Beagleboard:BeagleBoneBlack Debian

This page is about running the armhf port of Debian distribution at BeagleBoard. The latest release beagleboard.org image can be found at: http://beagleboard.org/latest-images

Checking The Debian Image Version

You should check the version of the image on the microSD/eMMC by opening the ID.txt file in the FAT partition.

root@beaglebone:~# cat /etc/dogtag
BeagleBoard.org BeagleBone Debian Image 2014-03-19

This file can also be accessed via a PC (Windows/Mac/Linux) via either mounting the FAT partition directly off the microSD card or via the usb interface (flash drive).

Installing

Oracle Java 8

Information:

http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/java/javase/downloads/jdk8-downloads-2133151.html

Install:

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install oracle-java8-installer

Verify:

debian@beaglebone:~$ java -version
java version "1.8.0_60"
Java(TM) SE Runtime Environment (build 1.8.0_60-b27)
Java HotSpot(TM) Client VM (build 25.60-b23, mixed mode)

TI PRU Code Generation Tools

http://software-dl.ti.com/codegen/non-esd/downloads/download.htm#PRU

Install:

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install ti-pru-cgt-installer

Older rootfs (when above package doesn't exist):

wget http://downloads.ti.com/codegen/esd/cgt_public_sw/PRU/2.1.1/ti_cgt_pru_2.1.1_armlinuxa8hf_busybox_installer.sh
chmod +x ti_cgt_pru_2.1.1_armlinuxa8hf_busybox_installer.sh
sudo ./ti_cgt_pru_2.1.1_armlinuxa8hf_busybox_installer.sh

FAQ

Expanding File System Partition On A microSD

By default the microSD image is only about 2GB in size, to fully expand the partition to the full size of your microSD card simple run.

cd /opt/scripts/tools/
git pull
sudo ./grow_partition.sh
sudo reboot

On the next reboot, [df -h] should show the full microSD card size.

Flashing eMMC

To setup the standalone microSD image to automatically flash the eMMC on powerup. *Note, img files with the words "eMMC-flasher" already had this enabled...*

In /boot/uEnv.txt:

##enable BBB: eMMC Flasher:
#cmdline=init=/opt/scripts/tools/eMMC/init-eMMC-flasher-v3.sh

Change to:

##enable BBB: eMMC Flasher:
cmdline=init=/opt/scripts/tools/eMMC/init-eMMC-flasher-v3.sh

and reboot the system, it'll flash the eMMC on the next bootup. (make sure to remove the microSD after flashing is complete)

Kernel Upgrade

We can't ship support for everything on release day, so we push out new kernels as fixes, support for new capes, etc are posted on the beagleboard.org mainline list.

cd /opt/scripts/tools/
git pull
sudo ./update_kernel.sh
sudo reboot

Installing kernel headers

If you want to build a kernel module natively, you'll need to install the correct kernel headers.

sudo apt-get install linux-headers-`uname -r`

In a Makefile, perform:

sudo apt-get install linux-headers-$(shell uname -r)

Loading custom capes

Due to limitations in debian wheezy's userspace, the use of an initramfs, and having firmware builtin to the kernel. It is currently not possible to load "custom" capes via: capemgr.enable_partno=xyz. Instead an init script has been setup to load the cape/capes as soon as possible.

Built-in Cape:

capemgr.enable_partno=BB-SPIDEV1

slot #7: Requesting part number/version based 'BB-SPIDEV1-00A0.dtbo
slot #7: Requesting firmware 'BB-SPIDEV1-00A0.dtbo' for board-name 'Override Board Name', version '00A0'
slot #7: dtbo 'BB-SPIDEV1-00A0.dtbo' loaded; converting to live tree

Custom External Cape:

capemgr.enable_partno=BB-SPI1-01

slot #7: Requesting part number/version based 'BB-SPI1-01-00A0.dtbo
slot #7: Requesting firmware 'BB-SPI1-01-00A0.dtbo' for board-name 'Override Board Name', version '00A0'
failed to load firmware 'BB-SPI1-01-00A0.dtbo'
loader: failed to load slot-7 BB-SPI1-01:00A0 (prio 0)

Workaround:

add "CAPE=BB-SPI1-01" to /etc/default/capemgr

Privileged echo

As a normal user, you can not "sudo echo 'something' >> /etc/privilegedfile"

sudo sh -c "echo 'something' >> /etc/privilegedfile"

Timezone

By default this image is setup to display time in utc mode. If you would like to change this to your local region.

dpkg-reconfigure tzdata

or:

echo "Europe/Zurich" > /etc/timezone 
dpkg-reconfigure -f noninteractive tzdata

Jessie Timezone

List of available timezones:

timedatectl list-timezones

Set timezone:

sudo timedatectl set-timezone America/North_Dakota/Center

W: GPG error: http://debian.beagleboard.org wheezy-bbb

W: GPG error: http://debian.beagleboard.org wheezy-bbb Release:
The following signatures were invalid:
KEYEXPIRED 1418840246 KEYEXPIRED 1418840304 KEYEXPIRED 1418840246 KEYEXPIRED 1418840246 KEYEXPIRED 1418840304

Note this directions are version dependent, so double check your version:

debian@beaglebone:~$ cat /etc/dogtag 
BeagleBoard.org BeagleBone Debian Image 2014-05-14

2014-05-14 GPG error: Disable: http://debian.beagleboard.org repo:

sudo nano /etc/apt/sources.list

Change:

deb [arch=armhf] http://debian.beagleboard.org/packages wheezy-bbb main
#deb-src [arch=armhf] http://debian.beagleboard.org/packages wheezy-bbb main

To:

#deb [arch=armhf] http://debian.beagleboard.org/packages wheezy-bbb main
#deb-src [arch=armhf] http://debian.beagleboard.org/packages wheezy-bbb main

sudo apt-get update

2014-05-14 GPG error: Optional enable: http://repos.rcn-ee.com/

Download archive-keyring:

wget https://rcn-ee.com/repos/debian/pool/main/r/rcn-ee-archive-keyring/rcn-ee-archive-keyring_2015.10.22~bpo70+20151022+1_all.deb
sudo dpkg -i rcn-ee-archive-keyring_2015.10.22~bpo70+20151022+1_all.deb

Add repo to /etc/apt/sources.list

sudo sh -c "echo 'deb [arch=armhf] http://repos.rcn-ee.com/debian wheezy main' >> /etc/apt/sources.list"
sudo sh -c "echo '#deb-src [arch=armhf] http://repos.rcn-ee.com/debian wheezy main' >> /etc/apt/sources.list"

Update packages:

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get upgrade
sudo apt-get install npm c9-core-installer --reinstall

Debian Build Instructions

You'll want a fairly beefy ARM system to run this script.

git clone git://github.com/beagleboard/image-builder.git
cd image-builder
./beagleboard.org_image.sh

Output of the autobuilder can be found at http://builds.beagleboard.org.

Debian Releases

http://beagleboard.org/latest-images

2015-11-03

2015-11-03 Release Notes

* Windows 10 Signed Drivers!
* BeagleBone Green
* U-Boot: v2015.10
** U-Boot UMS (USB Mass Storage) enabled [ums 0 mmc 1]
* Kernel: 3.8.13-bone79

BBB Rev C/BBG (4GB eMMC)

Flasher: (lxde-4gb)

wget https://rcn-ee.com/rootfs/bb.org/release/2015-11-03/lxde-4gb/BBB-eMMC-flasher-debian-7.9-lxde-4gb-armhf-2015-11-03-4gb.img.xz
sha256sum: 4984e0d51cfaf408db83904a8c57acb6b3d0522c0b924a3b2e8a4af48cc1034b

BBB/BBG (All Revs) eMMC Flashers

Flasher: (lxde)

wget https://rcn-ee.com/rootfs/bb.org/release/2015-11-03/lxde/BBB-eMMC-flasher-debian-7.9-lxde-armhf-2015-11-03-2gb.img.xz
sha256sum: a2b847cb23aec849656e853056db1a7f1ab58b869de7a6b712362b0e99314bad

Flasher: (console)

wget https://rcn-ee.com/rootfs/bb.org/release/2015-11-03/console/BBB-eMMC-flasher-debian-7.9-console-armhf-2015-11-03-2gb.img.xz
sha256sum: ebdd2938253e179a36a1b9b1f1def2a04595f9e0ee94776988c490ea317e97bc

BBW/BBB/BBG (All Revs)

microSD/Standalone: (lxde)

wget https://rcn-ee.com/rootfs/bb.org/release/2015-11-03/lxde-4gb/bone-debian-7.9-lxde-4gb-armhf-2015-11-03-4gb.img.xz
sha256sum: 0f27fb05bca2c64e89abc20f54e35bef7fbdbd391ec38c2ea9d56c6356be5fab

microSD/Standalone: (console)

wget https://rcn-ee.com/rootfs/bb.org/release/2015-11-03/console/bone-debian-7.9-console-armhf-2015-11-03-2gb.img.xz
sha256sum: 63e78f417db62737804877c056c4632173d2b970eed1cf1c59b2b99e9752ef0e

BeagleBoard-X15 weekly

Bug tracker: http://bugs.elinux.org/projects/beagleboard-x15

Flasher: (lxqt-4gb) (BeagleBoard-X15)

wget https://rcn-ee.com/rootfs/bb.org/testing/2016-02-21/lxqt-4gb/bbx15-eMMC-flasher-debian-8.3-lxqt-4gb-armhf-2016-02-21-4gb.img.xz
sha256sum: 08b2916c44e1eb19847487d5aadb31394790dd2e72390f595a4678a8d0f20ef2

microSD/Standalone: (lxqt-4gb) (BeagleBoard-X15)

wget https://rcn-ee.com/rootfs/bb.org/testing/2016-02-21/lxqt-4gb/bbx15-debian-8.3-lxqt-4gb-armhf-2016-02-21-4gb.img.xz
sha256sum: e11b6f6147e12edd5282a4362d5388971543790ebbd9eb9e7d29c3a4e9bd73a5

Debian Image Testing Snapshots

Archive mirror (not as fast as rcn-ee.com (linode))

https://rcn-ee.online/rootfs/bb.org/testing/

2016-02-26

BBW/BBB (All Revs) Machinekit

microSD/Standalone: (machinekit)

wget https://rcn-ee.com/rootfs/bb.org/testing/2016-02-26/machinekit/bone-debian-7.9-machinekit-armhf-2016-02-26-4gb.img.xz
sha256sum: de9752bdc013b04b641197645dc8e8376ea9574e87b43aa159e106c05d0abace

Jessie Snapshot lxqt

2016-02-26 notes

* U-Boot: v2016.01
* Kernel: 4.1.18-ti-rt-r49

Flasher: (lxqt-4gb) (BeagleBone Black/Green 4GB eMMC)

wget https://rcn-ee.com/rootfs/bb.org/testing/2016-02-26/lxqt-4gb/BBB-eMMC-flasher-debian-8.3-lxqt-4gb-armhf-2016-02-26-4gb.img.xz
sha256sum: 7b729638e7b5faa72d6be3764e76540dba19c88bc68ae81911421346e6614fed

Flasher: (lxqt-2gb) (BeagleBone Black 2GB eMMC)

wget https://rcn-ee.com/rootfs/bb.org/testing/2016-02-26/lxqt-2gb/BBB-eMMC-flasher-debian-8.3-lxqt-2gb-armhf-2016-02-26-2gb.img.xz
sha256sum: a57097d882b934bb0a4de99c90373b201457931ea3d208cab0949707469c6cc6

microSD/Standalone: (lxqt-4gb) (BeagleBone/BeagleBone Black/BeagleBone Green)

wget https://rcn-ee.com/rootfs/bb.org/testing/2016-02-26/lxqt-4gb/bone-debian-8.3-lxqt-4gb-armhf-2016-02-26-4gb.img.xz
sha256sum: cb7a3fd2897f081d7d73396af93f9d21517611c97bbeb730cd0b94f91050b4af

Flasher: (lxqt-4gb) (BeagleBoard-X15)

wget https://rcn-ee.com/rootfs/bb.org/testing/2016-02-26/lxqt-4gb/bbx15-eMMC-flasher-debian-8.3-lxqt-4gb-armhf-2016-02-26-4gb.img.xz
sha256sum: 648d906dbf3e184e1c4513f7895ea1e6ef49ee0b54fbb2bd41cee3b1c2d45d33

microSD/Standalone: (lxqt-4gb) (BeagleBoard-X15)

wget https://rcn-ee.com/rootfs/bb.org/testing/2016-02-26/lxqt-4gb/bbx15-debian-8.3-lxqt-4gb-armhf-2016-02-26-4gb.img.xz
sha256sum: d237311ee16d6ce3c69f4be7b17555539045c70079c0b7415545af9a158d9083

Jessie Snapshot iot

Flasher: (iot) (BeagleBone Black/Green eMMC)

wget https://rcn-ee.com/rootfs/bb.org/testing/2016-02-26/iot/BBB-eMMC-flasher-debian-8.3-iot-armhf-2016-02-26-4gb.img.xz
sha256sum: c2ea066cd2aac312b17527b9a199a3958f1198ba4ce6540e01a8086c92f8153f

microSD/Standalone: (iot) (BeagleBone/BeagleBone Black/BeagleBone Green)

wget https://rcn-ee.com/rootfs/bb.org/testing/2016-02-26/iot/bone-debian-8.3-iot-armhf-2016-02-26-4gb.img.xz
sha256sum: bce838fdd3b9a915364276fe63d26c0e1b3ecce5ae2005254cd2a251a3e4e033

Jessie Snapshot console

Flasher: (console) (BeagleBone Black/Green eMMC)

wget https://rcn-ee.com/rootfs/bb.org/testing/2016-02-26/console/BBB-eMMC-flasher-debian-8.3-console-armhf-2016-02-26-2gb.img.xz
sha256sum: 43f91f6e69ddb1c492e50ec70e41deae51b09e5cac144391f5dd9ca105d03cc7

microSD/Standalone: (console) (BeagleBone/BeagleBone Black/BeagleBone Green)

wget https://rcn-ee.com/rootfs/bb.org/testing/2016-02-26/console/bone-debian-8.3-console-armhf-2016-02-26-2gb.img.xz
sha256sum: d0c6f07067bdddc7bdd24dafdcad3847d27149503c36fafb3074e61bf22d713b

Flasher: (console) (BeagleBoard-X15)

wget https://rcn-ee.com/rootfs/bb.org/testing/2016-02-26/console/bbx15-eMMC-flasher-debian-8.3-console-armhf-2016-02-26-4gb.img.xz
sha256sum: e7f414dd63d561d6ebaf25dd274ec01cdc888048754f7445dd3598ff51f15a25

microSD/Standalone: (console) (BeagleBoard-X15)

wget https://rcn-ee.com/rootfs/bb.org/testing/2016-02-26/console/bbx15-debian-8.3-console-armhf-2016-02-26-2gb.img.xz
sha256sum: 9e9204e4424117914673b7ac0228b36db0c03c8c5d69870479f936b7fdce09e0

Kernel Options

General apt syntax for searching and installing a specific kernel:

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-cache search linux-image | grep <branch>
sudo apt-get install linux-image-<specific version>
sudo reboot

Latest kernel script

cd /opt/scripts/tools/
git pull
sudo ./update_kernel.sh <OPTIONS>

3.8.x

This is the first beagleboard.org long term kernel tree with capemanager support, it's been the default install for Debian Wheezy

beagleboard.org patchset: https://github.com/beagleboard/linux/tree/3.8

3.8.x BeagleBone/BeagleBone Black FULL Cape Support
--bone-channel --stable

3.8.x BeagleBone/BeagleBone Black FULL Cape Support + Xenomai
--bone-xenomai-channel --stable

4.1.x-ti

This is slated to replace the v3.8.x tree in Debian Jessie, cape manager support is enabled.

beagleboard.org patchset: https://github.com/beagleboard/linux/tree/4.1
Based on: http://git.ti.com/gitweb/?p=ti-linux-kernel/ti-linux-kernel.git;a=shortlog;h=refs/heads/ti-linux-4.1.y

4.1.x-ti BeagleBone/BeagleBone Black/BeagleBoard-X15
--ti-channel --lts-4_1

4.1.x-ti BeagleBone/BeagleBone Black/BeagleBoard-X15 + RT
--ti-rt-channel --lts-4_1

Mainline (4.1.x lts)

4.1.x BeagleBone/BeagleBone Black
--bone-kernel --lts-4_1

4.1.x BeagleBone/BeagleBone Black + RT
--bone-rt-kernel --lts-4_1

Mainline (4.4.x lts)

4.4.x BeagleBone/BeagleBone Black
--bone-kernel --lts-4_4

4.4.x BeagleBone/BeagleBone Black + RT
--bone-rt-kernel --lts-4_4

Debian 8: jessie

sudo apt-get install linux-image-armmp