Beagleboard boot - Unknown Operand

Hi all I’ve got my Beagleboard XM up and running RISC OS. But I create the small Obey file called Go as described in How to get started (version #24) here:

http://www.riscosopen.org/wiki/documentation/pages/How+to+get+started+with+a+BeagleBoard/versions/24

and I double click Go I get the error message

Unknown Operand

Seems to be the !Boot.Utils.Bootrun which is throwing it up.

What is going wrong here please or have I missed something obvious?

thanks Chris.

But I create the small Obey file called Go as described in How to get started (version #24) here: http://www.riscosopen.org/wiki/documentation/pages/How+to+get+started+with+a+BeagleBoard/versions/24 and I double click Go I get the error message…

Hi. What’s the reason for you using the details on an outdated version of this page? Because you’re running this ‘Go’ file which refers to !Boot, you should have already extracted the HardDisc4 image to a USB device (formatted using SCSIForm), as per the Using the Cortex-A8 port page. But if you’ve done this, then you’ll be able to simply boot from this device. Beware that, for the moment, the procedure will need to be followed to the letter – in particular step 10 regarding the name ‘HardDisc4/util’. Anyway, please post again if this still doesn’t work for you.

I got a similar error earlier but if you use the newest romimage you don’t need the GO command any more. The only thing you have to do is make sure your ‘harddisk’ usb stick is bootable. On the prompt goto your usb stick by typing

*scsi (probably don’t need that).

Now make it bootable by typing:

*opt 4,2

The next time you reboot your system it should go directly to the desktop (mine did).

Good luck,

Peter

Trevor: not being too sure how to get to the “How To” pages for Beagleboard I did a search for “Beagleboard”. In the search results was en entry for version #24 and my apologies I did not see verion #36 further down. But even so it’s not particularly clear on the version #36 documentation.

Peter: thanks ever so much. I am using the Beagle Rom 2010-12-05 from the downloads page. I typed !Boot at the startup CLI and magic! The desktop appeared. BUT although I’ve made my hard disc bootable with opt 4 2 it doesn’t automatically launch into the desktop when I restart…...

You can check it your harddisc is bootable by going to the promt and typing cat. On one of the top line it should say ‘option 02 run’.

Just to be clear – sorry I meant “I’ve made my memory stick bootable” not my “hard disc…”. But you know what I mean.

Peter: Yes it says Option 02 (Run) when I cat. Same result. thanks.

not being too sure how to get to the “How To” pages for Beagleboard I did a search for “Beagleboard”. In the search results was en entry for version #24 and my apologies I did not see verion #36 further down. But even so it’s not particularly clear on the version #36 documentation.

No problem, and you actually did pretty well with the forum search! The docs route to follow is Documents->The Wiki->Cortex-A8 port->Generic OMAP port setup information, so no wonder you got a little lost!

Same result.

So does it now boot OK?

I typed !Boot at the startup CLI and magic! The desktop appeared. BUT although I’ve made my hard disc bootable with opt 4 2 it doesn’t automatically launch into the desktop when I restart…

Or are you still here?

Hi Trevor, it boots OK but only if I manually type *!Boot in supervisor:

RISC OS 512MB

Cortex-A8 Processor

Acorn SCSCIFS

• <

  ---

  here I type !Boot to get it going

(Incidentally not sure why it says “No keyboard”. It does that on my Iyonix as well even if I change which USB socket into which I plug the keyboard.)

thanks for your help.

it boots OK but only if I manually type *!Boot in supervisor

Is this still the case if the memory stick is the only device plugged in? And does cat identify it as drive 0 or otherwise?

Yes it is still the case if the memory stick is the only device plugged in. After issuing *CAT The first line reads SCSI::HardDisc0.$ Option 02 (Run) I am not sure how to tell which drive that is. Although when I Menu over the SCSI drive icon on the iconbar it says SCSI::0

At the Supervisor, you can type drive 0 etc. then cat for each drive (it’ll tell you if a drive you try to catalogue isn’t connected). But TBH I’m clutching at straws a little as I’m away from my BB ATM.

Ok thanks I typed drive <n> for n=0..3 and issued a cat. In every case except 0 it said “The disc drive is empty (error number &11AD3)”. Does that confirm the memory stick is drive 0 then?

BTW when !Boot into the desktop I forgot to mention it complains “Machine startuip has not completed successfully: disc drive is empty”. Which I just Cancel.

I thought maybe a Configure Drive 0 might cure it but apparently that “Configuration option not recognised”.

thanks

In every case except 0 it said “The disc drive is empty (error number &11AD3)”. Does that confirm the memory stick is drive 0 then?

AFAIK, yes.

“Machine startuip has not completed successfully: disc drive is empty”

That’s not right if the boot sequence has worked correctly. And you’re booting via typing !boot, not desktop, aren’t you? When you click on the SCSI drive icon on the iconbar, do you get the standard directory display? And what if you double-click !Boot there? Are you using the downloadable HardDisc4 sequence, or one from your Iyonix?

Yes I’m booting via typing !boot. I get the standard directory display when clicking on the SCSI icon. Double clicking the !Boot app brings up the Configuration window as normal. I’m using the downloadable HardDisc4 boot sequence.

Hmmm must be something fairly simple but I’m stumped.

(Incidentally not sure why it says “No keyboard”. It does that on my Iyonix as well even if I change which USB socket into which I plug the keyboard.)

For the beagleboard, it’s because we haven’t yet added the code to scan the keyboard on boot (adding that code is kinda tricky since it would involve having a copy of the USB drivers in the HAL, or rearranging the boot sequence so that the main drivers can be used)

For the Iyonix, it could be any number of things. I’m sure I heard somewhere that the keyboard needs to be plugged into a certain port, but it sounds like you’ve tried that already. Or possibly your keyboard isn’t initialising fast enough, or maybe it’s USB 2 instead of USB 1 (the code in the Iyonix HAL can only deal with USB 1 devices), or maybe it’s not using the standard HID report format and the HAL doesn’t recognise it as being a keyboard. Basically USB is (over)complicated like that.

At a guess I’d say that the problem you’re having getting the beagleboard to boot is that, for one reason or another, the USB stick isn’t initialising fast enough. At one point I found a hardware setup that would result in a similar boot failure on my own beagleboard, and it’s one of the things on my todo list to find a fix for. I’m not sure when I’ll get round to doing it though – perhaps in the next day or two, if you’re lucky. But to my knowledge the “Machine startup has not completed successfully…” error (which was generated by the initial boot failing) is harmless and doesn’t do anything to affect the operation of !Boot itself.

Hmmm must be something fairly simple but I’m stumped.

At a guess I’d say that the problem you’re having getting the beagleboard to boot is that, for one reason or another, the USB stick isn’t initialising fast enough.

...the USB stick isn’t initialising fast enough.

You could test this by typing . and hitting Enter (abbreviation for cat) once you know RISC OS is loaded. IME this can be before the screen output appears – in my case I think the keyboard lights change or something but perhaps you get the bell sound too… can’t quite remember. You could of course also try the same with !boot + Enter. If you initially get the ‘The disc drive is empty’ message but a few seconds later don’t then I guess this is the problem.

Interestingly, I’m having trouble again with my BB hanging after “No keyboard – autobooting”. I get this with a 4 GiB Dane-Elec USB stick. I stopped using it some months ago because of exactly this problem. I rather randomly tried it again a few days ago and it worked again… until this evening. First it became unreliable, then finally it flat refused to boot. I swapped for a 2 GiB stick that I got recently and the BB came up first time.

I must plug it in somewhere else and take a backup of it – it’s got the current SD/MMC code on it!

Morning – thanks for the suggestions. I’ve tried a few more memory cards and sticks but get the same result. Don’t suppose it has anything to do with the way I format the stick? I’m just going with suggestions made by !SCSIform.

As you say Jeffrey it’s quite harmless, just annoying.

If you think of anything else please let us know.