Ubuntu install on BeagleBoard-xM

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TiroKartChief

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Aug 31, 2010, 9:15:55 PM8/31/10
to Beagle Board
I'm trying to install Ubuntu on a BeagleBoard-xM following the
NetInstall method instructions here - http://elinux.org/BeagleBoardUbuntu.
Everything worked fine (as long as I selected usb1 as the ethernet
port when asking about networking hardware) but it failed repeatedly
during the base system install (at around 76%?) with "Unable to
install busybox-initramfs".

One slightly odd thing - it came up with United Kingdom as the default
mirror. Could this be the problem?

Thanks!

Richard.

Robert Nelson

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Aug 31, 2010, 9:42:24 PM8/31/10
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Hi Richard,

Don't use the "NetInstall" method for the XM board. Ubuntu dev's made
some assumptions with lucid (released in may of 2010) so it'll never
be compatible with the XM...

The Demo Image should work fine, however note I've only tested them on
an early XM prototype with bad memory.. Just waiting for ups to
deliver my new XM..

Yes.. the only mirror is in the Uk...

Regards,

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

TiroKartChief

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Aug 31, 2010, 10:10:34 PM8/31/10
to Beagle Board
Robert,

Thanks for the quick response. I'll try the demo image as you suggest.
Just wanted to be sure I wasn't doing something silly!

Regards,

Richard.

On Aug 31, 9:42 pm, Robert Nelson <robertcnel...@gmail.com> wrote:
> On Tue, Aug 31, 2010 at 8:15 PM, TiroKartChief
>
> <tirokartch...@tirobotics.com> wrote:
> > I'm trying to install Ubuntu on a BeagleBoard-xM following the
> > NetInstall method instructions here -http://elinux.org/BeagleBoardUbuntu.

TiroKartChief

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Sep 1, 2010, 12:15:36 AM9/1/10
to Beagle Board
The Demo Image install worked perfectly - thanks again.

Hope your BB-xM turns up soon!

Richard.

On Aug 31, 10:10 pm, TiroKartChief <tirokartch...@tirobotics.com>
wrote:
> > Robert Nelsonhttp://www.rcn-ee.com/- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -

Ricardo Salveti de Araujo

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Sep 1, 2010, 10:08:56 AM9/1/10
to beagl...@googlegroups.com
On Tue, Aug 31, 2010 at 06:15:55PM -0700, TiroKartChief wrote:
> I'm trying to install Ubuntu on a BeagleBoard-xM following the
> NetInstall method instructions here - http://elinux.org/BeagleBoardUbuntu.
> Everything worked fine (as long as I selected usb1 as the ethernet
> port when asking about networking hardware) but it failed repeatedly
> during the base system install (at around 76%?) with "Unable to
> install busybox-initramfs".

You could also try the pre-installed image for Beagle-xM (this will be the
default method that Ubuntu is using for Beagle and Pandaboard for Maverick).

Tomorrow we'll get the Maverick beta release, and the omap image should work
fine at Beagleboard xM (image was tested, but not with A2 board).

You'll be able to get the image at
http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/ubuntu-netbook/ports/releases/maverick/ . See
http://testcases.qa.ubuntu.com/Install/ARM/PreinstalledImage if you need
instructions on how to set up your sd card (quite simple, just a dd, put the
card and boot).

Let us know if you face any bugs at your testing.

Cheers,
--
Ricardo Salveti de Araujo

Jason Kridner

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Sep 1, 2010, 10:21:58 AM9/1/10
to beagl...@googlegroups.com
On Wed, Sep 1, 2010 at 10:08 AM, Ricardo Salveti de Araujo
<rsal...@rsalveti.net> wrote:
> On Tue, Aug 31, 2010 at 06:15:55PM -0700, TiroKartChief wrote:
>> I'm trying to install Ubuntu on a BeagleBoard-xM following the
>> NetInstall method instructions here - http://elinux.org/BeagleBoardUbuntu.
>> Everything worked fine (as long as I selected usb1 as the ethernet
>> port when asking about networking hardware) but it failed repeatedly
>> during the base system install (at around 76%?) with "Unable to
>> install busybox-initramfs".
>
> You could also try the pre-installed image for Beagle-xM (this will be the
> default method that Ubuntu is using for Beagle and Pandaboard for Maverick).
>
> Tomorrow we'll get the Maverick beta release, and the omap image should work
> fine at Beagleboard xM (image was tested, but not with A2 board).

Did you pull in the x-load patch to support both the Numonyx memory
and the Micron memory? The Rev A2 board will ship with both, so you
need to be sure that you've got that patch applied. Sorry for that,
but memory delivery times became the bottleneck to shipping the xMs
and we therefore got stuck with taking memories from both suppliers.

>
> You'll be able to get the image at
> http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/ubuntu-netbook/ports/releases/maverick/ . See
> http://testcases.qa.ubuntu.com/Install/ARM/PreinstalledImage if you need
> instructions on how to set up your sd card (quite simple, just a dd, put the
> card and boot).
>
> Let us know if you face any bugs at your testing.
>
> Cheers,
> --
> Ricardo Salveti de Araujo
>

> --
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>

djibi2

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Sep 1, 2010, 10:28:38 AM9/1/10
to Beagle Board
I was also trying my first net install on Beagleboard B4 and had the
same issue. So this particular problem doesn't appear to be related
to xM. But from what I've read the net install while not work for
other reasons on xM right now.

Does anyone know how to get around the busybox-initramfs install error
in the netinstall?

On Aug 31, 8:15 pm, TiroKartChief <tirokartch...@tirobotics.com>
wrote:
> I'm trying to install Ubuntu on a BeagleBoard-xM following the
> NetInstall method instructions here -http://elinux.org/BeagleBoardUbuntu.

Robert Nelson

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Sep 1, 2010, 10:33:47 AM9/1/10
to beagl...@googlegroups.com
On Wed, Sep 1, 2010 at 9:21 AM, Jason Kridner <jkri...@beagleboard.org> wrote:
> On Wed, Sep 1, 2010 at 10:08 AM, Ricardo Salveti de Araujo
> <rsal...@rsalveti.net> wrote:
>> On Tue, Aug 31, 2010 at 06:15:55PM -0700, TiroKartChief wrote:
>>> I'm trying to install Ubuntu on a BeagleBoard-xM following the
>>> NetInstall method instructions here - http://elinux.org/BeagleBoardUbuntu.
>>> Everything worked fine (as long as I selected usb1 as the ethernet
>>> port when asking about networking hardware) but it failed repeatedly
>>> during the base system install (at around 76%?) with "Unable to
>>> install busybox-initramfs".
>>
>> You could also try the pre-installed image for Beagle-xM (this will be the
>> default method that Ubuntu is using for Beagle and Pandaboard for Maverick).
>>
>> Tomorrow we'll get the Maverick beta release, and the omap image should work
>> fine at Beagleboard xM (image was tested, but not with A2 board).
>
> Did you pull in the x-load patch to support both the Numonyx memory
> and the Micron memory?  The Rev A2 board will ship with both, so you
> need to be sure that you've got that patch applied.  Sorry for that,
> but memory delivery times became the bottleneck to shipping the xMs
> and we therefore got stuck with taking memories from both suppliers.

Yeah i think the Canonical guys are safe, they were using sakoman's tree...

https://code.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/u-boot-omap3

Otherwise the ones listed on http://elinux.org/BeagleBoardUbuntu are
directly from angstrom..

Robert Nelson

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Sep 1, 2010, 10:37:35 AM9/1/10
to beagl...@googlegroups.com
On Wed, Sep 1, 2010 at 9:28 AM, djibi2 <dji...@gmail.com> wrote:
> I was also trying my first net install on Beagleboard B4 and had the
> same issue.  So this particular problem doesn't appear to be related
> to xM.  But from what I've read the net install while not work for
> other reasons on xM right now.
>
> Does anyone know how to get around the busybox-initramfs install error
> in the netinstall?

Well the xM definitely won't work, the lucid install assumes NAND
flash. (Maverick doesn't care and there's even a builtin overide i
can use to stop it from trying)..

But well darn... Anything weird in "ctrl alt f4"? other then all the
hid/input noise from 2.6.35?

I had just re-qualified that "NetInstall" on "2010-08-24" on my Bx
with the newer 2.6.35 kernel.. I'll retest it quickly...

Jason Kridner

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Sep 1, 2010, 10:40:57 AM9/1/10
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OK. Just to be perfectly clear, the patch I'm talking about is
http://gitorious.org/beagleboard-validation/x-load/commit/ead751e4a361ce19552ac94bbeba232f12849244

>
> Regards,
>
> --
> Robert Nelson
> http://www.rcn-ee.com/
>

Robert Nelson

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Sep 1, 2010, 11:39:11 AM9/1/10
to beagl...@googlegroups.com, Oliver Grawert, Loïc Minier

Crap, yeah that was u-boot, looking at x-load they don't have support
for the future Micron Xm's:

http://bazaar.launchpad.net/~ubuntu-branches/ubuntu/maverick/x-loader/maverick/annotate/head:/board/omap3530beagle/omap3530beagle.c

cc'ing Ogra and Loïc

Robert Nelson

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Sep 1, 2010, 12:24:29 PM9/1/10
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Weird, it works fine for me (B5 Board).. 83% just passed
"busybox-initramfs" was watching ctrl-alt-f4... besides the evbug.c
errors from keyboard input and tar time stamps way off. (i should have
it run ntpdate early to get rid of that issue)..

Ricardo Salveti de Araujo

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Sep 1, 2010, 12:44:04 PM9/1/10
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On Wed, Sep 01, 2010 at 10:21:58AM -0400, Jason Kridner wrote:
> On Wed, Sep 1, 2010 at 10:08 AM, Ricardo Salveti de Araujo
> <rsal...@rsalveti.net> wrote:
> > On Tue, Aug 31, 2010 at 06:15:55PM -0700, TiroKartChief wrote:
> >> I'm trying to install Ubuntu on a BeagleBoard-xM following the
> >> NetInstall method instructions here - http://elinux.org/BeagleBoardUbuntu.
> >> Everything worked fine (as long as I selected usb1 as the ethernet
> >> port when asking about networking hardware) but it failed repeatedly
> >> during the base system install (at around 76%?) with "Unable to
> >> install busybox-initramfs".
> >
> > You could also try the pre-installed image for Beagle-xM (this will be the
> > default method that Ubuntu is using for Beagle and Pandaboard for Maverick).
> >
> > Tomorrow we'll get the Maverick beta release, and the omap image should work
> > fine at Beagleboard xM (image was tested, but not with A2 board).
>
> Did you pull in the x-load patch to support both the Numonyx memory
> and the Micron memory? The Rev A2 board will ship with both, so you
> need to be sure that you've got that patch applied. Sorry for that,
> but memory delivery times became the bottleneck to shipping the xMs
> and we therefore got stuck with taking memories from both suppliers.

Ouch, didn't know we needed an extra patch for x-load :-(

Too bad the release target for tomorrow, and we'll probably apply the patch just
after Beta.

Thanks for point it out, will update our package so we can at least have working
xM images for our daily builds, after beta.

djibi2

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Sep 1, 2010, 2:05:44 PM9/1/10
to Beagle Board
I've tried three times in the last two days to do the netinstall on a
Rev B4, with the same issue. I also can confirm that the suggested
mirror was for the UK ( I'm in the states), when I tried to manually
specify a mirror I complained about not finding a Release. I may have
not had the path specified correctly. What mirror were you using for
the netinstall?


I was able to parse the error message from console 4; this is not
verbatim but what I used as a google search this morning.

command not executed: 'sh -c debconf-apt-progress install busybox-
initramfs ....

I will try again and take better notes if the error occurs again.


On Sep 1, 11:24 am, Robert Nelson <robertcnel...@gmail.com> wrote:

Robert Nelson

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Sep 1, 2010, 2:12:12 PM9/1/10
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On Wed, Sep 1, 2010 at 1:05 PM, djibi2 <dji...@gmail.com> wrote:
> I've tried three times in the last two days to do the netinstall on a
> Rev B4, with the same issue.  I also can confirm that the suggested
> mirror was for the UK ( I'm in the states), when I tried to manually
> specify a mirror I complained about not finding a Release.  I may have
> not had the path specified correctly.   What mirror were you using for
> the netinstall?

I'm using the same UK mirror and based in the states.. (Actually the
UK mirror is the only ports.ubuntu server..)

The only tweak i do when running mine, is to specify a local
apt-cacher-ng mirror with: "http://192.168.0.10:3142/" during the
install when prompted... (mostly to speed up the slow network
download..)

> I was able to parse the error message from console 4; this is not
> verbatim but what I used as a google search this morning.
>
> command not executed: 'sh -c debconf-apt-progress install busybox-
> initramfs ....
>
> I will try again and take better notes if the error occurs again.

Yeah, it's pretty hard with the input errors spaming the log too...

Ricardo Salveti de Araujo

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Sep 1, 2010, 2:17:34 PM9/1/10
to beagl...@googlegroups.com

Bug https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/x-loader/+bug/628243

I just added the pointed patch, so it should now work with both xM versions.

As I still don't have a board with Numonyx, can anyone help me testing the
binary with it?

All you need to do is to download
http://people.canonical.com/~rsalveti/maverick/boot/xM/MLO , put at your SD card
an boot it with your current working image (no need for Ubuntu). When testing,
please post the result at the bug or at this thread so we can push it to our
archives.

Thanks a lot!

Robert Nelson

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Sep 1, 2010, 2:49:00 PM9/1/10
to beagl...@googlegroups.com
On Wed, Sep 1, 2010 at 1:17 PM, Ricardo Salveti de Araujo

Looks good, tested on my Numonyx powered xM A2 will add to the bug notes..

djibi2

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Sep 1, 2010, 4:58:24 PM9/1/10
to Beagle Board
After the busybox-initramfs error I checked the logs for errors and
found

base-installer: cp: write error: No space left on device

df indicates that the tmp space is full

/dev/mmcblk0p1 72102 72102 0 100% /tmp/mmc

I used the mk_mmc.sh script to create the card. I couldn't find and
version information in the script, but the first few lines are:

#!/bin/bash -e

#Notes: need to check for: parted, fdisk, wget, mkfs.*, mkimage,
md5sum

MIRROR="http://rcn-ee.net/deb/"
DIST=squeeze
KERNEL_REL=2.6.35.3
KERNEL_PATCH=1

Did you use a different script to create your card?

Robert

Robert Nelson

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Sep 1, 2010, 5:13:14 PM9/1/10
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On Wed, Sep 1, 2010 at 3:58 PM, djibi2 <dji...@gmail.com> wrote:
> After the busybox-initramfs error I checked the logs for errors and
> found
>
>              base-installer: cp: write error: No space left on device
>
> df indicates that the tmp space is full
>
>            /dev/mmcblk0p1 72102  72102  0 100% /tmp/mmc

weird, can you do a "ls -lh" on this card.. Btw is this with the
'--firmware' option? I haven't run that in awhile..

On a fresh build (before running the ubuntu install), the cards look like this:

./mk_mmc.sh --mmc /dev/mmcblk0 --distro lucid
Filesystem 1K-blocks Used Available Use% Mounted on
/dev/mmcblk0p1 72102 33354 38748 47% /media/boot

./mk_mmc.sh --mmc /dev/mmcblk0 --distro lucid --firmware
Filesystem 1K-blocks Used Available Use% Mounted on
/dev/mmcblk0p1 72102 50692 21410 71% /media/boot

voodoo@voodoo-e6400:~/bzr_repo/debian-di$ ls -lh /media/boot/
total 50M
-rwxr-xr-x 1 voodoo voodoo 451 2010-09-01 16:08 boot.cmd
-rwxr-xr-x 1 voodoo voodoo 488 2010-09-01 16:08 boot.scr
-rwxr-xr-x 1 voodoo voodoo 24K 2010-09-01 16:08 MLO
-rwxr-xr-x 1 voodoo voodoo 523 2010-09-01 16:08 normal.scr
drwx------ 2 voodoo voodoo 2.0K 2010-09-01 16:08 tools
-rwxr-xr-x 1 voodoo voodoo 205K 2010-09-01 16:08 u-boot.bin
-rwxr-xr-x 1 voodoo voodoo 4.0M 2010-09-01 16:08 uImage
-rwxr-xr-x 1 voodoo voodoo 42M 2010-09-01 16:08 uInitrd
-rwxr-xr-x 1 voodoo voodoo 4.1M 2010-09-01 16:08 uInitrd.final
-rwxr-xr-x 1 voodoo voodoo 911 2010-09-01 16:08 user.cmd
-rwxr-xr-x 1 voodoo voodoo 983 2010-09-01 16:08 user.scr

>
> I used the mk_mmc.sh script to create the card. I couldn't find and
> version information in the script, but the first few lines are:
>

> KERNEL_REL=2.6.35.3
> KERNEL_PATCH=1

^
Yeap this is about the only 'version info' other then bzr revision..
I always use bzr trunk from the same repo..

>
> Did you use a different script to create your card?

Regards,

Robert Nelson

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Sep 1, 2010, 6:19:50 PM9/1/10
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Okay i see the problem.. First the default boot mmc partition is
64Mb.. When selecting the '--firmware' option, the uInird with the
debian installer is just way to big now (40Mb's). During the install
and before switching to the final uIntird that'll be used on a normal
boot, i back up the install uInitrd to "uInitrd.net" with a copy so
(40 + 40 >= 64Mb ) before blowing the orignal away.. I'll need to
spend some time to cut out the crude which isn't needed.. But I'll
bump the partition size and use a 'mv' instead..

Ricardo Salveti de Araujo

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Sep 1, 2010, 9:58:47 PM9/1/10
to beagl...@googlegroups.com

Nice, thanks a lot Robert!

TiroKartChief

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Sep 5, 2010, 11:24:03 AM9/5/10
to Beagle Board
Has anyone got WiFi working with the demo image of Ubuntu on the
BeagleBoard-xM? I seem to recall seeing a comment that the nm-applet
wasn't working and that seems to be the case but even using CLI
commands I can't get things to work. I am trying a Belkin Wireless G
USB and a Linksys WUSB600N without encryption (to keep things simple).
The firmware load seems ok but the last thing in the dmesg output says
"ADDRCONF(NETDEV_UP): wlan0: link is not ready". When I did configure
wpa_supplicant (and the access point) for encryption (WPA-PSK) it
seemed to try to associate and then gave up for "local reason=3".

Am I forgetting something? Certainly it'd be helpful to know if it's
just a problem I'm having or a general problem. Thanks!

Richard.

On Sep 1, 9:58 pm, Ricardo Salveti de Araujo <rsalv...@rsalveti.net>
wrote:
> On Wed, Sep 01, 2010 at 01:49:00PM -0500, Robert Nelson wrote:
> > On Wed, Sep 1, 2010 at 1:17 PM, Ricardo Salveti de Araujo
> > <rsalv...@rsalveti.net> wrote:
> > >> Ouch, didn't know we needed an extra patch for x-load :-(
>
> > >> Too bad the release target for tomorrow, and we'll probably apply the patch just
> > >> after Beta.
>
> > >> Thanks for point it out, will update our package so we can at least have working
> > >> xM images for our daily builds, after beta.
>
> > > Bughttps://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/x-loader/+bug/628243
>
> > > I just added the pointed patch, so it should now work with both xM versions.
>
> > > As I still don't have a board with Numonyx, can anyone help me testing the
> > > binary with it?
>
> > > All you need to do is to download
> > >http://people.canonical.com/~rsalveti/maverick/boot/xM/MLO, put at your SD card
> > > an boot it with your current working image (no need for Ubuntu). When testing,
> > > please post the result at the bug or at this thread so we can push it to our
> > > archives.
>
> > Looks good, tested on my Numonyx powered xM A2 will add to the bug notes..
>
> Nice, thanks a lot Robert!
>
> Cheers,
>
> --
> Ricardo Salveti de Araujo- Hide quoted text -

TiroKartChief

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Sep 5, 2010, 2:39:13 PM9/5/10
to Beagle Board
Finally worked out what was needed - network-manager-gnome and network-
manager packages had to be removed. Then the manual configuration
worked with WPA encryption and everything. Reinstalling both packages
actually allowed the nm-applet to run and configure the link but the
link kept on going down after say 30 seconds (with the local
choice(reason=3) problem I mentioned earlier) and then re-
establishing. So I removed both packages again.

The current results are:

Belkin Wireless G USB adaptor (zd1211rw) - seems 100%.
Linksys WUSB600N (rt2800) - very flaky. Tough to get working at all
and then loses about 30% of pings.
Trendnet TEW-649UB (rtl8192SU). Doesn't work at all. Only gets as far
as noticing it on the USB port (shows up in lsusb but nothing else
happens).

Regarding the rtl8192SU I have tried to build the driver from source
but hit the usual problem of the missing kernel headers for the
current demo image - can anybody point me in the right direction on
this? Thanks!

Richard.

On Sep 5, 11:24 am, TiroKartChief <tirokartch...@tirobotics.com>
wrote:
> > - Show quoted text -- Hide quoted text -

Robert P. J. Day

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Sep 5, 2010, 3:53:55 PM9/5/10
to Beagle Board
On Sun, 5 Sep 2010, TiroKartChief wrote:

> Finally worked out what was needed - network-manager-gnome and network-
> manager packages had to be removed. Then the manual configuration
> worked with WPA encryption and everything. Reinstalling both packages
> actually allowed the nm-applet to run and configure the link but the
> link kept on going down after say 30 seconds (with the local
> choice(reason=3) problem I mentioned earlier) and then re-
> establishing. So I removed both packages again.
>
> The current results are:
>
> Belkin Wireless G USB adaptor (zd1211rw) - seems 100%.

you're saying that that adapter works instantly with ubuntu on the
BB? if that's true, i can get one today so i can play.

rday

--

========================================================================
Robert P. J. Day Waterloo, Ontario, CANADA

Top-notch, inexpensive online Linux/OSS/kernel courses
http://crashcourse.ca

Twitter: http://twitter.com/rpjday
LinkedIn: http://ca.linkedin.com/in/rpjday
========================================================================

Robert Nelson

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Sep 5, 2010, 3:55:01 PM9/5/10
to beagl...@googlegroups.com
On Sun, Sep 5, 2010 at 1:39 PM, TiroKartChief
<tiroka...@tirobotics.com> wrote:
> Finally worked out what was needed - network-manager-gnome and network-
> manager packages had to be removed. Then the manual configuration
> worked with WPA encryption and everything. Reinstalling both packages
> actually allowed the nm-applet to run and configure the link but the
> link kept on going down after say 30 seconds (with the local
> choice(reason=3) problem I mentioned earlier) and then re-
> establishing. So I removed both packages again.
>
> The current results are:
>
> Belkin Wireless G USB adaptor (zd1211rw) - seems 100%.
> Linksys WUSB600N (rt2800) - very flaky. Tough to get working at all
> and then loses about 30% of pings.
> Trendnet TEW-649UB (rtl8192SU). Doesn't work at all. Only gets as far
> as noticing it on the USB port (shows up in lsusb but nothing else
> happens).
>
> Regarding the rtl8192SU I have tried to build the driver from source
> but hit the usual problem of the missing kernel headers for the
> current demo image - can anybody point me in the right direction on
> this? Thanks!

The demo image uses the kernel source and patches built from a script
listed here:

https://code.launchpad.net/~beagleboard-kernel/+junk/2.6-stable

TiroKartChief

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Sep 5, 2010, 6:56:24 PM9/5/10
to Beagle Board
Depends what you mean by instantly :-). I edited the interfaces file
to add wlan0 and generated a wpa_supplicant configuration file for
encryption but that's pretty much all. Nothing too bad. The specific
model number is F5D7050. I should say that in testing it has hung up
once after shipping a lot of data but I don't know exactly what caused
that. Probably in normal use it'll be pretty reliable.

Richard.

TiroKartChief

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Sep 5, 2010, 7:01:49 PM9/5/10
to Beagle Board
Thanks - I'll give that a try.

Richard.
> Robert Nelsonhttp://www.rcn-ee.com/- Hide quoted text -

Robert P. J. Day

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Sep 6, 2010, 5:26:04 AM9/6/10
to Beagle Board

pretty please, don't top post.

On Sun, 5 Sep 2010, TiroKartChief wrote:

> Depends what you mean by instantly :-). I edited the interfaces file
> to add wlan0 and generated a wpa_supplicant configuration file for
> encryption but that's pretty much all. Nothing too bad. The specific
> model number is F5D7050. I should say that in testing it has hung up
> once after shipping a lot of data but I don't know exactly what
> caused that. Probably in normal use it'll be pretty reliable.
>
> Richard.

this is precisely the sort of thing that should be documented.
given that getting the BB-xM up and running on wireless should be a
popular goal, it would be nice to have a precise *recipe* for this,
right down to the usb wireless adapters that are compatible. and i
suspect that recipe would save people a lot of grief.

if you want to post your recipe, i'll be happy to verify it with a
fresh install of ubuntu 10.04.1, then i'll write it up. or you can
write it up. whatever works.

TiroKartChief

unread,
Sep 6, 2010, 11:27:52 AM9/6/10
to Beagle Board
On Sep 6, 5:26 am, "Robert P. J. Day" <rpj...@crashcourse.ca> wrote:

>   this is precisely the sort of thing that should be documented.
> given that getting the BB-xM up and running on wireless should be a
> popular goal, it would be nice to have a precise *recipe* for this,
> right down to the usb wireless adapters that are compatible.  and i
> suspect that recipe would save people a lot of grief.
>
>   if you want to post your recipe, i'll be happy to verify it with a
> fresh install of ubuntu 10.04.1, then i'll write it up.  or you can
> write it up.  whatever works.

The first step with the current demo image seems to to get rid of the
network manager applet:

sudo apt-get remove network-manager-gnome
sudo apt-get remove network-manager

Next I added the entries for wlan0 and wlan1 (I have two different
adaptors and it comes up with wlan0 or wlan1 depending on which I plug
in - normally only wlan0 would be needed) to the /etc/network/
interfaces file:


# This file describes the network interfaces available on your system
# and how to activate them. For more information, see interfaces(5).

# The loopback network interface
auto lo
iface lo inet loopback

# The primary network interface
auto usb1
iface usb1 inet dhcp

auto wlan0
iface wlan0 inet dhcp
wpa-driver wext
wpa-conf /etc/wpa_supplicant/wpa_supplicant.conf

auto wlan1
iface wlan1 inet dhcp
wpa-driver wext
wpa-conf /etc/wpa_supplicant/wpa_supplicant.conf

Then, I created the wpa_supplicant file in /etc/wpa_supplicant to use
WPA encryption (this link http://linux.die.net/man/5/wpa_supplicant.conf
has examples of other modes):

ctrl_interface=/var/run/wpa_supplicant
ap_scan=1
fast_reauth=1
network={
ssid="your_ssid"
scan_ssid=1
key_mgmt=WPA-PSK
psk="your_passphrase"
}

That's it. Plug in the WiFi adaptor and it should work.

Richard.

nrp

unread,
Sep 6, 2010, 12:51:55 PM9/6/10
to Beagle Board
Is there some configuration required to get the Beta image to see
512mb of RAM on the xM? /proc/meminfo shows 238268 kB.

Nirav

On Sep 1, 7:08 am, Ricardo Salveti de Araujo <rsalv...@rsalveti.net>
wrote:
> On Tue, Aug 31, 2010 at 06:15:55PM -0700, TiroKartChief wrote:
> > I'm trying to install Ubuntu on a BeagleBoard-xM following the
> > NetInstall method instructions here -http://elinux.org/BeagleBoardUbuntu.
> > Everything worked fine (as long as I selected usb1 as the ethernet
> > port when asking about networking hardware) but it failed repeatedly
> > during the base system install (at around 76%?) with "Unable to
> > install busybox-initramfs".
>
> You could also try the pre-installed image for Beagle-xM (this will be the
> default method that Ubuntu is using for Beagle and Pandaboard for Maverick).
>
> Tomorrow we'll get the Maverick beta release, and the omap image should work
> fine at Beagleboard xM (image was tested, but not with A2 board).
>
> You'll be able to get the image athttp://cdimage.ubuntu.com/ubuntu-netbook/ports/releases/maverick/. Seehttp://testcases.qa.ubuntu.com/Install/ARM/PreinstalledImageif you need

TiroKartChief

unread,
Sep 6, 2010, 11:13:09 AM9/6/10
to Beagle Board
On Sep 6, 5:26 am, "Robert P. J. Day" <rpj...@crashcourse.ca> wrote:
>   this is precisely the sort of thing that should be documented.
> given that getting the BB-xM up and running on wireless should be a
> popular goal, it would be nice to have a precise *recipe* for this,
> right down to the usb wireless adapters that are compatible.  and i
> suspect that recipe would save people a lot of grief.
>
>   if you want to post your recipe, i'll be happy to verify it with a
> fresh install of ubuntu 10.04.1, then i'll write it up.  or you can
> write it up.  whatever works.
>

I'll follow up with that info in a post shortly. However, I ran
another test overnight (link running at about 1Mbps data) and it hung
up again. The dmesg segment is posted below. It shows the entire usb
hub disconnecting and reconnecting for some reason. I don't know if
this is caused by WiFi problems or the WiFi problems are caused by the
hub problems. I am planning to test again using an external hub
connected to the BB's hub (I expect this to fail as I have tried this
before) and then try my second board to see if that's the same.

[17477.230926] handle_rx_packet: invalid, small RX packet : 1
[17500.309661] handle_rx_packet: invalid, small RX packet : 1
[17592.639526] usb 1-2.2: new full speed USB device using ehci-omap
and address 10
[17592.762176] hub 1-2.2:1.0: USB hub found
[17592.762542] hub 1-2.2:1.0: 4 ports detected
[17593.053710] usb 1-2.2.1: new low speed USB device using ehci-omap
and address 11
[17593.215698] input: Dell Dell USB Keyboard as /devices/platform/ehci-
omap.0/usb1/1-2/1-2.2/1-2.2.1/1-2.2.1:1.0/input/input6
[17593.216857] generic-usb 0003:413C:2105.0004: input,hidraw0: USB HID
v1.10 Keyboard [Dell Dell USB Keyboard] on usb-ehci-omap.0-2.2.1/
input0
[17593.312286] usb 1-2.2.2: new low speed USB device using ehci-omap
and address 12
[17593.441833] input: Logitech Optical USB Mouse as /devices/platform/
ehci-omap.0/usb1/1-2/1-2.2/1-2.2.2/1-2.2.2:1.0/input/input7
[17593.443328] generic-usb 0003:046D:C016.0005: input,hidraw1: USB HID
v1.10 Mouse [Logitech Optical USB Mouse] on usb-ehci-omap.0-2.2.2/
input0
[17594.827301] usb 1-2.2.3: new low speed USB device using ehci-omap
and address 13
[17594.976196] input: No brand 2Port KVMSwicther as /devices/platform/
ehci-omap.0/usb1/1-2/1-2.2/1-2.2.3/1-2.2.3:1.0/input/input8
[17594.977386] generic-usb 0003:10D5:55A2.0006: input,hidraw2: USB HID
v1.10 Keyboard [No brand 2Port KVMSwicther] on usb-ehci-omap.0-2.2.3/
input0
[17594.991516] usbhid 1-2.2.3:1.1: couldn't find an input interrupt
endpoint
[17713.448913] handle_rx_packet: invalid, small RX packet : 1
[18167.108337] usb 1-2.2: USB disconnect, address 10
[18167.108367] usb 1-2.2.1: USB disconnect, address 11
[18167.139007] usb 1-2.2.2: USB disconnect, address 12
[18167.204040] usb 1-2.2.3: USB disconnect, address 13
[18476.842681] usb 1-2.2: new full speed USB device using ehci-omap
and address 14
[18476.965698] hub 1-2.2:1.0: USB hub found
[18476.966003] hub 1-2.2:1.0: 4 ports detected
[18477.256835] usb 1-2.2.1: new low speed USB device using ehci-omap
and address 15
[18477.415588] input: Dell Dell USB Keyboard as /devices/platform/ehci-
omap.0/usb1/1-2/1-2.2/1-2.2.1/1-2.2.1:1.0/input/input9
[18477.416809] generic-usb 0003:413C:2105.0007: input,hidraw0: USB HID
v1.10 Keyboard [Dell Dell USB Keyboard] on usb-ehci-omap.0-2.2.1/
input0
[18477.530944] usb 1-2.2.2: new low speed USB device using ehci-omap
and address 16
[18477.661407] input: Logitech Optical USB Mouse as /devices/platform/
ehci-omap.0/usb1/1-2/1-2.2/1-2.2.2/1-2.2.2:1.0/input/input10
[18477.663970] generic-usb 0003:046D:C016.0008: input,hidraw1: USB HID
v1.10 Mouse [Logitech Optical USB Mouse] on usb-ehci-omap.0-2.2.2/
input0
[18478.772369] usb 1-2.2.3: new low speed USB device using ehci-omap
and address 17
[18478.910064] input: No brand 2Port KVMSwicther as /devices/platform/
ehci-omap.0/usb1/1-2/1-2.2/1-2.2.3/1-2.2.3:1.0/input/input11
[18478.911376] generic-usb 0003:10D5:55A2.0009: input,hidraw2: USB HID
v1.10 Keyboard [No brand 2Port KVMSwicther] on usb-ehci-omap.0-2.2.3/
input0
[18478.914611] usbhid 1-2.2.3:1.1: couldn't find an input interrupt
endpoint
[18535.715484] handle_rx_packet: invalid, small RX packet : 1
[18545.208862] usb 1-2.2: USB disconnect, address 14
[18545.208892] usb 1-2.2.1: USB disconnect, address 15
[18545.242828] usb 1-2.2.2: USB disconnect, address 16
[18545.274749] usb 1-2.2.3: USB disconnect, address 17
[18806.443023] handle_rx_packet: invalid, small RX packet : 1
[18863.974517] handle_rx_packet: invalid, small RX packet : 1
[19236.863952] handle_rx_packet: invalid, small RX packet : 1
.
. <Loads of the same>
.
[53619.286865] handle_rx_packet: invalid, small RX packet : 1
[53719.352081] handle_rx_packet: invalid, small RX packet : 1
[54379.123779] No probe response from AP 00:16:b6:55:0f:41 after
500ms, disconnecting.
[54379.188354] cfg80211: All devices are disconnected, going to
restore regulatory settings
[54379.188354] cfg80211: Restoring regulatory settings
[54379.188385] cfg80211: Calling CRDA to update world regulatory
domain
[58794.889617] usb 1-2.2: new full speed USB device using ehci-omap
and address 18
[58795.013671] hub 1-2.2:1.0: USB hub found
[58795.014007] hub 1-2.2:1.0: 4 ports detected
[58795.304504] usb 1-2.2.1: new low speed USB device using ehci-omap
and address 19
[58795.459106] input: Dell Dell USB Keyboard as /devices/platform/ehci-
omap.0/usb1/1-2/1-2.2/1-2.2.1/1-2.2.1:1.0/input/input12
[58795.462310] generic-usb 0003:413C:2105.000A: input,hidraw0: USB HID
v1.10 Keyboard [Dell Dell USB Keyboard] on usb-ehci-omap.0-2.2.1/
input0
[58795.564849] usb 1-2.2.2: new low speed USB device using ehci-omap
and address 20
[58795.692382] input: Logitech Optical USB Mouse as /devices/platform/
ehci-omap.0/usb1/1-2/1-2.2/1-2.2.2/1-2.2.2:1.0/input/input13
[58795.693817] generic-usb 0003:046D:C016.000B: input,hidraw1: USB HID
v1.10 Mouse [Logitech Optical USB Mouse] on usb-ehci-omap.0-2.2.2/
input0
[58797.077178] usb 1-2.2.3: new low speed USB device using ehci-omap
and address 21
[58797.220672] input: No brand 2Port KVMSwicther as /devices/platform/
ehci-omap.0/usb1/1-2/1-2.2/1-2.2.3/1-2.2.3:1.0/input/input14
[58797.221832] generic-usb 0003:10D5:55A2.000C: input,hidraw2: USB HID
v1.10 Keyboard [No brand 2Port KVMSwicther] on usb-ehci-omap.0-2.2.3/
input0
[58797.223358] usbhid 1-2.2.3:1.1: couldn't find an input interrupt
endpoint

TiroKartChief

unread,
Sep 6, 2010, 5:37:02 PM9/6/10
to Beagle Board
On Sep 5, 3:55 pm, Robert Nelson <robertcnel...@gmail.com> wrote:
> On Sun, Sep 5, 2010 at 1:39 PM, TiroKartChief
> The demo image uses the kernel source and patches built from a script
> listed here:
>
> https://code.launchpad.net/~beagleboard-kernel/+junk/2.6-stable
>
> Regards,
>
> --
> Robert Nelsonhttp://www.rcn-ee.com/- Hide quoted text -

Thanks for info and link - I now have the rtl8192SU driver working on
the BeagleBoard-xM. I had to hack the Realtek download so that the
cross-compile worked on the PC (forced ARCH to arm, set the compiler
to the CodeSourcery path, set the kernel version correctly and headers
location to where they were on the PC) and then manually install the
resulting module (8712u.ko) module on the BeagleBoard. If anyone is
interested in the process, I'll put a post in my blog.

Richard.

Robert Nelson

unread,
Sep 6, 2010, 6:09:21 PM9/6/10
to beagl...@googlegroups.com

Hey Richard,

Is this the same driver by chance?

http://git.kernel.org/?p=linux/kernel/git/gregkh/staging-next-2.6.git;a=tree;f=drivers/staging/rtl8192u;hb=HEAD

It's scheduled for staging in 2.6.37...

I'm already copying tidspbridge from that repo for 2.6.35, i can add it too..

TiroKartChief

unread,
Sep 6, 2010, 6:46:39 PM9/6/10
to Beagle Board
On Sep 6, 6:09 pm, Robert Nelson <robertcnel...@gmail.com> wrote:
> On Mon, Sep 6, 2010 at 4:37 PM, TiroKartChief
> Is this the same driver by chance?
>
> http://git.kernel.org/?p=linux/kernel/git/gregkh/staging-next-2.6.git...
>
> It's scheduled for staging in 2.6.37...
>
> I'm already copying tidspbridge from that repo for 2.6.35, i can add it too..

Don't think so - my hack instructions are here if you are interested -
http://tirokartblog.wordpress.com/2010/09/06/rtl8192su-wifi-now-working-on-beagleboard/
. I just played with the Realtek download which seems to be for a
range of chips and not specific. Nice to know it's going to be
properly supported - excellent!

Richard.

Ricardo Salveti

unread,
Sep 10, 2010, 8:43:47 AM9/10/10
to beagl...@googlegroups.com
On Mon, Sep 6, 2010 at 1:51 PM, nrp <n...@eclecti.cc> wrote:
> Is there some configuration required to get the Beta image to see
> 512mb of RAM on the xM?  /proc/meminfo shows 238268 kB.

It seems that this happens when you have a Numonyx memory chip. Try
changing your MLO from the first partition to
http://people.canonical.com/~rsalveti/maverick/boot/xM/MLO to see if
it works better.

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