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Getting Started

This document is designed to help someone boot a Libre Computer board into an officially supported GNU/Linux distribution image of their choice from a microSD card or eMMC module. (1)

Advanced Boot Options

For more advanced boot options, see the libretech-flash-tool repository.

  1. This document will not cover the specifics of flashing an eMMC module.

Requirements

  • a Libre Computer board (1)

  • a secondary computer (PC) (2)

  • a microSD card (3) and an appropriate adapter for the PC

    Note

    The typical use case for a microSD card is not as the filesystem of an entire operating system.

    Plan accordingly.

  • optional: an eMMC module (4)

    Note

    Flashing an eMMC module requires a board that has already been booted into an operating system. Typically, this involves a flashed microSD card.

  • optional: a secondary/tertiary storage drive (USB)

    Recommended

    A secondary/tertiary drive is recommended for increased:

    • performance over microSD and eMMC

    • endurance with frequently written and overwritten files

    Use a USB SSD with a separate power supply for the best performance and minimal power consumption through the board.

  • a micro USB power cable and an appropriate power supply

    Info

    Libre Computer boards are specced for 5V input and most use 5W under full load (AML-A311D-CC is 10W).

    A +5% voltage should be within tolerance.

    Tip

    It is recommended to use at least a 5V 2.4A supply to avoid power stability issues, especially when attaching additional devices powered by the board (like USBs).

    Info

    You can estimate the required electric current with Joule's law:

    \[ I = \frac{P}{V} \]
    Example

    If you were expecting a maximum power draw of 12W through the board:

    \[ \frac{12W}{5V} = 2.4A \]

  • an HDMI cable and monitor (5)

  • a USB keyboard (6)

  • optional: an ethernet cable or USB WiFi adapter (7)

    Tip

    You should complete any inital setup after first boot while offline.

    Performing the initial host setup while offline can avoid messy routing and IP leasing behaviors when you have predecided to reserve a static IP in your local network's DHCP server for the NIC.

  1. as the hardware that will run an OS

  2. for flashing an OS image to the microSD card

  3. as the boot/root drives for the OS

  4. as a replacement (or addition) to microSD as the boot/root drives, with higher performance and endurance

  5. plus any converters necessary for the monitor to accept the HDMI source input

  6. and mouse when using a GUI OS image

  7. for network connectivity

Procedure

Download and decompress the OS image

Using the PC, download the official compressed image (1) for the operating system of your choice and decompress it.

There are many GNU/Linux distributions images to choose from at the Libre Computer Products page. For a complete listing of your board's officially support operating systems:

  1. click on your board

  2. click the Downloads tab

Each download page should have instructions to select a compatible image for your board.

You may verify the checksum of the download if one has been made available.

  1. typically a *.img.xz file

Flash the OS image to microSD

Using a tool like Rufus or dd, copy the contents of the image (1) onto the microSD card.

When the process is complete, the card should contain 2 partitions: (2)

  1. a boot partition

  2. a root filesystem partition

Tip

At this point, you could make modifications to the configuration files for the bootloader and OS on the microSD card.

  1. the decompressed *.img file

  2. images created for boards with a firmware bootloader may only have a root partition

Boot the OS

Insert the microSD card and attach peripherals (1) to the board before applying suitable power via micro USB.

After some time, you should start to see the boot sequence logs and then be greeted with a login prompt. Ensure that you can login using the method described for the image.

  1. HDMI monitor, USB keyboard, additional storage, etc.