Pc104

Ubuntu Server 8.04 Installation

On 2009-05-21, we installed Ubuntu Server 8.04 'Hardy Heron' on a brand new 4GB Flash IDE memory.

First of all, we changed the BIOS setting First Boot Device to: USB-CDROM. We had a Ubuntu Server 8.04 CD inside the drive. (It is apparently possible to boot and install directly from a Flash memory, but a CDROM installation is easier.)

Here is our configuration on Ubuntu Server 8.04:

• hostname: pc104
• automatic partitioning (which will partition the 4GB drive into an ext3 and a swap partition)
• username: icub
• no HTTP proxy
• software selection: OpenSSH (which includes scp to copy files among machines), nothing else

After a while, the CDROM will eject automatically. Remove it and, after reboot, change the BIOS setting First Boot Device to the old setting, which is:

• Primary Boot Device: Hard Disk
• Second Boot Device: Disabled
• Third Boot Device: Disabled

At this point we have a minimal Linux system (474MB).

Network

Change the IP to 10.10.1.50 by editing /etc/network/interfaces in the following way:

  auto lo
  iface lo inet loopback

  auto eth0
  iface eth0 inet static
  address 10.10.1.50
  netmask 255.255.255.0
  network 10.10.1.0
  broadcast 10.10.1.255
  gateway 10.10.1.254

Add the following lines in /etc/hosts (besides the already-existing lines):

  10.10.1.52	chico2
  10.10.1.1	cortex1
  10.10.1.2	cortex2
  10.10.1.3	cortex3
  10.10.1.4	cortex4
  10.10.1.5	cortex5
  10.10.1.6	cortex6

Then, copy the content of directory ~/.ssh/ from a machine we have used in the past to connect to pc104 (e.g., icubsrv or chico2) to the pc104 itself. This will permit passwordless login sessions, necessary for yarprun and demos. On the other machines of the network which we use to connect to pc104 (e.g., chico2, cortex cluster) you might need to delete a line of your ~/.ssh/known_hosts file (the "offending line" which contains an old key -- follow the ssh error message and just delete that line). Now, passwordless logins to pc104 should be no problem from the other machines.

After the installation

Install the following packages:

  sudo apt-get install gcc g++ cmake cvs subversion ssh
  sudo apt-get install libncurses5-dev libace-dev libgsl0-dev libgtk2.0-dev libgtkmm-2.4-dev libglademm-2.4-dev

Before 2009-05-21

pc104 booted from a read-only memory.

after booting, it mounted a part of the hard-disk of icubsrv (the laptop, IP address 10.10.1.51).

after that, it ran the scripts that are found in /exports/code-pc104/pc104/hooks. you can use those scripts for making some configuration permanent on pc104 and/or to run programs. they set up the yarp namespace, they start yarp run, configure the keys for passwordless log-ins, etc.