Installation of Debian (Squeeze) on the TAM3517 "Twister" Board

Author

This document was written by Wolfgang Denk (wd {at} denx {dot} de).

Introduction

This application note describes how to install the Debian "squeeze" Linux distribution on a SDCard for using it as operating system for the TAM3517 "Twister" board.

For development (building the Linux kernel image) and bootstrapping (initial installation of Debian on that platform) we will use the DENX Embedded Linux Development Kit (ELDK) Release 4.2 for armVFP systems.

This document describes the whole procedure how to perform the installation from scratch. If you are just interested in getting Debian running on your "Twister" board, you probably want to skip to section "Installation from a Snapshot" and start from existing tarballs from our FTP server.

Prepare a SDCard

In this example we use a Micro-SDCard of 2 GB size (3862528 512-byte logical blocks) which we organize as 3 partitions:

1. Mount point "/boot", formatted as =VFAT file system:
   used to store the Linux kernel image.
2. Mount point "/", formatted as =ext4 file system:
   used to store the root file system.
3. Swap space, formatted as swap

Note: you can of course use bigger SDCards as well. Please adjust the partition sizes accordingly. Usually you will add the additional space to the root file system.

• Attach the SDCard to your host using any suitable Micro-SD-Card reader.
• To find out as which device it was registered, run for example:

  $ dmesg | tail -40
  ...
  ... kernel: [576512.948487] sd 18:0:0:2: [sdg] 3862528 512-byte logical blocks: (1.97 GB/1.84 GiB)
  ... kernel: [576512.953356] sd 18:0:0:2: [sdg] Write Protect is off
  ... kernel: [576512.953363] sd 18:0:0:2: [sdg] Assuming drive cache: write through
  ... kernel: [576512.955979] sd 18:0:0:2: [sdg] Assuming drive cache: write through
  ... kernel: [576512.955986]  sdg: sdg1
  ... kernel: [576512.961490] sd 18:0:0:2: [sdg] Assuming drive cache: write through
  ... kernel: [576512.961495] sd 18:0:0:2: [sdg] Attached SCSI removable disk
  
  

  In this case the SD-Card has been registered as "sdg".
  
  WARNING: Be careful and double-check the data! Using the wrong device may corrupt your host computer's hard disk or destroy other important data!
  
  WARNING 2: Keep in mind that all occurrences of "/dev/sdg" and "/dev/sdgX" in the following example will need to be replaced with the appropriate values on your system!
• Use "fdisk" to show and delete any existing partitions

  $ sudo fdisk /dev/sdg
  
  Command (m for help): p
  
  Disk /dev/sdg: 1977 MB, 1977614336 bytes
  18 heads, 52 sectors/track, 4126 cylinders, total 3862528 sectors
  Units = sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
  Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
  I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
  Disk identifier: 0x51dd12ca
  
     Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id  System
  /dev/sdg1            2048     3862527     1930240    b  W95 FAT32
  
  Command (m for help): d
  Selected partition 1
  

  Create new partitions:

  Command (m for help): n
  Command action
     e   extended
     p   primary partition (1-4)
  p
  Partition number (1-4, default 1): 1
  First sector (2048-3862527, default 2048):    
  Using default value 2048
  Last sector, +sectors or +size{K,M,G} (2048-3862527, default 3862527): +8M
  

  Command (m for help): n
  Command action
     e   extended
     p   primary partition (1-4)
  p
  Partition number (1-4, default 2): 2
  First sector (18432-3862527, default 18432): 
  Using default value 18432
  Last sector, +sectors or +size{K,M,G} (18432-3862527, default 3862527): +1536M
  

  Command (m for help): n
  Command action
     e   extended
     p   primary partition (1-4)
  p
  Partition number (1-4, default 3): 3
  First sector (3164160-3862527, default 3164160): 
  Using default value 3164160
  Last sector, +sectors or +size{K,M,G} (3164160-3862527, default 3862527): 
  Using default value 3862527
  

  Set file system types and boot flag:

  Command (m for help): a
  Partition number (1-4): 1
  

  Command (m for help): t
  Partition number (1-4): 1
  Hex code (type L to list codes): b
  Changed system type of partition 1 to b (W95 FAT32)
  

  Command (m for help): t
  Partition number (1-4): 3
  Hex code (type L to list codes): 82
  Changed system type of partition 3 to 82 (Linux swap / Solaris)
  

  Verify settings and write partition table to SDCard

  Command (m for help): p
  
  Disk /dev/sdg: 1977 MB, 1977614336 bytes
  18 heads, 52 sectors/track, 4126 cylinders, total 3862528 sectors
  Units = sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
  Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
  I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
  Disk identifier: 0x51dd12ca
  
     Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id  System
  /dev/sdg1   *        2048       18431        8192    b  W95 FAT32
  /dev/sdg2           18432     3164159     1572864   83  Linux
  /dev/sdg3         3164160     3862527      349184   82  Linux swap / Solaris
  
  Command (m for help): w
  The partition table has been altered!
  

• Create file systems and format swap space:

  $ sudo mkfs.vfat /dev/sdg1
  $ sudo mkfs.ext4 -L root /dev/sdg2
  $ sudo mkswap -L swap /dev/sdg3
  

Download source files

• Download the "xuk-src.tar.bz2" tarball which includes the Linux Kernel source tree from the Technexion download page:

  $ wget -O xuk-src.tar.bz2 http://www.technexion.com/index.php/support-center/downloads/arm-cpu-modules/tam-3517/389-xuk-src-tar/download
  

  At the time this document was written, this was the version marked as "Uploaded: 24.03.11":

  $ sha256sum -b xuk-src.tar.bz2
  23bb9f608ab0a1cee416621db612e683e5393acb50a2ab71f882e99c07be4fc8 *xuk-src.tar.bz2
  

Configure and Build a Linux Kernel Image

• Unpack the Linux kernel tree:

  $ tar -jxf xuk-src.tar.bz2 tam3517/kernel
  

• Prepare ELDK 5.0 build environment

  $ export PATH=/opt/eldk-4.2-arm/bin:/opt/eldk-4.2-arm/usr/bin:$PATH
  $ export ARCH=arm
  $ export CROSS_COMPILE=armVFP-linux-
  

• Configure and build the Linux kernel image, using this kernel configuration file:

  $ cd tam3517/kernel/
  $ cp /tmp/twister.config .config
  $ make oldconfig
  $ make -j4 uImage
  

• Install Linux kernel image on both the TFTP server and the SDCard

  $ cp -vp arch/arm/boot/uImage /tftpboot/twister/
  

  $ sudo mount /dev/sdg1 /mnt/tmp/
  $ sudo cp -vp arch/arm/boot/uImage /mnt/tmp/
  $ sudo umount /dev/sdg1
  

  A copy of the resulting uImage fil can be found here.

Boot "Twister" Board with Roof File System over NFS

• Make sure the "Twister" board is powered off.
• Insert the SDCard into the board.
• Power on the board, and interrupt the initial countdown by pressing any key.

• Prepare environment settings for boot with root file system mounted over NFS:

  TAM3517 # setenv ipaddr 192.168.20.29
  TAM3517 # setenv serverip 192.168.1.1
  TAM3517 # setenv gatewayip 192.168.1.254
  TAM3517 # setenv netmask 255.255.0.0
  TAM3517 # setenv hostname twister
  TAM3517 # setenv netdev eth1
  TAM3517 # setenv addtty 'setenv bootargs ${bootargs} console=ttyS0,115200n8'
  TAM3517 # setenv addip 'setenv bootargs ${bootargs} ip=${ipaddr}:${serverip}:${gatewayip}:${netmask}:${hostname}:${netdev}:off'
  TAM3517 # setenv addmisc 'setenv bootargs ${bootargs} mem=${memsize} mpurate=${mpurate} console=${console} omapfb.vram=0:${vram_size} eth0addr=${eth0addr} eth1addr=${eth1addr} eth2addr=${eth2addr} eth3addr=${eth3addr} ${android_args} ${sys_mode} ${board_info} ${auto_run} omapdss.def_disp=${def_disp} ${disp_mode} mtdparts=${nandparts}'
  TAM3517 # setenv fixup 'setenv bootargs ${bootargs} panic=1 ads7846.swap_left_right=1 ads7846.swap_top_down=1'
  TAM3517 # setenv nfsargs 'setenv bootargs root=/dev/nfs rw nfsroot=${serverip}:${rootpath}'
  TAM3517 # setenv rootpath /opt/eldk-4.2-arm/armVFP
  TAM3517 # setenv mmc_nfs 'mmc init;fatload mmc 0 ${kernel_load} uImage;run def_disp_mode nfsargs addip addtty addmisc fixup;bootm ${kernel_load}'
  TAM3517 # saveenv
  

• Boot board using the Linux kernel from the SDCard and the root file sytem from the NFS server:

  TAM3517 # run mmc_nfs
  mmc1 is available
  reading uImage
  
  2992268 bytes read
  ## Booting kernel from Legacy Image at 81000000 ...
     Image Name:   Linux-2.6.32
     Image Type:   ARM Linux Kernel Image (uncompressed)
     Data Size:    2992204 Bytes = 2.9 MiB
     Load Address: 80008000
     Entry Point:  80008000
     Verifying Checksum ... OK
     Loading Kernel Image ... OK
  OK
  
  Starting kernel ...
  ...
  Mounting NFS filesystems:  [  OK  ]
  Mounting other filesystems:  [  OK  ]
  Starting xinetd: [  OK  ]
  
  DENX ELDK version 4.2 build 2008-11-24
  Linux 2.6.32 on a armv7l
  
  twister login:
  

  Login as user "root".

Bootstrap Debian

• Attach SDCard as storage for the new (to be created) Debian root file system

  -bash-3.2# mkdir /mnt/tmp
  -bash-3.2# mount -t ext4 /dev/mmcblk0p2 /mnt/tmp
  -bash-3.2# mkdir /mnt/tmp/tmp
  -bash-3.2# chmod 01777 /mnt/tmp/tmp
  -bash-3.2# swapon /dev/mmcblk0p3
  

• Get and install "wget"

  -bash-3.2# cd /mnt/tmp/tmp
  -bash-3.2# ftp ftp.gnu.org
  Connected to ftp.gnu.org (140.186.70.20).
  220 GNU FTP server ready.
  Name (ftp.gnu.org:root): ftp
  ...
  Remote system type is UNIX.
  Using binary mode to transfer files.
  ftp> cd /gnu/wget/
  250 Directory successfully changed.
  ftp> bin
  200 Switching to Binary mode.
  ftp> get wget-latest.tar.bz2
  ...
  ftp> by
  221 Goodbye.
  

  -bash-3.2# tar xf wget-latest.tar.bz2 
  -bash-3.2# cd wget-1.12/
  -bash-3.2# ./configure
  -bash-3.2# make
  -bash-3.2# make install
  

• Get and install "debootstrap"

  -bash-3.2# cd /mnt/tmp/tmp
  -bash-3.2# wget http://ftp.de.debian.org/debian/pool/main/d/debootstrap/debootstrap_1.0.29_all.deb
  -bash-3.2# ar xv debootstrap_1.0.29_all.deb data.tar.gz
  -bash-3.2# ( cd / ; tar -zxvf - ) <data.tar.gz
  

• Populate Debian root file system

  -bash-3.2# cd /mnt/tmp
  -bash-3.2# debootstrap --arch=armel squeeze /mnt/tmp http://ftp.de.debian.org/debian
  

• "chroot" into Debian file system and prepare for bootstrap

  -bash-3.2# chroot /mnt/tmp /bin/bash
  root@twister:/# mount -t proc proc /proc
  

  Create console and other serial devices:

  root@twister:/# apt-get clean
  root@twister:/# mknod /dev/ttyS0 c 4 64
  root@twister:/# mknod /dev/ttyS1 c 4 65
  root@twister:/# mknod /dev/ttyS2 c 4 66
  root@twister:/# mknod /dev/ttyS3 c 4 67
  

  Set up file system table:

  root@twister:/# vi /etc/fstab
  root@twister:/# cat /etc/fstab
  /dev/mmcblk0p1  /boot   vfat    defaults        1 2
  /dev/mmcblk0p2  /       ext4    defaults        1 1
  /dev/mmcblk0p3  swap    swap    defaults        0 0
  proc            /proc   proc    defaults        0 0 
  sysfs           /sys    sysfs   defaults        0 0 
  devpts          /dev/pts devpts gid=5,mode=620  0 0 
  tmpfs           /dev/shm tmpfs  defaults        0 0
  

  Configure network interfaces:

  root@twister:/# vi /etc/network/interfaces 
  root@twister:/# cat /etc/network/interfaces 
  # Used by ifup(8) and ifdown(8). See the interfaces(5) manpage or
  # /usr/share/doc/ifupdown/examples for more information.
  
  # The loopback interface
  auto lo
  iface lo inet loopback
  
  # Wired interfaces
  auto eth1
  iface eth0 inet dhcp
  iface eth1 inet dhcp
  

  Set up DNS:

  root@twister:/# vi /etc/resolv.conf
  root@twister:/# cat /etc/resolv.conf
  search denx.de
  nameserver 192.168.1.254
  

  Adapt "/etc/hosts":

  root@twister:/# vi /etc/hosts
  root@twister:/# cat /etc/hosts
  127.0.0.1       localhost
  ::1             localhost ip6-localhost ip6-loopback
  fe00::0         ip6-localnet
  ff00::0         ip6-mcastprefix
  ff02::1         ip6-allnodes
  ff02::2         ip6-allrouters
  
  192.168.20.29   twister.denx.de         twister
  

  Fix settings for serial console port:

  root@twister:/# cp -vp /etc/inittab{,.ORIG}
  `/etc/inittab' -> `/etc/inittab.ORIG'
  root@twister:/# vi /etc/inittab
  root@twister:/# diff /etc/inittab{.ORIG,}
  63c63
  < #T0:23:respawn:/sbin/getty -L ttyS0 9600 vt100
  ---
  > T0:2345:respawn:/sbin/getty -L ttyS0 115200 vt100
  

  Enable initial login for root without password:

  root@twister:/# vi /etc/shadow
  < root:*:15090:0:99999:7:::
  ---
  > root::15090:0:99999:7:::
  

  Done. Unmount and reboot:

  root@twister:/# umount /proc
  root@twister:/# sync
  root@twister:/# exit
  exit
  root@twister:/mnt/tmp#
  
  root@twister:/mnt/tmp# reboot
  

Finalize Debian Setup

• Create or adjust the following environment settings in U-Boot:

  TAM3517 # setenv deb_root setenv bootargs root=/dev/mmcblk0p2 ro
  TAM3517 # setenv debian 'mmc init;fatload mmc 0 ${kernel_load} uImage;run def_disp_mode deb_root addtty addmisc fixup load_kernel;bootm ${kernel_load}'
  TAM3517 # saveenv
  

  Boot Debian for a test:

  TAM3517 # run debian
  mmc1 is available
  reading uImage
  
  2992268 bytes read
  Using DaVinci EMAC device
  TFTP from server 192.168.1.1; our IP address is 192.168.20.29
  Filename 'twister/uImage'.
  Load address: 0x81000000
  Loading: #################################################################
           #################################################################
           #################################################################
           #################################################################
           #################################################################
           #################################################################
           #################################################################
           #################################################################
           #################################################################
  done
  Bytes transferred = 2992268 (2da88c hex)
  ## Booting kernel from Legacy Image at 81000000 ...
     Image Name:   Linux-2.6.32
     Image Type:   ARM Linux Kernel Image (uncompressed)
     Data Size:    2992204 Bytes = 2.9 MiB
     Load Address: 80008000
     Entry Point:  80008000
     Verifying Checksum ... OK
     Loading Kernel Image ... OK
  OK
  
  Starting kernel ...
  
  Uncompressing Linux........................................................................................................................................................................................... done, booting the kernel.
  Linux version 2.6.32 (wd@pollux.denx.de) (gcc version 4.2.2) #1 Wed Apr 27 15:05:23 CEST 2011
  CPU: ARMv7 Processor [411fc087] revision 7 (ARMv7), cr=10c53c7f
  CPU: VIPT nonaliasing data cache, VIPT nonaliasing instruction cache
  Machine: TAM3517 EVM
  ...
  Debian GNU/Linux 6.0 twister ttyS0
  
  twister login: 
  

  Log in as root; no password is needed here:

  twister login: root
  Linux twister 2.6.32 #2 Wed Apr 6 12:41:42 CEST 2011 armv7l
  
  The programs included with the Debian GNU/Linux system are free software;
  the exact distribution terms for each program are described in the
  individual files in /usr/share/doc/*/copyright.
  
  Debian GNU/Linux comes with ABSOLUTELY NO WARRANTY, to the extent
  permitted by applicable law.
  root@twister:~# 
  

  Set system time and time zone:

  root@twister:~# apt-get clean
  root@twister:~# apt-get install ntpdate
  root@twister:~# ntpdate -b pool.ntp.org
  root@twister:~# hwclock --systohc --utc
  root@twister:~# cp /usr/share/zoneinfo/CET /etc/localtime
  root@twister:~# date
  Tue Apr 26 22:23:00 CEST 2011
  

  Set up package database and make sure we are up to date:

  root@twister:~# apt-cache gencaches
  root@twister:~# apt-get update  
  root@twister:~# apt-get upgrade
  

  Enable remote login through ssh:

  root@twister:~# apt-get install ssh
  

  Set root password and halt system.

  root@twister:~# passwd root
  root@twister:~# poweroff
  

Make Debian default OS

Enter the following commands in U-Boot to make Debian boot as default OS whenever you power on the "Twister" board:

TAM3517 # setenv old_bootcmd $bootcmd
TAM3517 # setenv bootcmd run debian
TAM3517 # saveenv

Reset the board to test this.

Customizing Debian Environment

• You may want to install a few additional packages that are needed for example for a software development environment:

  root@twister:~# apt-get install at bash binutils bzip2 cpio curl ethtool gawk gdb grep gzip lsof openssl perl perl-base postfix rsync sed strace sysstat tar tcpdump unzip vlan xdelta
  
  root@twister:~# apt-get install make procmail sasl2-bin resolvconf zip debhelper
  
  root@twister:~# apt-get install debian-keyring autoconf automake1.9 libtool flex bison git-arch git-cvs git-svn git-email git-gui gitk gitweb ed 
  

Take a Snapshot

At this point it makes sense to take a snapshot of the installed system, so you don't have to go through all these steps again:

root@twister:~# cd /
root@twister:/# tar --one-file-system -cf - . | ssh wd@pollux 'gzip >/work/wd/Twister/twister-snapshot-1.tar.gz'

A copy of the resulting tarball can be found here.

Install a GUI

Debian comes with a plethora of software you can pick from. For example, to install a graphical desktop environment, proceed as follows:

• Install Xorg and basic XFCE environment

  root@twister:~# apt-get install xorg xfce4 xfce4-goodies xfce4-notifyd
  

• Install Display Manager

  root@twister:~# apt-get install gdm3
  

• Install Web Browser

  root@twister:~# apt-get install iceweasel
  

  or

  root@twister:~# apt-get install midori
  

• Take another snapshot: twister-snapshot-2.tar.gz

Installation from a Snapshot

If you are just interested in getting Debian running on your "Twister" board, the fastest way to get there is installation from the snapshot tarballs on our FTP server. Please proceed as follows:

• Perform all the steps described in sections "Prepare a SDCard", "Download source files", "Configure and Build a Linux Kernel Image", and "Install Linux kernel image".
• Download a snapshot tarball:

  $ cd /tmp
  $ wget ftp://ftp.denx.de/pub/os-images/debian-6.0/arm/twister-snapshot-1.tar.gz
  

• Mount root file system partition of SDCard and install tarball:

  $ sudo mount /dev/sdg2 /mnt/tmp/
  $ cd /mnt/tmp/
  $ sudo tar zxpf /tmp/twister-snapshot-1.tar.gz
  $ cd
  $ sudo umount /dev/sdg2
  

• Insert the SDCard into the board.
• Power on the board, and interrupt the initial countdown by pressing any key.
• Prepare environment settings as described here, here and here .
• Reset (or power-cycle) the board and watch it booting into Debian.

Note: the root password used in the snapshot images is "root"; in the XFCE environment you can login as normal user "denx" with password "denx". Please make sure to change these psswords before putting the system into actual use. You should also make sure to generate new, unique SSH host keys for "/etc/ssh/ssh_host_*".