[arm-allstar] Question about BeagleBone Black

[Larry]

Morning David and thanks for the explanation.

I wasn't wanting to do anything new with the BeagleBone. I had just ran 
across the reference to the 1.3 version and wondered if I missed an upgrade.

Still run 2 BeagleBone Black nodes made prior to the Pi software being 
released. From that point on all new nodes built were Pi's.
I have multiple Pi Nodes active so I am aware of the great work and 
assistance You and Doug provide giving us the easy access to all the 
bells and whistles.

Since my BeagleBone nodes are used for dedicated linking they have 
always provided all the functions needed for their purpose.
I hadn't considered changing them out as what software you provided way 
back then has been rock solid for my purpose. I'm sure the time will 
come when I will have no choice but to upgrade. In the mean time I'm 
excited about the news of what you and Doug are working on for the 
current Pi's.

73
Larry - N7FM


On 3/5/19 8:36 AM, David McGough wrote:
>
> 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
>> 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
>>
> _______________________________________________
>
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>
> Visit the BBB and RPi2/3 web page - http://hamvoip.org
>
>