Ubuntu Desktop on Beaglebone Black - does it work for anyone?

[o...@gmx.net]

Hi there,

i'm pretty new to the Beaglebone Black and to Linux, but i've been reading up on it a lot and went through quite a process to get to the point i am now, just wondering if i did something wrong or if my result is the best i can get.

So here is what i did:

After multiple tries i decided to use a VM of Ubuntu to create the microSD card with the Ubuntu 13.04 files provided from rcn-ee.net and got a bootable command line linux with enough free space on the sd card to install the GUI.

I ran "sudo apt-get update" and "sudo apt-get install ubuntu-desktop" and waited, took about 3 hours to install all the files.

Booting after the install resulted in Ubuntu loading the desktop login screen but after logging in i got screen flickers, error messages and ultimately the system kept freezing.


Did anyone get this to work? Should i stick with 12.04 or 12.10 to do this? Any help getting the desktop to work is appreciated.

[Gerald Coley]

If you are not registered as a member your posts are moderated. That means that I have to review them before posting. That also means that there will be a delay in their posting as I have a very bad habit of trying to sleep on a daily basis.

If you want faster posting, then register. Once registered, your initlal post will be moderated.

Gerald

--
For more options, visit http://beagleboard.org/discuss
---
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "BeagleBoard" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to beagleboard...@googlegroups.com.
For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
 
 

[Robert Nelson]

On Fri, Jul 12, 2013 at 2:56 AM, <o...@gmx.net> wrote:

> Hi there,
>
> i'm pretty new to the Beaglebone Black and to Linux, but i've been reading
> up on it a lot and went through quite a process to get to the point i am
> now, just wondering if i did something wrong or if my result is the best i
> can get.
>
> So here is what i did:
>
> After multiple tries i decided to use a VM of Ubuntu to create the microSD
> card with the Ubuntu 13.04 files provided from rcn-ee.net and got a bootable
> command line linux with enough free space on the sd card to install the GUI.
>
> I ran "sudo apt-get update" and "sudo apt-get install ubuntu-desktop" and
> waited, took about 3 hours to install all the files.
>
> Booting after the install resulted in Ubuntu loading the desktop login
> screen but after logging in i got screen flickers, error messages and
> ultimately the system kept freezing.

In ubuntu, run this script to setup the ddx modesetting driver and xorg.conf..

wget https://raw.github.com/RobertCNelson/tools/master/ubuntu/setup-xorg.sh
chmod +x setup-xorg.sh
./setup-xorg.sh

Regards,

--
Robert Nelson
http://www.rcn-ee.com/

[Tommy Snyder]

Does this fix the issue 13.04 has been having with full Ubuntu desktop? I know in my experience after you sign on you basically just get a blank screen with 13.04.

[Robert Nelson]

On Fri, Jul 12, 2013 at 8:25 AM, Tommy Snyder
<numbersi...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Does this fix the issue 13.04 has been having with full Ubuntu desktop? I
> know in my experience after you sign on you basically just get a blank
> screen with 13.04.

Sorry, I've never tested it with the unity crap..

But xorg in 13.04 needs the modesetting driver installed and xorg.conf
setup, otherwise xorg itself will cause lockups/blinking/etc.. Beyond
that with unity running, i don't know.. ;)

[William Hermans]

Personally I think it is probably better to install Debian and use LXDE. I never got why people *NEED* to use Ubuntu either so . ..

[Robert Nelson]

On Fri, Jul 12, 2013 at 9:15 AM, William Hermans <yyr...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Personally I think it is probably better to install Debian and use LXDE. I
> never got why people *NEED* to use Ubuntu either so . ..

It's sad; recently i was in a meeting with some marketers and against
all our opinions against it, they just had to list ubuntu on the
slides:

aka; xyz supports: linux, ubuntu, android..

I asked, Well if we have to have ubuntu, why can't we stick debian on
it too.. But it wasn't a big enough "brand"... <rolls eyes>

[William Hermans]

Ronco Linux, Set it and forget it. . .

[Nathaniel Lewis]

I tried the modesetting script with the stock kernel your June 14th Ubuntu 13.04 image and I still get lockups/crashes randomly.  I'm only trying to run Fluxbox at 1280x720@60.

[Robert Nelson]

On Sat, Jul 13, 2013 at 6:42 PM, Nathaniel Lewis
<linux.r...@gmail.com> wrote:
> I tried the modesetting script with the stock kernel your June 14th Ubuntu
> 13.04 image and I still get lockups/crashes randomly. I'm only trying to
> run Fluxbox at 1280x720@60.

Oddly, it runs nice and solid with the Debian Wheezy image...
Something is wrong with the Ubuntu xorg stack.. Maybe it's just time
to drop my support for ubuntu images.

[Nathaniel Lewis]

Well I'm going to go try Debian Wheezy then :)

[William Hermans]

Things like this is what I personally have come to expect from Ubuntu. Truly a shame really, being so close to Debian, with "cutting edge" features. Yet it never fails to disappoint when it comes down to it.

I guess Canonical only really cares about one thing, which should have been apparent when they tried putting google ads on their desktop. . .  

[Nathaniel Lewis]

Turns out it was a power issue.  I was running the BBB on one of those two port USB cables.  Switched to my 10W adapter and no issues now.  (Welp, in Debian at least)

- Nathaniel Lewis