Minimal Debian Wheezy/Jessie images

by **TomB** » Mon Jan 05, 2015 10:50 am

Here are the links for my fully automated minimal Debian Jessie/Wheezy images. You can use the exact same image on as many odroid-c1's on your lan as you wish, each of them gets a unique hostname (that includes the MAC address) assigned on first boot.

root password: odroid
system hostname: odroidc-MACADDRESS

Repository: https://github.com/tomuta/debian-mini-odroid-c1

05/16/2015

Added support for ODROID-C2 (Jessie only)
Building a read-only root fs image is as easy as specifying ROOT_RW=no

05/16/2015

Added support for building Jessie images (specify using the DIST variable)
You can now specify the image size using the IMAGE_MB variable

04/08/2015

Enabled boot output on HDM during bootup

02/04/2015

Added ntpdate

01/25/2015:

Updated scripts so they don't fail to build the ramfs every time harkernel updates to a newer kernel version
Moved /var/lib/dhcp to /tmp

You may also be interested in: Freeswitch 1.4.18 (C1 only, Jessie)

I appreciate any feedback or patches!

by **Vort** » Sat Jan 10, 2015 7:49 pm

I am interested in running my U3 with read-only filesystem.
Does your script needs heavy work for adapting it to U3?

Just out of interest tried it on my U3 running the latest Ubuntu Server official Hardkernel image.

Got errors, mostly about missing /lib/ld-linux.so.2, see in attachment please.
Edit: there is /lib/ld-linux-armhf.so.3 file on my U3.

Also I am not sure where to put to the image file from this link: http://odroidc1.reactsoft.com/debian-minimal-ro-root/

by **TomB** » Sat Jan 10, 2015 11:17 pm

I don't have a U3, but this script uses the U1's toolchain, uboot and kernel, so it probably won't run on the U3. You could however tweak the scripts to use the appropriate toolchain, uboot and kernel for the U3. Or you could mail me one

by **TomB** » Sat Jan 10, 2015 11:19 pm

Oh and the /lib/ld-linux.so.2 errors you are getting are probably because you are running the script on the device. The toolchain is an x86 toolchain, so these scripts only work on an x86 machine with Debian/Ubuntu.

by **TomB** » Sat Jan 10, 2015 11:24 pm

Another alternative is to modify the scripts to not build the kernel/uboot and just copy over these binaries.

by **TomB** » Sun Jan 11, 2015 3:43 am

I moved the read only root scripts to a new repository (I updated the first post in this thread), this repository will contain a regular read/write minimal debian wheezy image soon! Just update your git remote and you should be fine if you wish to keep building a read-only root image.

by **len** » Sun Jan 11, 2015 7:55 am

TomB,
thanks for the read-only image! just started using it and it looks great so far.
Len

by **TomB** » Sun Jan 11, 2015 8:03 am

len wrote:TomB,
thanks for the read-only image! just started using it and it looks great so far.
Len

Please read through the TODO list on https://github.com/tomuta/debian-mini-ro-root-odroid-c1 as it is not yet complete

by **len** » Sun Jan 11, 2015 9:58 am

TomB,

For /var/lib/dhcp, it's not the cleanest way to do it, but I've done this in other debian wheezy read-only systems:

Code: Select all: sudo su mount -o remount,rw / rm -rf /var/lib/dhcp ln -s /tmp /var/lib/dhcp mount -o remount,ro /

I haven't tried this on the C1 yet, but I would suspect this would be a viable solution. Although it's not as slick as the overwrite script solution for dhclient-script.

Len

by **TomB** » Sun Jan 11, 2015 11:57 am

Yeah, I think I might have to put the entire /var into tmpfs and generate it on boot-up... I just haven't had time to do it...

by **TomB** » Sun Jan 11, 2015 11:59 pm

The images now have a default locale and timezone set, which should eliminate some error messages (e.g. with perl)

by **davidh2k** » Wed Jan 14, 2015 4:16 pm

Is it in any way possibile to enable verbose booting? I need to debug some things wih openmediavault and that it isn't booting, thus the boot screen would help a lot.

Greetings
David

by **bluesman13** » Wed Jan 21, 2015 3:21 am

Hello,
First of all, I want to thank you for your excellent work. Thanks to you, I could install my ODROID-C1 as I wanted using SSH.
However, I do have a small problem: I can not use an HDMI display to work directly on the console ODROID-C1.
When I plug the ODROID on my TV there is nothing that appears.
I changed several times the boot.ini file by different settings, but it does not change: still no display.
Do you have a solution?
In advance, thank you for your help.
Ricardo.

by **TomB** » Wed Jan 21, 2015 11:14 am

You won't see the boot log, but once booted you should see the login prompt. I haven't tried to build one recently, maybe something has changed. I'll try tonight or tomorrow and see if that image displays something on my TV.

by **TomB** » Mon Jan 26, 2015 1:01 am

davidh2k wrote:Is it in any way possibile to enable verbose booting? I need to debug some things wih openmediavault and that it isn't booting, thus the boot screen would help a lot.

If you tell me how to do that, I'd be more than happy to add that. Unfortunately, I'm not aware of a way to do this yet.

by **TomB** » Mon Jan 26, 2015 12:10 pm

len wrote:TomB,

For /var/lib/dhcp, it's not the cleanest way to do it, but I've done this in other debian wheezy read-only systems:
Code: Select all
sudo su mount -o remount,rw / rm -rf /var/lib/dhcp ln -s /tmp /var/lib/dhcp mount -o remount,ro /

I haven't tried this on the C1 yet, but I would suspect this would be a viable solution. Although it's not as slick as the overwrite script solution for dhclient-script.

Len

I finally got around to doing this

I updated my images.

by **VoiceWeb** » Wed Jan 28, 2015 2:59 pm

Thank you for the long wished image!

I have a question regarding Read-only root image. When I try to edit /etc/sysctl.conf, I cannot modify it.
Do I have to use writable root image?

Tatasumi

by **TomB** » Thu Jan 29, 2015 11:02 am

VoiceWeb wrote:Thank you for the long wished image!

I have a question regarding Read-only root image. When I try to edit /etc/sysctl.conf, I cannot modify it.
Do I have to use writable root image?

Tatasumi

Yes, the whole point of a read-only root image is that it never writes anything persistent to your sd card. You can however temporarily remount root as writable:

mount -o remount,rw /

Then edit your file, and when you're done you can remount your filesystem as read-only again.

mount -o remount,ro /

The concept of a read-only root file system is commonly used in consumer devices, because you don't want the flash memory to wear out or you want to make sure nothing can ever get corrupted. It does however make things a little more complicated, because many packages out there are not geared towards operating in a read-only environment. Many things will require tweaking to get working. I suggest you stick with a regular writable root file system image unless you know exactly what you're doing and your use case for such an environment makes sense.

by **VoiceWeb** » Fri Jan 30, 2015 3:42 pm

Hi TomB,

Thank you for the detailed explanation about read-only root system, which expanded my knowledge.
I may have chance to use one when I'm fully satisfied with the modified settings for my purpose.

Thanks again,

by **bluesman13** » Sun Feb 01, 2015 3:38 am

Hi TomB,
I am using an Odroid-C1 running "Minimal Debian Wheezy" and it works great.

However, I noticed the following anomaly :
I am connected to the Internet by using the Odroid Gigabit adapter and an Ethernet cable connected directly to the router, and it can only get 20-25 Mbps at its fastest speed.
The measurements were made with Iperf.
My Internet service is 100 Mbps, and when I plug my laptop into the exact same cable, I get 105 Mbps.

Have you noticed this anomaly?
In advance, thank you for your help.
Ricardo.

by **TomB** » Sun Feb 01, 2015 8:10 am

bluesman13 wrote:Hi TomB,
I am using an Odroid-C1 running "Minimal Debian Wheezy" and it works great.

However, I noticed the following anomaly :
I am connected to the Internet by using the Odroid Gigabit adapter and an Ethernet cable connected directly to the router, and it can only get 20-25 Mbps at its fastest speed.
The measurements were made with Iperf.
My Internet service is 100 Mbps, and when I plug my laptop into the exact same cable, I get 105 Mbps.

Have you noticed this anomaly?
In advance, thank you for your help.
Ricardo.

Hm, I don't know if I have time this weekend to look at this, but I remember another thread regarding network issues: viewtopic.php?f=111&t=8004 Is there any chance this is the same issue as mentioned in this thread?

I also quickly rebuilt the writable root image, I think it might have a newer kernel now which according to some threads may have resolved the issue. I haven't tried it at all, but maybe you could give it a shot?

by **bluesman13** » Mon Feb 02, 2015 12:08 am

Hello,
I tested the new Pre-built image (writable root) dated 31.01.2015 and, at the first start, I immediately encountered a problem : no access to the Internet, while access to the local network works well !

by **jonathanp** » Tue Feb 03, 2015 6:08 am

Hi,
I got this image setup today and it works perfectly. However, I cannot find the hardkernel scripts to do a kernel update and resize the root partition. Are they hiding in the image somewhere or do I need to get them myself from somewhere else? If so, where?
Thanks.

Edit: I figured it out - https://github.com/mdrjr/odroid-utility

by **TomB** » Tue Feb 03, 2015 11:59 am

jonathanp wrote:I got this image setup today and it works perfectly.

Which image did you use? writable root or read-only root? If it is the writable root image, are you saying that you are not seeing the networking issues that bluesman13 is seeing?

jonathanp wrote:However, I cannot find the hardkernel scripts to do a kernel update and resize the root partition. Are they hiding in the image somewhere or do I need to get them myself from somewhere else? If so, where?

Yes, these are not part of the image on purpose. I do plan to add support to automatically resize the partition on first boot, but I haven't had much time recently.

by **jonathanp** » Tue Feb 03, 2015 5:39 pm

I used the writable image and networking worked fine, for both incoming and outgoing connection to and from the local network and the internet. I have it running Oracle Java 8 + openHAB, up 12 hours now without problems.

My suggestion is that the ntpdate package should be part of the minimal image. This not only includes an ntp client, but also a script which sets the time whenever an interface comes up. The only problem I had with the initial setting up of the image was that initially wget would not connect to github, and odroid-utility.sh failed without giving a concrete reason. Eventually I figured out this was because the clock was not set, so SSL certificates could not be validated. In any case, since the C-1 has no RTC battery by default, I think using ntp is a necessity for most users, since otherwise the clock would have to be manually set after every boot.
However, if your view is that the image should just include the very minimum required in order to get a shell and install further packages, and nothing else, I respect that

by **bluesman13** » Wed Feb 04, 2015 1:54 am

Hello TomB,
About my Ethernet driver problem, I wish to repeat that the network works fine, but the Internet Upload speed is clamped to 20 Mbps ! I made measurements using "iperf" and the result is clear !
I consulted the topic you reported me (viewtopic.php?f=111&t=8004;[Solved] Odroid-C1 network issue) and it seems that the problem could be solved by using the following trick :
=> Updating the kernel "linux-image-3.10.66-46" fixes it (for Ubuntu users).
But I confess I do not understand ! Do you understand what to do ?
I inform you that I have cloned your "repository git" and that I successfully build sdcard image.
Can you help me ?
In advance, thank you.
Ricardo.

by **TomB** » Thu Feb 05, 2015 1:14 am

jonathanp wrote:My suggestion is that the ntpdate package should be part of the minimal image. This not only includes an ntp client, but also a script which sets the time whenever an interface comes up.

Did you have to modify any configuration in regards to ntpdate? If not, that's really easy to add to the image.

jonathanp wrote:However, if your view is that the image should just include the very minimum required in order to get a shell and install further packages, and nothing else, I respect that

Well, it already is more than the absolute minimum. I do want networking stuff to work right, and it makes sense to have ntpdate included by default. I'll look into it when I get home tonight.

by **TomB** » Thu Feb 05, 2015 1:21 am

bluesman13 wrote:Hello TomB,
About my Ethernet driver problem, I wish to repeat that the network works fine, but the Internet Upload speed is clamped to 20 Mbps ! I made measurements using "iperf" and the result is clear !
I consulted the topic you reported me (viewtopic.php?f=111&t=8004;[Solved] Odroid-C1 network issue) and it seems that the problem could be solved by using the following trick :
=> Updating the kernel "linux-image-3.10.66-46" fixes it (for Ubuntu users).

Unfortunately I haven't had time to check out networking since I uploaded my last image. I might have some time when I get home tonight.

bluesman13 wrote:But I confess I do not understand ! Do you understand what to do ?
I inform you that I have cloned your "repository git" and that I successfully build sdcard image.

My scripts automatically clone the kernel repository at HEAD, so when you build the image it will include hardkernel's latest kernel. However, it only clones if the linux folder does not exist, it will *not* do a git pull if the folder already exists. You can simply do make distclean && make and that should clone the latest again.

This will automatically re-build you a sdcard.img with the latest greatest kernel.

by **TomB** » Thu Feb 05, 2015 1:43 pm

bluesman13 wrote:About my Ethernet driver problem, I wish to repeat that the network works fine, but the Internet Upload speed is clamped to 20 Mbps ! I made measurements using "iperf" and the result is clear !

I just built a new image this evening and I don't seem to have the networking issues you are seeing.

When I run iperf -s on the odroid, I consistently get these numbers:

[ 4] 0.0-10.0 sec 844 MBytes 708 Mbits/sec

However, when I run iperf -c on the odroid, I get significantly lower throughput, but still much more than the 20mbps you are seeing:

[ 3] 0.0-10.0 sec 492 MBytes 413 Mbits/sec

I updated the image (which also includes ntpdate now), which is running the 3.10.66 kernel, btw.

by **TomB** » Thu Feb 05, 2015 2:12 pm

jonathanp wrote:My suggestion is that the ntpdate package should be part of the minimal image.

It is now

by **bluesman13** » Fri Feb 06, 2015 5:52 pm

Hello TomB,
My problem is always the same! Let me explain.
The Ethernet speed on my local network (between ODROID-C1 and my desktop) is stable and excellent. With iperf I get: 726 Mbits / sec in server, 338 Mbits / sec in client.
My concern is the flow amount to the Internet (UPLOAD)!
I think there is a compatibility problem between the Ethernet driver of ODROID-C1 and WAN part of my Internet router!
Using the same network cable and the same grip on my Internet router, I get the following results with iperf (iperf -c iperf.testdebit.info -i 2 -t 20) :
Odroid-C1:
------------------------------------------------------------
Client connecting to iperf.testdebit.info, TCP port 5001
TCP window size: 20.7 KByte (default)
------------------------------------------------------------
[ 3] local 192.168.1.101 port 59541 connected with 89.84.127.54 port 5001
[ ID] Interval Transfer Bandwidth
[ 3] 0.0- 2.0 sec 7.25 MBytes 30.4 Mbits/sec
[ 3] 2.0- 4.0 sec 8.50 MBytes 35.7 Mbits/sec
[ 3] 4.0- 6.0 sec 6.62 MBytes 27.8 Mbits/sec
[ 3] 6.0- 8.0 sec 4.50 MBytes 18.9 Mbits/sec
[ 3] 8.0-10.0 sec 5.12 MBytes 21.5 Mbits/sec
[ 3] 10.0-12.0 sec 7.38 MBytes 30.9 Mbits/sec
[ 3] 12.0-14.0 sec 9.00 MBytes 37.7 Mbits/sec
[ 3] 14.0-16.0 sec 6.12 MBytes 25.7 Mbits/sec
[ 3] 16.0-18.0 sec 7.25 MBytes 30.4 Mbits/sec
[ 3] 18.0-20.0 sec 11.5 MBytes 48.2 Mbits/sec
[ 3] 0.0-20.0 sec 73.4 MBytes 30.7 Mbits/sec
Desktop-PC:
------------------------------------------------------------
Client connecting to iperf.testdebit.info, TCP port 5001
TCP window size: 129 KByte (default)
------------------------------------------------------------
[ 5] local 192.168.1.30 port 49290 connected with 89.84.127.54 port 5001
[ ID] Interval Transfer Bandwidth
[ 5] 0.0- 2.0 sec 14.5 MBytes 60.8 Mbits/sec
[ 5] 2.0- 4.0 sec 11.6 MBytes 48.8 Mbits/sec
[ 5] 4.0- 6.0 sec 11.8 MBytes 49.3 Mbits/sec
[ 5] 6.0- 8.0 sec 11.1 MBytes 46.7 Mbits/sec
[ 5] 8.0-10.0 sec 11.8 MBytes 49.3 Mbits/sec
[ 5] 10.0-12.0 sec 9.62 MBytes 40.4 Mbits/sec
[ 5] 12.0-14.0 sec 12.8 MBytes 53.5 Mbits/sec
[ 5] 14.0-16.0 sec 11.5 MBytes 48.2 Mbits/sec
[ 5] 16.0-18.0 sec 8.75 MBytes 36.7 Mbits/sec
[ 5] 18.0-20.0 sec 13.8 MBytes 57.7 Mbits/sec
[ 5] 0.0-21.0 sec 117 MBytes 46.9 Mbits/sec
I will continue to monitor other topics that address the driver ODROID-C1 Gigabit network problem.
Anyway, thank you for your help.
Ricardo.
PS : Otherwise, your Minimal Debian Wheezy distribution works perfectly!

by **TomB** » Sat Feb 07, 2015 11:12 am

bluesman13 wrote:PS : Otherwise, your Minimal Debian Wheezy distribution works perfectly!

So I guess the question is: Does only this image have this issue, or does the official ubuntu image suffer from the same problem? If it doesn't, then we need to figure out what the difference is.

by **bluesman13** » Sun Feb 08, 2015 7:56 pm

Hello TomB,
I have not tested the official Ubuntu image (currently I do not have much free time), but I think the problem is the same! It seems that the Gigabit Ethernet ODROID-C1 driver is not yet fully developed!
Best Regards.

by **ryecoaaron** » Sun Feb 08, 2015 10:13 pm

You can easily update to the newest kernels with apt since they are in the odroid.in repo. The newest kernels fix the network problem for most that I have read about.

by **TomB** » Mon Feb 09, 2015 12:29 am

ryecoaaron wrote:You can easily update to the newest kernels with apt since they are in the odroid.in repo. The newest kernels fix the network problem for most that I have read about.

It's just as easy to rebuild an image, my scripts automatically pull the latest greatest from github and compile the kernel and drivers

by **ryecoaaron** » Tue Feb 10, 2015 4:20 am

I knew the scripts would build the latest kernel when building an image but once you have it running, you don't want to build a new image all the time. Especially when you can just install an update with apt.

by **TomB** » Tue Feb 10, 2015 11:17 am

Good point ;-)

by **Leenux** » Sun Feb 15, 2015 1:37 am

Thank you very much for sharing! I successfully created an image using your script and everything I tested is working fine!

The only part I think needs improvement is the debootstrap step: Downloading packages from the default mirror (http://ftp.us.debian.org/debian/) took what felt like ages. Just retrieving the packages took way longer than all the other steps combined. This shouldn't be the case considering I got a 150 MBit/s downstream connection. Here are some suggestions:
1.) Add a menu to let the user pick a closer mirror.
2.) Run netselect-apt prior to this step to find a faster mirror.
3.) Advice the user to edit the DIST_URL line in common.mk before running make. << You know, for the imbeciles like me...

by **mk35per** » Sun Feb 15, 2015 6:28 pm

Is it possible to convert the default Ubuntu installation into the writable version without reflashing?

by **TomB** » Mon Feb 16, 2015 11:50 am

mk35per wrote:Is it possible to convert the default Ubuntu installation into the writable version without reflashing?

Do you mean switching from Ubuntu to Debian without a re-install? Maybe, I don't know, I've never tried that.

by **mk35per** » Wed Feb 18, 2015 6:28 am

Sadly, I can't get it to work, neither the prebuilt image nor one I built myself. The standard ubuntu image worked, though.
I used

Code: Select all: unxz -c sdcard.img.xz |pv|sudo dd of=/dev/disk/by-id/usb-Generic_SD_MMC_00000000000006-0\:1

for copying the image to microsd, after comparing with sha256sum that it's ok.
I get only a steady red light and the blue light going ping-ping, no HDMI. Any hints?

by **TomB** » Wed Feb 18, 2015 2:21 pm

mk35per wrote:Sadly, I can't get it to work, neither the prebuilt image nor one I built myself. The standard ubuntu image worked, though.
I used
Code: Select all
unxz -c sdcard.img.xz |pv|sudo dd of=/dev/disk/by-id/usb-Generic_SD_MMC_00000000000006-0\:1
for copying the image to microsd, after comparing with sha256sum that it's ok.
I get only a steady red light and the blue light going ping-ping, no HDMI. Any hints?

I don't know what the problem is, but is the of= argument really the entire disk device and not a partition on it? e.g. /dev/sdc rather than /dev/sdc1. I just build a new image with the latest kernel and it works just fine on my c1.

by **REVERSE** » Wed Feb 18, 2015 5:25 pm

Hi TomB and others!
Thank you, Tom, for debian image, but I have a question... Is there a possibility to integrate support for exFAT filesystem?
I've tried fuse-exfat, but it is using about 50% of CPU and is slowing the transmission downloading torrents.

by **mdrjr** » Wed Feb 18, 2015 11:29 pm

Possible? Yes
Will happen by Hardkernel? No

Reason: exFat might be "OPENSOURCE" but that doesn't mean that its free!
Microsoft owns the patents and licenses over it, so implementing it without paying Microsoft isn't going to happen.

by **REVERSE** » Thu Feb 19, 2015 4:59 am

I thought that TomB is not from Hardkernel and this build of Debian is pure opensource and not "official". Therefore it can incorporate this driver.

by **TomB** » Thu Feb 19, 2015 11:42 am

That is true, I am not affilied with harkernel in any way (other than being a customer). I do not have any plans for exFAT right now, and my time is rather limited. However, the good news is that it is fairly easy to customize the image builds, even the kernel and drivers. You can simply clone hardkernel's linux kernel repo, point the script to it, patch as you please, and kick off another image build.

by **REVERSE** » Thu Feb 19, 2015 2:18 pm

But is it possible to rebuild only the kernel and replace it? I've already installed and configured a lot of stuff on my C1.

by **mk35per** » Fri Feb 20, 2015 4:50 am

Reverse, why don't you just use a sane filesystem like ext4 or - if you insist - ntfs?
You should be able to just build kernels and install them like on any Debian system, I suppose.

by **TomB** » Fri Feb 20, 2015 10:10 am

Sure, upgrading the kernel shouldn't be hard to do. It might even be possible to add hardkernel's kernel repository to your apt sources and do it using apt-get, but I haven't tried that.

by **REVERSE** » Sat Feb 21, 2015 9:02 pm

About a week ago I've installed this Debian image, but my C1 has booted only on 3rd or 4th try. At first I've thought that it badly needs monitor for the boot as connecting it to monitor increased the odds to successfully boot (as I thought). Ive booted normally one time and didn't reboot for about a week. But when I tried new kernel the problem emerged as well. And now I've tested some images and have to conclude - the official Ubuntu boots well 100%, but this Debian (installed as new) boots successfully about 10-15% of the time. It tries to boot, gets IP from DHCP server, pings are okay, but the screen is totally black, besides the monitor thinks that it has steady signal.

I have no means to connect serial console, but how can I diagnose what is going on?