kobol-wiki/docs/helios64/install.md

!!! note Go to Kit Assembly to find out how to assembly Helios64.

What you need before you start.

1. microSD Card
You need a microSD Card UHS-I with a minimum capacity of 8GB to be able to flash Helios64 image.

We recommend the following models:

• SanDisk Extreme microSDHC UHS-I Card (32GB)
• SanDisk Extreme PRO microSDHC UHS-I Card (32GB)
• Strontium Nitro MicroSD Card (16GB)
• Samsung microSDHC UHS-I Card EVO Plus (32GB)

2. USB Type-C to Type-A cable

3. Ethernet cable (cat5/6)

A. Install OS to eMMC

Step 1 - Download U-Boot only image and an Helios64 image build

To emulate the internal eMMC as USB Mass Storage, special u-boot image is needed. Download the microSD card image from here.

You will also need to download an OS image to write to the internal eMMC.

Go to Download and chose one of the latest build.

!!! info OMV (OpenMediaVault) is only supported on Debian OS.

Armbian 20.08.8 and earlier has bug that prevent system to boot from eMMC!

Step 2 - Writing U-Boot image to a microSD Card

You will need to use an image writing tool to write helios64_sdcard_u-boot-only.img.xz to microSD Card.

Under Windows, Mac OS or Linux (via Graphic Interface)

Etcher is a graphical SD card writing tool that works on Mac OS, Linux and Windows, this is the easiest method for most users. Etcher also supports writing images directly from XZ files, without any prerequired decompression. To write your image with Etcher:

• Download Etcher and install it on your computer.
• Insert the microSD Card inside your SD card reader (microSD to SD adapter might be needed).
• Open Etcher and select the helios64_sdcard_u-boot-only.img.xz image file from your local storage.
• Select the microSD Card you wish to write your image to.
• Review your selections and click 'Flash!' to begin writing data to the microSD Card.

Under Linux (using dd via Terminal)

Armbian images are using XZ compression format, therefore we need xz-utils or xz tools to decompress the image first.

for Debian-based distribution (Debian/Ubuntu) you can install the utility using following command:

apt-get install xz-utils

in RedHat-based distribution (RHEL / CentOS / Fedora Linux) users can use this command:

yum install xz

after installing the compression tool, you can now decompress the images:

xz -dk helios64_sdcard_u-boot-only.img.xz

finally we can write the images to sdcard using dd:

sudo dd if=helios64_sdcard_u-boot-only.img of=/dev/sdX bs=4M conv=fsync status=progress

!!! note /dev/sdX is where the microSD is mapped in your Linux machine, change the 'X' to your corresponding mapped device. If you set /dev/sdX to a wrong device then you might risk erasing a hard drive or different device than the designated microSD.

Step 3 - Wire Helios64

!!! warning Always proceed with caution when manipulating 110/220V appliance.

1. Insert the prepared microSD Card.

2. Connect your computer to the serial port with the Type-C to Type-A USB cable.

3. Connect Helios64 to your home network with the Ethernet cable.
   Choose LAN2 port if you have 2.5Gb network.

4. Plug-in the DC power connector. Don't power-up the Power Adapter yet.

If you are using Helios64 without an enclosure:

Step 4 - Power-Up Helios64

Now that everything is ready you can plug-in the AC adapter and push the Power Button.

If you are using Helios64 without an enclosure:

Step 5 - Writing an OS image to Internal eMMC

Write Helios64 OS image that you have downloaded on Step 1

Using Etcher

• Open Etcher and select the Helios64 image file from your local storage.
• Select "Linux UMS_disk_0" drive.
• Review your selections and click 'Flash!' to begin writing data to the microSD Card.

Using dd via Terminal

Decompress the image:

xz -dk Armbian_20.08.0_Helios64_buster_current_5.7.15.img.xz

finally we can write the image to eMMC using dd:

sudo dd if=Armbian_20.08.0_Helios64_buster_current_5.7.15.img of=/dev/sdX bs=4M conv=fsync status=progress

Replace the filename by the image file name you downloaded.

!!! note /dev/sdX is where the "Linux UMS_disk_0" is mapped in your Linux machine, change the 'X' to your corresponding mapped device. If you set /dev/sdX to a wrong device then you might risk erasing a hard drive or different device than the designated Helios64 internal eMMC.

Step 6 - Power-Down Helios64

Power down Helios64 by long pressing the power button and then remove the microSD card.

Now the system ready to be configured according to Configure the OS section.

B. Install OS to microSD

Step 1 - Download an Helios64 image build

You will need first to download an image to write on the microSD Card.

Go to Download and chose one of the latest build.

!!! info OMV (OpenMediaVault) is only supported on Debian OS.

Step 2 - Writing an image to a microSD Card

You will need to use an image writing tool to install on your microSD Card the image build you have downloaded.

Under Windows, Mac OS or Linux (via Graphic Interface)

Etcher is a graphical SD card writing tool that works on Mac OS, Linux and Windows, this is the easiest method for most users. Etcher also supports writing images directly from XZ files, without any prerequired decompression. To write your image with Etcher:

• Download Etcher and install it on your computer.
• Insert the microSD Card inside your SD card reader (microSD to SD adapter might be needed).
• Open Etcher and select the Helios64 image file from your local storage.
• Select the microSD Card you wish to write your image to.
• Review your selections and click 'Flash!' to begin writing data to the microSD Card.

Under Linux (using dd via Terminal)

Armbian images are using XZ compression format, therefore we need xz-utils or xz tools to decompress the image first.

for Debian-based distribution (Debian/Ubuntu) you can install the utility using following command:

apt-get install xz-utils

in RedHat-based distribution (RHEL / CentOS / Fedora Linux) users can use this command:

yum install xz

after installing the compression tool, you can now decompress the images:

xz -dk Armbian_20.08.0_Helios64_buster_current_5.7.15.img.xz

finally we can write the images to sdcard using dd:

sudo dd if=Armbian_20.08.0_Helios64_buster_current_5.7.15.img of=/dev/sdX bs=4M conv=fsync status=progress

Replace the filename by the image file name you downloaded.

!!! note /dev/sdX is where the microSD is mapped in your Linux machine, change the 'X' to your corresponding mapped device. If you set /dev/sdX to a wrong device then you might risk erasing a hard drive or different device than the designated microSD.

Step 3 - Wire Helios64

!!! warning Always proceed with caution when manipulating 110/220V appliance.

1. Insert the prepared microSD Card.

2. Connect your computer to the serial port with the Type-C to Type-A USB cable.

3. Connect Helios64 to your home network with the Ethernet cable.
   Choose LAN2 port if you have 2.5Gb network.

4. Plug-in the DC power connector. Don't power-up the Power Adapter yet.

If you are using Helios64 without an enclosure:

Now the system ready to be configured according to Configure the OS section.

Configure the OS

Step 1 - Connect to Helios64 serial console

!!! Important For Windows version prior to Windows 10, you will need to install the FTDI driver in order to access the USB to serial bridge used by Helios64. You can find the driver here.

Under Windows

1. Download PuTTY and install it on your computer.

2. Make sure your serial communication device is already detected by system.

3. Select connection type serial.
   

4. Setup serial port settings (Serial line : COM3 and Speed : 1500000), then press 'Open'
   

!!! note The serial port detection may vary on different system, please make sure to check the device manager to get the information of correct serial port to connect to Helios64. Check this link to learn how to determine the right COM port.

Under Linux (via Terminal)

1. Install picocom

Use apt-get under Debian/Ubuntu

$ sudo apt-get install picocom

Use yum under RHEL / CentOS / Fedora Linux

$ sudo yum install picocom

2. Connect to serial with picocom

$ sudo picocom -b 1500000 /dev/ttyUSB0

To exit picocom do Ctrl-a then q button in squence

!!! note Using command ls -la /dev/ttyUSB* you should be able the find the USB to serial bridge device used by Helios64. Under Linux the device will be named /dev/ttyUSBx, where x is a digit.

Under Mac OS (via Terminal)

!!! Important For Mac OS you might need to install the FTDI driver in order to access the USB to serial bridge used by Helios64. You can find the driver here.

Connect serial using the screen command

$ screen /dev/tty.usbserial-XXXXXXXX 1500000 -L

To exit the session do Ctrl-a then Ctrl-k

!!! note Using command ls -la /dev/tty.usb* you should be able the find the USB to serial bridge device used by Helios64. Under Mac OS the device will be named /dev/tty.usbserial-xxxxxxxx, where xxxxxxxx is some serial number.

Step 2 - Power-Up Helios64

Now that everything is ready you can plug-in the AC adapter and push the Power Button.

If you are using Helios64 without an enclosure:

You should see Helios64 boot logs on the Serial Console.

Step 3 - Log in

!!! note You might need to press Enter for the login prompt to come up.

If system didn't auto logged-in. Default credential for Debian or Ubuntu image

helios64 login: root
Password: 1234

You will be prompted to change the root password and then create a new user account.

Step 4 - Check/Set IP address

Check IP address

By default Helios64 will try to obtain an IP address via DHCP. To figure out what is the allocated IP address you will need to type the following command in the console.

ip addr show dev eth0

Here the IP address of Helios64 is 10.10.10.1.

Set IP address

If you wish to manually configure your IP address you can use the armbian-config tool.

armbian-config

Select the Network section:

Navigate to IP to configure your IPv4 address:

Select the Ethernet interface you want to assign a fixed IPv4 address. In this case we select eth0 which correspond to LAN port 1:

Select Static:

Provide the IP Address, Netmask, and Gateway information that you want to assign:

Press ESC till you exit armbian-config tool.

You will have to reboot for the network settings to take effect.

sudo reboot

!!! info You can also refer to the following Debian Wiki Page for advanced network settings.

Step 5 - Connect to Helios64 via SSH

You can now connect by SSH to your Helios64 to carry on with your configuration.

Here is the example when we use linux client:

You can use putty as the SSH client if you are using windows:

What to do next ?

You can use armbian-config which provides an easy way to install 3rd party applications like OpenMediaVault, NextCloud, Syncthing, Emby and many more.

Here an example on how to install software OpenMediaVault (OMV) using the armbian-config.

sudo armbian-config

Select Software section:

Navigate to Softy:

Then choose OMV, to install the OpenMediaVault:

Wait the install process to complete:

Now you should be able to connect to OpenMediaVault (OMV) Control Panel.

Open your web browser and go to the one of the following addresses :

• http://helios64.local
• http://xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx (How to check Helios64 IP address)

Default credential :

• Username: admin
• Password: openmediavault