(usability) apt upgrade, install instructions, and machinekit images

[shabaz]

Hi!

I've got a few usability issues to report.

(a) apt upgrade

I installed the latest Debian image on my BBB-Wireless, and then typed apt update followed by apt-upgrade.

Partway through the upgrade, it prompted me if I had a robotics cape. I didn't so I selected No (the default option).

However, it then prompted me if I wished a librobotcontrol service to run on boot. That made me think I may have 

accidentally selected Yes for the robotics cape. Is there any alternative way to do this, rather than in an apt upgrade?

(b) install instructions

It may be just me, but I find the user instructions a little hard to follow (I always have found then hard to follow, for many years). 

I appreciate this is because they need to cater for many scenarios and many images, and the changes over the years.

I've written some instructions in a blog format, if you wish to link to, or copy these on the BeagleBoard.org website, in entirety or in part,

or edited or not, then please feel free to use them.

The instructions are here: 

https://www.element14.com/community/community/designcenter/single-board-computers/blog/2019/08/11/getting-started-with-beaglebone-black

I'm sure mine will not be to everyones taste either, but a link to them could help some people since it complements the official instructions

which of course by nature are more 'formal' than a blog format. 

(c) machinekit image location

I'm really struggling to find a link to pre-built machinekit images. Several websites suggest they should be at 

https://elinux.org/Beagleboard:BeagleBoneBlack_Debian#BBW.2FBBB_.28All_Revs.29_Machinekit

and similar links, but there isn't anything there (at least not that I can find by typing Ctrl-F and searching for the text "Machinekit".

Where are the machinekit images located?

Many thanks,

Shabaz.

[Robert Nelson]

On Tue, Aug 13, 2019 at 10:07 AM shabaz <shabaz...@hotmail.com> wrote:
>
>
> Hi!
>
> I've got a few usability issues to report.
>
> (a) apt upgrade
> I installed the latest Debian image on my BBB-Wireless, and then typed apt update followed by apt-upgrade.
> Partway through the upgrade, it prompted me if I had a robotics cape. I didn't so I selected No (the default option).
> However, it then prompted me if I wished a librobotcontrol service to run on boot. That made me think I may have
> accidentally selected Yes for the robotics cape. Is there any alternative way to do this, rather than in an apt upgrade?

https://github.com/StrawsonDesign/librobotcontrol/issues

>
> (b) install instructions
> It may be just me, but I find the user instructions a little hard to follow (I always have found then hard to follow, for many years).
> I appreciate this is because they need to cater for many scenarios and many images, and the changes over the years.
> I've written some instructions in a blog format, if you wish to link to, or copy these on the BeagleBoard.org website, in entirety or in part,
> or edited or not, then please feel free to use them.
> The instructions are here:
> https://www.element14.com/community/community/designcenter/single-board-computers/blog/2019/08/11/getting-started-with-beaglebone-black
> I'm sure mine will not be to everyones taste either, but a link to them could help some people since it complements the official instructions
> which of course by nature are more 'formal' than a blog format.

No reason to use 7-zip, etcher.io can write the compressed image as-is..

> (c) machinekit image location
> I'm really struggling to find a link to pre-built machinekit images. Several websites suggest they should be at
> https://elinux.org/Beagleboard:BeagleBoneBlack_Debian#BBW.2FBBB_.28All_Revs.29_Machinekit

Click that link again...

Regards,


--
Robert Nelson
https://rcn-ee.com/

[shabaz]

Thanks!

Google groups took a while to push this question onto the mail-group, out-of-order (it was the first question I posted).

Thanks again for your help.

Incidentally, the pre-built Xenomai kernel that you mentioned is running nicely, I'm a newcomer to it but was able to write a simple program to show its improvement during toggling of GPIO output pin, where the jitter can be easily measured on a 'scope.

(Not a real-life scenario of course, since PRU would be used where the jitter needed to be reduced to ~ zero). But nice to see Linux on the BBB can have such low jitter for user-space linux apps too.

I'll write that up soon.