Installing Debian on Omega2+ board

Serge V.

I've managed to install Debian environment over OpenWRT, using chroot.

Omega2+ board can be used as a MIPS-based Linux workstation, for generic development tasks. To get access to a console port, you can use any USB-to-serial adapter.

From a user point of view, an OpenWRT environment is quite different from Linux. But it's possible to build a Debian-based environment, located on microSD card and used via chroot.

No modification to OpenWRT system is required
All additional files placed on SD card
Full traditional Linux environment is provided

The following instructions assume you use Ubuntu on your host machine.

Step 1. Download a minimal root filesystem: http://ftp.vak.ru/pub/unix/debian-stretch-mini.tgz

Step 2. Prepare SD card. Create an empty Linux partition on SD card:

sudo umount /dev/mmcblk0p1
sudo sfdisk /dev/mmcblk0 << EOF
/dev/mmcblk0p2 : size=512M, type=82
/dev/mmcblk0p1 : type=83, bootable
EOF
sudo mke2fs /dev/mmcblk0p1
sudo mkswap /dev/mmcblk0p2

Unpack the downloaded package into the SD card:

sudo mount /dev/mmcblk0p1 /mnt
sudo tar xvzf debian-stretch-mini.tgz -C /mnt
sudo umount /mnt

Unmount the SD card from the host computer and insert it into your Omega2+ board.

Step 3. Connect the console port. Use Expansion Dock or any USB-to-serial adapter like FT232, CP2102 or CH340. Connect signals GND, TXD and RXD of the adapter to pins GND, P9, and P8. Attach USB adapter to the host compoter and start minicom or any other terminal application, and configure the connection at 115200 baud rate. Press "Reset" button - you should see the boot protocol, and finally a shell prompt.

Step 4. Configure a Wi-Fi or Ethernet network, as described in the manual (https://docs.onion.io/omega2-docs/first-time-setup-command-line.html#connect-to-the-omegas-command-line). Install a few filesystem utilities:

wifisetup
[...]
opkg update
opkg install swap-utils block-mount e2fsprogs

Step 5. Start the Debian environment. We use chroot utility to point the root filesystem to the SD card. Actually, when Wi-Fi or Ethernet interface had started, you don't need USB console anymore, you can log in via ssh (don't forget to set a password on root first).

swapon /dev/mmcblk0p2
mount --bind /dev /tmp/run/mountd/mmcblk0p1/dev
mount --bind /proc /tmp/run/mountd/mmcblk0p1/proc
mount --bind /sys /tmp/run/mountd/mmcblk0p1/sys
chroot /tmp/run/mountd/mmcblk0p1 /bin/bash

At this point you should get a shell prompt from Debian environment. It first run, it makes sense to install some useful packages:

apt-get update
apt-get install locales bison byacc flex libelf-dev libfuse-dev \
build-essential make autoconf automake libtool gdb fuse man-db \
groff less ed bmake git byacc flex exuberant-ctags libfuse-dev \
bmake git byacc flex exuberant-ctags libfuse-dev dialog \
openssh-client subversion le vim gettext iputils-ping locate procps

Now you have a full scale Debian Linux. You can download, compile and run any Linux software.

To free the SD card before removing it, you need exit from the Debian shell and run::

umount /tmp/run/mountd/mmcblk0p1/dev
umount /tmp/run/mountd/mmcblk0p1/proc
umount /tmp/run/mountd/mmcblk0p1/sys
umount /tmp/run/mountd/mmcblk0p1
swapoff /dev/mmcblk0p2

Enjoy!

Douglas Kryder

interesting project. congratulations !

Serge V.

@Douglas-Kryder Thank you! With Debian installed, Omega2 is no more limited in software resources. Essentially it becomes a rival to 'big brothers' like Raspberry Pi or Intel Edison.

Chris Drake

needed the below to work on my USB drive:-

mkswap /dev/sda2

Serge V.

@Chris-Drake said in Installing Debian on Omega2+ board:

mkswap /dev/sda2

Oops, that's my fault: forgot to initialize swap partition. I'll update the intructions. Thank you, Chris.

TheLion

This is quite an interesting project, thanks for posting.. How could we run a script or binary within the Debian shell automatically from boot?

Or a crontab? I have installed crontab but we are only running a shell here, so it misses out the init.d from a proper boot.

Do u have a tutorial video ? I'm newbie with omega

Vitaliy Serakov

It is amazing. Thanks a lot

Vitaliy Serakov

@Serge-V How I can use gpio from debian chroot?

Carlos Sancho

Not a bad thing to know but a debian user you can't use kernel related packages and/or dependencies as you're not changing the kernel.

Brandt Martin

Will the device still retain wireless capabilities?? What are the cons to adding Debian as the root os? Can you create a system to do options like cmake? Will it draw more power??

Brandt Martin

@Brandt-Martin I see the wifi ability piece now

Lee Lilleorg-Meilleur

is there a good way to automate the process so debian boots up immediately?

I had a script that handled the mounting and the chrooting but the chrooting didnt take until after a login.
I had this run at rc.local

cat startup.sh
#!/bin/ash
/usr/sbin/swapon /dev/mmcblk0p2
/bin/mount --bind /dev /tmp/run/mountd/mmcblk0p1/dev
/bin/mount --bind /proc /tmp/run/mountd/mmcblk0p1/proc
/bin/mount --bind /sys /tmp/run/mountd/mmcblk0p1/sys
/usr/sbin/chroot /tmp/run/mountd/mmcblk0p1 /bin/bash

jaime lopez

Hi,
Do you think this would work in an Omega 2+ which firmware was updated to LEDE 17.01.4?

Scott G

Is there any reason u-boot couldn't be configured to pass root=/dev/mmcblk0p1 to the kernel and driectly boot a Debian system? Or maybe someone has already done such?

ameer1234567890

Does this work on omega2 now? The download link is broken.

Serge V.

@ameer1234567890 Here is a valid link: https://pub.sergev.org/unix/debian-stretch-mini.tgz

Andreas Thölking

This post is deleted!

Andreas Thölking

@Serge-V
How to Setup this with OpenWrt 22.03?
Im failing with this Image: http://repo.onioniot.com.s3.amazonaws.com/omega2/images/openwrt-22.03/onion_omega2p-22.03.2-20230221.bin
I need a tutorial for an fresh install
Thanks!

crispyoz

@Andreas-Thölking Please create a new topic. Include details of exactly what the problem you are experiencing in flashing the firmware and configuration issues. Please refer to How to Ask for Help