BeagleBone Black RevB with Debian 2014-04-14 SD image -- networking issues

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1

Hi

I am wondering if anyone has experienced similar issues ???

I have a Beaglebone Black Rev B.

I have flashed the Debian 2014-04-14 image that is posted onto an SD card and I boot it up ok,
but I have been having difficulties trying to get various networking to work.

  1. Using the on board ethernet does not work. It pretends to configure ok but it does not send packets out.
    Using dmesg I see the following issues after issuing an ifup eth0:
    [ 325.013469] net eth0: initializing cpsw version 1.12 (0)
    [ 325.016077] libphy: PHY 4a101000.mdio:00 not found
    [ 325.021246] net eth0: phy 4a101000.mdio:00 not found on slave 0
    [ 325.027593] libphy: PHY 4a101000.mdio:01 not found
    [ 325.032737] net eth0: phy 4a101000.mdio:01 not found on slave 1
    [ 325.046467] IPv6: ADDRCONF(NETDEV_UP): eth0: link is not ready

This looks like the onboard ethernet PHY is not properly supported in this image ??

  1. If I try using my EDIMAX (rtl8192cu) usb WIFI dongle it sort of works but seems very unstable.
    I also tried using a 2A power supply but it seemed worse than powering it from the computer USB.

How stable is this Debian 2014-04-14 image and what should be my expectations at this point for various devices working ?

Which Ethernet or Wifi works in a stable manner under Debian 2014-04-14 ?

Thanks in advance! :slight_smile:

2

Just a bit further information. I tried using a TRENDNET (ADM8511 Pegasus II Ethernet) USB Ethernet dongle and it works and it is very stable.
So the on-board Ethernet issue seems specific to supporting the Ethernet PHY on this board.

3

I have found realtek networking device in *NIX to be flaky almost always. Linux, BSD, or Solaris.

I am not using this particular rootfs, but debian-7.4-bare-armhf-2014-04-01 with . . .
$ uname -r
3.8.13-bone47

This for me works flawlessly. I am using the onboard ethernet device. The only caveat is that I needed to set the proper nameserver in /etc/resolv.conf. Which is nothing unusual.

4

A post by Robert C Nelson several months ago on this group . . .

For a “mere” 2-3 more $'s you can get a WiFi dongle that’ll work out
of the box without custom non-mainline drivers that do not always
work.

Atheros (atk9) based modules on amazon…
tl-wn721n
tl-wn722n

Just search “wifi” in this group, for all the problems with those
’tiny’ wifi adapters…

Regards,

5

Hi

I am wondering if anyone has experienced similar issues ???

I have a Beaglebone Black Rev B.

I have flashed the Debian 2014-04-14 image that is posted onto an SD card
and I boot it up ok,
but I have been having difficulties trying to get various networking to
work.

1. Using the on board ethernet does not work. It pretends to configure ok
but it does not send packets out.
Using dmesg I see the following issues after issuing an ifup eth0:
[ 325.013469] net eth0: initializing cpsw version 1.12 (0)
[ 325.016077] libphy: PHY 4a101000.mdio:00 not found
[ 325.021246] net eth0: phy 4a101000.mdio:00 not found on slave 0
[ 325.027593] libphy: PHY 4a101000.mdio:01 not found
[ 325.032737] net eth0: phy 4a101000.mdio:01 not found on slave 1
[ 325.046467] IPv6: ADDRCONF(NETDEV_UP): eth0: link is not ready

This looks like the onboard ethernet PHY is not properly supported in this
image ??

http://bugs.elinux.org/issues/67

It's an odd situation, seems to only occur on some boards when the
microSD's is being used. As the phy is coming up on the wrong
address, however the driver is hardcoded to one address so it never
connects up properly.

You can confirm this situation by using the 'flasher', and only boot
with the eMMC, I don't have a working software fix yet.

2. If I try using my EDIMAX (rtl8192cu) usb WIFI dongle it sort of works
but seems very unstable.
I also tried using a 2A power supply but it seemed worse than powering it
from the computer USB.

I have a shoe box full of rtl8192's.. They are crap..

How stable is this Debian 2014-04-14 image and what should be my
expectations at this point for various devices working ?

Which Ethernet or Wifi works in a stable manner under Debian 2014-04-14 ?

Regards,

6

Thanks very much. That is precisely what is happening. I’ll work around it for now. :wink:
((Strange though))

I find depending on the moon phase sometimes on board Ethernet (ETH0) works but then USB Ethernet (ETH1) fails and vice-verse.
Any who, it is what it is!

Has Beagleboard Black been electrically tested yet for robustness? :-))
((it’s a Redundant question, don’t answer that))

7

It has been tested for robustness. Just not tested for you.

Gerald

8

Test nazi. No testing for *you*.

rday

9

hmmm, I do not think my laptop screen has been tested for having coke spit at it either . . .