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A Simple Method to Install Ubuntu Image on SG2042 EVB

1. Prerequisites​

  • Computer with Linux OS
  • SG2042 EVB
  • microSD Card (16GB or above), microSD Card Reader
  • NVMe SSD
  • Serial Cable (Micro USB - USB)

2. Get an Ubuntu Image​

  • Dowload the Ubuntu image directly.

    The image is created based on Ubuntu offical preinstall server image.

  • Or use your own compiled ubuntu-sophgo.img exiting in the install/soc_mango/riscv64 directory.

The following uses ubuntu-sophgo.img to refer to the Ubuntu image.

1. Create a Bootable microSD Card​

Option 1: Use balenaEtcher​

a. Download and install the balenaEtcher. b. Click on the Flash from file button and choose the ubuntu-sophgo.img you want to use. c. Click the Select target button and choose the microSD Card to write the ubuntu-sophgo.img to. d. Click the Flash! button to begin the process.

Option 2: Use dd command directly​

  • Use dd command to write ubuntu-sophgo.img to microSD Card
# To find the block device name of your microSD Card.
# For example, the microSD Card drive is /dev/sdc. Checking the name of your device is a key step,
# as writing to the wrong device might corrupt or destroy your data.

$ sudo dd if=ubuntu-sophgo.img of=/dev/sdc bs=1M

10240+0 records in
10240+0 records out
10737418240 bytes (11 GB, 10 GiB) copied, 1211.08 s, 8.9 MB/s
  • Resize root partition of microSD Card (Optional)
# Change partition table of your microSD Card.
$ sudo fdisk /dev/sdc

Welcome to fdisk (util-linux 2.37.2).
Changes will remain in memory only, until you decide to write them.
Be careful before using the write command.


Command (m for help): p
Disk /dev/sdc: 29.72 GiB, 31914983424 bytes, 62333952 sectors
Disk model: MassStorageClass
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disklabel type: dos
Disk identifier: 0x5c9f9baa

Device     Boot  Start      End Sectors  Size Id Type
/dev/sdc1         2048   262143  260096  127M  c W95 FAT32 (LBA)
/dev/sdc2       262144   524287  262144  128M  c W95 FAT32 (LBA)
/dev/sdc3       524288 10485759 9961472  4.8G 83 Linux

Command (m for help): d
Partition number (1-3, default 3): 3

Partition 3 has been deleted.

Command (m for help): n
Partition type
p   primary (2 primary, 0 extended, 2 free)
e   extended (container for logical partitions)
Select (default p): p
Partition number (3,4, default 3):
First sector (524288-62333951, default 524288):
Last sector, +/-sectors or +/-size{K,M,G,T,P} (524288-62333951, default 62333951):

Created a new partition 3 of type 'Linux' and of size 29.5 GiB.
Partition #3 contains a ext4 signature.

Do you want to remove the signature? [Y]es/[N]o: N

Command (m for help): w

The partition table has been altered.
Calling ioctl() to re-read partition table.
Syncing disks.
# Check partitions of your microSD Card.
$ sudo fdisk -l /dev/sdc

Disk /dev/sdc: 29.72 GiB, 31914983424 bytes, 62333952 sectors
Disk model: MassStorageClass
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disklabel type: dos
Disk identifier: 0x5c9f9baa

Device     Boot  Start      End  Sectors  Size Id Type
/dev/sdc1         2048   262143   260096  127M  c W95 FAT32 (LBA)
/dev/sdc2       262144   524287   262144  128M  c W95 FAT32 (LBA)
/dev/sdc3       524288 62333951 61809664 29.5G 83 Linux
# Force checking your file system.
$ sudo e2fsck -f /dev/sdc3

e2fsck 1.46.5 (30-Dec-2021)
Pass 1: Checking inodes, blocks, and sizes
Pass 2: Checking directory structure
Pass 3: Checking directory connectivity
Pass 4: Checking reference counts
Pass 5: Checking group summary information
cloudimg-rootfs: 79598/575424 files (0.0% non-contiguous), 1022378/1150203 blocks
xingxg@vmware:~/sophgo/install/soc_mango/riscv64$ sudo resize2fs /dev/sdc3
resize2fs 1.46.5 (30-Dec-2021)
Resizing the filesystem on /dev/sdc3 to 7726208 (4k) blocks.
The filesystem on /dev/sdc3 is now 7726208 (4k) blocks long.
  • Copy image to /home/ubuntu on the root partition of the microSD Card.
$ cp ubuntu-sophgo.img /mnt/home/ubuntu

4. Boot from microSD Card​

  • Plug the microSD Card into the SG2042 EVB, connect the serial cable to your computer, and power on the EVB.
  • Enter the username ubuntu and the password ubuntu.
  • Any operation needs the sudo privilege.

5. Use NVMe SSD and microSD Card​

If you want to boot your system from a combination of NVMe SSD and microSD Card, the following steps also need to be done.

a. Use the dd command to copy the ubuntu-sophgo.img to the NVMe disk.

b. Resize the root partition of the NVMe disk.

c. Use the fdisk command to delete the root partition of the microSD Card.

> ::: note
> ::: title
> Note
> :::
>
> This step is critical because the root partition of the microSD
> Card and the NVMe disk has the same label!
> :::

d. Reboot, and access Ubuntu using the NVMe disk.