Debian 13

Upgrade boneIO Black system to Debian 13

On this page you will find a step-by-step guide for upgrading the boneIO Black system to Debian 13.

📋 Requirements before upgrade

Before starting the upgrade process, make sure you have prepared:

• SD card - new, reliable SD card with minimum capacity of 16 GB
• Configuration backup - backup of your current device configuration
• Time - we recommend reserving enough time, as we recommend configuring everything from scratch to ensure the best system stability

⚠️ Important information - Compatibility

Upgrading to Debian 13 requires system reinstallation. The eMMC memory must contain at least Debian 11.

If for some reason you want to keep the ability to run Debian 10, prepare a Debian 10 installation on a separate SD card.

Although it's possible to restore the previous configuration from backup, we strongly recommend performing a fresh configuration from scratch. This way you will ensure optimal performance and system stability, and avoid potential compatibility issues.

🔄 Upgrade process

Upgrading to Debian 13 involves:

• Upgrading Debian 10 to Debian 11 on the eMMC card. The BeagleBone's eMMC memory contains an old bootloader that needs to be updated.

⚠️ VERY IMPORTANT - Device safety

It is necessary to disconnect all input plugs from the device before starting the upgrade!

Also disconnect the ethernet cable from the device during the upgrade!

Without this, the BeagleBone may hang and the upgrade process will fail. Disconnecting all connected input devices and the ethernet cable is crucial for the successful completion of the bootloader upgrade process.

📝 Step by step - Bootloader upgrade

Step 1: Network preparation

• Save the device IP or set a static IP so you can ping it and check if the computer has started correctly

Step 2: Download and preparation

• Download Debian 11 image from the website GitHub and flash it to the microSD card (e.g., using Balena Etcher)
• Make a backup of the current configuration
• Power off the controller

Step 3: Installing Debian 11 on eMMC

• Insert the microSD card from the top of the device
• Power on the device - LED lights will be visible from the bottom near the ethernet port and will light up from left to right in sequence
• Wait until all LEDs turn off at the bottom of the device. This takes about 10 minutes! The process may take longer, do not interrupt it and do not disconnect the power. Be patient and do not interrupt the process.
• Do not disconnect the power until all LEDs at the bottom of the device turn off!
• Power off the device and remove the microSD card

Thanks to this approach, you can be sure that the bootloader has been updated and the new system works stably before making the final installation.

Step 4: Preparing Debian 13

• Take the microSD card and flash the Debian 13 image on it from the website https://github.com/boneIO-eu/black_debian_images/releases/tag/v1.2.0dev1

Step 5: Bootloader upgrade verification

• Power on boneIO Black with Debian 11 on eMMC
• Wait for the device to appear on the network (check with ping)
• Connect via SSH and make sure the system has Debian 11 installed. After login there is welcome screen showing which Debian version is installed.
• You can power off the device

💾 Further steps - Installing Debian 13

Step 6: Installing Debian 13 on eMMC

• Insert the microSD card with Debian 13 image
• Power on the device - LED lights will be visible from the bottom near the ethernet port and will light up from left to right in sequence
• Wait until all LEDs turn off at the bottom of the device. Installation may take up to 20 minutes! The process may take longer, do not interrupt it and do not disconnect the power.
• Do not disconnect the power until all LEDs at the bottom of the device turn off!
• Power off the device and remove the microSD card
• Power on the device - Debian 13 system will boot from eMMC memory
• The boneIO application should start automatically after the system loads

After installation on eMMC, you have approximately 1 GB of free memory and built-in Node-RED.

⚙️ After installation

System login

Default login credentials for Debian 13 are:

• User: boneio
• Password: Black

Configuration

After successfully starting the system:

1. Open a web browser and enter https:// device IP address :8443
2. Log in to the web interface.
3. To properly configure the device - use the "Restore Factory Settings" function - selecting your device type and hardware version.

4. Verify the operation of inputs and outputs - we recommend performing a full device test - It is critical to verify that the output numbers in the application correspond to those on the device.

5. Prepare the configuration from scratch using the wizard in the web interface - this is the recommended configuration method for the new system version.

What's next?

Congratulations! You have just finished the process of updating the system and application to the latest version. We know that the amount of changes you've encountered is huge and may overwhelm you. Therefore, to fully guide you through the process of configuration and application usage, we have prepared appropriate documentation. You will find it in the Application section, as well as the software configuration sub-section in the product section appropriate for your controller model.