operating system on eMMc or on Sdcard

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1

Hai,

I understand that you can either install Os (example debian) onto eMMC through the SDcard and boot from the eMMC

OR

boot from the Sdcard

In choise 1
If the loaded Os is very big, you don’t have hardly any space left on eMMC to load additional software.

choise2
Then you have to use the SDcard to boot from which is by example 16 Gb, then you have enough space left.
in this last case the eMMC is not used.

Am I right or do I understand it wrong.

In my opinion there is no way to extend the eMMC with sdcard memory to increase this space.

rgds

2

Very close.

The Os itself is not what takes up all the space. The Os itself is less than 1 GB.
Everything else is application software, and languages.
There are three versions of the release package.
The lxqt version is slightly less than 4 GB total, and should only be used if you want everything, including the video drivers.
the IoT Version removes the video drivers and associated packages, but leaves everything else, and is about 2 GB
The “console” version is the smallest, is Debian plus console and minimum BBB packages, and is only about 1 GB, but then you can add in only what you need.

The space in the uSD card, and the EMMC have to be mounted separately, so not be used as single memory space, but both are accessible from either Os on SD or EMMC.

3

However it seems to me that it's often difficult to find the
current/latest console version. It's what I use for preference
because I run my BBBs headless and access using ssh. Just about all
the software I need is in the base system (Python) and scripts I write
myself. Since I have a couple of 2Gb BBBs the console version is
*very* useful!

The standard download sources often seem to have only LXQT and IOT
versions.

4

Alternative un-offical images are listed here:

https://elinux.org/Beagleboard:BeagleBoneBlack_Debian

Regards,

5

If you want the “console version” corresponding to the “official release” version (Debian 9.5 10-7-2018), you can look here:

https://debian.beagleboard.org/images/rcn-ee.net/rootfs/bb.org/testing/2018-10-07/stretch-console/

I don’t know how official is it, but it works fine.

— Graham

6

OK, thanks Robert. So there are no 'official' console images?

7

"official" images are hosted here: https://beagleboard.org/latest-images

Everything else is technically "un-official"..

Regards,

8

These is a relatively new release of the “console” version at

https://debian.beagleboard.org/images/rcn-ee.net/rootfs/bb.org/testing/2019-12-09/buster-console/

Ken

9

Graham,

I know the Iot version supports WiFi RTL81888EUS via connmanctl, USB & Ethernet & Browser to Cloud9.
Does the “console” version support these? Or, for example can Cloud9 be installed later?

Thanks

10

Ken:

I have never used Cloud9, so I don’t know for sure.

I know the console version does support USB, Ethernet, commandctl and USB.
It likely supports the WiFi RTL…
I would assume you could add Cloud9 if you knew the “encantation.”

Pretty much anything that does not require a modification to the kernel can be added later.

It is easy enough to work with, so I would recommend you go set up a copy to work on a uSD card,
or the eMMC, if you must, and start experimenting with it.

A serial cable that allows you to directly access the CPU command line is useful.

I typically start with a console version, talk to it with SSH over Ethernet immediately, and add whatever I need, typically Python, and a bunch of Python and IO dependencies.

If you run on a uSD card, be aware that the file system as downloaded will be restricted to the size of the associated eMMC, but you can expand the file system to the full size of the card, with the encantation:

cd /opt/scripts/tools/
git pull
sudo ./grow_partition.sh
sudo reboot

You would think that the eMMC would run faster than a uSD card, but I have never been able to measure a difference in program execution speed.

— Graham

11

You would think that the eMMC would run faster than a uSD card, but I have
never been able to measure a difference in program execution speed.

  May depend upon the SD card (Class 10 is NOT always faster than class 4
when running a "fragmented" file system -- and especially not on a
journaling file system. Class 10 are rated for streaming a single long file
on freshly formatted [FAT] file system; Class 2/4/6 are small files, a la
photographs, with deletions).

From a post (of mine) on the R-Pi group... Running the "Raspberry Pi
Dramble microSD benchmarks".
curl
https://raw.githubusercontent.com/geerlingguy/raspberry-pi-dramble/master/setup/benchmarks/microsd-benchmarks.sh

benchmark.sh

"bdr-" is the "buffered disk read" from hdparm
"dd-" are, well, "dd"
The rest are "iozone" results.

The BBB has
    SanDisk Edge 8GB Class 4 HC I8227DTJLT009
Not sure of the eMMC version
The R-Pi3B+ has
    Kingston 16GB Class 10 HC I U1 SDC10G2/16GB N0581-002.A00LF

metric BBB (SD) RPi3B+ eMMC
bdr-MB 21.74 21.97 hdparm did not run (tried to access SD)*
dd-sec 89.4367 67.4917 63.8932
dd-MB 4.7 6.2 6.6
write 1652 250 1814
rewrite 2306 237 1888
read 6371 5814 5039
reread 6375 5798 5038
ranread 5364 5138 3562
ranwrite 1157 234 395

  The Class 4 SanDisk, in the 1GHz single-core BBB readily beat the Class
10 Kingston in a 1.4GHz quad-core R-Pi3B+ in any meaningful test (the
Kingston only won out on the "bdr" and "dd" test cases, and the BBB eMMC
beat it on the "dd" test). {Note: I just reran on the SD card, and
"write"/"rewrite" only showed 405/284, which still beats the Class 10 --
suspect if I redid the test it might improve as the SD card may have
remnants getting reused)

  Out of insanity, running on a BB-AI (16GB eMMC -- so LOTS of free
space). And SanDisk Ultra 16GB Class 10 HC I 6521DRDKA052

metric BBAI (SD) eMMC
bdr-MB 21.92 hdparm did not run (tried to access SD)*
dd-sec 70.0835 17.8329
dd-MB 6.0 23.5
write 2471 10096
rewrite 3344 11092
read 6753 22651
reread 6734 22644
ranread 5401 14757
ranwrite 1934 10919

... So on the BBAI, the eMMC appears to be much faster than that SD card
(note that the Class 10 16GB SanDisk in a BBAI isn't all that much faster
than the Class 4 8GB SanDisk in a BBB)

* I didn't try to edit the benchmark script file to have hdparm correctly
address the eMMC instead of the SD card.

12

o/~ Talking to myself in public o/~

Out of insanity, running on a BB-AI (16GB eMMC -- so LOTS of free
space). And SanDisk Ultra 16GB Class 10 HC I 6521DRDKA052

metric BBAI (SD) eMMC
bdr-MB 21.92 hdparm did not run (tried to access SD)*
dd-sec 70.0835 17.8329
dd-MB 6.0 23.5
write 2471 10096
rewrite 3344 11092
read 6753 22651
reread 6734 22644
ranread 5401 14757
ranwrite 1934 10919

... So on the BBAI, the eMMC appears to be much faster than that SD card
(note that the Class 10 16GB SanDisk in a BBAI isn't all that much faster
than the Class 4 8GB SanDisk in a BBB)

  And for giggles, I booted the "other" SD card and ran the test...

A SanDisk Ultra Plus, 16GB HC I U1 A1 (no "Class" marking)
metric BBAI (SD)
bdr-MB 21.61
dd-sec 38.8745
dd-MB 10.8
write 2840
rewrite 3760
read 7027
reread 6903
ranread 5759
ranwrite 3331

  So the Ultra Plus is slightly faster (about 2X for "dd" and "random
write") -- not enough to worry about (especially compared to the eMMC on
that device).