armhf-2014-06-05.tar.xz cd ubuntu-utopic-console-armhf-2014-06-05
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 Ubuntu and begin flashing the eMMC, once completed all 4 LED's should be full ON. Simply remove power, remove the microSD card and Ubuntu 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/init-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: ubuntu pass: temppwd
Image Updated:
- 2014-06-05
- BeagleBone Black: v3.8.13-bone56 kernel
- 2014-05-06
- BeagleBone Black: v3.8.13-bone49 kernel
- 2014-04-18
- BeagleBone Black: v3.8.13-bone47 kernel
Get prebuilt image:
wget https://rcn-ee.net/deb/flasher/trusty/BBB-eMMC-flasher-ubuntu-14.04-console-2014-06-05-2gb.img.xz
Verify Image with:
md5sum BBB-eMMC-flasher-ubuntu-14.04-console-2014-06-05-2gb.img.xz 5bd0375cb8b662d6622f065442f6558f BBB-eMMC-flasher-ubuntu-14.04-console-2014-06-05-2gb.img.xz
Follow the "standard" update procedure.
http://elinux.org/Beagleboard:Updating_The_Software
Linux:
unxz BBB-eMMC-flasher-ubuntu-14.04-console-2014-06-05-2gb.img.xz sudo dd if=./BBB-eMMC-flasher-ubuntu-14.04-console-2014-06-05-2gb.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 Ubuntu.
User: ubuntu pass: temppwd
Auto partition resize:
cd /opt/scripts/tools git pull ./grow_partition.sh sudo reboot
Image Updated:
- 2014-06-05
- Beagle/Beagle xM: v3.14.5-armv7-x8 kernel
- 2014-05-06
- Beagle/Beagle xM: v3.14.2-armv7-x5 kernel
- 2014-04-18
- Beagle/Beagle xM: v3.13.10-armv7-x11 kernel
Get prebuilt image:
wget https://rcn-ee.net/deb/microsd/trusty/bbxm-ubuntu-14.04-console-2014-06-05-2gb.img.xz
Verify Image with:
md5sum bbxm-ubuntu-14.04-console-2014-06-05-2gb.img.xz 6831edbab259c3c3d47524f4e5990237 bbxm-ubuntu-14.04-console-2014-06-05-2gb.img.xz
Linux:
unxz bbxm-ubuntu-14.04-console-2014-06-05-2gb.img.xz sudo dd if=./bbxm-ubuntu-14.04-console-2014-06-05-2gb.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 Ubuntu.
User: ubuntu pass: temppwd
Auto partition resize:
cd /opt/scripts/tools git pull ./grow_partition.sh sudo reboot
Image Updated:
- 2014-06-05
- BeagleBone/BeagleBone Black: v3.8.13-bone56 kernel
- 2014-05-06
- BeagleBone/BeagleBone Black: v3.8.13-bone49 kernel
- 2014-04-18
- BeagleBone/BeagleBone Black: v3.8.13-bone47 kernel
Get prebuilt image:
wget https://rcn-ee.net/deb/microsd/trusty/bone-ubuntu-14.04-console-2014-06-05-2gb.img.xz
Verify Image with:
md5sum bone-ubuntu-14.04-console-2014-06-05-2gb.img.xz f6f3bb34a8bc06c38b764c2138a88810 bone-ubuntu-14.04-console-2014-06-05-2gb.img.xz
Linux:
unxz bone-ubuntu-14.04-console-2014-06-05-2gb.img.xz sudo dd if=./bone-ubuntu-14.04-console-2014-06-05-2gb.img of=/dev/sdX
OMAP5432 uEVM
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 Ubuntu.
User: ubuntu pass: temppwd
Auto partition resize:
cd /opt/scripts/tools git pull ./grow_partition.sh sudo reboot
Image Updated:
- 2014-06-05
- OMAP5432 uEVM: v3.15.0-rc8-armv7-lpae-x4 kernel
Get prebuilt image:
wget https://rcn-ee.net/deb/microsd/trusty/omap5-uevm-ubuntu-14.04-console-2014-06-05-2gb.img.xz
Verify Image with:
md5sum omap5-uevm-ubuntu-14.04-console-2014-06-05-2gb.img.xz 238c86ea2e4c2a2c6ca0e81e7988f59c omap5-uevm-ubuntu-14.04-console-2014-06-05-2gb.img.xz
Linux:
unxz omap5-uevm-ubuntu-14.04-console-2014-06-05-2gb.img.xz sudo dd if=./omap5-uevm-ubuntu-14.04-console-2014-06-05-2gb.img of=/dev/sdX
Method 2: Use the NetInstall method
You will need a 1GB/2GB/4GB/8GB SD card or greater.
Standard system : ~700 MB
Report Bugs/Issues to: https://github.com/RobertCNelson/netinstall/issues (anywhere else will be ignored..)
Download the netinstall script:
git clone https://github.com/RobertCNelson/netinstall.git cd netinstall
Currently supported Ubuntu distributions:
--distro oneiric (11.10) --distro precise-armhf (12.04) --distro quantal (12.10) --distro raring (13.04) --distro saucy (13.10)
Device: <board> selection:
*BeagleBoard Ax/Bx/Cx - omap3-beagle *BeagleBoard xMA/B/C - omap3-beagle-xm *BeagleBone Ax - am335x-bone-serial *BeagleBone (DVI cape) - am335x-bone-video *BeagleBone Black - am335x-boneblack *PandaBoard Ax - omap4-panda *PandaBoard A4+ - omap4-panda-a4 *PandaBoard ES - omap4-panda-es
Installation script for new <board> selection: (slowly migrating all devices to this method)
sudo ./mk_mmc.sh --mmc /dev/sdX --dtb <board> --distro <distro>
So for the xM: with quantal:
sudo ./mk_mmc.sh --mmc /dev/sdX --dtb omap3-beagle-xm --distro quantal
- 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
Troubleshooting: If booting fails..
- 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:
nand erase 260000 20000
NetInstall assumptions:
Assume asll <default>'s... Thanks you preseed.conf!!!
Method 3: Manual Install (no automatic scripts)
Note, this section used 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
Advanced
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.
Upgrade X-loader and U-boot
- Note: the functionality of the "X-Loader" project has been merged as u-boot spl.
Compatibility with older 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 entire NAND:
nand erase.chip
Requires MMC card:
git clone https://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-in a serial cable and start the 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, then release the 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 the ./mk_mmc.sh script.
SGX Drivers
SGX BeagleBone/BeagleBone Black
Note, these are FBDEV only, no xorg/x11/etc...
Install "special" Kernel
cd /opt/scripts/tools git pull sudo ./update_kernel.sh --kernel v3.13.11-bone10
Build SGX modules/userspace (must be done on an x86, due to the TI 5.01.01.01 blob extractor)
git clone https://github.com/RobertCNelson/bb-kernel.git cd bb-kernel/ git checkout origin/am33x-v3.13 -b tmp-sgx ./build_kernel.sh ./sgx_build_modules.sh
Copy ./deploy/GFX_5.01.01.01.tar.gz to BeagleBone/BeagleBone Black and install
sudo tar xfv GFX_5.01.01.01.tar.gz -C / cd /opt/gfxinstall/ sudo ./sgx-install.sh sudo reboot
Verify omaplfb & pvrsrvkm loaded
ubuntu@arm:~$ lsmod | grep omaplfb omaplfb 12065 0 pvrsrvkm 178782 1 omaplfb
SGX Demos
cd /opt/gfxsdkdemos/ogles2/ ./OGLES2ChameleonMan
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 the 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
Swapfile
Using a File for Swap Instead of a Partition
On the Beagleboard you should expect to require a swap file given the limitation of how little RAM is available (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 swap file. Both can be mounted as swap which the OS can access.
Creating a Swapfile
The following commands will create a 1 GB file, limit access only to root, format it as swap and then make it available 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 tell 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" or "htop" at a console.
Ubuntu Software
Wi-Fi Networking (command line)
/etc/network/interfaces
It is 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 https://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 <NAME OF AP> 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 upon startup and initialize wireless 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 in which to run applications.
Web Apps
Midori
Given that the BeagleBoard has fewer resources than a desktop a lightweight browser is more responsive. Midori is a lightweight browser that still supports flash, etc. It is available from the standard repositories: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Midori_%28web_browser%29
Surveillance
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 - edit /etc/motion/motion.conf to use 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 contains the following lines:
#! /bin/sh /usr/bin/motion -c /etc/motion/motion.conf
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 using the ntpdate application.
Robotics
ROS
Willow Garage hosts the open source Robotic Operating System (ROS). While 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.