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Getting started v2
Major changes are afoot. @dlech is trying out some new things and would like your feedback.
By the time you get to this page, you probably already know that ev3dev is Debian Linux for the LEGO Mindstorms EV3. If you have more basic questions, check out the FAQ.
You need a Micro SD or SDHC card. SDXC is not supported (you might be able to get it to work, but it will operate at reduced capacity and speed).
Also look at the speed class rating. Class 10 is the fastest, but slower speeds will work just fine. Ultra High Speed (UHS) classes are not supported (again, they should work, but not at the rated speed).
You will also need a host computer with an adapter for the SD card.
In the future, this will be available here, however for testing purposes, download the one from here.
Select the image that most closely matches the size of your SD card. Due to variance in SD card capacity, we make the images just a little smaller than the rated capacity. For example if you have a 4GB SD card, then choose ev3dev.3900MB.img.zip.
NOTE: Downloading the .zip file is recommended for Windows/Mac and the .xz file is recommended for Linux. .xz requires that you have additional software installed on Windows/Mac to decompress it (such as 7-Zip on Windows).
IMPORTANT: THIS WILL ERASE EVERYTHING ON YOUR SD CARD! BACKUP YOUR FILES IF YOU DO NOT WANT TO LOOSE THEM!
There are a vast number of ways to do this, so pick the one from the list that sounds the easiest to you:
- Linux
- Mac OS X
- Windows
TIP: If you have partitioning software that can handle resizing ext3 partitions (such as gparted on Linux), you can reclaim the last few MB of your SD card by resizing the ext3 partition.
TIP: For more detailed information and more alternatives, check out this page for RaspberryPi. Most of the information there is applicable to ev3dev.
In order to communicate with the EV3, we need a network connection. We are going to setup a TCP/IP connection over USB since USB is the one type of connection that everyone has. If you want to use a WiFi dongle or some other type of connection, will will get to that, but we need to set up USB first.
You should still have your SD card plugged in to your host computer. In your file browser/manager/finder/whaterver-you-call-it, there should be a removeable drive called EV3_BOOT. Open it.
There is a file called ev3dev.rc.local. Open it in a text editor. IMPORTANT: Windows users - do not use Notepad. It will change the line endings and corrupt the file. Use Wordpad or a 3rd party editor such as Notepad++.
Follow the instructions in the file. Uncomment means "delete the # at the front of the line.
Windows users should have:
export EV3_GADGET="g_ether"
...
#export EV3_GADGET="g_cdc"
And Linux/Mac users should have:
#export EV3_GADGET="g_ether"
...
export EV3_GADGET="g_cdc"
Save and close the file when you are done.
Be sure to safely eject your SD card from you host computer first, then put the SD Card in your EV3 and power it on.
At first, you will see the mindstorms boot splash and the red LEDs will be on. This is immediatly followed by the ev3dev boot splash and the LEDs changing to amber. The left LED indicates CPU activity and the right LED indicates disk (SD card) activity.
Shortly after the ev3dev boot splash, the screen will go blank and then evenually say "Debian GNU/Linux 7 (wheezy)". After the screen goes blank, you can press any of the buttons - except the middle one - to toggle the sysv init messages.
The first boot will take a little longer that subsequent boots because the EV3 has to create a unique SSH host ID.
When the boot is complete, the LEDs will turn green and you will see this on the screen:
_____ _
_____ _|___ / __| | _____ __
/ _ \ \ / / |_ \ / _` |/ _ \ \ / /
| __/\ V / ___) | (_| | __/\ V /
\___| \_/ |____/ \__,_|\___| \_/
Debian #OSNAME# 7 on LEGO MINDSTORMS EV3!
ev3dev tty1
ev3dev login: _
This depends on the OS of your host computer, so choose the one that applies:
- Linux
- Mac OS X
- Windows
Here are some suggestions of some things you should do to get your EV3 setup.
root@ev3dev:~# passwd
Enter new UNIX password:
Retype new UNIX password:
passwd: password updated successfully
Replace user with your actual user name and First Last with your real name (if you want it on the EV3 - you can leave it blank too). Don't miss the command to assign groups hiding at the end.
root@ev3dev:~# adduser user
Adding user `user' ...
Adding new group `user' (1001) ...
Adding new user `user' (1001) with group `user' ...
Creating home directory `/home/user' ...
Copying files from `/etc/skel' ...
Enter new UNIX password:
Retype new UNIX password:
passwd: password updated successfully
Changing the user information for user
Enter the new value, or press ENTER for the default
Full Name []: First Last
Room Number []:
Work Phone []:
Home Phone []:
Other []:
Is the information correct? [Y/n] y
root@ev3dev:~# usermod -a -G sudo,plugdev,audio,video user
root@ev3dev:~# dpkg-reconfigure tzdata
Then just follow the instructions on the screen.
You can skip this if en-US is OK.
WARNING: This runs out of memory and fails without setting up a swap file. More on that later.
root@ev3dev:~# dpkg-reconfigure locales
Make sure your EV3 is connected to the internet first. Updating the package list the first time will take a long time.
root@ev3dev:~# apt-get update
root@ev3dev:~# apt-get upgrade
root@ev3dev:~# apt-get dist-upgrade
If a new kernel package is installed, you will want to reboot.
root@ev3dev:~# reboot
This will be where we tell you how to use sensors and motors and whatnot.
When you are ready to wish your EV3 goodnight, turn if off by running:
root@ev3dev:~# poweroff