###Our external flashing setup
BeagleBone Black (BBB), powered by USB. 5A 2A
Tip: Dont power anything from a regular (computer) ATX power supply, it will work but is unreliable and a time waster.
-Current setup is to connect to the BBB via ethernet to a router and thus SSH. Can also connect directly with the SPI interface, see Libreboot flashing guide.
+Current setup is to connect to the BBB via Ethernet to a router and thus SSH. Can also connect directly with the SPI interface, see Libreboot flashing guide.
Pomona chip holders
* GRUB is recommended. But SeaBIOS has worked better when booting from CD-ROM or USB.
* If problems booting, disconnect power and remove CMOS battery for a couple of seconds.
* The default script in GRUB does not work with encrypted boot-partition (can manually boot).
- * When booting from GRUB, you might want to use "load config from external device" instead of "boot USB". Recommended when booting LiveCDs etc., if you dont have any particular configuration locally.
+ * When booting from GRUB, you might want to use "load config from external device" instead of "boot USB". Recommended when booting LiveCDs etc., if you don't have any particular configuration locally.
####Quirks
* Sometimes I get an error when booting, this is resolved by disconnecting keyboard and mouse until the hardware is initiated.
* In GRUB the USB keyboard is unusably slow. Fix: always have a PS/2 keyboard connected, but use the USB keyboard.
* In *earlier* versions of Libreboot the boot process could take up to five minutes (!), be patient.
* If you can't boot: reset CMOS (battery and power), make sure your graphic output correctly set (jumper on board). Otherwise, it is most likely a memory or ROM-image problem. You can use a serial cable to debug and get an idea about the issue.
- * When I had major problems booting I had some help by sound cues and measuring current power draw, to recognize when the boot would likely fail (if you cannot use serial cable). When booting successfully the system (1x 6276, 32GB) drew 180->200->218->166w (GRUB), otherwise it had a different behavior. Furthermore, after disconnecting the power the system would never boot without also clearing CMOS. The system would get stuck and the fans would always go high. While in a healthy boot would start fans low and then ramp up when starting GRUB and then stay there (fans connects to board directly). These sound cues were useful as you can be quite sure the system booted successfully without having any graphic output. In some configurations the fans will always be low and the system fail to boot, which would also overheat the already stuck system (!), thus you might want to power the fans with PSU instead of board.
+ * When I had major problems booting I had some help by sound cues and measuring current power draw (e.g. due to memory incompatiblity with Libreboot), to recognize when the boot would likely fail (! if possible just use serial cable to another computer to watch the output !). When booting successfully the system (1x 6276, 32GB) drew 180->200->218->166w (GRUB), otherwise it had a different behavior. Furthermore, after disconnecting the power the system would never boot without also clearing CMOS. The system would get stuck and the fans would always go high. While in a healthy boot would start fans low and then ramp up when starting GRUB and then stay there (fans connects to board directly). These sound cues were useful as you can be quite sure the system booted successfully without having any graphic output. In some configurations the fans will always be low and the system fail to boot, which would also overheat the already stuck system (!), thus you might want to power the fans with PSU instead of board.
####Our Systems
Debian Buster
Sound card (not fully free!)
-AND
+
[RETIRED COMPUTER]