Linux/AM5728: Creating a bootable linux sdcard without installing SDK

solid repellent

Part Number: AM5728

Tool/software: Linux

Hello all,

Is there a way a create a bootable Linux sdcard without installing SDK. Just downloading images and using dd to flash the sdcard? Could you please point me to the instructions? I am using AM572X EVM. It came with an sdcard and has matrix gui. I want pure Linux without it.

Thank you for your time.

over 9 years ago

0 Kemal R. Shakir over 9 years ago

TI__Guru 55345 points

Try these commands:

DRIVE=/dev/sdX
dd if=/dev/zero of=$DRIVE bs=1024 count=1024
parted -s $DRIVE mklabel msdos
parted -s $DRIVE unit cyl mkpart primary fat32 -- 0 9
parted -s $DRIVE set 1 boot on
parted -s $DRIVE unit cyl mkpart primary ext2 -- 9 -2
mkfs.vfat -F 32 -n "boot" ${DRIVE}1
mkfs.ext3 -L "rootfs" ${DRIVE}2
mkdir boot rootfs
sudo mount /dev/sdb1 boot/
sudo mount /dev/sdb2 rootfs/
cp {MLO,u-boot.img} boot/
tar -Jxf arago-base-tisdk-image-am57xx-evm.tar.xz -C rootfs/
cp {zImage,am57xx-evm-reva3.dts} rootfs/boot/
sync
sync
sudo umount rootfs/ boot/

Note that the X in /dev/sdX must point your SD card, so choose carefully since you may wipe your hard disk.

0 solid repellent over 9 years ago in reply to Kemal R. Shakir

Intellectual 850 points

I managed to create the SD card. But it boots into Weston (waylands compositor). I also assume that the matrix UI is also starting (I have removed the touch screen and using only the processor module). The only graphical tool I have is the terminal. How would I install Gnome or Kde or any other software? How about Ubuntu, Debian or traditional ARM Linux?

0 Kemal R. Shakir over 9 years ago in reply to solid repellent

TI__Guru 55345 points

You can find the other distributions at this site: elinux.org/BeagleBoardDebian. Please, check it out.

0 solid repellent over 9 years ago in reply to Kemal R. Shakir

Intellectual 850 points

Thank you Kemal. I will check that out. One last question. Assuming I have the default linux from TI, how do I disable the matrix UI from booting? I just want to drop to root shell.

0 Kemal R. Shakir over 9 years ago in reply to solid repellent

TI__Guru 55345 points

You can stop the GUI loading by this command:
root@am335x-evm:/# update-rc.d -f weston remove

0 solid repellent over 9 years ago in reply to Kemal R. Shakir

Intellectual 850 points

Sorry, may be I should have been clear. I do not want to remove it permanently. I just want to disable it during the run of my simulation. So, the command you have given I assume disables Matrix UI and after rebooting the system I can have Matrix Ui back right?

0 Kemal R. Shakir over 9 years ago in reply to solid repellent

TI__Guru 55345 points

Right, the command above removes the GUI loading, to just stop the Matrix UI use /etc/init.d/matrix-gui-2.0 stop command. You can read more information about Matrix UI at this link.

0 solid repellent over 9 years ago in reply to Kemal R. Shakir

Intellectual 850 points

Hello Kemal,

The available frequencies seems to be only 3, according to the following command. So, is AM572x series of processors not capable to operate in lower frequencies? or is it a limitation of the Matrix UI's kernel? If I were to change the kernel or flash a different distro like debian would other frequency modes be available at userspace?

root@am57xx-evm:~# cat /sys/devices/system/cpu/cpu0/cpufreq/scaling_available_frequencies
1000000 1176000 1500000

0 Kemal R. Shakir over 9 years ago in reply to solid repellent

TI__Guru 55345 points

The Matrix UI doesn't define the operating performance points. Please, file a new question about this concern.

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Linux/AM5728: Creating a bootable linux sdcard without installing SDK