Installing Ubuntu 16.04.3 LTS

Essentials

Hardware components

	Power Supply 5v 4 Amp 5V 2.5A minimum (4A recommended), 5.5 x 2.1mm barrel connector, center positive.	x1
	USB Flash Drive (Thumb Drive) 8GB or larger	x1
	microSD Card Class 10 16GB+ or larger recommended. Used to store the OS which the system will run from.	x1
	microHDMI video cable microHDMI male (plugs into the MinnowBoard Turbot) to HDMI male (plugs into your monitor–select a cable compatible with both).	x1
	USB Keyboard Typically required during OS installation. Optional once system is configured.	x1
	USB Mouse If you install an OS with a graphical user interface, a USB mouse is handy to have.	x1

Tools

	Internet Connection Used to perform software updates and download the additional packages not provided with the base operating system.	x1
	Host Computer or Laptop Can run Windows, Linux, or OS X. Used to download the OS image and write to the USB flash drive.	x1

Instructions

1. 1 Download Ubuntu 16.04.3 (LTS) desktop image

   Download an ISO image of Ubuntu 16.04.3 LTS desktop from the Ubuntu website. This ISO image is in a special format used to create a bootable image on the USB flash drive (in the next step). This is a large download (~ 1.5GB) and may take a while to download depending on your Internet speed.

2. 2 Make a bootable USB drive

   The step to create a bootable Ubuntu image on the USB drive is a bit different depending on the OS your host computer is running. While it’s tempting to just copy the image to the USB flash drive, this won’t create the needed boot image structure on the USB flash drive, so please follow one of these suggested steps.

   LEARN:

   • Best Practice: Windows USB Flash Drive Initialization

3. 3 Set up the MinnowBoard Turbot

   Now you can proceed to set up the MinnowBoard Turbot. As we did for powering up the board, you’ll need to:

   • Connect a microHDMI cable from the board to your monitor (and turn the monitor on).
   • Connect a USB keyboard to the top USB connector. (While not required, it’s easier to install Ubuntu with a mouse.) Connect a USB hub to the top USB connector on the MinnowBoard Turbot, and then connect the keyboard and mouse into the hub.
   • Plug the Ethernet cable into your network port and into the MinnowBoard Turbot Ethernet jack.
   • Connect the 5v power connector to the board, but not into the wall outlet just yet.
   • Plug the USB flash drive with the Ubuntu image you just created into the bottom USB connector.
   • Plug the microSD card into the microSD card slot (insert the microSD card with the connectors up).
   • Things should now look like this:

   

4. 4 Boot the board from the USB flash drive

   Now that the board is set up, we’re ready to turn it on and start the boot and OS installation.

   • • Plug the 5V power supply into an outlet.
     • The MinnowBoard Turbot will power on. Quickly press F2 on your keyboard to get to the UEFI menu. If you missed it and end up with a screen looking like this:

   

   • Type in exit and press Return and you’ll end up at the UEFI menu:

   

   • Press the down arrow to highlight the Boot Manager option and press Enter to get to the Boot Options screen:

   

   • Press the down arrow to highlight the EFI USB Device option (that’s the USB flash drive with the Ubuntu ISO boot image on it), and press Enter. This will kick off the booting process starting with a GNU GRUB (GRand Unified Bootloader) option screen:

   

   • Press the down arrow key to highlight Install Ubuntu and press Enter to start the Ubuntu installer.
   • After a few seconds, you’ll see the Ubuntu logo with some progress indicator dots, followed by the Ubuntu installer graphical interface. If you have a mouse connected, you can click on the options and buttons. If you just have a keyboard connected, you’ll need to use the arrow and Tab keys to move through the choices and buttons (and press Enter or Spacebar to “click”).

5. 5 Installation options

   During Ubuntu’s installation you will be prompted to make several decisions. If you’re not using a mouse, you’ll see the buttons or fields highlighted as you press the Tab key to move around. Installation is straightforward, but let’s walk through the steps for your reference.

   For installation, select the following:

   Screen 1: Welcome

   • Select English (or your preferred language) and then Continue

   Screen 2: Preparing to install Ubuntu

   • Verify Download updates… and Install third-party software… are NOT selected, then Continue (checking these options on adds a lot of time to the installation process and is something you can do later).

   Screen 3: Installation type

   • Select Erase disk and install Ubuntu, then Install Now
   • Write the changes to disks? (verify the disk is the MMC/SD card), then Continue

   Screen 4: Where are you?

   • Select Los Angeles Time for the US Pacific time zone, for example. If you only have a keyboard connected, use the Tab key to highlight the field (if it’s not already selected) and start typing the name and press Enter when a match shows up
   • Select your location, then Continue

   Screen 5: Keyboard layout

   • Select English (US) (or your local language keyboard) then Continue

   Screen 6: Who are you?

   • Enter your name, computer name, username, and password. (When you start typing your name, the installer will provide suggestions for the other fields that you can use (or change as you’d like).
   • Select Log in automatically; do NOT select Encrypt my home folder, then Continue

   And with that, the installation will proceed on its own, and copy files from the image on the USB flash drive onto the microSD card that will be your storage device on the MinnowBoard Turbot. (This will take about 30 minutes to complete and you’ll see a progress bar as it’s working.)

   You can also install the OS onto a real SATA hard drive or SSD drive instead of using a microSD card, but we’ll save that for a future tutorial example.

6. 6 After the automated installation completes

   The installation program installed and configured the base Ubuntu Desktop onto the MinnowBoard Turbot.

   • When it is finished, select Restart Now. It will take several seconds to reboot.
   • The MinnowBoard Turbot should boot from the microSD card this time, and bring up the Ubuntu desktop. (Because you selected Log in automatically during the setup, you won’t be asked for a login or password.)
   • You can remove the USB flash drive now.
   • If the system is idle long enough, the screen locker may kick-in and you’ll be asked for the password you specified to unlock the system. You can disable this in the Ubuntu Security and Privacy settings (uncheck “Waking from suspend” and “Returning from blank screen”).

   At this point, you can use the MinnowBoard Turbot as you would a desktop PC. Explore the Ubuntu interface, check out the installed programs and file system, open a shell prompt (terminal), play with the Linux command-line shell, and more.

7. 7 Update the installed Ubuntu software

   Security and software updates are frequently made available, and it’s a good idea to keep your software up to date (as you would with your PC). While your Ubuntu system is running and connected to the network, it will occasionally check for updates and let you know to install them. But you may not keep your MinnowBoard Turbot on all the time, as you would for a desktop PC, so we can also ask the system to update manually.

   You can update the system to have the latest software and security patches via the command line. You’ll need to have the network connection working on the MinnowBoard Turbot for this step:

   • Navigate the user interface to launch the terminal program by pressing ALT+F1.
   • Press Enter to start the “Search your computer” application.
   • Type terminal and press Enter to launch the terminal application.
   • Once the terminal is launched, update the operating system by using these commands (running sudo may ask you for your password):

     sudo apt-get -y update
     sudo apt-get -y dist-upgrade
     

     This first update and upgrade can take a long time (even an hour or two) depending on your network speed and the number of software upgrades that need to be installed. Subsequent upgrades will typically have fewer files to download and install and will be much faster.

   • You should now reboot to ensure you are running with all the latest software by running the command sudo reboot (running sudo may ask you for your password).

   With that, you’ve got an updated Ubuntu installation ready to go.