Step 1: Image Loading

If this is the first time you are going to use the Odroid CN boards (we use Odroid C2), you will need to load an Operating System on them. This project has been developed using the Ubuntu Minimal 20.04 image, which is a free software and open source Operating System. In this guide we detail the steps you must follow to load the Ubuntu image on all your boards and thus get a Low Cost MiniMultiComputer Based on Odroids .

If your boards already have the Ubuntu image, go directly to Step 2: Hardware Assembly .

Load Image into All Odroid C2 Boards

  1. Go to wiki.odroid.com website and download the Ubuntu Minimal 20.0 version for the Odroid C2 boards.
  2. Load the Ubuntu Minimal Operating System image onto a board (see Option 1 and Option 2).
  3. Repeat step 2 for each of the boards.

Load Image into One Odroid C2 Board (Option 1)

This option works regardless of the Operating System you use on your computer.

  1. Download and install a program to write images of an Operating System. We recommend you BalenaEtcher.
  2. Insert the eMMC flash memory from the Odroid C2 board into your computer. You will need a suitable reader to read that memory.
  3. Open BalenaEtcher.
  4. Select the image you have previously downloaded.
  5. Select the flash memory card you just connected.
  6. Click on Flash! and the program will automatically load the image into memory.
  7. Unplug the flash drive from your computer and put it back on the Odroid C2 board.

Load Image into One Odroid C2 Board (Option 2)

This option works if your computer uses a MacOS or Linux Operating System

  1. Once you have connected the reader and the card to your PC, open a terminal.
  2. You can know the partition name by using the command fdisk -l. Look at the result that appears, since it is important not to get confused about the partition or you could erase your system.
  3. The partition that corresponds to the eMMC memory is probably the only one that has the same size as your memory card (normally it will be 8 GB). To be sure, you can look at the output of the fdisk -l command both without memory connected and when it is. That partition that appears new will be your card.
  4. It may be necessary to unmount the partition first. This is done with the umount command "partition name", where the partition name will be more or less like this: /dev/sdX, where X is a letter or a number.
  5. To load the image, you must execute: dd bs=1M conv=fsync if=XXX.img of=/dev/sdX, where if (input file) will be the name of the image that you have downloaded, and of (output file) the name of the partition corresponding to your memory and that you have consulted with the command fdisk -l.
  6. We recommend not executing this last step with the ampersand (&) at the end, to ensure that the writing ends properly. Also, it is recommended to run the sync command after writing has finished.

As soon as you have the Ubuntu image installed on all your boards, you can continue with the Step 2: Hardware Assembly or if you already have the structure mounted, go directly to Step 3: Install Software .