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Linux on ARM
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This is a page about TI's Cortex-A8 based; BeagleBoard.

Availability

Boards:
BeagleBoard xM at Digi-Key

Basic Requirements

ARM Cross Compiler: GCC

This is a pre-built (64bit) version of GCC that runs on generic linux, sorry (32bit) x86 users, it's time to upgrade...
Download/Extract:

user@localhost:~$
wget -c https://releases.linaro.org/components/toolchain/binaries/6.5-2018.12/arm-linux-gnueabihf/gcc-linaro-6.5.0-2018.12-x86_64_arm-linux-gnueabihf.tar.xz
tar xf gcc-linaro-6.5.0-2018.12-x86_64_arm-linux-gnueabihf.tar.xz
export CC=`pwd`/gcc-linaro-6.5.0-2018.12-x86_64_arm-linux-gnueabihf/bin/arm-linux-gnueabihf-

Test Cross Compiler:

user@localhost:~$
${CC}gcc --version
Test Output:
arm-linux-gnueabihf-gcc (Linaro GCC 6.5-2018.12) 6.5.0
Copyright (C) 2017 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
This is free software; see the source for copying conditions.  There is NO
warranty; not even for MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.

Bootloader: U-Boot

Das U-Boot – the Universal Boot Loader: http://www.denx.de/wiki/U-Boot
eewiki.net patch archive: https://github.com/eewiki/u-boot-patches
Download:

user@localhost:~$
git clone -b v2019.04 https://github.com/u-boot/u-boot --depth=1
cd u-boot/

Patches:

user@localhost:~/u-boot$
wget -c https://github.com/eewiki/u-boot-patches/raw/master/v2019.04/0001-omap3_beagle-uEnv.txt-bootz-n-fixes.patch
 
patch -p1 < 0001-omap3_beagle-uEnv.txt-bootz-n-fixes.patch

Configure and Build:

user@localhost:~/u-boot$
make ARCH=arm CROSS_COMPILE=${CC} distclean
make ARCH=arm CROSS_COMPILE=${CC} omap3_beagle_defconfig
make ARCH=arm CROSS_COMPILE=${CC}

Linux Kernel

This script will build the kernel, modules, device tree binaries and copy them to the deploy directory.
Download:

user@localhost:~$
git clone https://github.com/RobertCNelson/armv7-multiplatform
cd armv7-multiplatform/

For v4.14.x (Longterm 4.14.x):

user@localhost:~/armv7-multiplatform$
git checkout origin/v4.14.x -b tmp

For v4.14.x-rt (Longterm 4.14.x + Real-Time Linux):

user@localhost:~/armv7-multiplatform$
git checkout origin/v4.14.x-rt -b tmp

For v4.19.x (Longterm 4.19.x):

user@localhost:~/armv7-multiplatform$
git checkout origin/v4.19.x -b tmp

For v4.19.x-rt (Longterm 4.19.x + Real-Time Linux):

user@localhost:~/armv7-multiplatform$
git checkout origin/v4.19.x-rt -b tmp

For v5.0.x (Stable):

user@localhost:~/armv7-multiplatform$
git checkout origin/v5.0.x -b tmp

For v5.0.x-rt (Stable + Real-Time Linux):

user@localhost:~/armv7-multiplatform$
git checkout origin/v5.0.x-rt -b tmp

Build:

user@localhost:~/armv7-multiplatform$
./build_kernel.sh

Root File System

Debian 10

User

Password

debian

temppwd

root

root

Download:

user@localhost:~$
wget -c https://rcn-ee.com/rootfs/eewiki/minfs/debian-10.4-minimal-armhf-2020-05-10.tar.xz

Verify:

user@localhost:~$
sha256sum debian-10.4-minimal-armhf-2020-05-10.tar.xz
sha256sum output:
cd598e42850cbef87602bf15ee343abfbf0d8c6ba81028c741672b5f24263534  debian-10.4-minimal-armhf-2020-05-10.tar.xz

Extract:

user@localhost:~$
tar xf debian-10.4-minimal-armhf-2020-05-10.tar.xz

Ubuntu 20.04 LTS

User

Password

ubuntu

temppwd

Download:

user@localhost:~$
wget -c https://rcn-ee.com/rootfs/eewiki/minfs/ubuntu-20.04-minimal-armhf-2020-05-10.tar.xz

Verify:

user@localhost:~$
sha256sum ubuntu-20.04-minimal-armhf-2020-05-10.tar.xz
sha256sum output:
de0177ac9259fdbcc626ee239f4258b64070c0921dbc38c45fab6925a5becaa1  ubuntu-20.04-minimal-armhf-2020-05-10.tar.xz

Extract:

user@localhost:~$
tar xf ubuntu-20.04-minimal-armhf-2020-05-10.tar.xz

Setup microSD card

We need to access the External Drive to be utilized by the target device. Run lsblk to help figure out what linux device has been reserved for your External Drive.

Example: for DISK=/dev/sdX
lsblk
NAME   MAJ:MIN RM   SIZE RO TYPE MOUNTPOINT
sda      8:0    0 465.8G  0 disk
├─sda1   8:1    0   512M  0 part /boot/efi
└─sda2   8:2    0 465.3G  0 part /                <- Development Machine Root Partition
sdb      8:16   1   962M  0 disk                  <- microSD/USB Storage Device
└─sdb1   8:17   1   961M  0 part                  <- microSD/USB Storage Partition
Thus you would use:
export DISK=/dev/sdb
Example: for DISK=/dev/mmcblkX
lsblk
NAME      MAJ:MIN   RM   SIZE RO TYPE MOUNTPOINT
sda         8:0      0 465.8G  0 disk
├─sda1      8:1      0   512M  0 part /boot/efi
└─sda2      8:2      0 465.3G  0 part /                <- Development Machine Root Partition
mmcblk0     179:0    0   962M  0 disk                  <- microSD/USB Storage Device
└─mmcblk0p1 179:1    0   961M  0 part                  <- microSD/USB Storage Partition
Thus you would use:
export DISK=/dev/mmcblk0

Erase partition table/labels on microSD card:

sudo dd if=/dev/zero of=${DISK} bs=1M count=20

Create Partition Layout:
With util-linux v2.26, sfdisk was rewritten and is now based on libfdisk.

Check the version of sfdisk installed on your pc
sudo sfdisk --version
Example Output
sfdisk from util-linux 2.27.1
sfdisk >= 2.26.x
sudo sfdisk ${DISK} <<-__EOF__
1M,12M,0xE,*
13M,,,-
__EOF__
sfdisk <= 2.25.x
sudo sfdisk --unit M ${DISK} <<-__EOF__
1,12,0xE,*
13,,,-
__EOF__

Format Partition:

for: DISK=/dev/mmcblkX
sudo mkfs.vfat -F 16 -n BOOT ${DISK}p1
sudo mkfs.ext4 -L rootfs ${DISK}p2
 
for: DISK=/dev/sdX
sudo mkfs.vfat -F 16 -n BOOT ${DISK}1
sudo mkfs.ext4 -L rootfs ${DISK}2

Mount Partition:
On most systems these partitions may be auto-mounted...

sudo mkdir -p /media/boot/
sudo mkdir -p /media/rootfs/
 
for: DISK=/dev/mmcblkX
sudo mount ${DISK}p1 /media/boot/
sudo mount ${DISK}p2 /media/rootfs/
 
for: DISK=/dev/sdX
sudo mount ${DISK}1 /media/boot/
sudo mount ${DISK}2 /media/rootfs/

Install Bootloader

Copy MLO/u-boot.img to the boot partition

~/
sudo cp -v ./u-boot/MLO /media/boot/
sudo cp -v ./u-boot/u-boot.img /media/boot/

Install Kernel and Root File System

To help new users, since the kernel version can change on a daily basis. The kernel building scripts listed on this page will now give you a hint of what kernel version was built.

-----------------------------
Script Complete
eewiki.net: [user@localhost:~$ export kernel_version=5.X.Y-Z]
-----------------------------

Copy and paste that "export kernel_version=5.X.Y-Z" exactly as shown in your own build/desktop environment and hit enter to create an environment variable to be used later.

export kernel_version=5.X.Y-Z

Copy Root File System

user@localhost:~$
sudo tar xfvp ./*-*-*-armhf-*/armhf-rootfs-*.tar -C /media/rootfs/
sync
sudo chown root:root /media/rootfs/
sudo chmod 755 /media/rootfs/

Set uname_r in /boot/uEnv.txt

user@localhost:~$
sudo sh -c "echo 'uname_r=${kernel_version}' >> /media/rootfs/boot/uEnv.txt"

Copy Kernel Image

Kernel Image:

user@localhost:~$
sudo cp -v ./armv7-multiplatform/deploy/${kernel_version}.zImage /media/rootfs/boot/vmlinuz-${kernel_version}

Copy Kernel Device Tree Binaries

user@localhost:~$
sudo mkdir -p /media/rootfs/boot/dtbs/${kernel_version}/
sudo tar xfv ./armv7-multiplatform/deploy/${kernel_version}-dtbs.tar.gz -C /media/rootfs/boot/dtbs/${kernel_version}/

Copy Kernel Modules

user@localhost:~$
sudo tar xfv ./armv7-multiplatform/deploy/${kernel_version}-modules.tar.gz -C /media/rootfs/

File Systems Table (/etc/fstab)

user@localhost:~/$
sudo sh -c "echo '/dev/mmcblk0p2  /  auto  errors=remount-ro  0  1' >> /media/rootfs/etc/fstab"
sudo sh -c "echo '/dev/mmcblk0p1  /boot/uboot  auto  defaults  0  2' >> /media/rootfs/etc/fstab"

Remove microSD/SD card

sync
sudo umount /media/boot
sudo umount /media/rootfs

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