This page attempts to document and coordinate efforts towards NetBSD/evbarm on Raspberry Pi. All board variants are supported.
Initial, limited, Raspberry Pi support was introduced in NetBSD 6.0. NetBSD 7.0 adds complete support for the board, along with introducing support for the quad-core Raspberry Pi 2 board. Raspberry Pi 3 support was added for NetBSD 8, and backported to NetBSD 7 in July of 2017.
(Raspberry Pi image by Christopher Lee used under CC-By-2.0 license)
What works (and what doesn't yet)
NetBSD 7 before July, 2017
- RaspberryPi 1, and 2 (including SMP)
- multi-user boot with root on SD card
- serial or graphics console (with EDID query / parsing)
- DMA controller driver and sdhc(4) support
- Audio: works. man page missing.
- I²C: works, could use enhancements, man page
- GPIO
- RNG
- SPI: could use enhancements, man page
- GPU (VCHIQ) - 3D and video decode. man page missing.
- USB (host) - dwctwo(4)
- USB Ethernet - usmsc(4)
- X windows.
NetBSD 7 after July, 2017 and NetBSD 8
- Raspberry Pi 3 (excluding WiFi and bluetooth)
NetBSD current
- Raspberry Pi 3 bluetooth
- Raspberry Pi 3 new SD host controller driver
What needs work
- USB (host); isochronous transfers.
- WiFi
- Raspberry Pi 3 in 64-bit mode. (Note that this will be provided by the evbarm64 port, rather than evbarm.)
CPU types
Note that one can also use code for earlier models on later models.
- Raspberry Pi 1 uses "earmv6hf".
- Raspberry Pi 2 uses "earmv7hf".
- Raspberry Pi 3 uses "earmv7hf".
Installation
SD card structure
The Raspberry Pi looks for firmware and kernel.img on the first FAT32 partition of the uSD card. A separate kernel (kernel7.img) is used on RPI2 and RPI3.
The NetBSD kernel will then use the FFS partition as the root filesystem.
A 2 GB card is the smallest workable size. The NetBSD filesystem will be expanded to fit.
Choosing a version
First, decide if you want to install a formal release (7.1), a stable branch build (netbsd-7, netbsd-8), or NetBSD-current. Note that 7.1 predates Raspberry Pi 3 support. For people who don't know how to choose among those, netbsd-8 is probably best.
See also "ebijun's image", below, which is NetBSD-current and includes packages.
Getting bits to install
You can either build a release yourself with build.sh, or get one from the NetBSD FTP servers.
Both will provide rpi.img.gz and rpi_inst.img.gz. Each is an image to be written to a uSD card, and has a FAT32 partition for booting. In rpi.img.gz, there is also an FFS partition for NetBSD.
Building yourself
Getting sources and building a release with build.sh is not special for evbarm. Pick a CPU type alias and pass it to build.sh with -m. Examples (the first two are equivalent):
- ./build.sh -m earmv6hf -u release
- ./build.sh -m evbarm -a earmv6hf -u release
- ./build.sh -m evbarm -a earmv7hf -u release
NetBSD FTP servers
NetBSD provides nightly builds on nyftp.netbsd.org. These are equivalent to building yourself.
- The 'evbarm-earmv6hf/binary/gzimg/' directory contains an rpi.img file that can be used as a single image for both boards.
- The 'evbarm-earmv7hf/binary/gzimg/' directory contains an armv7.img file that is optimized for Raspberry Pi 2.
- The stable build directory will be under netbsd-7/YYYYMMDDHHMMZ/ (for example, http://nyftp.netbsd.org/pub/NetBSD-daily/netbsd-7/201710201440Z/evbarm-earmv6hf/binary/gzimg)
- The not-yet-released stable build directory will be under netbsd-8/YYYYMMDDHHMMZ/ (for example, http://nyftp.netbsd.org/pub/NetBSD-daily/netbsd-8/201710211010Z/evbarm-earmv6hf/binary/gzimg/)
- The HEAD/current directory build will be under HEAD/YYYYMMDDHHMMZ/ (for example, http://nyftp.netbsd.org/pub/NetBSD-daily/HEAD/201710202210Z/evbarm-earmv7hf/binary/gzimg/)
Preparing a uSD card
Once you have rpi.img.gz (or rpi_inst), put it on a uSD card using gunzip and dd, for example:
- gunzip rpi.img.gz
- dd if=rpi.img of=/dev/disk1
Serial Console
By default the rpi.img is set to use the HDMI output. If you wish to use a serial console, first mount the FAT32 partition and then edit cmdline.txt and remove '"console=fb"'.
Most (all?) USB-to-TTL serial adapters only connect Tx, Rx and ground, and do not connect any flow control lines. An effect of missing flow control is that you see console output, but cannot type anything. If so, adjust your serial console application's flow control settings to "none".
In Kermit, the command is "set flow none".
In minicom, run "minicom -s" and set hardware flow control to "no"
Enabling ssh
If you want to enable ssh with the standard image, so that you can log in over the net without either a serial or HDMI console, mount the ffs partition, place /root/.ssh/authorized_keys, uncomment PermitRootLogin in /etc/ssh/sshd_config, and comment out the rc_configure=NO in /etc/rc.conf. Besides having to find the IP address, you will have to wait for the partition resizing and reboot.
Installation with sshramdisk image
build.sh (and hence the FTP site) also creates an image 'rpi_inst.img.gz' specifically for installation without HDMI or a serial console. Note that this image is much smaller and that you will need to fetch the sets over the network. To use this method, write that image to a uSD card as above, and then:
- Ensure that you have a lan with a DHCP server.
- Connect an Ethernet cable from the RPI to the LAN.
- After starting DHCP client, SSH login to with user "sysinst", and password "netbsd".
- Be careful to note the ip address given during DHCP so you don't lose your connection
- Also for after the sysinst is done and the system reboots
- sysinst started!
Installation via ebijun's image
As an alternative to the standard installation images, Jun Ebihara provides an install image for Raspberry Pi that includes packages. It is based on NetBSD-current and is built for earmv6hf, and thus will work on Raspberry Pi 1, 2 and 3. This image is typically updated every few weeks.
Updating the kernel
Build a new kernel, e.g. using build.sh. It will tell you where the ELF version of the kernel is, e.g.
... Kernels built from RPI2: /Users/feyrer/work/NetBSD/cvs/src-current/obj.evbarm-Darwin-XXX/sys/arch/evbarm/compile/RPI2/netbsd ...
Besides the "netbsd" kernel in ELF format, there is also a "netbsd.img" (for current) or "netbsd.bin" (for 7 and 8) kernel that is in a format that the Raspberry can boot.
- Depending on your hardware version, copy this either to /boot/kernel.img (First generation Pi, Pi Zero hardware) or to /boot/kernel7.img (Pi 2, Pi 3 hardware)
- reboot
Wireless Networking
Note that the built-in WiFi in the RPI3 is not yet supported.
- A Realtek 802.11n USB adaptor configures as urtwn(4).
Configure with wpa_supplicant in /etc/rc.conf -
ifconfig_urtwn0=dhcp dhcpcd=YES dhcpcd_flags="-q -b" wpa_supplicant=YES wpa_supplicant_flags="-B -i urtwn0 -c /etc/wpa_supplicant.conf"
- A sample wpa_supplicant.conf can be found at /usr/share/examples/wpa_supplicant/wpa_supplicant.conf
GPU
Video playback
Accelerated video playback is supported in NetBSD 7 with the OMXPlayer application and through GStreamer with the omx plugin.
OpenGL ES
Accelerated OpenGL ES is supported in NetBSD 7. The GL ES client libraries are included with the misc/raspberrypi-userland package.
Quake 3
A Raspberry Pi optimized build of ioquake3 is available in the games/ioquake3-raspberrypi package. To use it, the following additional resources are required:
- pak0.pk3 from Quake 3 CD
- additional pak files from the games/ioquake3-pk3 package
- read/write permissions on /dev/vchiq and /dev/wsmouse
Place the pak0.pk3 file in the /usr/pkg/lib/ioquake3/baseq3 directory.
RetroArch / Libretro
Using emulators/retroarch it is possible to run many emulators at full speed the Raspberry Pi. Emulator cores for various gaming consoles are available in the emulators/libretro-* packages. To begin using retroarch:
- Install emulators/retroarch
- Install the libretro core for the system you would like to emulate (lets take emulators/libretro-gambatte, a GameBoy Color emulator, as an example).
- Plug in a USB HID compatible Gamepad, such as the Logitech F710 in "DirectInput" mode (set "D/X" switch to "D").
- Create a config file for your gamepad using retroarch-joyconfig.
$ retroarch-joyconfig -o gamepad.cfg
- Launch the emulator from the command-line (no X required):
$ retroarch --appendconfig gamepad.cfg -L /usr/pkg/lib/libretro/gambatte_libretro.so game.gbc
Developer notes
These notes are for people working on improvements to RPI support in NetBSD.
Updating the firmware
You probably don't want to do this. Firmware updates can break things, and the latest firmware that's been tested is already included in the NetBSD build you installed.
If you're feeling adventurous (or are the port maintainer), here's what to test whenever you try new firmware:
- Audio
- OMXPlayer (and vchiq)
- Serial/framebuffer console
- CPU frequency scaling
That goes for all of rpi[0123]
.
Upstream firmware releases are
on GitHub.
Copy all files except kernel*.img
into /boot
and reboot.
Hello,
it seems one of the first steps during the installation process is misleading, on the evbarm / raspberry pi platform. I ran into the issue, so as two mailing lists members recently did (and probably more people giving a try to netbsd on raspberry pi).
I would like to edit this page http://wiki.netbsd.org/ports/evbarm/raspberry_pi/ and add a note about selecting the HEAD installation sets rather than the default:
(A) IP Address during setup: As the net_rp.img install image uses DHCP at boot time, you will need to select DHCP during network configuration, or give your initial setup the very same IP received at boot time. You could change this later, but not on first boot and install run, else it will disconnect your remote connection.
(B) Install sets: As the raspberry pi port is still not part the stable release, you will want to use the HEAD branch to download installation sets. Have a look at http://nyftp.netbsd.org/pub/NetBSD-daily/HEAD/ and watch for the current YYYYMMDDHHMMZ branch. Use this timestap to adjust host and directory settings:
a: Host nyftp.NetBSD.org b: Base directory pub/NetBSD-daily/HEAD/YYYYMMDDHHMMZ (it will look like pub/NetBSD-daily/HEAD/201305220150Z)
(C) Partitioning: During the partitioning process, do not delete or format the first MSDOS (FAT) partition, as the Raspberry pi firmware is hard coded to boot on the SDCAD / 1st MSDOS partition / Firmware updates and boot loader.
When selecting partition types, remember you are using a SDCARD, nonvolatile flash memory wears slowly as writes are done. You may consider using non journaled filesystems (no log or LFS) and adjust mount options (noatime, nodevmtime).
Kind regards, Mat
I have successfully installed NetBSD to my pi from the supplied images, but it is just the core system with no X server. I am a relative newby to Linux, let alone BSD and am slowly working my way around it, but I am struggling with pkg_add because I can't find a source file to match...
I downloaded rpi.img.gz from here: http://nyftp.netbsd.org/pub/NetBSD-daily/netbsd-7/201501031030Z/evbarm-earmv6hf/binary/gzimg/
I followed the instructions on this page, but fall down when trying to add packages
but when following the instructions here: https://www.netbsd.org/docs/pkgsrc/using.html and here: http://www.netbsd.org/docs/guide/en/chap-boot.html
I cannot find a matching distribution.
uname -a reports: NetBSD rpi 7.0_BETA NetBSD 7.0_BETA (RPI_201501031030Z) evbarm
but the closest I can get is ftp://ftp.netbsd.org/pub/pkgsrc/packages/NetBSD/evbarm/6.1
Should I be looking elsewhere for the repository?
if you get the following error while trying to fetch sets;
ftp: Can't LOOKUP `nyftp.NetBSD.org:http': Temporary failure in name resolution
Please use the nyftp's IP address instead: 128.59.23.63
As reported by http://stackoverflow.com/questions/27690637/installing-netbsd-sets-via-http-on-raspberry-pi-fails
Can anyone explain if all files (including the subdirectory overlays/ ) need to be copied? "Copy all files except 'kernel*.img' into /boot and reboot"
Or would a subset be sufficient?
Thanks very much -- Tobi
Thanks for all the great work and for updating your instructions to reflect the new RPI2 images. Which by the way are awesome and right on par now with what the top competition has, in other words *dora has nothing us now with regards to tuning with gcc on this arch.
Last week I took the armv7 gzimg and added the new RPI2 kernel from another snapshot. Wow it worked, and I felt pretty special until the next time I looked 5 minutes later...and I saw I had just took the long route to reproduce what was already done in the new armv7 rpi2 images. LOL.
On a site note. Please consider updating the "Installation" section example to clarify HEAD/Current images vs Stable. If it's important.
Currently it reads:
"The HEAD/current directory build will be under HEAD/YYYYMMDDHHMMZ/ (for example, http://nyftp.netbsd.org/pub/NetBSD-daily/netbsd-7/201508062150Z/evbarm-earmv7hf/binary/gzimg/)"
I would change the "netbsd-7" to "HEAD" as below, if I'm understanding correctly.
"The HEAD/current directory build will be under HEAD/YYYYMMDDHHMMZ/ (for example, http://nyftp.netbsd.org/pub/NetBSD-daily/HEAD/201508142040Z/evbarm-earmv7hf/binary/gzimg/)"
NetBSD 4 Ever!
Most of the userland and the kernel in NetBSD 7.0 seem to be built with
-mfloat-abi=soft
(this is from earmv6hf). Indeed, if you look at the Makefile generated when you're preparing to build a new kernel you will see-mfloat-abi=soft
is defined. For example the openssl in base has the following performance characteristics:Doing md4 for 3s on 16 size blocks: 91199 md4's in 2.68s
If I build a new openssl with
-march=armv6k -mfloat-abi=hard -mfpu=vfp' in my
/usr/pkg/etc/mk.conf`, I get the following:Doing md4 for 3s on 16 size blocks: 221820 md4's in 2.85s
That's quite a substantial improvement. Could you please tell me the reasoning behind not doing this in the default distribution?
Thanks!
Hi,
I am kaku. How can I use the DS3231 RTC module for raspberry pi ?
Thank you very much!
Trying to boot the latest snapshot on my Pi Zero resulted in 8 flashes of the OK/ACT LED (bootcode.bin and/or start.elf problems, according to the documentation).
This image boots fine on my Pi B+ and Pi 2.
I over-wrote bootcode.bin, start.elf and start_cd.elf on the freshly imaged SD card from an Arch Linux MicroSD that works in the Pi Zero. It now boots. I don't know if these are exactly the correct files, but I suspect they likely require updating in the base image.
I've included MD5 sums of the files for your convenience: From the NetBSD Image (20151231): MD5 (bootcode.bin) = 9a4ad6a12ad7dc1aae279888c25d2252 MD5 (start.elf) = a2c4b9ea3ae986f88ea01e05bef46904 MD5 (start_cd.elf) = 85924312c9b51d1ef5b7ca301bb18d54
Files I copied over that make it bootable (from my Arch Linux Pi Zero environment): MD5 (bootcode.bin) = 6cc6560c0178c10928d14b8768969dab MD5 (start.elf) = f5b2a422d863efe5d47b1ac291ccaa3a MD5 (start_cd.elf) = f0dfc1462c5d9b003b64428fd52406ed
Hope this helps!
Hello,
I am a total NetBSD-noob and today I figured out how to install NetBSD on my RPi Mod B Ver 1.
I used rpi_inst.img and in order to make pkgin work I had to edit the default ftp repositories.
Browsing the FTP, I saw that inside the following dir: ftp://ftp.netbsd.org/pub/pkgsrc/packages/NetBSD/earmv6hf/
there was not a dir named 7.0 so I used the only path that made me install pkgin, this one: ftp://ftp.netbsd.org/pub/pkgsrc/packages/NetBSD/earmv6hf/7.0_2015Q1/All/
Now I am trying to install vim, but inside this dir there is not a vim package. However I can see two vim packages, one for each of these paths:
ftp://ftp.netbsd.org/pub/pkgsrc/packages/NetBSD/earmv6hf/7.0_2015Q2/All/ ftp://ftp.netbsd.org/pub/pkgsrc/packages/NetBSD/earmv6hf/7.0_2015Q3/All/
Said that, my question is: Did I messed up the selection of the mirror? Why only the first path had all the dependecies needed by pkgin? (I am sorry I do not remember which package was missing) Can I (and should I) add all the three paths to install other packages?
For those interested, I wrote down all the steps I followed during installation. https://blog.apsu.it/netbsd-rpib1-install
Regards agz
Hi,
I want to boot my Raspberry Pi with evbarmeb. evbarmeb - is the Big-endian version of Netbsd, please correct me if I'm wrong.
I'm not able to boot it. I tried the following steps to create the bootable SD Card : 1. wget http://nyftp.netbsd.org/pub/NetBSD-daily/HEAD/201602270000Z/evbarm-earmv7hfeb/binary/gzimg/armv7.img.gz 2. gunzip armv7.img.gz 3. dd if=armv7.img of=/dev/mmcblk0 bs=4M
But I'm able to boot it with the normal evbarm7hf image.
Thanks, Reemus Kumar
NetBSD rpi 7.99.29 NetBSD 7.99.29 (RPI.201605191830Z) evbarm
I used 800*480 display. I have not hdmi display.