Differences between revisions 2 and 33 (spanning 31 versions)

CuBox-i support in Debian

This page exists to collate information about the status of support in Debian for the CuBox-i family of devices by SolidRun (CuBox-i1, CuBox-i2, CuBox-i2Ultra, CuBox-i4Pro).

General information

The CuBox-i devices are a series of small-footprint, always-on computers based on the FreeScale i.MX6 chipset.

Bootloader support

The CuBox-i uses U-Boot as a bootloader, and is supported by the U-Boot version in Debian 9/Stretch onwards.

The CuBox-i U-Boot uses SPL (allowing the same U-Boot image to be used across multiple models), and should be installed to the SD card using the layout described here. Note that this version of U-Boot will also support reading the second-stage bootloader from a FAT filesystem on the first partition of the device; however, since U-Boot also reads its environment from an offset of 384K on the SD card, there is 342K of reserved space at the front of the disk which will be otherwise unused. It is therefore recommended to install U-Boot to the embedded space at the front of the disk, and not to set up a dedicated boot partition on the SD card.

Kernel support

The CuBox-i is supported by the armmp linux kernel (4.9+) in Debian Stretch including serial console, usb, ethernet, mmc, HDMI, eSATA and ir receiver.

Installing Debian

Starting from Debian 8/Jessie, the cubox-i and hummingboard are supported through the official debian installer.

For Debian stable, instructions for pre-build images can be found in the official documentation of the Debian Installer.
Daily images of the Debian Installer are also available for:
- netboot installation
- hd-media installation

Be prepared to attach a serial console to your cubox-i/hummingboard, because the installer does not output on the HDMI interface.

Desktop Environments

On Buster Gnome on Wayland works out of the box. It is important to boot the kernel with the cma=... parameter set, e.g. cma=256M.

See also cma entry for the Wandboard

I added the cma=... parameter by

rd@xbian:/etc/flash-kernel/bootscript$ diff -u bootscr.cubox-i~ bootscr.cubox-i 
--- bootscr.cubox-i~    2017-07-25 06:58:47.000000000 +0200 
+++ bootscr.cubox-i     2018-01-13 17:26:46.983026580 +0100 
@@ -29,6 +29,7 @@ 
fi 
 
setenv bootargs @@LINUX_KERNEL_CMDLINE_DEFAULTS@@ ${bootargs} @@LINUX_KERNEL_CMDLINE@@ 
+@@UBOOT_ENV_EXTRA@@ 
 
if test -z "${prefix}" ; then 
  setenv image_locations '/boot/ /' 
rd@xbian:/etc/flash-kernel/bootscript$

# echo 'setenv bootargs ${bootargs} cma=256M' | tee /etc/flash-kernel/ubootenv.d/cma  && flash-kernel

Further info

Thomas Bechtold's blog entry about bootstrapping a SD-Card with Debian Stretch for Cubox-4i
Gunnar Wolf's blog entry about bootstrapping a CuBox-i4
Rainer's notes on bootstrapping a CuBox-i4
The CuBox-i Community
The CuBox-i wiki
Armbian by Igor Pečovnik is a Debian-derived distribution

-  ⇤ ← Revision 2 as of 2014-03-10 03:52:20 → 
  Size: 2940
  Editor: ?SteveLangasek
  Comment: document bootloader, kernel status
+   ← Revision 33 as of 2018-03-07 11:31:10 → ⇥
  Size: 3939
  Editor: ?AurélienCouderc
  Comment: Updates / cleanups to match the current state of stretch & buster
-Deletions are marked like this.
+Additions are marked like this.
 Line 1:
+## page was renamed from ArmHardFloatPort/CuBox-i
-Line 6:
+Line 7:
-The [[http://cubox-i.com|CuBox-i]] devices are a series of small-footprint, always-on computers based on the Free``Scale i.MX6 chipset.
+The [[https://www.solid-run.com/freescale-imx6-family/cubox-i/|CuBox-i]] devices are a series of small-footprint, always-on computers based on the Free``Scale i.MX6 chipset.
-Line 9:
+Line 10:
-The Cu``Box-i uses U-Boot as a bootloader.  As of 2014-03-09, upstream provides [[https://github.com/rabeeh/u-boot-imx6.git|a git tree]] based on U-Boot 2013.10.  A port of upstream U-Boot support to 2014.01 (the version in jessie/sid) is available [[https://github.com/vorlonofportland/u-boot.git|here]] and has been submitted for inclusion in the Debian package in Bug:741127.
+The Cu``Box-i uses U-Boot as a bootloader, and is supported by the U-Boot version in Debian 9/Stretch onwards.
-Line 11:
+Line 12:
-The Cu``Box-i U-Boot uses SPL (allowing the same U-Boot image to be used across multiple models), and should be installed to the SD card using the layout described [[http://imx.solid-run.com/wiki/index.php?title=Building_the_kernel_and_u-boot_for_the_CuBox-i_and_the_HummingBoard#U-Boot_Upstream|here]].  Note that this version of U-Boot will also support reading the second-stage bootloader from a FAT filesystem on the first partition of the device; however, since U-Boot also reads its environment from an offset of 384K on the SD card, there is 342K of reserved space at the front of the disk which will be otherwise unused.  It is therefore recommended to install U-Boot to the embedded space at the front of the disk, and not to set up a dedicated boot partition on the SD card.
+The Cu``Box-i U-Boot uses SPL (allowing the same U-Boot image to be used across multiple models), and should be installed to the SD card using the layout described [[http://wiki.solid-run.com/Building_the_kernel_and_u-boot_for_the_CuBox-i_and_the_HummingBoard|here]].  Note that this version of U-Boot will also support reading the second-stage bootloader from a FAT filesystem on the first partition of the device; however, since U-Boot also reads its environment from an offset of 384K on the SD card, there is 342K of reserved space at the front of the disk which will be otherwise unused.  It is therefore recommended to install U-Boot to the embedded space at the front of the disk, and not to set up a dedicated boot partition on the SD card.
-Line 15:
+Line 16:
-The i.MX6 chipset should be supported by the upstream Linux kernel at version 3.13 (the current version in jessie/sid as of 2014-03-09), using the armmp kernel flavor available in the Debian archive.  However, the device tree definition for the Cu``Box is not available upstream in 3.13.  Although the device tree definitions are kernel-independent, they are built as part of the kernel source.  To get a kernel for the Cu``Box, you will need to do one of the following:
 * Apply the [[http://www.home.arm.linux.org.uk/~rmk/cubox/hummingboard-cubox-i-v3.13-20140120/|enablement patches]] to your linux 3.13 source.
 * Build a kernel from the [[https://github.com/SolidRun/linux-linaro-stable-mx6.git|SolidRun 3.10 stable kernel branch]].
 * Download a pre-built dtb file for your device from [[http://people.debian.org/~vorlon/cubox-i/|people.debian.org]].
 * Use a pre-built binary kernel image from Solid``Run, available [[http://download.solid-run.com/pub/solidrun/c1/kernel/initial/images/|here]].  (Note: these kernels are based on a Linux 3.0 Android BSP.)
+The Cu``Box-i is supported by the armmp linux kernel (4.9+) in Debian Stretch including serial console, usb, ethernet, mmc, HDMI, eSATA and ir receiver.
-Line 21:
+Line 18:
-Note that while recent Debian kernels will be able to boot on the Cu``Box with the simple addition of the .dtb file, full support for all devices (e.g., video) requires enablement patches which are not yet included in the Linux mainline.
+== Installing Debian ==
Starting from Debian 8/Jessie, the cubox-i and hummingboard are supported through the official [[https://www.debian.org/releases/stable/armhf/ch02s01.html#armhf-armmp-supported-platforms|debian installer]].

 * For Debian stable, instructions for pre-build images can be found in the [[https://www.debian.org/releases/stable/armhf/ch05s01.html#boot-installer-sd-image|official documentation]] of the Debian Installer.
 * Daily images of the Debian Installer are also available for:
  * [[https://d-i.debian.org/daily-images/armhf/daily/netboot/SD-card-images/|netboot]] installation
  * [[https://d-i.debian.org/daily-images/armhf/daily/hd-media/SD-card-images/|hd-media]] installation

Be prepared to attach a serial console to your cubox-i/hummingboard, because the installer does not output on the HDMI interface.

== Desktop Environments ==

On Buster Gnome on Wayland works out of the box. It is important to boot the kernel with the cma=... parameter set, e.g. cma=256M.

See also [[https://wiki.debian.org/InstallingDebianOn/Wandboard#cma|cma entry for the Wandboard]]

I added the cma=... parameter by

{{{
rd@xbian:/etc/flash-kernel/bootscript$ diff -u bootscr.cubox-i~ bootscr.cubox-i 
--- bootscr.cubox-i~    2017-07-25 06:58:47.000000000 +0200 
+++ bootscr.cubox-i     2018-01-13 17:26:46.983026580 +0100 
@@ -29,6 +29,7 @@ 
fi 
 
setenv bootargs @@LINUX_KERNEL_CMDLINE_DEFAULTS@@ ${bootargs} @@LINUX_KERNEL_CMDLINE@@ 
+@@UBOOT_ENV_EXTRA@@ 
 
if test -z "${prefix}" ; then 
  setenv image_locations '/boot/ /' 
rd@xbian:/etc/flash-kernel/bootscript$

# echo 'setenv bootargs ${bootargs} cma=256M' | tee /etc/flash-kernel/ubootenv.d/cma  && flash-kernel


}}}

== Further info ==
 * Thomas Bechtold's [[https://toabctl.wordpress.com/2016/02/07/installing-debian-stretch-on-a-cubox-i/|blog entry]] about bootstrapping a SD-Card with Debian Stretch for Cubox-4i
 * Gunnar Wolf's [[http://gwolf.org/node/3896|blog entry]] about bootstrapping a Cu``Box-i4
 * Rainer's [[http://bokomoko.de/~rd/Debian/cubox-i-notes.txt|notes]] on bootstrapping a Cu``Box-i4
 * The [[http://www.solid-run.com/community/|CuBox-i Community]]
 * The [[http://wiki.solid-run.com/CuBox-i_Hardware/|CuBox-i wiki]]
 * Armbian by Igor Pečovnik is a Debian-derived [[http://www.armbian.com/hummingboard/|distribution]]

Diff for "InstallingDebianOn/SolidRun/CuBox-i"