BeagleBone Black - Flash Issue Moderators: adafruit_support_bill, adafruit

[josebaca]

Hello support team,

I recently bought 20 Beaglebone Blacks (20 x Element 14 BeagleBone Black Rev C - 4GB - Pre-installed Debian (Element 14 Version) and since their arrival (Order Confirmation No: 1760870-3835211213), I have been trying to flash them without luck.
We have been trying all possible methods described on Beaglebone official website (step by step) and so far, no success. We have tried different micro SD cards (different brands), different Debian versions (latest and old versions) on several of those 20 Beaglebones.

We also tried an old copy of an image that we used several times to flash other beaglebones without problems. This time, same card does not work for this set of Beaglebones but for one old Beaglebone (two or three years old). Any idea how this can be solved?

I would appreciate any help you can provide.

[grahamh]

The versions of Debian posted on the main BBB OS Software page are not flashers. They are designed to run from the SD card.

You need to follow the instructions to convert them to 'flashers.'

There was also a change in the partition structure about two years ago that requires a change in the boot files on older machines that you might be running into.

I suggest go go over to the BBB support forum and work with them, there.

https://groups.google.com/forum/?utm_so ... ard/topics

--- Graham

==

[silver2row]

Hello,

Here is the site for a flasher image for the BBB and variations: https://elinux.org/Beagleboard:BeagleBo ... GB_eMMC.29.

Seth

P.S. The BBB.io people are using 4.14.x now. Enjoy.

[josebaca]

Support team!

By using the link you provided me, I was able to flash BB with the latest version.
That is good news, however, I was not able to run my old library (created with Debian 7.8 or 7.9 in 2015). Any idea where I can find a flasher version of that year?

The main point of buying the same BB type was to be able to use my old library by simple copying the entire image (traditional method, micro sd card, holding S2 and flashing that way).

By manually copying the library files into today's flashed BB, I was able to compile a file, however, I was not able to run it (segmentation fault, etc.).

Looking forward to hearing from you soon.
Thank you and apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.

[drewfustini]

Support team!
By using the link you provided me, I was able to flash BB with the latest version.
That is good news, however, I was not able to run my old library (created with Debian 7.8 or 7.9 in 2015). Any idea where I can find a flasher version of that year?

Hi - I believe the images you need are listed on towards the bottom:
http://beagleboard.org/latest-images

Debian 7.9 2015-11-12 4GB SD LXDE for BeagleBone, BeagleBone Black and SeeedStudio BeagleBone Green
https://debian.beagleboard.org/images/b ... 4gb.img.xz

Debian 7.8 (BeagleBone, BeagleBone Black - 4GB SD) 2015-03-01
https://debian.beagleboard.org/images/b ... 4gb.img.xz

You can turn the standalone SD card image into an eMMC flasher:
https://elinux.org/Beagleboard:BeagleBo ... shing_eMMC

To set up the standalone microSD image to automatically flash the eMMC on powerup. Login as debian (password = temppwd) and edit /boot/uEnv.txt with nano (sudo nano /boot/uEnv.txt) or your preferred editor.

[silver2row]

Hello,

So...

You need to set up some software on the BBB from prior software already completed but you want an older version of the BBB.io image they produced. I see Mr. Drew already posted some info.

If you are having trouble w/ older/current images, maybe a good place to look would be to start to learn the new image tech. and software ex. they have currently.

...

I know this sounds like a pain since you are used to what you already learned.

Seth

P.S. I typed the above message b/c the idea is that those older images and kernels are not as well supported and I think that Linux, the BBB.io people, and updated software languages are all moving forward w/out time to move backwards. This may cut out of the backward compatibility but what the BBB.io people are doing now, from my standpoint, is working to my knowledge. I have tried their updated images w/ Python, Python3, and other languages to complete specific projects. Just let me know in more words exactly what you are trying to do.

[josebaca]

Thank you guys for trying to help!

Unfortunately, time is not on my side right now. I did not know it will be such a pain to try to use my old library (developed in an older Beaglebone Black - older Debian version 2015). Based on my previous experience, I assumed it will be as simple as "plug micro SD and flash". That is way I bought 20 BB of the same type, instead of exploring the latest BB Wifi, BB Blue or Raspberry PI 3!

For this upcoming STEM workshop (middle school students), I think I am going to need to select different hardware. I already selected something else (already bought several things from you such as a sensor and gps pack (No: 1778157-6876971669 and No: 1778218-1773059871), and planning to buy other Arduino based platforms, most likely FLORA (currently testing and making decision this week).

I would really appreciate you consider the possibility of an exchange. As I said before, I am not looking for money back, but credit ( which I will basically use right away). I did open the boards since I was preparing them (placing a paper tag on top of them which can be easily removed) and basically, the flash attempts happened only on two boards.

Looking forward to hearing from you.
Thank you for your time and wiliness to help.