[arm-allstar] Question about BeagleBone Black

[David McGough]

Hi Larry,

I want to mention a few more details about why the 1.3 release for the BBB
didn't happen.

The BBB boards have a eMMC flash memory chip permanently installed and it
comes pre-loaded with various older versions of Linux---Angstrom Linux for
the early boards, Debian for rev C boards, etc. The default BBB bootstrap
code is configured to boot from eMMC memory. By original design, to boot
from the SDcard, you must press and hold the "boot" (S2) button during the
boot process...This obviously isn't practical for unattended/normal
operation!

While I was originally working on the flash image, I made a discovery---if
a SDcard was installed, the eMMC U-boot software would look at the SDCard
boot/config files, even if the "boot" switch wasn't pressed!  It didn't
boot from the SDCard, of course, but it did look at the SDCard.  After
some experiments, I came up with a modified SDCard bootstrap that
"tricked" the eMMC U-boot to boot from SDCard, without pressing the "boot"
switch. Perfect! This is the method used in all released HamVoIP software 
for the BBB.

This U-boot trickery continued to work fine with 3.x kernels. Then, the
4.x kernel series showed up, and had different requirements for how it got
loaded into memory----this is where the HamVoIP BBB 1.3 release got bogged
down. I'd tried for several days to find a workable solution without
success. The only successful method I found was to re-flash the eMMC with
an updated bootstrap (U-boot), which was somewhat complicated.  And, if
the update failed, the BBB was left unusable without some even more
complex procedures. sigh.

....By this time the RPi2 was readily available and left the BBB in the
dust performance-wise for AllStar. Now, with the RPi3B and 3B+ board, the
HamVoIP software has evolved to the point that the BBB is obsolete.

I encourage you to try a RPi3B or 3B+, using the latest firmware. I think 
you'll really like it!

73, David KB4FXC






On Mon, 4 Mar 2019, "Larry via ARM-allstar" wrote:

> Thanks for reply Doug,

If required,  an upgrade to a Pi is certainly something that could 
happen since cost is so little.
You folks did such a great job when BeagleBone Black when it was first 
used it has always performed as good or better that some of my PI nodes.
Not being as power hungry and installed in it's own little metal case it 
just keeps on ticking.
True it doesn't have some of the Bells and Whistles of the newer Pi's 
but for link Nodes it's tough to beat.s I use

In case my upgrade doesn't happen right soon. Sounds like an archive of 
the BeagleBone WEB data might be in order.
Thanks for everything.

Larry - N7FM

On 3/4/19 12:53 PM, "Doug Crompton via ARM-allstar" wrote:
> Larry,
>
>   No, at one time there was going to be a 1.3 but it never happened. The
> version out there is the latest. You and others using the BBB should really
> consider upgrading to the Pi. There is so much more to offer in bug fixes,
> enhancements etc. The DNS lookup and online update alone should be enough
> to entice you to upgrade.
>
> I think very soon when I get the time the BBB references on the web page
> will be taken down as they are way outdated.
>
>
> *73 Doug*
>
> *WA3DSP*
>
> *http://www.crompton.com/hamradio <http://www.crompton.com/hamradio>*
>
> On Mon, Mar 4, 2019 at 3:34 PM "larry via ARM-allstar" <
> arm-allstar at hamvoip.org> wrote:
>
>> I still have a couple of BeagleBone Black's in service. Never found a
>> need to replace these with a Pi as these have always run Flawlessly.
>> I have archived the BBB 1.2.1 Version in case of any need future reloads.
>>
>> Today I happened to notice while reviewing the "First Time Configuration
>> of the BeagleBone Black and Raspberry Pi 2" there is now a reference to
>> a "BBB version 1.3".
>>
>> QUESTIONS -- Is this an upgraded version I missed? If so... Where is the
>> download for this version located?
>>
>> I have looked on the Web but only found comments about a BBB version 1.3
>> Alpha in testing. Nothing about a final release.
>>
>> Larry - N7FM
>> _______________________________________________
>>
>> ARM-allstar mailing list
>> ARM-allstar at hamvoip.org
>> http://lists.hamvoip.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/arm-allstar
>>
>> Visit the BBB and RPi2/3 web page - http://hamvoip.org
>>
> _______________________________________________
>
> ARM-allstar mailing list
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>
> Visit the BBB and RPi2/3 web page - http://hamvoip.org
>

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