Whether you want to learn what to do with your new Gumstix that just arrived in the mail; figure out how to connect your network; connect your LCD panel; learn how to get a desktop running (or find out what a desktop is, for that matter); determine how to download more open-source software to your Gumstix; or even find out what to do when things don't go as planned; we have the answers.
For an overview of some of the basics about the Gumstix Overo series, such as learning what is a COM or why you need an expansion board for each Overo COM, then click here to go back to the Overview section before "Getting Started" below.
Let's get started with setting up a Gumstix Overo computer system, including:
Gumstix Overo "Getting Started" one-pager (April 8th, 2010): download here
Basic Setup of an Overo Configuration
The following steps will take you through the setup of an Overo Earth COM and a Summit expansion board configuration because the Summit is the simplest expansion board in the Overo series that still has a console port. These instructions apply to any Overo configuration with an expansion board that has a console port, which includes Summit, Tobi, Palo and Chestnut.
Setup changes required for different Overo board configurations, such as network attachment when using a Tobi or Chestnut board) or connecting an LCD panel when using a Palo or Chestnut expansion board rather than a Summit, are noted in the instructions that follow.
The photo below illustrates how an Overo COM and Summit expansion board are connected together and where the external connections are located. The photo shows an Overo Air COM, rather than the Earth COM that will be configured first, so that you can see the BT/Wifi module located on the Overo COM. As you should know by now, the Overo Earth COM looks exactly the same as this Overo Air COM except that the Overo Earth COM does not have this BT/Wifi module.
Note: The features of the Overo Air COM are in black print while the connectors of the Summit board have been written in red print.
Video: Click on the Summit image above to watch a video introducing the Summit expansion board.
Now, it's time to unpack your Overo package, connect a few cables and power it up!
The simplest way to set up your Overo computer is to setup a console session using your laptop or PC as the terminal. To set up this session, you only require two connections (power and USB).
The Summit expansion board, like any expansion board of the Overo series that has a console port, contains an FTDI USB/serial converter chip. This chip is connected to the USB port labeled "USB CONSOLE" on the expansion board. It will allow you to talk to the Overo processor's serial port console by connecting the Overo expansion board to your computer with a mini-B to standard-A USB cable and launching your favorite terminal emulation program (115200 8N1, no flow control). These sample instructions will assume that you are using Kermit as your terminal emulation program.
First, pick up your Overo COM and turn it over. You'll notice that the 70-pin connectors are not equally positioned on the bottom surface. One 70-pin connector is closer to the shorter edge than the other connector. Align the 70-pin connectors of your Overo COM with the 70-pin connectors on your expansion board and then gently snap the Overo COM down onto the two 70-pin connectors of that expansion board.
Second, connect a mini-B to standard-A cable between the CONSOLE port on the expansion board and a USB port on your PC (standard A). A green LED near the USB connector will illuminate. Do NOT connect power to the expansion board just yet.
Your PC should detect the USB/serial port chip at this point and mount it. This will typically be at /dev/ttyUSB0 unless you have other USB/serial dongles connected.
Launch Kermit, configure it, and connect to the Overo:
$ kermit -l /dev/ttyUSB0 C-Kermit>set flow-control none C-Kermit>set carrier-watch off C-Kermit>set speed 115200 /dev/ttyUSB0, 115200 bps C-Kermit>connect Connecting to /dev/ttyUSB0, speed 115200 Escape character: Ctrl-\ (ASCII 28, FS): enabled Type the escape character followed by C to get back, or followed by ? to see other options. ----------------------------------------------------
Third, plug a Gumstix 5v power supply into a power source then connect the other end of that power cable to the POWER connector on your expansion board as you are set up to view the Overo boot messages.
Once power is applied, an LED will illuminate on the Overo COM and boot messages will begin to appear on your Kermit session:
Texas Instruments X-Loader 1.4.2 (Sep 10 2008 - 08:47:04) Reading boot sector Loading u-boot.bin from mmc U-Boot 2008.10-rc1 (Sep 13 2008 - 21:47:56) OMAP3503-GP rev 2, CPU-OPP2 L3-165MHz Gumstix Overo board + LPDDR/NAND DRAM: 128 MB NAND: 256 MiB In: serial Out: serial Err: serial Hit any key to stop autoboot: 0 reading uImage 2502044 bytes read ## Booting kernel from Legacy Image at 82000000 ... Image Name: Angstrom/2.6.27-rc6+r30+gitde112 Image Type: ARM Linux Kernel Image (uncompressed) Data Size: 2501980 Bytes = 2.4 MB Load Address: 80008000 Entry Point: 80008000 Verifying Checksum ... OK Loading Kernel Image ... OK OK Starting kernel ... [snip] The Angstrom Distribution overo ttyS2 Angstrom 2008.1-test-20080911 overo ttyS2 overo login:
You can log in as root (no password) and begin to explore.
Note: If you see the boot messages but are unable to enter the login info it is very likely that you neglected to disable hardware flow control in your terminal emulator setup.
Once you've verified that the Overo boots successfully, you might want to begin to add peripherals to your setup. Lets start with a monitor, and a USB keyboard, mouse, and network dongle.
Now, or at anytime in the future, you should shutdown your Overo COM and unplug the power supply before adding any peripherals.
The Overo board will connect to your monitor via its HDMI connector. If your monitor doesn't have an HDMI input, you can use an HDMI/DVI-D cable . Your monitor should be able to support 1024 x 768 @ 60 Hz. Note that old style analog monitors will not work, the HDMI connector provides only digital signals.
We will be using the USB OTG port for connecting our keyboard and mouse via a powered USB hub. An unpowered hub will not work since the OTG port will only provide 100 ma of power. For suggestions of a 3rd party USB hub that may be suitable, go to the Cabling and Compatible USB devices page.
It is also important to use the proper cable to connect the USB OTG port on the Overo expansion board to your hub. It is recommended that you use a cable like this USB Mini-B to Mini-A Adapter . Though it will fit, the common USB Standard-A to Mini-B type cable will not work. OTG ports require a cable that grounds the ID pin in order to enable the port to act in host mode.
Plug your keyboard and mouse into your hub.
Gumstix has developed several videos for the Overo series. The video titled "Overo/Summit connection" illustrates the powering up of an Overo/Summit configuration connected to an HDMI screen with the keyboard and mouse cabled to the Summit board via a USB hub (not visible in the video).
If you have an expansion board without a 10/100 Ethernet jack, such as the Summit board, you may now plug in an Ethernet or Wifi USB dongle. The Overo kernel is built with support for many popular devices.
Customers with an expansion board that has a 10/100 Ethernet jack, such as a Tobi or Chestnut board, my plug their Ethernet cable into that expansion board.
Now that your peripherals are connected you can re-apply power to your Overo. If all goes well you will be greeted with a Tux boot screen followed shortly thereafter by the Enlightenment window manager. The demo rootfs includes browser, email, chat, word processor, and spreadsheet. Mplayer is also included for playing mp3's and movies.
Due to manufacturing logistics the image shipped with your Overo is likely to be several months old. It is highly recommended that you update your software image to a recent release.
Please see the article on Downloading pre-built images.
If you are using one of the Gumstix LCD Panels (Palo or Chestnut), you will need to modify the default display variable in your u-boot environment to let the kernel know to use the appropriate LCD panel driver.
To do this, interrupt the autoboot sequence by pressing a key when you see the prompt:
Hit any key to stop autoboot:
For Palo43 or Chesnut43, at the u-boot prompt type:
setenv defaultdisplay lcd43 saveenv reset
If you have a Palo35, substitute lcd35 for lcd43 in the above command.
Gumstix videos illustrating connecting an LCD panel to an Overo configuration:
Other Overo Expansion Board Product Videos:
View connections and product overview videos posted via here.
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