CubieTruck Lubuntu

2016-04-10
, , , , , , , , ,

CubieTruck + Lubuntu >

Instructions on getting Lubuntu (desktop) working for the CubieTruck.

NOTE - These instructions will wipe your MicroSD card!

Table of Contents [hide]

2016-04-11 - 12.10 ∞

Because of my failure for [unsolved] Change the Lubuntu language from Chinese to English, I decided to fiddle a little. I downloaded new files, and did most of the other things in the same way. I also learned how to properly change the resolution.

\wget  --continue  dl.cubieboard.org/software/a20-cubietruck/lubuntu/ct-lubuntu-card0-v1.00/u-boot-sunxi-with-spl-ct-20131102.bin
\wget  --continue  dl.cubieboard.org/software/a20-cubietruck/lubuntu/ct-lubuntu-card0-v1.03/EN/bootfs-part1.tar.gz
\wget  --continue  dl.cubieboard.org/software/a20-cubietruck/lubuntu/ct-lubuntu-card0-v1.03/EN/rootfs-part2.tar.gz

--

notes:

  • Chromium

    • Kept warning me about websites not being secure.
    • Typing random stuff in the location bar goes to Google, which defaults to Chinese.

Fix the resolution ∞

With thanks to https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/cubieboard/r_rr3IUrN3k

Edit script.bin and change screen0_output_mode

0:480i
1:576i
2:480p
3:576p
4:720p50
5:720p60
6:1080i50
7:1080i60
8:1080p24
9:1080p50
10:1080p60
11:pal
14:ntsc

After this change, and a reboot, the resolution was correct.

  • When at the console, I had some graphics bleed through into the top bar.

    • I didn't troubleshoot this.
Spoiler
And if you only want to change the resolution, and are running a recent
kernel, it is also possible to specify the resolution as extra kernel
parameter in uEnv.txt/boot.scr instead of in script.bin

E.g. for 1024x768 DVI mode add to the bootargs line:

disp.screen0_output_mode=1024x768p60 hdmi.audio=0

Choose highest mode automatically using EDID, and fall back to HDMI 720p
mode if EDID is not available:

disp.screen0_output_mode=EDID:1280x720p60 hdmi.audio=EDID:0
---

https://github.com/ssvb/xf86-video-fbturbo

Spoiler
Useful URLs:

(xrandr)

\xrandr
xrandr: Failed to get size of gamma for output default
Screen 0: minimum 1280 x 720, current 1280 x 720, maximum 1280 x 720
default connected 1280x720+0+0 0mm x 0mm
   1280x720       60.0*

In my case, my display is called "default"

TODO - automate that

. learn thing

First, notice the output of xrandr -q:

xrandr: Failed to get size of gamma for output default
Screen 0: minimum 1280 x 720, current 1280 x 720, maximum 1280 x 720
default connected 1280x720+0+0 0mm x 0mm
   1280x720       60.0*

maximum 1280 x 720

Assuming I can ignore that, I explored:

width=1920
height=1080
refresh_rate=60
mode=${width}x${height}-${refresh_rate}
\cvt  $width $height $refresh_rate
  1. 1920x1080 59.96 Hz (CVT 2.07M9) hsync: 67.16 kHz; pclk: 173.00 MHz

Modeline "1920x1080_60.00" 173.00 1920 2048 2248 2576 1080 1083 1088 1120 -hsync +vsync

TODO - automate the grabbing of that second line

\xrandr  --newmode  $mode  173.00  1920 2048 2248 2576  1080 1083 1088 1120 -hsync +vsync

notes:
* Ignore any "gamma" messages, e.g.
  `xrandr: Failed to get size of gamma for output default`
* You can see your list of modes with `xrandr -q`
* If you screwed up, you can `xrandr --rmmode MODENAME`

\xrandr  --addmode  default  $mode
\xrandr  --output  default  --mode $mode

{{{
xrandr: Configure crtc 0 failed

If they worked, you could add those last three commands to:
/etc/lightdm/lightdm.conf

I think alternate graphics drivers would help.

WHAT IF - 1280x720 really was the limitation of the video? Maybe it's the VGA port.

Rebooting with HDMI as my video did not solve this problem.

xrandr --props shows the ideal maximum resolution.

Screen 0: minimum 1280 x 720, current 1280 x 720, maximum 1920 x 1080
default connected 1280x720+0+0 0mm x 0mm
   1280x720       60.0* 
   1920x1080-60   60.0

Disabling the strobing lights ∞

for i in /sys/class/leds/* ; do ( echo 0 | sudo tee "$i"/brightness ) ; done

They are re-enabled when rebooted.

Disabling the red power light ∞

The red LED is connected directly to the 3.3V supply. It cannot be turned off.

  • I don't know if you can safely de-solder it.

  • I have not tried black nail polish or black model/miniature paint.

2016-04-10 - 12.10 ∞

ct-lubuntu-card0-v1.03

Show stopper: I couldn't switch away from Chinese.

Files to download ∞

\wget  --continue  dl.cubieboard.org/software/a20-cubietruck/lubuntu/ct-lubuntu-card0-v1.00/u-boot-sunxi-with-spl-ct-20140107.bin
\wget  --continue  dl.cubieboard.org/software/a20-cubietruck/lubuntu/ct-lubuntu-card0-v1.03/bootfs-part1.tar.gz
\wget  --continue  dl.cubieboard.org/software/a20-cubietruck/lubuntu/ct-lubuntu-card0-v1.03/rootfs-part2.tar.gz

The basic setup ∞

card=/dev/sdx

\sudo  \umount  ${card}*
\sudo  \dd  bs=1024  seek=544  count=128  of=${card}  if=/dev/zero
\sudo  \dd  bs=1024  seek=8               of=${card}  if=u-boot-sunxi-with-spl-ct-20140107.bin

partitioning ∞

\sudo  \fdisk  ${card}
d 1
d
n
p
1
2048
+64MB
n
p
2
(enter)
(enter)
wq

The instructions, explained:

  • 1st partition starts from 2048 sectors, 64MB in size

  • 2nd partition just keep it all default

An example p

Command (m for help): p

Disk /dev/sdb: 1967 MB, 1967128576 bytes
61 heads, 62 sectors/track, 1015 cylinders, total 3842048 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: 0x00000000

   Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id  System
/dev/sdb1            2048      126975       62464   83  Linux
/dev/sdb2          126976     3842047     1857536   83  Linux

They recommend reading https://linux-sunxi.org/Bootable_SD_card but I'm ignoring that document.

\sudo  \umount  ${card}*
\sudo  \mkfs.ext2  ${card}1
\sudo  \mkfs.ext4  ${card}2
\sudo  \umount  ${card}*

Copy the files ∞

_tmpdir=/tmp/cubietruck-lubuntu.$$
_bootfs=$_tmpdir/bootfs
_rootfs=$_tmpdir/rootfs


\mkdir  $_tmpdir
\mkdir  $_bootfs
\mkdir  $_rootfs
\sudo  \mount  ${card}1  $_bootfs
\sudo  \mount  ${card}2  $_rootfs
\sudo  \tar  --directory $_bootfs  -xvf ./bootfs-part1.tar.gz
# This will take a very long time:
\sudo  \tar  --directory $_rootfs  -xvf ./rootfs-part2.tar.gz
\sudo  \umount  $_bootfs
\sudo  \umount  $_rootfs
\sudo  \rmdir  $_bootfs
\sudo  \rmdir  $_rootfs
\sudo  \rmdir  $_tmpdir

Bootup ∞

My connectors are like this:

  • A power brick to my USB hub
  • The CubieTruck's power cable from my USB hub to my CubieTruck
  • A USB male-male cable from my CubieTruck to my USB hub.

  • An HDMI cable from the front of the CubieTruck to my monitor.

---

Steps to boot your CubieTruck:
  • Ensure the CubieTruck is powered-off.
  • Remove the card from your computer.

  • Insert your card into the CubieTruck.

    • The slot is at the "back", opposite the side where you plug in your video.
    • It is small, silver and flat, and to the left of the black circular audio plug.

  • Ensure your CubieTruck has an HDMI connection to your monitor.

    • This was not tested with VGA.
    • I was told it used HDMI by default.
    • However, my tests suggest it will use either and you don't need to worry.

  • Power on your CubieTruck.

    • The power-button is the back-left corner. It is a very tiny black button in a very tiny white holder. It is labelled PWR-ON in white letters on the red motherboard.
  • Hopefully your card is fairly fast and it will boot quickly.
  • The default username is linaro

  • The default password is linaro

Other stuff ∞

fix apt-get update ∞

Either edit your /etc/apt/sources.list or just overwrite it with:

\echo "

deb http://old-releases.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ raring main universe restricted multiverse
deb-src http://old-releases.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ raring main universe restricted multiverse

deb http://old-releases.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ raring-security main universe restricted multiverse
deb-src http://old-releases.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ raring-security main universe restricted multiverse

deb http://old-releases.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ raring-updates main universe restricted multiverse
deb-src http://old-releases.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ raring-updates main universe restricted multiverse

deb http://old-releases.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ raring-backports main restricted universe multiverse
deb-src http://old-releases.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ raring-backports main restricted universe multiverse

deb http://old-releases.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ raring-proposed main restricted universe multiverse
deb-src http://old-releases.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ raring-proposed main restricted universe multiverse
"  |  \sudo  \tee  /etc/apt/sources.list

This was tested and works, but it takes forever! .. a microSD card is VERY slow.

I use a 2GB card, and this still worked without running out of space. I'm not sure how.

I didn't test apt-get dist-upgrade

Changing the default display cable ∞

Edit script.bin and change change screen0_output_type to 4

Supposedly it would default to HDMI and you would have to make a change to VGA. However,

  • This installation test did not need this change (screen0_output_type was already 4).
  • When I removed HDMI and only had VGA installed, it automagically used VGA!

  • Switching cables while powered on change screen0_output_type to 4

[unsolved] Change the Lubuntu language from Chinese to English ∞

https://askubuntu.com/questions/380746/changing-ubuntu-servers-language-to-english

# I already had manpages
\sudo  \apt-get  install  language-pack-en  language-pack-en-base
# manpages-zh was not installed
\sudo  \apt-get  remove  language-pack-zh-hans  language-pack-zh-hans-base

You can check your available locales with:

\locale -a  |  \grep en_

Then edit your locale with:

\echo  'LANG="en_GB.utf8"'  |  \sudo  \tee  /etc/default/locale

THESE INSTRUCTIONS DO NOT WORK

  • All language-pack items are confirmed correct, with no zh stuff remaining.
  • There was nothing with 'hans' in it that was installed.
  • I edited my locale, confirming it existed in my locale -a list.

  • I rebooted

--

\sudo  \apt-get  install  language-selector-gnome

While installing, this gives me a listing for en_GB.UTF-8 so I tried the original edit suggestion:

\echo  'LANG="en_GB.UTF-8"'"'  |  \sudo  \tee  /etc/default/locale

(or just sudo nano /etc/default/locale and make sure everything is okay)

However, running gnome-language-selector spits out an error:

Spoiler
linaro@cubietruck:/$ gnome-language-selector 
** (gnome-language-selector:3831): WARNING **: Couldn't connect to accessibility bus: Failed to connect to socket /tmp/dbus-kXTUf9sJ5a: Connection refused
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "/usr/lib/python3/dist-packages/dbus/bus.py", line 175, in activate_name_owner
    return self.get_name_owner(bus_name)
  File "/usr/lib/python3/dist-packages/dbus/bus.py", line 361, in get_name_owner
    's', (bus_name,), **keywords)
  File "/usr/lib/python3/dist-packages/dbus/connection.py", line 651, in call_blocking
    message, timeout)
dbus.exceptions.DBusException: org.freedesktop.DBus.Error.NameHasNoOwner: Could not get owner of name 'org.freedesktop.Accounts': no such name

During handling of the above exception, another exception occurred:

Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "/usr/lib/python3/dist-packages/LanguageSelector/LocaleInfo.py", line 242, in getUserDefaultLanguage
    obj = bus.get_object('org.freedesktop.Accounts', '/org/freedesktop/Accounts')
  File "/usr/lib/python3/dist-packages/dbus/bus.py", line 241, in get_object
    follow_name_owner_changes=follow_name_owner_changes)
  File "/usr/lib/python3/dist-packages/dbus/proxies.py", line 248, in __init__
    self._named_service = conn.activate_name_owner(bus_name)
  File "/usr/lib/python3/dist-packages/dbus/bus.py", line 180, in activate_name_owner
    self.start_service_by_name(bus_name)
  File "/usr/lib/python3/dist-packages/dbus/bus.py", line 278, in start_service_by_name
    'su', (bus_name, flags)))
  File "/usr/lib/python3/dist-packages/dbus/connection.py", line 651, in call_blocking
    message, timeout)
dbus.exceptions.DBusException: org.freedesktop.DBus.Error.Spawn.ExecFailed: Failed to execute program /usr/lib/dbus-1.0/dbus-daemon-launch-helper: Permission denied

During handling of the above exception, another exception occurred:

Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "/usr/bin/gnome-language-selector", line 22, in on_activate
    options=options)
  File "/usr/lib/python3/dist-packages/LanguageSelector/gtk/GtkLanguageSelector.py", line 199, in __init__
    self.updateLocaleChooserCombo()
  File "/usr/lib/python3/dist-packages/LanguageSelector/gtk/GtkLanguageSelector.py", line 54, in wrapper
    res = f(*args, **kwargs)
  File "/usr/lib/python3/dist-packages/LanguageSelector/gtk/GtkLanguageSelector.py", line 814, in updateLocaleChooserCombo
    (defaultLangCode, languageString) = self._localeinfo.getUserDefaultLanguage()
  File "/usr/lib/python3/dist-packages/LanguageSelector/LocaleInfo.py", line 254, in getUserDefaultLanguage
    warnings.warn(msg.args[0].encode('UTF-8'))
TypeError: can't use a string pattern on a bytes-like object

Fix the resolution ∞

It looks like I can make a correction in Changing the default display cable, but everything in there looked fine to me.

I guess there is a change in Lubuntu I can make, but I could not figure this out because everything was in Chinese. I think perhaps the correct software was not installed, but I could not install the correct software because my 2GB card was not big enough to do a proper update after fix apt-get update.

Edit script.bin ∞

\sudo  \mount  /dev/mmcblk0p1  /mnt
\cd  /mnt
\sudo  \bin2fex  ./script.bin  ./1.fex
\sudo  \nano  ./1.fex
\sudo  \fex2bin      ./1.fex  ./script.bin
\cd  -
\sudo  \umount  /mnt

2014-09-23 - Lubuntu (version not recorded) ∞

ct-lubuntu-card0-v1.03

(no notes were taken)

I followed my #2013-12-23 instructions, but with updated downloads.

  • I remember having issues with Lubuntu "dying" on me, and I'd have to reinstall it on the card.

    • I didn't troubleshoot at all.

  • I remember not being able to update.

    • I didn't troubleshoot at all.

2013-12-23 - Lubuntu (version not recorded) ∞

ct-lubuntu-card0-v1.00

Spoiler 
# https://web.archive.org/web/20200922173543/http://docs.cubieboard.org/tutorials/ct1/installation/install_lubuntu_desktop_server_to_sd_card
# possibly:
#   https://web.archive.org/web/20201027010834/http://docs.cubieboard.org/tutorials/ct1/installation/cb3_lubuntu-12.10-desktop_nand_installation_v1.00



# FIXME - be root for this script

card=/dev/sdb
file=u-boot-sunxi-with-spl-ct-20131102.bin

\dd  if=/dev/zero  of=${card}  bs=1024  seek=544  count=128
\dd  if=${file}    of=${card}  bs=1024  seek=8

:<'CONCEPT'
# fdisk can do alignment too, but I forgot how and haven't bothered to look it up.
# DO NOT USE CFDISK, THIS WILL FAIL
\echo  "
d     # delete whatever partitions
d
d
d
n      # new
p      # primary
1      # first partition
2048   # start sector
133119 # end sector.  Note, don't be tempted to do +64M
n      # new
p      # primary
2      # second partition
       # default start

       # default end

p      # print the results
#w      # write changes
#q      # quit
q!     # quit without saving
" | \fdisk ${card}
\sync
CONCEPT

# fdisk could theoretically do proper partition alignment, but I can't get this to work.
# fdisk -c=nondos -u /dev/sdb
# using cfdisk might be fucking things up!


# Using the fdisk command to create 2 partitions on the SD Card, e.g.
#    1st partitions start from 2048 sectors, 64MB in size
#    2nd partitions just keep it all default
# Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id  System
#/dev/sdd1            2048      133119       65536   83  Linux
#/dev/sdd2          133120    15278079     7572480   83  Linux

\umount  ${card}*
# This one didn't boot
\mkfs.ext2  ${card}1  -L cubie-boot
# testing:
#\mkfs.vfat  ${card}1  -n cubie-boot
\mkfs.ext4  ${card}2  -L cubie-root

_extract(){
  # TODO - just make this a tmpdir, need to find my other notes..
  local  tmpdir=/tmp/sdd$2
  \umount  $1$2
  \umount  $tmpdir
  \rmdir   $tmpdir
  \mkdir   $tmpdir
  \mount  $1$2  $tmpdir
  \echo  -n $4
  # If the filesytem suddenly becomes read-only during extraction, and all the files you thought were getting written become 0-bytes, and tar simply explodes all over, then maybe you're using a shitty combination unpowered usb hub and card reader, and it's crapping out because you're using the mouse and keyboard at the same time..
  # --verbose  if you like.
  \tar  --directory $tmpdir  --extract  --overwrite  --file  $3
  \umount  $tmpdir
  \rmdir   $tmpdir
}


_extract  ${card}  1   bootfs-part1.tar.gz  "extracting..\n"
_extract  ${card}  2   rootfs-part2.tar.gz  "extracting..\nthis will take a long time\n"

# You can verify that everything was written correctly by mounting it, going there, becoming root and running:
# the rootfs had 9 failed checksums..
#   sha256sum -c SHA256SUMS

# insert it and boot up
# can ssh into it?  (not sure)

# Discover what to use.
for i in {11..30}; \ssh 192.168.0.$i
for i in {11..30}; ssh -o ConnectTimeout=1 192.168.0.$i
\ssh  linaro@192.168.0.$i
# You may need to remove an existing key with:
#   \ssh-keygen -f "/home/user/.ssh/known_hosts" -R 192.168.0.23
# default user: linaro
# default pass: linaro

Last updated 2021-07-29 at 18:23:39

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