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Thread: Beaglebone Black

  1. #1
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    Beaglebone Black

    The Beaglebone Black, in its Rev.C, is a worthy opponent for the Raspberry Pi B+.
    In fact the Beaglebone has more than an edge on the single-core Raspberries (A, A+, B and B+)
    by virtue of its 1000 MHz ARM Cortex-A8 CPU, its 4GB onboard storage -and the USB cable that comes free with it.

    Compared to the Raspberry you can save on the cost of an external SD-card and the USB cable,
    and suddenly the price difference between the boads has -more than- evaporated.

    Rev.B, which still used 2GB onboard storage.

    Doesn't the beaglebone Black have any draw-back? Well, it only has one USB2.0 port, but then again:
    you can use keyboard, monitor and mouse of any Windows or Linux PC to control it over the supplied USB cable.
    And just like the Raspberry Pi A versions, you can make use of a USB hub when you need more than one USB port.

    And like the Raspberry Pi, the Beaglebone has much hardware made to fit: there are shields especially made for the Beaglebone,
    just like for the Raspberry Pi. There is e.g. a Logi Bone -just as there is a Logi Pi- to turn your bord into a FPGA tool;
    there are Beaglebone to Arduino shields, so your Beaglebone should be able to carry e.g. a radiation shield too, just like the Raspberry.

    So far the only thing that really sets the Beaglebone Black aside from the Raspberry Pi is the lack of a quad core development, a Beaglebone Black2.

    I'll go and test it, using BOINC, and let you know what fares better: The Raspberry Pi B+, the Beaglebone Black Rev.C, the Banana Pro or the Raspberry Pi2.

    As it turns out the Raspberry Pi2 fares best, followed by the Beaglebone, The Raspberry Pi B+ and lastly the Banana Pro (least stable of the four, needs constant care/reformatting its SD-card).
    Last edited by Dirk Broer; 02-24-2017 at 12:16 AM. Reason: link to wikipedia for ARM Cortex-A8


  2. #2
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    By the way, the Beaglebone Black is the total and utter king of Blinkenlights as compared to the other single boards I own.

    ACHTUNG!
    ALLES TURISTEN UND NONTEKNISCHEN LOOKENPEEPERS!
    DAS KOMPUTERMASCHINE IST NICHT FÜR DER GEFINGERPOKEN UND MITTENGRABEN! ODERWISE IST EASY TO SCHNAPPEN DER SPRINGENWERK, BLOWENFUSEN UND POPPENCORKEN MIT SPITZENSPARKEN.
    IST NICHT FÜR GEWERKEN BEI DUMMKOPFEN. DER RUBBERNECKEN SIGHTSEEREN KEEPEN DAS COTTONPICKEN HÄNDER IN DAS POCKETS MUSS.
    ZO RELAXEN UND WATSCHEN DER BLINKENLICHTEN.


  3. #3
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    Your descriptions are always spot on descriptive. I love the extensive descriptions leaving nothing to hide and explaining everything I would need to know!





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  4. #4
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    Running straight from the onboard Ångström Linux did not quite work out:

    root@beaglebone:/var/lib/boinc-client# boinc
    31-Mar-2015 21:57:48 [---] Starting BOINC client version 7.0.27 for arm-unknown-linux-gnueabihf
    31-Mar-2015 21:57:48 [---] log flags: file_xfer, sched_ops, task
    31-Mar-2015 21:57:48 [---] Libraries: libcurl/7.26.0 OpenSSL/1.0.1e zlib/1.2.7 libidn/1.25 libssh2/1.4.2 librtmp/2.3
    31-Mar-2015 21:57:48 [---] Data directory: /var/lib/boinc-client
    31-Mar-2015 21:57:48 [---] Processor: 1 ARMv7 Processor rev 2 (v7l)
    31-Mar-2015 21:57:48 [---] Processor features:
    31-Mar-2015 21:57:48 [---] OS: Linux: 3.8.13-bone70
    31-Mar-2015 21:57:48 [---] Memory: 496.47 MB physical, 0 bytes virtual
    31-Mar-2015 21:57:48 [---] Disk: 3.44 GB total, 1.43 GB free
    31-Mar-2015 21:57:48 [---] Local time is UTC +0 hours
    31-Mar-2015 21:57:48 [---] No usable GPUs found
    31-Mar-2015 21:57:48 [---] Config: GUI RPC allowed from:
    31-Mar-2015 21:57:48 [SETI@home] URL http://setiathome.berkeley.edu/; Computer ID 7533940; resource share 10
    31-Mar-2015 21:57:48 [---] No general preferences found - using defaults
    31-Mar-2015 21:57:48 [---] Reading preferences override file
    31-Mar-2015 21:57:48 [---] Preferences:
    31-Mar-2015 21:57:48 [---] max memory usage when active: 248.24MB
    31-Mar-2015 21:57:48 [---] max memory usage when idle: 446.83MB
    31-Mar-2015 21:57:48 [---] max disk usage: 1.34GB
    31-Mar-2015 21:57:48 [---] don't use GPU while active
    31-Mar-2015 21:57:48 [---] suspend work if non-BOINC CPU load exceeds 25 %
    31-Mar-2015 21:57:48 [---] (to change preferences, visit the web site of an attached project, or select Preferences in the Manager)
    dir_open: Could not open directory 'slots'.
    31-Mar-2015 21:57:48 [---] Not using a proxy
    Initialization completed
    31-Mar-2015 21:57:49 [---] Running CPU benchmarks
    31-Mar-2015 21:57:49 [---] Suspending computation - CPU benchmarks in progress
    31-Mar-2015 21:58:20 [---] Benchmark results:
    31-Mar-2015 21:58:20 [---] Number of CPUs: 1
    31-Mar-2015 21:58:20 [---] 184 floating point MIPS (Whetstone) per CPU
    31-Mar-2015 21:58:20 [---] 2047 integer MIPS (Dhrystone) per CPU

    Note the small value for floating point MIPS, I guess it does not quite make use of the NEON capabilities.
    Nothing wrong with the integer value -as compared to the original Raspberries- though!

    31-Mar-2015 22:16:57 (low) [SETI@home] update requested by user
    31-Mar-2015 22:16:59 (low) [SETI@home] Sending scheduler request: Requested by user.
    31-Mar-2015 22:16:59 (low) [SETI@home] Not reporting or requesting tasks
    31-Mar-2015 22:17:02 (low) [SETI@home] Scheduler request completed
    31-Mar-2015 22:17:02 (user notification) [SETI@home] Message from server: This project doesn't support computers of type arm-unknown-linux-gnueabihf

    I guess I will have to install Android on the BBB (=Beaglebone Black) in order to get work for the ARM Cortex-A8,
    as I do not like the prospect of having to compile client or applications myself each time I need a new one...I've read some pretty positive feedback on NativeBoinc

    To be continued!
    Last edited by Dirk Broer; 04-01-2015 at 10:58 PM. Reason: Ångström


  5. #5
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    Quote Originally Posted by Dirk Broer View Post
    By the way, the Beaglebone Black is the total and utter king of Blinkenlights as compared to the other single boards I own.
    Thanks for the History lesson on Blinkenlights, I always wanted to know where that descriptive nonsense came from !





    Challenge me, or correct me, but don't ask me to die quietly.

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  6. #6
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    Beaglebone Black for BOINC

    When you want to use the Beaglebone Black for BOINC there are a few things to consider.

    • The CPU is a Texas Instruments Sitara AM335x, which is for all practical purposes an ARM Cortex-A8 core.
      (x depending on the model/revision. In the case of the Beaglebone Black Rev.C it is a Sitara AM3358BZCZ100).
    • Not all OS-es run on an ARM Cortex-A8, and those who do are not are not all supported by BOINC -at least not officially.
      You may have to compile the client yourself. Do not forget the set the options specific for an ARM Cortex-A8:
      CFLAGS="-march=armv7-a -mtune=cortex-a8" and
      CFLAGS="$CFLAGS -mfloat-abi=hard -mfpu=neon -ffast-math -O3"
    • Having built a BOINC client yourself on your OS of choice does not guarantee that you can download work from a project -at least not automatically.
      You may have to use the anonymous platform option.


    The standard OS for the Beaglebone is the very lightweight Ångström Linux and to my astonishment it does not make full use of the NEON floating point capabilities, giving the BBB a very low value for floating point MIPS as obtained through the benchmarks in the BOINC-client (184 Floating Point MIPS, see below).

    Let's look at the BOINC projects that offer applications for the ARM Cortex-A8, so you do not have to compile them yourself (If you do, do not forget to compile the applications with the same CFLAGS values as mentioned for the BOINC-client!)

    Project Supported CPU architecture
    ABC@Home Only official support for x86, x86-64 and PPC
    Albert@Home Due to the setup of their new Drupal site it is not feasible to do a lookup which CPU architectures are supported. So much for progress and inventing the wheel again. Native BOINC keeps stats for Albert though, so it runs under Android
    AlmereGrid x86, x86-64 only and such recent builds too...
    AlmereGrid TestGrid x86, x86-64 only too I guess, but they are offline at the moment
    Asteroids@Home Should be possible using Android
    Atlas@Home x86-64 paradise
    Bitcoin Utopia Would need Raspbian and enabled Hardware Floating Point, and that's a tall order for a Beaglebone Black.
    There is a MineNinja that uses the Beaglebone Black, but I do not know as yet if it would work on BU
    BOINC@Fiit x86, x86-64 only
    BURP You are invited to try for yourself
    CAS@Home x86, x86-64 only
    Citizen Science Grid x86, x86-64 only
    Climateprediction.net x86, x86-64 only
    Climate@Home Offline
    Collatz Conjecture Mini Collatz and Micro Collatz can be run on ARM, using Android
    Constellation Automatically a x86 and x86-64 paradise, manually they extend to SPARC64, Itanium (IA64) and PARISC 2.0
    Convector Offline
    Cosmology@Home x86 and x86-64 paradise
    DistributedDataMining Project x86 and x86-64 paradise
    DistributedRainbowTableGenerator (DistrRTgen) Offline
    EDGeS@Home x86 and x86-64 paradise
    Einstein@Home Mostly a x86 and x86-64 paradise (with some PPC), but the Binary Radio Pulsar Search (Arecibo) application has an ARM version running on Android
    Enigma@Home The most common architecture/OS combinations have almost all an executable here
    FightNeglectedDiseases@Home aka FiND@Home
    (formerly FightMalaria@Home)
    Besides the usual support for x86 and x86-64, they have recently added support for Raspberry Pi's
    No mentioning of more general ARM support though
    Gerasim x86 and x86-64 only, they recently added GPU applications too
    GPUGRID.net There is an Android ARM32 application.
    Ibercivis Yet another x86 and x86-64 paradise
    iGEM@Home Offline
    La Red de Atrapa Sismos Should be possible under Android
    La Red de Atrapa Sismos Continuo Should be possible under Android
    The Lattice Project Yet another x86 and x86-64 paradise
    Leiden Classical x86, x86-64 only
    LHC@Home 1.0 SixTrack is x86 and x86-64 only
    Malaria Control All apps are x86 and x86-64 only
    MilkyWay@Home Though not mentioned on the project site, there is a Android application running through Native Boinc
    MindModeling@Home (Beta) So many applications, but yet another x86 and x86-64 whitewash
    Moo! Wrapper One application is for Android running on ARM armeabi-v7a
    Najmanovich Research Group (NRG) All apps are x86 or x86-64 only
    NFS@Home Despite the native FreeBSD support on all apps, they are x86 or x86-64 only
    NumberFields@Home Another x86/x86-64 only project
    OProject@Home Offline, but mentioned in the Native Boinc project statistics
    Optima@Home All apps are x86 or x86-64 only
    Pirates@Home All apps are x86 or Mac OSX (intel or PPC) only
    Poem@Home All apps are x86 or x86-64 only
    Primaboinca Offline
    PrimeGrid Though not mentioned on the project site, there is a Android application running through Native Boinc
    QMC@Home Though having x86 and x86-64 apps available for BOINC, this project does not export stats -despite several requests- and is therefore to be avoided
    Quake-Catcher Network Sensor Monitoring Should be possible using Android, there are also Native Boinc Stats for QCN
    Quake-Catcher Network EMSC / CSEM Should be possible using Android
    Quake-Catcher Network (Taiwan) Should be possible using Android
    RALPH@Home Rosetta Mini for Android runs on Android for ARM
    Renderfarm.fi Offline
    Rioja Science x86 and x86-64 only
    RNA World (beta) Another x86/x86-64 whitewash
    Rosetta@Home Rosetta Mini for Android runs on ARM CPUs
    SAT@Home x86/x86-64 only
    Seti@Home Will run on Android for ARM as there are stats -and downloads- at Native Boinc. This gets supported for SETI@home v7 with 5 application for ARM/Android on the Seti apps page
    Seti@Home Beta Will run on Android for ARM as there are stats at Native Boinc. May need some fiddling though for a Cortex-A8 due to it having Neon, but VFPv3. You might need a ARMv6 client for the Beaglebone Black
    theSkyNet POGS Besides running on the usual x86/x86-64 CPU/OS combinations, fitsedwrapper also runs on Android running on ARM according to the website
    SLinCA x86 heaven, 32 bits even
    SRBase A x86/x86-64 paradise
    SZTAKI Desktop Grid Another x86/x86-64 paradise
    TN-Grid x86/x86-64 only
    Universe@Home x86/x86-64 paradise
    Universe@Home Test x86/x86-64 paradise being tested
    Van Der Waerden Numbers Another x86/x86-64 paradise
    Virtual LHC@Home Yet another x86/x86-64 whitewash
    Volpex@Home Yet another x86/x86-64 paradise
    WEP-M+2 (wanless2) Another x86/x86-64 paradise
    World Community Grid Judged from these stats it should be possible using Android through Native Boinc and it is indeed: I just completed a FAAH WU on my Beaglebone Black.
    WUProp@Home All major architectures can be found here, both Datacollect 4 and 5 run ARM Android, 4 even ARM Linux
    Yafu There is a testbenchmark running for Android running on ARM armeabi-v7a
    Yoyo@Home Cruncher ogr should be possible on an ARM Cortex-A8, both with Linux and Android
    Last edited by Dirk Broer; 04-13-2015 at 01:45 AM. Reason: Added table, couldn't find chairs.../Sitara AM3358BZCZ100


  7. #7
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    Quote Originally Posted by Dirk Broer View Post
    There is no official support for Android on Pi and the B+, being a ARMv6 -architecture- ARM11 -model-, is not very well suited for it too. Raspbian is just fine for it.
    I reserve Android for my Banana Pi's and the Beaglebone Black -though I am slowly going nuts by the latter's refusal to boot from SD card.
    The bone may have been driving me nuts, but I still got me marbles!
    I appears that though the SD card is supposed to flash the eMMC, it is still needed at boot, and you need to connect the bone to a power source other than your PC, otherwise you still have the Debian that is on the eMMC (the 4GB internal flash storage of the BBB Rev. C).

    First I connected the bone to my USB-powered hub -I also have an unpowered one which I use the expand the meagre one USB2.0 host port of the Bone.
    So power comes in through the Micro USB client and leaves via the normal sized USB2.0 host to a 7-port USB2.0 hub. This I connect to a mouse and keyboard.
    I have a micro HDMI to HDMI cable that connects with a HDMI Switch, so all my single boards can use the same monitor, that I connect through a HDMI to DVI adapter.

    At first, using this setup, I got the full Beagle Debian -better than connecting the Bone to a Windows or Linux box, but still no cigar.
    Then I decided to use the SD card that I had used to flash the bone.
    Bingo! Android started!
    Then I installed Native Boinc, connected to BAM!... and now it's running....


    It looks a bit like this, only my taskbar has less items, just the three on the left.

    The different OS/Boinc Client combination has its effect: The Floating Point performance goes up to 277 MIPS (from 184, some 50%!), the Integer Performances drops to 1607 MIPS (from 2047, so about 20%). As it is still Boinc 7.0.36 there is no way of seeing the processor features, but nativeboinc supplies it through host info: swp, half, thumb, fastmult, vfp, edsp, thumbee, neon, vfpv3, tls.
    Last edited by Dirk Broer; 04-23-2015 at 10:59 PM. Reason: A man should not have three keyboards in front of him. Women neither.


  8. #8
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    Really Dirk: "The bone may have been driving me nuts, but I still got me marbles! " Are you sure?





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    …Pursuit is always hard, capturing is really not the focus, it’s the hunt ...

  9. #9
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    Who says I can't make witty remarks in another language?


  10. #10
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    NeoGen is offline AMD Users Alchemist Moderator
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    I just happened to click and search through Native Boinc's page and noticed it has stats, teams, users, projects, etc... are those stats collected for work processed with the native boinc client only, or with any ARM capable boinc client?

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