The Ubuntu MATE team have made an Ubuntu MATE 15.04 root file system image for ARMv7 devices. This root file system is intended for ARMv7 enthusiasts and board manufacturers who'd like to make an Ubuntu MATE image for their device. In order to adapt the root file system for your device you'll need to:

• Add a boot loader
• Add a kernel
• Add X.org 1.17 drivers
• Add any other hardware specific configuration

If we start seeing new Ubuntu MATE device images created by the community the Ubuntu MATE project will gladly host the images and create a page to catalogue all the available images.

The root file system is based on the regular Ubuntu armhf base, and not the new Snappy Core, which means that the installation procedure for applications is the same as that for the regular desktop version, ie using apt-get.

NOTE! There are no predefined user accounts. The first time you boot the Ubuntu MATE image it will run through a setup wizard where you can create your own user account and configure your regional settings.

Making an Ubuntu MATE ARMv7 device image

These instructions are brief but hopefully sufficient for ARM device hackers to get started.

Download

The generic Ubuntu MATE armhf root filesystem tarball is available for download.

• http://master.dl.sourceforge.net/project/ubuntu-mate/15.04/armhf/ubuntu-mate-15.04-desktop-armhf-rootfs.tar.gz

Extract the root file system

The root filesystem tarball will require a minimum of 4GB to extract. Extract the rootfs archive to the location the example build script uses.

sudo mkdir -p /var/local/build/vivid/ubuntu-mate/mate
cd /var/local/build/vivid/ubuntu-mate/mate
tar xvf ~/Download/ubuntu-mate-15.04-desktop-armhf-rootfs.tar.gz .

Get the example build script

NOTE! Currently this script will only run on an armhf device.

The Ubuntu MATE team have created a very simple script that builds an Ubuntu MATE armhf image. This is largely based on the image we made for the Raspberry Pi 2 and will require some modification for other devices.

cd ~
git clone git@bitbucket.org:ubuntu-mate/ubuntu-mate-armhf.git

Build an image

NOTE! Currently this script will only run on an armhf device.

In order to add support for a new ARMv7 device you will need to:

• Create a configure_device() function. The configure_raspi2() can be used as a reference.
• Modify the armhf_image() function so ${DEVICE_NAME} can call your configure_device() function.
• You may need to modify the make_image() function to correctly setup the /boot and / partitions for your device.
• At the bottom of the script add a call to armhf_image that references your device.

Once the above changes have been made, execute the script from a shell.

sudo ./build-image.sh

This will take a long time, so I suggest you start this running before you go to bed.

Tip! Mount /var/local/build/ on a NAS via NFS.

If you add support for a new device please submit a pull request.

• https://bitbucket.org/ubuntu-mate/ubuntu-mate-armhf

Write an image to flash

Once you've created an image it can be written to flash storage using ddrescue.

sudo ddrescue -d -D --force ubuntu-mate-15.04-desktop-armhf-device.img /dev/sdX

The flash storage may be mounted on any /dev/sdX so use the command lsblk to check.

Feedback and Improvements

If you start working on, or create, an Ubuntu MATE image for an ARMv7 device then please let us know in the Ubuntu MATE Development Discussion forum.

If you have any improvements, or add new device support, then please submit a pull request to our BitBucket.

• https://bitbucket.org/ubuntu-mate/ubuntu-mate-armhf

References

The Ubuntu MATE team have created an image for the Raspberry Pi 2. It may be a useful reference.

• https://bitbucket.org/ubuntu-mate/ubuntu-mate-rpi2

Changes

2015-05-09

• Initial Release.