Timesys Getting Started Guide for Cubieboard
Contents
- Introduction
- Prerequisites
- Preparing the Target
- Preparing the Host
- Booting the Board
- Additional Information
Introduction
This document will describe in detail the procedures for booting a Linux kernel image and mounting a root file system from an SD Card on the Cubieboard.
Prerequisites
Host Requirements
To properly boot the Cubieboard using software from Timesys, your host machine must meet the following requirements:
- Modern GNU/Linux Distribution. Timesys recommends one of the following distributions:
- Ubuntu (Most recent release or LTS)
- Fedora (Most recent release)
- Root or sudo permission on the Development Host.
- A copy of the Linux Kernel (uImage-3.4-ts-armv7l), bootloader files, and Root File System (rootfs.tar.gz) for the Target Board downloaded from Factory. These are found in the output directory of your online build, or in the directory build_armv7l-timesys-linux-<libc>/images/ on the command line.
- A SD card slot or adapter on your Development Host.
Target Requirements
To boot the Cubieboard, you will need the following items:
- Cubieboard
- TTL to USB serial cable
- SD Card
Once you have all of the necessary components, you should perform the following steps:
- Connect the Cubieboard to the USB port of your workstation using a USB cable.
- Set aside the SD card, you will need to intialize it from the Development Host before booting the board.
Preparing the Target
Configuring Serial Communication
The Cubieboard uses a serial debug port to communicate with the host machine. The commands discussed in this section are meant to be performed by a privileged user account. This requires the root login or prepending each command with sudo.Using Minicom
- Start minicom on your host machine in configuration mode. As root:
# minicom -o -s -w
- A menu of configuration should appear. Use the Down-arrow key to scroll down and select the Serial port setup option, and press Enter.
- Verify that the listed serial port is the same one that is connected to the target board. If it is not, press A, and enter the correct device. This is /dev/ttyS0 on most Linux distributions.
- Set the Bps/Par/Bits option by pressing the letter E and using the next menu to set the appropriate values. You press the key that corresponds to the value 115200, then press Enter.
- Set Hardware flow control to No using the F key.
- Set Software flow control to No using the G key.
- Press Enter to return to the main configuration menu, and then press Esc to exit this menu.
- Reset the board, and wait for a moment. If you do not see output from the board, press Enter several times until you see the prompt. If you do not see any output from the board, and have verified that the serial terminal connection is setup correctly, contact your board vendor.
/dev/ttyS0: 28358
PID TTY STAT TIME COMMAND
28923 pts/0 S+ 0:00 minicom
Using GNU Screen
To quickly connect to a board using Gnu Screen, execute the following:
Preparing the Secure Digital Card
Most SD cards contain a Windows FAT partition by default. Unfortunately, since FAT16 does not support UNIX-style permissions or device nodes, it is not possible to use this file system as the root partition. You must use the fdisk tool to add a Linux partition, then format it using a standard Linux filesystem such as EXT2.
Creating a Linux Partition
You will use the fdisk tool to create two partitions on your SD card. Please note that all data on the card will be lost upon completion of these steps.
Connect the SD card to your host system. Many modern systems have SD card slots on the case, or you can purchase a USB SD Card Reader for around $15 US.
Determine the device name of the SD Card. This can be done using dmesg. In the following example, the device is /dev/sdb, which contains one partition sdb1.
[599432.899910] sd 22:0:0:0: [sdb] 7959552 512-byte logical blocks: (4.07 GB/3.79 GiB)
[599432.900663] sd 22:0:0:0: [sdb] Write Protect is off
[599432.900672] sd 22:0:0:0: [sdb] Mode Sense: 03 00 00 00
[599432.900678] sd 22:0:0:0: [sdb] Assuming drive cache: write through
[599432.903034] sd 22:0:0:0: [sdb] Assuming drive cache: write through
[599432.903047] sdb: sdb1 sdb2
[599432.907913] sd 22:0:0:0: [sdb] Assuming drive cache: write through
[599432.907924] sd 22:0:0:0: [sdb] Attached SCSI removable disk
[599433.383224] EXT4-fs (sdb2): recovery complete
[599433.388385] EXT4-fs (sdb2): mounted filesystem with ordered data mode
Unmount the partition if it was automounted by using the umount command.
As root, run the fdisk utility on the drive.
In fdisk, Delete the existing partition table and create a new one using the o command.
Building a new DOS disklabel with disk identifier 0x8b025602.
Changes will remain in memory only, until you decide to write them.
After that, of course, the previous content won't be recoverable.
Create a new primary partition using the n command. The first partition will be a FAT partition for storing the kernel image. It need only be big enough to store the kernel image.
Command action
e extended
p primary partition (1-4)
p
Partition number (1-4): 1
First cylinder (1-495, default 1): 5
Last cylinder, +cylinders or +sizeK,M,G (5-495, default 495): +5M
Command (m for help): t
Selected partition 1
Hex code (type L to list codes): c
Create a second primary partition using the n command. This partition will be a linux partition for storing the root filesystem. It will fill the rest of the SD card.
Command action
e extended
p primary partition (1-4)
p
Partition number (1-4): 2
First cylinder (1-495, default 1): 10
Last cylinder, +cylinders or +sizeK,M,G (10-495, default 495):
Using default value 495
Set the bootable flag on the first partition:
Verify that the partition table is correct by using the p command. It should look similar to the following:
Disk /dev/sdb: 4075 MB, 4075290624 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 495 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x56cd2aee
Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/sdb1 5 6 16065 c W95 FAT32 (LBA)
/dev/sdb2 10 495 3903795 83 Linux
This step will destroy all data on the SD Card - Write the partition table to the card using the w command.
The partition table has been altered!
Calling ioctl() to re-read partition table.
WARNING: If you have created or modified any DOS 6.x
partitions, please see the fdisk manual page for additional
information.
Syncing disks.
Writing the Bootloaders, Kernel, and RFS to the Card
Format the first partition of the SD card with a FAT filesystem using the mkfs.vfat tool.
Format the second partition using an ext3 filesystem using the mkfs.ext3 tool.
Mount the partitions. You can remove and reinsert the card to trigger the automount, or you can use the mount command to mount the partition to an arbitrary location.
$ sudo mount /dev/sdb2 /media/rootfs
Transfer sunxi-spl.bin and u-boot.bin to the sd card.
$ sudo dd if=bootloader/u-boot.bin of=/dev/sdb bs=1024 seek=32
Copy the kernel and script to the sd card.
$ sudo cp bootloader/script.bin /media/boot/
As root, extract the rootfs.tar.gz archive to the ext3 partition.
Unmount both partitions before removing the card from the Development Host. Then place the card in the SD slot on the Cubieboard.
$ sudo umount /dev/sdb2
Preparing the Host
No additional host setup is required to boot from SD.
Booting the Board
Insert the sd card and then power on the board.
Additional Information
LVDS Display
Factory Documentation
