Re: Which ARM SBC would work well with NetBSD?

[Manuel Bouyer <bouyer%antioche.eu.org@localhost>]

On Thu, Mar 09, 2023 at 09:34:05AM +0900, Henry wrote:
> I've been listening in, and I thank you all very much for your input.
> I have 0 experience with an SBC, but want to move to a
> low-power-consumption basic web and file server.  Because of the
> battery options which would allow me to do without a UPS, I'm
> seriously considering the olimex a20-onlinuxino-lime2.

I'm using 2 of them this way :)

> 
> Some questions from this newbie:
> o can I create a NetBSD bootable micro SD card, or does one have to
> use Debian or Android on these A-20 Olimex SBCs?

NetBSD runs fine on A20. You can look at
http://wiki.netbsd.org/ports/evbarm/allwinner/
for details on creating a bootable SD card

> o can I hook up a serial concole via a standard RS232 cable?

No, most SBC use a serial port with TTL levels (usually 0 and +3.3V), not
RS232 levels. You need a USB-UART adapter like FTDI-based one, or this one:
https://www.olimex.com/Products/Breadboarding/BB-CH340T/open-source-hardware



> o after the initial install of NetBSD, can I have the computer boot
> from a USB (preferably C-type, but standard type okay)?  Or is it
> better to just get a board with the eMMC flash memory option and boot
> from that?

The A20 only has USB 2.0. the eMMC flash is OK and is a bit faster than
SD card.
Note that the A20 has a native SATA port (i.e. not behind a USB-SATA
bridge), so if you need speed or capacity, adding a SATA 2.5" disk or
SSD is a good option (I run one with a SSD too).

> o is there a cookbook-kind of howto document on installing NetBSD on
> ARM architecture SBCs?

Start from http://wiki.netbsd.org/ports/evbarm/

-- 
Manuel Bouyer <bouyer%antioche.eu.org@localhost>
     NetBSD: 26 ans d'experience feront toujours la difference
--