Table of Contents

Downloading install media

The generic installer images are suitable for use on your Developerbox: http://mirror.centos.org/altarch/7/isos/aarch64/ . Any of the images are suitable but the Minimal installer it a good compromise between download size and functionality (~750MB and it is able to install a Minimal CentOS system without having to configure networking during the install).

After downloading an installer image, please carefully study the list of platform quirks and workarounds below. If you need further information to complete the install process then there is a Developerbox specific guide to Booting an operating system installer which can be read alongside the documentation on the CentOS wiki.

Quirks and workarounds

[Hardware] USB/PCIe networking

CentOS 7 is based on the a kernel without support for the built-in network interface. This kernel version does not include support for the built-in network interface. This must be worked around by using an external network device.

Both PCIe or USB network devices are suitable for this, although it is important to select a device that is already supported by the CentOS kernel.

[Firmware] Ensure the system firmware version is up to date

Full support for standards compliant PCIe enumeration was added to the Developerbox system firmware starting with version 38. Older versions of the firmware do not allow CentOS to enumerate PCIe devices.

The firmware version is displayed both at the top of the firmware splash screen and as part of the system information displayed in the firmware menus.

If your firmware is not recent enough then please see the System Firmware Update section of the Install Guide.

[Firmware] Set O/S Hardware Description to ACPI

CentOS 7 requires that the Developerbox platform hardware be described using ACPI. The firmware default is to use device tree to describe the hardware so this must be changed.

To switch to ACPI mode:

  • Press Escape once the Press ESCAPE for boot options message appears
  • Select Device Manager and SynQuacer Platform Settings
  • Select O/S Hardware Description and choose ACPI
  • Press Escape and then press Y to save and exit
  • Press Escape again, to return to the main menu
  • Select Reset

[Install, First boot] Disable incompatible PCIe features

Two features must be disabled to allow PCIe to enumerate and allocate interrupts correctly. Patches to address the underlying issues are regarded as bug fixes and will be backported to LTS kernels over time.

If your kernel is affected the workaround is described below

For install and first boot:

  • Wait for the grub menu to appear, then press e to edit the commands before booting
  • Use the editor to add pcie_aspm=off pci=nomsi to the kernel command line (this is the line commencing with the word linux)
  • Check this document for any other [Install] or [First boot] workarounds. Once all kernel arguments are updated, boot the kernel by pressing Ctrl-X.

To make the change permanent:

  • Wait for CentOS to boot, then login and start a Terminal application
  • Edit /etc/default/grub as root, for example: sudo vi /etc/default/grub
  • Add pcie_aspm=off pci=nomsi to GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX
  • Save the file and close the editor
  • Run sudo grub2-mkconfig -o /boot/efi/EFI/centos/grub.cfg to regenerate the grub config files

[Install, First boot] Disable the nouveau driver

CentOS 7 configures the kernel to run with 64k pages (because they improve system performance), however the nouveau driver for the GT-710 graphics card included in the kit will not initialize successfully on kernels that are configured for 64k pages.

This can be worked around by disabling the nouveau driver. This causes the operating system to fallback to the EFI framebuffer configured by the firmware. This reduces the graphics card to a dumb device that scans out from a fixed frame buffer. All 3D operations will be emulated in software running the Cortex-A53 processors. The default desktop environment will operate correctly but the lack of hardware acceleration is noticeable in some areas, in particular when bringing up the Activities overview.

For install and first boot:

  • Wait for the grub menu to appear, then press e to edit the commands before booting
  • Use the editor to add modprobe.blacklist=nouveau to the kernel command line (this is the line commencing with the word linux)
  • Check this document for any other [Install] or [First boot] workarounds. Once all kernel arguments are updated, boot the kernel by pressing Ctrl-X.

To make the change permanent:

  • Wait for CentOS to boot, then login and start a Terminal application
  • Edit /etc/default/grub as root, for example: sudo vi /etc/default/grub
  • Add modprobe.blacklist=nouveau to GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX
  • Save the file and close the editor
  • Run sudo grub2-mkconfig -o /boot/efi/EFI/centos/grub.cfg to regenerate the grub config files

Note that, although the default desktop is performant enough for occasional server maintainance, heavy desktop users may prefer to run a lightweight desktop environment with minimal or no use of 3D acceleration. No suitable lightweight desktop is included in the base operating system but XFCE is available via EPEL .

Alternatively if you wish to use your Developerbox as a headless server it is possible to remove the graphics card entirely. When the graphics card is removed all console activity (both EDK2 menus and the Linux console) will automatically switch from using the graphics card to using the debug UART. The debug UART is connected to the micro-USB socket behind the I/O shield on the back panel.

The automatic switching of the console means the system maintenance capabilities via the UART are equivalent to those available via the graphics card, and the power saved as a result of removing the graphics card is significant.

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