BeagleBoardDebian

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

Note: Original Beagleboards work with the Debian Console image booted via holding user button down. Last tested 05/2020. Ref: https://github.com/beagleboard/Latest-Images/issues/48

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
    • v5.4.x kernel branch
    • BeagleBone
    • 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
BeagleBoard-X15 --dtb am57xx-beagle-x15
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

Debian 10 (buster)

Quick Install script for "board"

sudo ./mk_mmc.sh --mmc /dev/sdX --dtb "board" --distro stretch

So For the BeagleBoard xM:

sudo ./mk_mmc.sh --mmc /dev/sdX --dtb omap3-beagle-xm --distro stretch

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

Demo Image

• Advanced Users only: BeagleBoard 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/v5.4.x -b tmp
./build_kernel.sh

• Advanced Users only: BeagleBone/BeagleBone Black/PocketBeagle: Kernel v4.19.x source, used in these demo images: https://github.com/RobertCNelson/ti-linux-kernel-dev/tree/ti-linux-4.19.y

git clone https://github.com/RobertCNelson/ti-linux-kernel-dev.git
cd ti-linux-kernel-dev
git checkout origin/ti-linux-4.19.y -b tmp
./build_kernel.sh

Debian (buster)

Default username/password:

• username: debian
• password: temppwd

Image Updated:

• 2020-03-12
  • BeagleBoard xM: v5.4.24-armv7-x20 kernel
  • All BeagleBone Variants and PocketBeagle: v4.19.94-ti-r36 kernel
  • BeagleBoard-X15 (and BeagleBone AI): v4.19.94-ti-r36 kernel
• 2019-04-10
  • BeagleBoard xM: v4.19.31-armv7-x31 kernel
  • All BeagleBone Variants and PocketBeagle: v4.14.108-ti-r104 kernel
  • BeagleBoard-X15: v4.14.108-ti-r104 kernel
• 2018-12-10
  • BeagleBoard xM: v4.19.8-armv7-x11 kernel
  • All BeagleBone Variants and PocketBeagle: v4.14.79-ti-r84 kernel
  • BeagleBoard-X15: v4.14.79-ti-r84 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) (Windows/Linux) http://192.168.7.2, (Mac/Linux) http://192.168.6.2
SSH, Port 22: ssh debian@arm.local (Bone: via usb) (Windows/Linux) debian@192.168.7.2, (Mac/Linux) debian@192.168.6.2
Getty, Serial Port

Default user: debian pass: temppwd

Get prebuilt image:

wget https://rcn-ee.com/rootfs/2020-03-12/elinux/debian-10.3-console-armhf-2020-03-12.tar.xz

Verify Image with:

sha256sum debian-10.3-console-armhf-2020-03-12.tar.xz
b6f1ca53d67554d0381ca59fe9ecd50b5013a073abd2b2e133aa8be1784cdbc6  debian-10.3-console-armhf-2020-03-12.tar.xz

Unpack Image:

tar xf debian-10.3-console-armhf-2020-03-12.tar.xz
cd debian-10.3-console-armhf-2020-03-12

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
• All BeagleBone Variants - beaglebone
• OMAP5432 uEVM - omap5-uevm
• BeagleBoard-X15 (BeagleBone AI) - am57xx-beagle-x15

So for the BeagleBoard xM:

sudo ./setup_sdcard.sh --mmc /dev/sdX --dtb omap3-beagle-xm

Advanced: Build Image:

git clone https://github.com/RobertCNelson/omap-image-builder.git
cd omap-image-builder
git checkout v2020.03 -b tmp

Stable:

./RootStock-NG.sh -c rcn-ee_console_debian_buster_armhf

Flasher

eMMC: All BeagleBone Variants with eMMC

This image can be written to a 2GB (or larger) microSD card, via 'dd' on Linux or on Windows/Mac/Linux: https://etcher.io First press and hold the boot select button (next to the microSD card), then apply power. On boot-up the board should indicate it has started the flashing procedure visually via a Cylon Sweep pattern shown on the 4 LED's next to the Ethernet jack. Progress is reported on both the serial debug and HDMI connectors, 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/eMMC/init-eMMC-flasher-v3.sh

This 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.

User: debian pass: temppwd

Image Updated:

• 2020-03-12
  • All BeagleBone Variants with eMMC: v4.19.94-ti-r36 kernel
• 2019-04-10
  • All BeagleBone Variants with eMMC: v4.14.108-ti-r104 kernel
• 2018-12-10
  • All BeagleBone Variants with eMMC: v4.14.79-ti-r84 kernel

Get prebuilt image:

wget https://rcn-ee.com/rootfs/2020-03-12/flasher/bone-eMMC-flasher-debian-10.3-console-armhf-2020-03-12-2gb.img.xz

Verify Image with:

sha256sum bone-eMMC-flasher-debian-10.3-console-armhf-2020-03-12-2gb*
12a449c3426d811765e8ef0236ae3ddc74fc645a482640984435452929ebf55d  bone-eMMC-flasher-debian-10.3-console-armhf-2020-03-12-2gb.img.xz

Windows/Mac/Linux gui

http://etcher.io

Linux: (dd)

xzcat bone-eMMC-flasher-debian-10.3-console-armhf-2020-03-12-2gb.img.xz | sudo dd of=/dev/sdX

eMMC: BeagleBoard-X15 and BeagleBone AI

This image can be written to a 2GB (or larger) microSD card, via 'dd' on Linux or on Windows/Mac/Linux: https://etcher.io First press and hold the boot select button (next to the microSD card), then apply power. On boot-up the board should indicate it has started the flashing procedure visually via a Cylon Sweep pattern shown on the 4 LED's next to the Ethernet jack. Progress is reported on both the serial debug and HDMI connectors, 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/eMMC/init-eMMC-flasher-v3.sh

This 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.

User: debian pass: temppwd

Image Updated:

• 2020-03-12
  • BeagleBoard-X15 (and BeagleBone AI): v4.19.94-ti-r36 kernel
• 2019-04-10
  • BeagleBoard-X15 (and BeagleBone AI): v4.14.108-ti-r104 kernel
• 2018-12-10
  • BeagleBoard-X15 (and BeagleBone AI): v4.14.79-ti-r84 kernel

Get prebuilt image:

wget https://rcn-ee.com/rootfs/2020-03-12/flasher/am57xx-eMMC-flasher-debian-10.3-console-armhf-2020-03-12-2gb.img.xz

Verify Image with:

sha256sum am57xx-eMMC-flasher-debian-10.3-console-armhf-2020-03-12-2gb*
b2d4600cfbeaad90e9d634f8f9671be1223d235e6581aac82897d3f28076d338  am57xx-eMMC-flasher-debian-10.3-console-armhf-2020-03-12-2gb.img.xz

Windows/Mac/Linux gui

http://etcher.io

Linux: (dd)

xzcat am57xx-eMMC-flasher-debian-10.3-console-armhf-2020-03-12-2gb.img.xz | sudo dd 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 on Windows/Mac/Linux: https://etcher.io

User: debian pass: temppwd

Auto partition resize:

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

Image Updated:

• 2020-03-12
  • BeagleBoard xM: v5.4.24-armv7-x20 kernel
• 2019-04-10
  • BeagleBoard xM: v4.19.31-armv7-x31 kernel
• 2018-12-10
  • BeagleBoard xM: v4.19.8-armv7-x11 kernel

Get prebuilt image:

wget https://rcn-ee.com/rootfs/2020-03-12/microsd/bbxm-debian-10.3-console-armhf-2020-03-12-2gb.img.xz

Verify Image with:

sha256sum bbxm-debian-10.3-console-armhf-2020-03-12-2gb*
864cd6a45179e87c68087150597e18a1c12c81621da7735ee8d5c35094423845  bbxm-debian-10.3-console-armhf-2020-03-12-2gb.img.xz

Windows/Mac/Linux gui

http://etcher.io

Linux: (dd)

xzcat bbxm-debian-10.3-console-armhf-2020-03-12-2gb.img.xz | sudo dd of=/dev/sdX

All BeagleBone Variants and PocketBeagle

This image can be written to a 2GB (or larger) microSD card, via 'dd' on Linux or on Windows/Mac/Linux: https://etcher.io

User: debian pass: temppwd

Auto partition resize:

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

Image Updated:

• 2020-03-12
  • All BeagleBone Variants and PocketBeagle: v4.19.94-ti-r36 kernel
• 2019-04-10
  • All BeagleBone Variants and PocketBeagle: v4.14.108-ti-r104 kernel
• 2018-12-10
  • All BeagleBone Variants and PocketBeagle: v4.14.79-ti-r84 kernel

Get prebuilt image:

wget https://rcn-ee.com/rootfs/2020-03-12/microsd/bone-debian-10.3-console-armhf-2020-03-12-2gb.img.xz

Verify Image with:

sha256sum bone-debian-10.3-console-armhf-2020-03-12-2gb*
6d898c473edc8a50597ed7da8342c899d88e07b8a6b4c7c143257e947cb5f52d  bone-debian-10.3-console-armhf-2020-03-12-2gb.img.xz

Windows/Mac/Linux gui

http://etcher.io

Linux: (dd)

xzcat bone-debian-10.3-console-armhf-2020-03-12-2gb.img.xz | sudo dd of=/dev/sdX

BeagleBoard-X15 and BeagleBone AI

This image can be written to a 2GB (or larger) microSD card, via 'dd' on Linux or on Windows/Mac/Linux: https://etcher.io

User: debian pass: temppwd

Auto partition resize:

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

Image Updated:

• 2020-03-12
  • BeagleBoard-X15 (and BeagleBone AI): v4.19.94-ti-r36 kernel
• 2019-04-10
  • BeagleBoard-X15 (and BeagleBone AI): v4.14.108-ti-r104 kernel
• 2018-12-10
  • BeagleBoard-X15 (and BeagleBone AI): v4.14.79-ti-r84 kernel

Get prebuilt image:

wget https://rcn-ee.com/rootfs/2020-03-12/microsd/am57xx-debian-10.3-console-armhf-2020-03-12-2gb.img.xz

Verify Image with:

sha256sum am57xx-debian-10.3-console-armhf-2020-03-12-2gb*
24bfaeac8d90ebd36790ba4c04a4117fe8c2e7aa28de5d1ff0a5ab164e32bb90  am57xx-debian-10.3-console-armhf-2020-03-12-2gb.img.xz

Windows/Mac/Linux gui

http://etcher.io

Linux: (dd)

xzcat am57xx-debian-10.3-console-armhf-2020-03-12-2gb.img.xz | sudo dd of=/dev/sdX

Debian Configuration

Install Latest Kernel Image

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>

4.19.x-ti

beagleboard.org patchset: https://github.com/beagleboard/linux/tree/4.19
Based on: http://git.ti.com/gitweb/?p=ti-linux-kernel/ti-linux-kernel.git;a=shortlog;h=refs/heads/ti-linux-4.19.y

4.19.x-ti BeagleBone/BeagleBone Black/BeagleBoard-X15
--ti-channel --lts-4_19

4.19.x-ti BeagleBone/BeagleBone Black/BeagleBoard-X15 + RT
--ti-rt-channel --lts-4_19

Mainline (4.19.x lts)

4.19.x BeagleBone/BeagleBone Black
--bone-kernel --lts-4_19

4.19.x BeagleBone/BeagleBone Black + RT
--bone-rt-kernel --lts-4_19

Debian 9: stretch

sudo apt-get install linux-image-armmp

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

SGX Drivers

SGX BeagleBone/BeagleBone Black

A page is dedicated for the installation and use of the graphics accelerator.

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