CubieBoard Forum

My Howto guides for CentOS on Cubieboards have been updated! You can get to them via:

http://www.htt-consult.com/arm.html

I recently lost a drive and had to quickly rebuild a system (fortunately not a critical use one).  It went reasonably well using my own instructions, but just was challenging to do all the select and copy work.  So I learned some CSS and Javascript and made all the text areas directly selectable/copyable.

Note the mailserver is still a work in progress.  Maybe after this distraction I will get back to it.

Enjoy!

What would I specify on ebay to get some more power cables.

This USB to 4mm cable is really handy.  I have been using them for other things and now I need a few more...

thanks

I have finally updated my Centos 7 howto:

http://www.htt-consult.com/Centos7-armv7.html

It is really easy now to get Centos7 up and running.  You have an image choice of server, Gnome, or KDE (EPEL issues with Xfce still).

Caveat is you need a system where you can install uboot-tools to get the right uboot file.  For me it is easy on my Fedora notebook.  If your desktop does not provide uboot-tools, you can always first install Fedora28-arm:

https://arm.fedoraproject.org/

Grab the uboot file and go to the Centos installation.

Or perhaps I can put the latest uboots on my server...  Hmmm.

Cubieboard 5 support in the works.  A few have it working.

Random entropy is required for both servers and clients using any crypto protocol.

At least on Fedora/Centos you can check your available entropy with:

cat /proc/sys/kernel/random/entropy_avail

This SHOULD be at least 2000.  Depending on your software you may constantly be using this, or only as a send to a PRF.

First thing to try is install rng-tools.  On the CubieTruck, this can get avail entropy up to 1500.

The best thing to do is install haveged.

See my write up on this at:

http://www.htt-consult.com/Centos7-armv7.html#RANDOMNESS

Greetings.  It has been a while since I posted here.

We now have good Centos7 images for Cubieboard1, 2, and Truck.  I do not own a Cubie1.  The only difference between running on a Cubie2 or CubieTruck is the uboot.  From:

https://wiki.centos.org/SpecialInterestGroup/AltArch/Arm32

Build your CubieTruck image, then grab the C2 uboot and put that on the mSD card.

With Centos7 (and Fedora), you can put your image on your Sata drive and have ONLY the uboot on the mSD card.  Your system will load uboot from the mSD and then just switch to the Sata drive.

medon.htt-consult.com

Is a simple web server.  You can see it as the 2nd Cubie from the top in:

http://medon.htt-consult.com/~rgm/cubieboard/cubietower-3.JPG

My use of medon is to serve some personal files rather than use a dropbox service.  The main web pages are in serious need of updates (like 15 years old!).

Next I will be upgrading my DNS servers (bottom and 2nd from bottom in the tower).  Then tackling my mailserver which is a CubieTruck...

Enjoy!

Any hints about the Cubietruck Plus other than the one picture and post from back in July?

Like when it might hit the supply chain?
Detailed specs?
Cost?

See:

https://lists.centos.org/pipermail/arm-dev/2015-December/001343.html

And join the Centos-arm mailing list:

https://lists.centos.org/mailman/listinfo/arm-dev

Fedora 23 has shipped.  It works on both the Cubieboard2 and Cubietruck.

See here for general and installation instructions:

https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Architectures/ARM

The images are at:

http://mirrors.kernel.org/fedora/releases/23/Images/armhfp/

I personally use the Xfce image.

WiFi,  Bluetooth, and audio on the Cubietruck still not available.  Patches SHOULD move upstream and soon be in Rawhide.

http://koji.fedoraproject.org/koji/tasks?state=all&view=tree&method=appliance&order=-id

You can just put the uboot on a mSD card (cheapest you can find), and put the partitions on the sata drive and F23 just boots up off the sata.

Don't try and put the uboot on nand.  That is still a work in progress.  May 'see it soon'.

I just put together that I will be in Hong Kong this weekend (arriving thursday afternoon) and leaving sunday for the IETF in Yokohama.  It would be nice to have a Cubietruck to work with there and if I could buy one cheap, that would be neat, but is there a 'store' there that sells them?

I got a sata multiplexer:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/1-To-5-SATA-2-0-Port-Multiplier-Card-3Gbps-SATAII-Riser-card-/281383006276?pt=US_Internal_Port_Expansion_Cards&hash=item4183bbf044

It is supported by Fedora22 uboot and kernel (and thus will be for Centos7).  Thing is to get everything wired.  The sata data is no problem to see, it is the power.

I plan on using only 2.5" HD on it, so all 5V, but how many Amp?

The board itself comes with the same type of USB power cable as we use for the Cubietruck.  There is also a 4pin floppy connector for power in:

http://image.dhgate.com/aktdesc_1008281404_00.jpg

But it might be nice to power it off the cubie so when it goes off, so too does the board.  But that would mean taking CN4 for the power?  Is there any pins for expansion boards that might power this?

For the drives, I could simply take the supplied sata connector and use:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/15-Pin-SATA-Male-to-SATA-Female-1-2-Y-Splitter-Power-Cable-/151696986615?hash=item2351d851f7

to power 2 drives (and what is the amp limit through CN4?)  Or I can use one of these and cut off the sata male and wire on a USB cable.  I have not found any USB power cables to sata power.

Or there  is:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/D-type-IDE-4pin-Molex-male-to-4-X-SATA-15pin-Female-Power-Connector-Cable-/151395603488?hash=item233fe19420

That might also be rewired to USB.  My 40w Anker is rated at 3A per USB port.

Any input on how to best power this card and the connected drives?

From announcement today on the Fedora-arm list:

  * ARM Download page LINK:
    https://arm.fedoraproject.org/

  * Installation page LINK:
    https://fedoraproject.org/w/index.php?title=Architectures/ARM/F22/Installation

  * The supported hardware list LINK:
    http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Architectures/ARM/F22/Installation/Hardware_Status

Just got this offer, and perhaps some here would be interested in a 'good' price on a 1TB SSD drive:

http://www.rakuten.com/prod/samsung-850-evo-1tb-2-5-inch-sata-iii-internal-ssd/272253239.html?scid=em_Promotional_20150427Daily&adid=17070

Enjoy!

I went to plug in my standard 3.5mm headphones, and it seemed to be too big.  I did not want to force it.

I looked around and cannot find out what size plug to use for the audio plugs.

Can someone please point out what size to use?

Now that I am really testing out a graphical desktop on my Cubietruck, I finally hit the no adobe armv7 flashplayer that many others have struggled with.

I was pointed to:

https://github.com/mozilla/shumway

I have installed this on my Fedora 22 build and it is working for most of the sites I have gone to.  Not cnn.com, they use a proprietary video format, it seems.

Last year's pointer to:

https://badrra.wordpress.com/2009/12/03/watch-youtube-using-vlc-mozilla-plugin/

Is not available to me yet, as vlc is not out yet for F22 (no rpmfusion for F22 yet).

Also the references to:

http://www.dl.cubieboard.org/media/flashplayerarm.tar.gz

No longer work.

So everyone that needs a flashplayer, look into shumway and lend a hand if you can! 

This supposedly applies to Cubieboard 1 & 2 as well, but I don't have a C1 and have not tested on my C2.

Instructions are at:

https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Architectures/ARM/F21/Installation

Even though they say F21, it works as well for F22.

Images are at:

http://koji.fedoraproject.org/koji/tasks?state=all&view=tree&method=appliance&order=-id

Download the latest image with the UI of your choice then use the installer available from the Installation page.  I use Xfce.

I did my latest install without a serial console.  You just have to wait a couple minutes before the config screen comes up.  I would like more progress (which you would see on the serial console).  I tried not using the serial console with this latest install, as if you have a serial console, you get the serial configurator, not the graphical one.

Password requirements by the installer are draconian.  This is being debated on a number of devel lists.  Old strong passwords are coming up 'weak'.  If your favourite password is now weak, try Fedora_Project123, then change it later with passwd which is unchanged.

USB keyboard and mouse are supported.  Directly to the CT or via a USB hub.  I am currently using VGA video through my KVM, but I have tested HDMI.

Ethernet works, and with a consistent MAC addr (they finally figured out where to steal some bits to construct a MAC for the CT).  WiFi, BT, IR, are all 'future'.  Sigh.

NAND is not supported.  Yet.  Do not try and move the uboot to NAND; I have been told it just won't work.  Yet. You can put all partitions on a sata drive with only the uboot on an SD card (just look at the installer script to figure out how to put just the uboot on the SD card.  Uboot will switch to the sata if there are no partitions on the SD.  Eventually, we will be able to have uboot on NAND and all partitions on sata, freeing up the SD slot.

The main point here is that this is mainline Fedora.  Not a remix.  Once installed you can do your regular yum updates (or the new updater if you are braver than me).  Fedora 22's goal is to ship in June.  What will make the cut from the 'not yet' list is yet to be seen.  '

Oh, there is also a sata multiplexer card out that will let you put 4 sata drives on your CT.  Fully supported in the current uboot/kernel.

I will add here as new functions come on line.

Go to:

http://mirrors.kernel.org/fedora/releases/21/Images/armhfp/

But since for F21, they did not have Allwinner video figured out yet, only minimal makes sense:

Fedora-Minimal-armhfp-21-5-sda.raw.xz

Go to:

https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Architectures/ARM/F21/Installation

for installation instructions.  The script works:

https://pwhalen.fedorapeople.org/fedora-arm-installer-0.06.tar.bz2

You can get by without a TTYUSB serial console for install, but it makes things easier.

If you want video, you have to get with Rawhide.  The schedule for F22 is Jun '15.

I recently bought 5 cubie2 boards along with one cubietruck.  I did not see the extra $25 for another gig of memory.   I don't think my servers will run any faster with more memory.

But I see a post here and there on this forum that the Cubie1 and 2 are 'almost' dead.  I can see that for the C1; for $10 more I get much more machine.  But, at least for me, all the CT brings is more memory.  Perhaps more power for a 1Tb 2.5" drive?  Well I am ordering one now:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/TOSHIBA-HARD-DRIVE-2-5-1TB-5400RPM-/261296114888?pt=US_Internal_Hard_Disk_Drives&hash=item3cd6764cc8

and I will test it with redsleeve on both a C2 and CT.

So what is the penetration of the cubie in the armv7 market?  How does it hold its own against others?

After following the uboot list for a couple weeks, I am seeing strong involvement by freescale people, and can't tell what allwinner activity is going on.

http://medon.htt-consult.com/~rgm/cubieboard/cubietower-2.JPG

This 5 unit tower (jpeg too big to include as an attachment) will take up the place of one of the 5 SFF servers it will be replacing in my rack.

Take 5 Cubieboard2 with 5 acrylic cases each with a TTL USB UART for console
Add some 20mm nylon standoffs (details below)
Plus 5 drives

And you have it.  This picture is without the network and power cables.

Most systems will be running my Redsleeve build.  For now.

I put in the TTL USB UART on each system because once assembled, you can't get in there to attach the wires.  Minimally you  could just put on the wires and label what each is for, but at ~$2/system I felt it was worth having a ready console for each server.  I can plug a uSB cable into a notebook, bring up screen, and be into the console port for debugging purposes if I can't ssh into the unit.

Each unit boots off of SDcard, but runs on a HD located below the unit.  These drives JUST fit.  Your nylon standoffs must be 5mm wide (note metal ones are 4.75mm, but nylon gives up electrical isolation and you can file them if need for easier fit).

If you use standard M-F nylon standoffs, the only way to remove one system is to take the whole thing apart from one side or the other.  So I alternated F-F and M-M nylon standoffs.  But guess what, I can't FIND any M-M standoffs; I made then by supergluing a nylon screw into a M-F and cutting off the head.  Since it is nylon, this works.  So if I have to pull one card, I can take it apart at any of the nylon standoffs.

5 is as high as I will go in a tower.  I found a 5 port 40w power adapter by Anker at Amazon and so far with 5 systems and two drives it is only reading 8-10w on the AC side (measured with a kill-a-watt).

Redsleeve is a Centos 6 spin for arm.

I have placed all of my tarballs and images for Redsleeve at:

http://cdn.opensxce.org/redsleeve/el6/cubieboard2/

The README takes you through the steps to build your own Redsleeve for Cubieboard.

Or read the README carefully and skip most of the details, grab one of the compressed images and go!

ENJOY.

Comments are welcomed to improve the readme.

Problems with any of the files will be addressed as I can.

Anyone that can get SELinux working; their efforts are greatly appreciated.

I have built a couple of Redsleeve SDcard boots:

http://cdn.opensxce.org/redsleeve/el6/cubieboard2/

I will soon have a README there on how you can build your own or use mine, but either of the compressed images can be xzcat to a 8Gb SDcard and boot.  But I want to boot from SATA and leave the SD slot open.  I have tried doing the xzcat to a sata drive attached to my notebook via a USB/sata adapter, but no boot.

Is there some method for this, or do I have to go back to page one and build the partitions from scratch?

thanks.