Linux 17.09 releases

Products Support DragonBoard410c
#1

hi there,

We are back with a new set of Debian and OpenEmbedded releases!

  • Debian based Linaro 17.09 release for Dragonboard 410c.
  • Linaro OpenEmbedded RPB 17.09 release for Dragonboard 410c.

The Debian and OE releases are usually in sync, and offer different approaches to building Linux system for the Dragonboard 410c.

For more information about this release, please check out the release notes:

A few important notes about this release:

  • Upgrade to Linux kernel 4.9.56
  • Switch to using compressed kernel Image (Image.gz)
  • Added support for v4l2 M2M video playback in ffmpeg
  • ZRAM support was enabled, though ZRAM is not configured by default. See this guide for more information
  • Bug fixes
  • BT MAC address is now set on boot (more information in the release notes)
  • WLAN: stop advertising 5GHz channels

Note that the switch to compressed kernel images, requires an updated bootloader (LK), otherwise the board won’t even boot.

If you want to contribute to our next releases, please have a look at this document.

As usual, feel free to use the 96boards forum for any assistance.

The next releases are planned around the end of the year. We are planning to migrate from Debian Stretch to Debian Sid, and also if time permits to switch from 4.9 LTS kernel to 4.14 LTS. The Debian Sid images should be ready for testing in the coming days in our “snapshots” build folder (http://builds.96boards.org/snapshots/dragonboard410c/linaro/debian/). Feel free to give them a try and report feedback. We are also looking at updating the OpenEmbedded releases from morty to the upcoming rocko release (expected later this month). We are also planning to integrate an optimized Kodi player (full GPU and video hardware acceleration), because we all know that there is nothing more fun than watching movies on a Dragonboard!

Happy Hacking,
Cheers

2 Likes
[Linux 17.09 rel] Not getting login prompt and full GUI environment in the rpb-weston-image and rpb-desktop-image on HDMI
#2
#3

Very nice!

I have a question though. I downloaded the SDcard developer version for the first time ever just to try it out. Logging into the Dragonboard via ssh is not possible if you haven’t logged in on to the console first. But once logged in on the console the ssh works fine. Is this intentional and some configuration that needs to be changed? It wasn’t very obvious to me at least.

BR,
Nicklas

#4

Looks like there is a problem in the released image, and hw video codecs are not functional. We will post a new image shortly, in the mean time, to get working codecs, please run the following commands, as root (and reboot):

mkdir -p /lib/firmware/qcom/venus-1.8
cd /lib/firmware/qcom/venus-1.8/
for i in /lib/firmware/venus.*; do ln -s $i; done
#5

hi @nicklase, it is not expected… is it only the very first time, or at each boot you have the same behavior?

#6

I just tested, it’s after each boot. This is what nmap from an external computer tells me before and after I have logged in via the keyboard:

ne@swlab:~$ nmap -Pn 192.168.1.4

Starting Nmap 7.01 ( https://nmap.org ) at 2017-10-19 16:54 CEST
Nmap scan report for 192.168.1.4
Host is up (0.064s latency).
All 1000 scanned ports on 192.168.1.4 are filtered

Nmap done: 1 IP address (1 host up) scanned in 25.82 seconds
ne@swlab:~$ nmap -Pn 192.168.1.4

Starting Nmap 7.01 ( https://nmap.org ) at 2017-10-19 16:55 CEST
Nmap scan report for 192.168.1.4
Host is up (0.093s latency).
Not shown: 999 closed ports
PORT   STATE SERVICE
22/tcp open  ssh

Nmap done: 1 IP address (1 host up) scanned in 3.01 seconds

So I have assigned a static IP-adress (192.168.1.4). Maybe I did something wrong. I will wait for your updated release and try it again.

#7

hi @nicklase,

i can’t reproduce the issue. Here is what I’ve done:

  1. Download dragonboard410c_sdcard_developer_debian-283.zip
  2. Write dragonboard410c_sdcard_developer_debian-283.img onto an SD card (on PC)
  3. Insert SD card into DB410c and boot

On the serial console, the system boots fine, and I am getting a root console. On the HDMI display, i am getting a login prompt.

Now I connect a USB/Ethernet dongle, I am getting an IP address and I can ssh into the board. I didn’t have to login manually anywhere for that.

Can you spot anything different from what you are doing?

#8

Hi,

Yes, one very important difference. I’m using wifi :slight_smile:

Ok, I guess it in so much easier to use ethernet over USB instead of trying to get that configuration file into the NetworkManager with correct mac address every time.

BTW, the behavior is the same in 17.06.1. I’m not able determine why it’s not working but my suspicion is that wifi isn’t connected until I login.

BR,
Nicklas

#9

How do you connect to wifi? You must have setup SSID and keys somehow. Based on how you did this initial setup you might have configured per-user connection or system wide. In your case you need system connections. I believe if you use Network Manager that should work (e.g. configure your WLAN with for example nmtui tool).

#10

I noticed this issue and followed your instructions but only /dev/video* was restored. I seem to also be missing /dev/media* devices. I’m a little green with these subsystems so I’m not sure if it matters but I am using the D3 Engineering mezzanine board. Not sure to what extent you support that board.

#11

Hey there,

I am currently using this version on db410c, and tried to run the script to enable spi with spidev.
I get:
" DTB not found in boot image
invalid DTB 0
invalid DTB
Failed to update DTB "
…with the latest release the script executed fine.

Any ideas how I could match the script to Debian 17.09 version?

Greetings,
Miriam

#12

I think because the image was not structured in the same way (mainly the device tree blob).
Why you’re not using latest release?

#13

Ok thanks :slight_smile: …that’s because I wanted to work on GPS, which is currently disabled… but I think in the next release it would be enabled again… any ideas when the next version will be released?

#14

Instructions for 17.09 will be in the git history but you will probably have to clone to repo and go looking (a “grand renaming” of the docs happened a little while ago so the web interface runs out of steam easily when it can’t track the file rename properly): https://github.com/96boards/documentation/

#15

FYI, I heard that GPS is supported by snapshots: GPS Software - #108 by ndec (Linaro Snapshots)

#16

ok nice, thanks for your tips, gonna check them out!