Crash during Beagleboard install

Forgive this if it’s a dumb question but I have had zero experience with RISC OS until now so I am on a steep learning curve! And I haven’t found any mention of this on the Internet…

I have been following the instructions for installing RISC OS on a Beagleboard (the original one, not the XM) here:

https://www.riscosopen.org/wiki/documentation/pages/Using+the+Cortex-A8+port

Thus far I’ve had success and have got the GUI desktop running and am at the point of setting up the HardDisc4 image. I have followed the instructions precisely (including renaming the image to HardDisc4/util) and have run InstallHD4. It copies the image from my USB drive into the RAM disk but then it crashes with the following error:

“Attempt to use badly nested error handler (or corrupt R13) Internal error: undefined instruction at &2018f388”

At this point the script then fails because the HardDisc4 directory does not exist in the RAM disk so you can’t run !SCSIForm.

This is using the ROM image 5.17.

Anyone have any ideas. This beginner is stumped!

Replying to myself…

It turns out that I had accidentally downloaded HardDisc4.tar.bz2 instead of HardDisc4.util!

So now I have managed to extract the HardDisc4 image to the RAM drive but when I try to copy the contents of the HardDisc4 directory to my USB drive it always hangs. And it always hangs on the same file (Printers.Canon.BJC5550_A4) and when it does you can’t hit abort or do anything to get control back, apart from unplugging the USB drive, which gets you control back but crashes the USB stack.

I tried with a larger USB drive (in case the one I was using was simply too small) but then it hung elsewhere.

Any ideas?

I have been following the instructions for installing RISC OS on a Beagleboard (the original one, not the XM)

I must admit to having not tried on a standard BeagleBoard but I can’t see there being any differences.

It turns out that I had accidentally downloaded HardDisc4.tar.bz2 instead of HardDisc4.util!

Glad you got this bit sorted now – and the .tar.bz2 file is actually ‘HardDisk4’ with a ‘k’, although that’s easy to miss too.

So now I have managed to extract the HardDisc4 image to the RAM drive but when I try to copy the contents of the HardDisc4 directory to my USB drive it always hangs.

What capacity are the USB drives? A drive as small as 256MB should be more than sufficient. I presume you’re formatting them using SCSIForm before copying the files.

It turns out that I had accidentally downloaded HardDisc4.tar.bz2 instead of HardDisc4.util!

Glad you got this bit sorted now – and the .tar.bz2 file is actually ‘HardDisk4’ with a ‘k’, although that’s easy to miss too.

Indeed! When you are new to a particular OS and are on a steep learning curve, a subtlety such as a ‘k’ versus a ‘c’ can be easily missed. :-)

What capacity are the USB drives? A drive as small as 256MB should be more than sufficient. I presume you’re formatting them using SCSIForm before copying the files.

Yes, I’m using SCSIForm and I tried two drives. One is only 32 MB and one is 4 GB. I did think that the 32 MB one might be too small but the hang occurred too soon after the copying started for it to be full and I would have expected an error rather than a hang (unless I have stumbled upon a defect in the USB mass storage driver). And the 4 GB one gets farther but also hangs.

One thing I suspect is that I am using an unpowered hub so maybe there isn’t enough current to drive the USB sticks. But if this was the cause then I would expect random behaviour, not the behaviour I am seeing which is the copying stopping on exactly the same file every time.

I’m going to buy a new powered USB hub tomorrow, as well as another USB stick.

I’m also slightly curious. If the HardDisc4.util file is a self extracting archive, why does the script extract it to the RAM drive? Would it still work if you formatted the USB stick and ran the self extracting archive directly from there?

I’m also slightly curious. If the HardDisc4.util file is a self extracting archive, why does the script extract it to the RAM drive? Would it still work if you formatted the USB stick and ran the self extracting archive directly from there?

Yes, that should work. There are a couple of reasons why the script extracts the archive to a RAM disc, but I think the key one is that it allows you to reformat the stick you extracted the archive from (in case you only have the one stick available). SCSIForm is contained in the archive, so you obviously need to extract the archive (and keep a copy of the archive contents safe somewhere) in order to be able to reformat the stick and then install the disc image.

When you are new to a particular OS and are on a steep learning curve, a subtlety such as a ‘k’ versus a ‘c’ can be easily missed. :-)

I agree 100% and have now made this less ambiguous on the relevant ‘info’ wiki pages linked to from the Details column on the downloads page. (But we’ll probably need a ROOL authority to make any changes to the filenames or notes on the downloads page itself.)

I did think that the 32 MB one might be too small…

If you click Menu over the ‘HardDisc4’ directory on the RAM disc and count the size, you’ll see how much space you need.

You can also open the Help application by clicking on the Apps iconbar icon, to receive a little interactive help (the current working version of the revised script does this automatically).

One thing I suspect is that I am using an unpowered hub so maybe there isn’t enough current to drive the USB sticks.

basic
t%=TIME+500:P.:REP.:P.;t%DIV100;CHR$32;CHR$11;CHR$13:U.TIME>t%:P.':OSCLI("copy RAM::RamDisc0.$.HardDisc4.* SCSI::0.$ ~C ~R")

...Feel free to omit the CHR$ bits or the even the entire PRINT statements if you wish, i.e.

t%=TIME+500:REP.U.TIME>t%:OSCLI("copy RAM::RamDisc0.$.HardDisc4.* SCSI::0.$ ~C ~R")

If this works (or even if it doesn’t) you can return to the CLI by typing QUIT from BASIC and then a single Enter to return to the desktop.

If the HardDisc4.util file is a self extracting archive, why does the script extract it to the RAM drive?

...the key one is that it allows you to reformat the stick you extracted the archive from…

Edit: Added .$

Hi Trevor.

Sorry for the delay in replying – Christmas makes these things a bit slow. :-)

Well I managed to get my Beagleboard working, complete with a GCC installation and my problems were indeed due to my hub being unpowered. Or maybe it was the hub itself and it wouldn’t work even if it was powered. It seems strange that a power related problem would be so reproducible and would happen in precisely the same place every time!

Thanks for the help in getting up and running. Now to go and write some software. :-)