Narcissus is a little tricky to use, especially if you are new to embedded Linux. I’m not sure whether these instructions are now outdated, but the last time I used Narcissus with the XM I followed this approach: http://treyweaver.blogspot.ca/2010/10/installing-angstrom-on-beagleboard-xm.html. The part that refers to the bootloader might be the solution to your problem: the bootloader is what the 2009 post you found is referring to.
However, If this is your first time booting the XM, I’d suggest you forget about Narcissus for now and start with one of the preconfigured images:
If you are a Windows user you will likely find the CircuitCo image the best choice, since their instructions are intended for Windows PCs.
When you create your card using one of these images, the boot partition and bootloader settings are automatically configured for you.
If you continue to have problems with the file system when using one of the preconfigured images, then the cause is likely your microSD card, or perhaps the way that you’ve connected the card to your PC. Try a different microSD card and/or a different USB card reader.
Hello Dan and thank you for your reply.
I was using the Angstrom until I messed up the SD by accidently removing it.
I’ve tried as suggest from the BB demo files and from Trey’s Blog ( I both cases the script for the partition didnt work and I had to do it manually). This is the output from the serial comm. as you can see, it look ok.
When booting, the Angstrom system begins to load, and I can see the Angstrom Compass logo. The progress bar moves and stops and 50%, and that’s it.
I’ve tried mounting different images but all stops at some point and I never get to see the angstrom login screen, as I used to see.
What else can I try?
Thanks,
Ohad
If you have selected the following option in Narcissus website you will surely find it
“Beagleboard validation GNOME image”
there are no uEnv.txt and user.txt in beagleboard-validation-validation-scripts/flashing/
am I missing somthing?
Make sure you have extracted it properly or else redownload it. You will surely find the user.txt and uEnv.txt beagleboard-validation-validation-scripts directory
If you use an img file to create your SD card, then you don’t have to manually create the partitions. (The “Beagleboard demo files” site doesn’t tell you this, but the instructions are on the “Beaglebone demo files” site http://www.angstrom-distribution.org/demo/beaglebone/ – trust me, the instructions work fine with Beagleboard images too.)
$ sudo -s
(type in your password)
# zcat Angstrom-Cloud9-IDE-eglibc-ipk-v2011.11-core-beagleboard-2011.11.21.img.gz > /dev/sdX
# exit
That’s it. Boot your XM from that microSD card.
If you continue to get boot errors, then the problem has to be with something other than the software. It might be that the microSD card was damaged – try another card if you haven’t already.
Hello Jyothi, thank you.
I just want to make things clear for me, which packages I MUST choose in the builder (considering that I want desktop GUI and not just console)?
Regarding the online builder (Narcissus), sorry, if the instructions at http://treyweaver.blogspot.ca/2010/10/installing-angstrom-on-beagleboard-xm.html no longer work then I don’t know what the best guide would be. If you find a good one, please let us know. I noticed that the output in your pastebin includes “Unable to read uEnv.txt” – that doesn’t sound good. If you have a second microSD card, you might want to repeat the process of configuring an image using Narcissus,then compare the boot partitions. Also, the user comments at the bottom of the page at http://treyweaver.blogspot.ca/2010/10/installing-angstrom-on-beagleboard-xm.html mention some permissions problems with the boot paritition that can be fixed by entering a command at the bootloader command line.
I haven’t used Narcissus for a long time, since I can get the system I need by starting with the demo image and adding/removing packages. Is there any particular reason that you need to use Narcissus, or you’re just interested in figuring out what went wrong?
Hello Dan.
I would like to use the Narcissus for two reasons:
a. I would like to know what went wrong, but that can wait because
b. I need to get things moving and although I can see the desktop through the HDMI, I have no internet access (cable is hooked up but no light in Ethernet), and usb mouse/keyboard is not responsive.
Can you help with (b) ?
It seems that this image does not have the kernel module loaded for the ethernet (whatever that means). But using this image I have neither Ethernet nor USB. is there’s any good image out there that I just need to zcat?
-Ohad-
Are you running the Angstrom-Cloud9-IDE-eglibc-ipk-v2011.11-core-beagleboard-2011.11.21.img.gz image? I’m pretty sure I was running it on my XM at one time, and I didn’t have to change anything to get Ethernet or a USB keyboard working. There is, unfortunately, a mix of images on that page, and they change from time-to-time, so it’s hard to keep track of which image has which features. Sorry if I pointed you to the wrong image.
I’m currently running Ubuntu 12.04 on my XM. That definitely works well, with Ethernet and USB fully supported. See http://elinux.org/BeagleBoardUbuntu#Demo_Image. The instructions for writing the image to the SD card start with “Get prebuilt image:” on that page.
