CM-A510: Linux: Getting started

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Preparation steps

Admolition note.png It is possible to install Linux on CM-A510 using either an NFS share, USB flash drive or a SATA hard drive. The NFS method is recommended because NFS setup will ease further Linux evaluation and development.
  • Obtain a PC workstation with serial communication port.
  • For installation using NFS install TFTP server on host PC. For Windows machines we recommend TFTPD32 included in this distribution package.
  • Download the Linux distribution package for CM-A510 from CompuLab's website . Unzip the package to a directory on your host workstation.
  • All image files mentioned below can be found in images subdirectory
  • Copy debian-image.ubi and kernel.img from Linux distribution package for CM-A510 either to a directory exported through NFS or to a USB flash drive.

Image installation

  • Connect the host PC to the CM-A510 via the serial cable supplied with the CM-A510 evaluation kit.
  • Start terminal emulation software on your PC using the COM port to which the serial cable is connected. Set baud rate to 115200 bps, 8 bit per frame, 1 stop bit, no parity, no flow control.
  • Turn on the CM-A510. The U-Boot boot-loader will start and you will get a command prompt.
Admolition note.png If the boot settings of your CM-A510 are different than default, you may need to press and hold ^C while turning on the CM-A510, in order to get command prompt.

Installation using NFS

  • Connect CM-A510 LAN0 Ethernet port (connector P11 on SB-A510) to your local Ethernet
  • Make sure that Linux kernel binary image kernel.img, ramdisk image ramdisk.img and bootloader script image bootscr.img are accessible by the TFTP server.
    - On Windows machine: copy kernel.img, ramdisk.img and bootscr.img to the same folder and point the TFTP server to that folder
    - On Linux machine: copy kernel.img, ramdisk.img and bootscr.img to TFTP sevrver root directory, usually /tftpboot or /tftproot.
  • You can use U-boot dhcp command to obtain IP address or manually set the ipaddr environment variable:
> setenv ipaddr <CM-A510 ip address>
  • Set the serverip environment variable and save the new environment to NAND flash:
> setenv serverip <host ip address>
> saveenv
  • Use the following U-boot command to boot Linux on CM-A510:
> tftp 100000 bootscr.img && autoscr 100000
  • During boot the CM-A510 tries to obtain an IP address using DHCP. If you do not have DHCP server you can set the CM-A510 IP address statically using ifconfig:
$ ifconfig eth0 <ip address>
  • After the ramdisk image is loaded you will get Linux login prompt. Login as root into the system.
  • Mount the NFS share containing kernel.img and debian-image.ubi image:
$ mount <host ip>:/path/to/nfs/share /mnt/net
  • Format the NAND flash kernel partition and write the kernel image onto it:
$ flash_eraseall /dev/mtd0
$ nandwrite -p /dev/mtd0 /mnt/net/kernel.img
  • Format the NAND flash root filesystem partition and write Debian filesystem image onto it:
$ ubiformat /dev/mtd1 -f /mnt/net/debian-image.ubi

Installation using USB flash drive

  • Make sure that CM-A510 LAN0 Ethernet port (connector P11 on SB-A510) is disconnected
  • Make sure that Linux kernel binary image kernel.img, ramdisk image ramdisk.img, Debian filesystem UBI image debian-image.ubi and bootloader script image bootscr.img are present at the root directory of the USB flash drive.
  • Connect USB flash drive to SB-A510. Use USB1 port (the lower USB connector of P11 on SB-A510).
  • Use the following U-boot command to boot Linux on CM-A510:
> usb start
> fatload usb 0:1 100000 bootscr.img
> autoscr 100000
  • After the ramdisk image is loaded you will get Linux login prompt. Login as root into the system.
  • The USB flash drive will be automatically mounted under /media/sda1
  • Format the NAND flash kernel partition and write the kernel image onto it:
$ flash_eraseall /dev/mtd0
$ nandwrite -p /dev/mtd0 /media/sda1/kernel.img
  • Format the NAND flash root filesystem partition and write Debian filesystem image onto it:
$ ubiformat /dev/mtd1 -f /media/sda1/debian-image.ubi

After Installation

  1. Reset the CM-A510.
    2. Admolition note.png If the boot settings of your CM-A510 are different than default, you may need to press and hold ^C while turning the CM-A510 on, in order to get command prompt.
  2. To boot Linux, type: 
    > setenv bootargs
> nboot 200000 nand0 0; bootm
    Admolition caution.png The Linux kernel for CM-A510 is shipped with built-in command line parameters that define primary console, default display settings, root device and root filesystem type. Setting U-Boot bootargs environment variable overrides default kernel command line!
  3. For Linux automatic boot, type: 
    > setenv bootdelay 3
> setenv bootcmd "nboot 200000 nand0 0; bootm"
> saveenv
> boot
    Admolition note.png If you want to get back to U-Boot prompt, hold Ctrl-C during reset.


Connection and Logging In

Use the following usernames and passwords to login:

Account with administrative privileges: 

User: root
Password: 111111

Regular user account: 

User: user
Password: 111111

In addition to these accounts CM-A510 allows anonymous FTP access.

See also

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