Boot from Ubuntu 12.04 on SD Card on BeagleBone Black

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1

I am trying and failing to get my BeagleBone Black to boot from Ubuntu 12.04.2 on an SD card.

I’m following the instructions from the Ubuntu Precise section on ARMhf:

sdb 8:16 1 29.7G 0 disk
├─sdb1 8:17 1 1M 0 part /media/boot
└─sdb2 8:18 1 1.8G 0 part /media/rootfs

But when I put it in the BeagleBone Black, hold down the USER/BOOT button and power on the BBB (with a 5V DC power supply and while still holding the button), the 4 LEDs will flash constantly, but that seems to be it. If I plug the BeagleBone to my computer with USB, nothing happens and I cannot SSH into the device.

I was however able to get Ubuntu 12.10 on the SD card and boot and SSH successfully using the demo images described on eLinux. Unfortunately, I need 12.04 because a third-party repository I’m requiring only builds ARM debs for 12.04 Precise.

In short, my question is how do I install 12.04 onto a MicroSD card so that my BeagleBone Black can boot from it? If it’s just the steps mentioned above, is there something else I can try or check?

Thanks!

2

The instructions at http://circuitco.com/support/BeagleBoneBlack, the URL on that little white card that came in the box with the board, works pretty well.

Gerald

3

I only 'build' two ubuntu releases, otherwise it's just too much to
upload once a month..

If you 'really' need 12.04, use my netinstall... Note for the
"initial" netboot install you will need to use a secondary usb-network
adapter as, due to issues with the onboard and the limited ip tools
used by the debian-installer. Once you reboot after installing 12.04
you can remove the usb-network adapter and use the onboard just fine..

https://github.com/RobertCNelson/netinstall

Regards,

4

Hi,

In my case, to install ubuntu on the BBB ( sdcard), I’m just doing that, and it looks like that it is enough !

http://elinux.org/BeagleBoardUbuntu#Raring_13.04_armhf =>

prebuilt image:

wget [http://rcn-ee.net/deb/rootfs/raring/ubuntu-13.04-console-armhf-2013-06-14.tar.xz](http://rcn-ee.net/deb/rootfs/raring/ubuntu-13.04-console-armhf-2013-06-14.tar.xz)
mirrors (will take some time to update):
wget [http://ynezz.ibawizard.net/beagleboard/raring/ubuntu-13.04-console-armhf-2013-06-14.tar.xz](http://ynezz.ibawizard.net/beagleboard/raring/ubuntu-13.04-console-armhf-2013-06-14.tar.xz)

Verify image with:

md5sum ubuntu-13.04-console-armhf-2013-06-14.tar.xz
713ea6497dd02361e944467756f4a2fd  ubuntu-13.04-console-armhf-2013-06-14.tar.xz

Unpack image:

tar xJf ubuntu-13.04-console-armhf-2013-06-14.tar.xz
cd ubuntu-13.04-console-armhf-2013-06-14

If you don’t know the location of your SD card:

sudo ./setup_sdcard.sh --probe-mmc

You should see something like

Are you sure? I don't see [/dev/idontknow], here is what I do see...

fdisk -l:
Disk /dev/sda: 500.1 GB, 500107862016 bytes **<- x86 Root Drive**
Disk /dev/sdd: 3957 MB, 3957325824 bytes **<- MMC/SD card**

lsblk:
NAME   MAJ:MIN RM   SIZE RO TYPE MOUNTPOINT
sda      8:0    0 465.8G  0 disk 
├─sda1   8:1    0 446.9G  0 part /  **<- x86 Root Partition**
├─sda2   8:2    0     1K  0 part 
└─sda5   8:5    0  18.9G  0 part [SWAP]
sdd      8:48   1   3.7G  0 disk 
├─sdd1   8:49   1    64M  0 part 
└─sdd2   8:50   1   3.6G  0 part
  • In this example, we can see via mount, /dev/sda1 is the x86 rootfs, therefore /dev/sdd is the other drive in the system, which is the MMC/SD card that was inserted and should be used by ./setup_sdcard.sh…

Install image:

Quick install script for “board”

sudo ./setup_sdcard.sh --mmc /dev/sdX --uboot board

“board” options:

  • BeagleBoard Ax/Bx - beagle_bx
  • BeagleBoard Cx/Dx - beagle_cx
  • BeagleBoard xM - beagle_xm
  • BeagleBone - bone
  • BeagleBone/Black - bone_dtb
  • PandaBoard Ax - panda
  • PandaBoard ES - panda_es

So for the BeagleBoard xM:

sudo ./setup_sdcard.sh --mmc /dev/sdX --uboot beagle_xm
5

http://circuitco.com/support/index.php?title=Ubuntu_On_BeagleBoard_Black#Ubuntu_Precise_On_Micro_SD

There is a tutorial for you to follow if you want another option. Even links at the end of that section for installing desktops if you would like.

6

Appears as though the Beaglebone Black is working with Ubuntu 12.04 off the microSD card. Just need a confirmation that 2 lights flashing indicates that the Beaglebone is working fine.

What is the IP address used by default for Ubuntu 12.04 (the build from the Armhf website)?