NetRexx on the BeagleBone Black

[Tom Maynard]

After a bit of finagling, I managed to get a working Java + NetRexx configuration on the BeagleBone Black (BBB).  I had to install OpenJDK 6, and NetRexx of course, but with those in place and a bit of PATH and CLASSPATH tweaking, I was on my way:

root@beaglebone:~/NetRexx# cat HelloWorld.nrx
/*
 * HelloWorld - Do I even have to explain this?
 */
say "Hello, NetRexx World!"

root@beaglebone:~/NetRexx# nrc -run HelloWorld
NetRexx portable processor, version NetRexx 3.02, build 11-20130323-1551
Copyright (c) RexxLA, 2011,2013.  All rights reserved.
Parts Copyright (c) IBM Corporation, 1995,2008.
Program HelloWorld.nrx
Compilation of 'HelloWorld.nrx' successful
Running HelloWorld...
Hello, NetRexx World!

root@beaglebone:~/NetRexx#

[Blank lines added for clarity.]

If there's a drawback to the BBB -- and there isn't really -- it's simply that the Raspberry Pi is the "road more traveled."  If you're a rank beginner, with no need to interface directly with literally dozens of (65!) external hardware/sensors, etc., then the RasPi is probably a better choice.  Most likely there's someone who's already done it ... whatever it is.

I am (probably) the first human on the face of the Earth to compile and run a NetRexx program on the BBB.  It's not a distinction that I cherish.  In fact, I'd like some company!

This is the beast (Moderator, Strip the images if size is an issue):

   

As René said, "It's the most fun I've ever had with a toy." (Not his exact words....)

Tom.

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[rvjansen]

Tom,

What great news. It reminds me that we still need a workable netrexxcps to standardize and have some shootouts to see which decisions to take for boards/jvms/options. I'll contact my hardware pusher for one when I am back in Europe ... Fortunately that is still some time from now.

Would it be very wrong to have a netrexxcps constructed from the current set of samples, taking into account that we need cpu intensive, i/o, Netrexx String and Jvm oriented collection operations - all in a mix? I would not know any better approach right now - there are so many ways to use it. Would the translator compilation be representative? Or should we go for a whole slew of microbenchmarks? I always was a big fan of Rexxcps, and in private I can tell a great story about it, which I will not do on-list out of respect to the maker and his then-employer.

I like everything I read about the beagle, is it an easy yum or apt-get install to get software for it?

Best regards,

René Vincent Jansen

On 15 mei 2013, at 20:39, Tom Maynard <[hidden email]> wrote:

After a bit of finagling, I managed to get a working Java + NetRexx configuration on the BeagleBone Black (BBB).  I had to install OpenJDK 6, and NetRexx of course, but with those in place and a bit of PATH and CLASSPATH tweaking, I was on my way:

root@beaglebone:~/NetRexx# cat HelloWorld.nrx
/*
 * HelloWorld - Do I even have to explain this?
 */
say "Hello, NetRexx World!"

root@beaglebone:~/NetRexx# nrc -run HelloWorld
NetRexx portable processor, version NetRexx 3.02, build 11-20130323-1551
Copyright (c) RexxLA, 2011,2013.  All rights reserved.
Parts Copyright (c) IBM Corporation, 1995,2008.
Program HelloWorld.nrx
Compilation of 'HelloWorld.nrx' successful
Running HelloWorld...
Hello, NetRexx World!

root@beaglebone:~/NetRexx#

[Blank lines added for clarity.]

If there's a drawback to the BBB -- and there isn't really -- it's simply that the Raspberry Pi is the "road more traveled."  If you're a rank beginner, with no need to interface directly with literally dozens of (65!) external hardware/sensors, etc., then the RasPi is probably a better choice.  Most likely there's someone who's already done it ... whatever it is.

I am (probably) the first human on the face of the Earth to compile and run a NetRexx program on the BBB.  It's not a distinction that I cherish.  In fact, I'd like some company!

This is the beast (Moderator, Strip the images if size is an issue):

<beaglebone-black.jpg>    <beaglebone-specs.png>

As René said, "It's the most fun I've ever had with a toy." (Not his exact words....)

Tom.

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[Bruce Skelly]

I bought one yesterday.  It should be showing up in a week or so.  

The only thing that bothered me about the BBB, is that it has 2GB of flash on the board.  Now this may be much todo about nothing, but one of the complaints about the Raspberry pi was that it had to boot from the SDHC card.  It was felt that over time, the SDHC would wear out and have to be replaced.  At least it is pretty easy to replace an SDHC card.  If the same should happen to the built in flash, that would pretty much be the end of the board.  

Again, this may not end up being much of a problem in general use.  Flash memory does have a definite life.  I know that I've had SD cards that have quit working for no apparent reason. I believe I've heard that EEPROM has a life that is an order of magnitude created than FLASH.

Bruce

[Tom Maynard]

On 05/16/2013 07:36 PM, René Jansen wrote:

Would it be very wrong to have a netrexxcps constructed from the current set of samples

I confess to unfamiliarity with any of the Rexx CPS family -- beyond that which I have acquired from these various lists. So I'm not suited to have a hand in its design or construction, I would think. If you need an installer, or an outlier guinea pig testbed, then I'm your man!

I'm also not yet insane enough to venture once again down that well-trodden path of "Computer Language Shootouts" (that way lies madness). No: better I thought just to see how my two Javas stacked up here ... and since NetRexx "merely" generates Java source [save the brickbats for later please, I realize that's heresy of the first order] I simply left NetRexx out of the equation. My procedure follows.

TL;DR The executive summary: Host system = 1,200, BBB = 12.

Or should we go for a whole slew of microbenchmarks?

I was interested in comparing the raw Java capability on my three platforms (Win/Lin on amd64, and ARMv7a on BBB) so I rather randomly selected the SciMark 2.0 benchmark, not because it runs the gamut of Java capabilities, but primarily because it comes from the NIST -- an origin in which I place a reasonable amount of trust. And it flexes muscles with which I am at least familiar. I set my watch per the recommendation of the NIST, after all.... Their download page.

And, my tests didn't involve NetRexx at all: I made no attempt to translate any of the benchmarks to NetRexx. My query was simply: "How bad is the BeagleBone Black, really?" I have run the Linux (my current host system) and BBB trials so far, with the Win7 test to be subsequent to my next reboot there.

After I ran the tests I immediately realized that I am incapable of analyzing the results, but as a pure comparison they have some tiny value -- but no attempt was made to "level the playing field" in any way. Nothing is the same across systems save NetRexx, which wasn't involved! These are apples and oranges ... from different planets.

Lubuntu 13.04 (the LXDE variant of Ubuntu):

╭─tom@venus  ~/Downloads  
╰─$ uname -a && cat /etc/*release
Linux venus 3.8.0-21-generic #32-Ubuntu SMP Tue May 14 22:16:46 UTC 2013 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux
DISTRIB_ID=Ubuntu
DISTRIB_RELEASE=13.04
DISTRIB_CODENAME=raring
DISTRIB_DESCRIPTION="Ubuntu 13.04"
NAME="Ubuntu"
VERSION="13.04, Raring Ringtail"
ID=ubuntu
ID_LIKE=debian
PRETTY_NAME="Ubuntu 13.04"
VERSION_ID="13.04"
HOME_URL="http://www.ubuntu.com/"
SUPPORT_URL="http://help.ubuntu.com/"
BUG_REPORT_URL="http://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/"

╭─tom@venus  ~/Downloads  
╰─$ ls *.jar
scimark2lib.jar

╭─tom@venus  ~/Downloads  
╰─$ java -cp scimark2lib.jar jnt.scimark2.commandline

SciMark 2.0a

Composite Score: 1265.6632256172502
FFT (1024): 845.4874797092333
SOR (100x100):   1214.9779632490277
Monte Carlo : 658.5352790565404
Sparse matmult (N=1000, nz=5000): 1199.1948168457877
LU (100x100): 2410.1205892256617

java.vendor: Oracle Corporation
java.version: 1.7.0_21
os.arch: amd64
os.name: Linux
os.version: 3.8.0-21-generic

BeagleBone Black Ångström

╭─tom@venus  ~/Downloads  
╰─$ sftp root@beagle
root@beagle's password: 
Connected to beagle.
sftp> put scimark2lib.jar 
Uploading scimark2lib.jar to /home/root/scimark2lib.jar
scimark2lib.jar                               100%   33KB  33.4KB/s   00:00    
sftp> quit

╭─tom@venus  ~/Downloads  
╰─$ ssh root@beagle
root@beagle's password: 

╭─root@beaglebone ~
╰─# uname -a && cat /etc/*release
 Linux beaglebone 3.8.6 #1 SMP Sat Apr 13 09:10:52 CEST 2013 armv7l GNU/Linux
 NAME=Angstrom
 ID=angstrom
 PRETTY_NAME=The Ångström Distribution

╭─root@beaglebone ~
╰─# java -cp scimark2lib.jar jnt.scimark2.commandline

SciMark 2.0a

Composite Score: 12.321033912806325
FFT (1024): 8.048954713568516
SOR (100x100):   20.032383748321344
Monte Carlo : 5.7852467063020265
Sparse matmult (N=1000, nz=5000): 13.731142960110086
LU (100x100): 14.00744143572965

java.vendor: Sun Microsystems Inc.
java.version: 1.6.0_24
os.arch: arm
os.name: Linux
os.version: 3.8.6

╭─root@beaglebone ~
╰─#

I like everything I read about the beagle, is it an easy yum or apt-get install to get software for it?

As shown above, the BBB comes out of the box with The Ånström Distribution, a fork from OpenEmbedded via Yocto. Ånström seems to be gaining some traction in the embedded market (although less so in the hobby segment). Other options are Ubuntu, Gentoo, Arch, Android, RISC, ....

Rather than bore the list with tiresome further details I'll say only that opkg is the package manager for the default OS, and is functionally similar to apt, yum, and others. Anyone may contact me off-list for further details on any of the above.

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[ThSITC]

Hi Rene, and all,

*as* I am now trying to finish some of my old works, *and* shall be also quite interested to compare
the *various approaches* to each other, and, also am still needing *good testcases* for my QA ::=
Quality Assurance ....

... does anybody of You, there, on ibm-netrexx, a *spec* available what NetRexxCps *shall measure* ???

Thomas Schneider.
================================================================================
Am 17.05.2013 16:43, schrieb Tom Maynard:

On 05/16/2013 07:36 PM, René Jansen wrote:

Would it be very wrong to have a netrexxcps constructed from the current set of samples

I confess to unfamiliarity with any of the Rexx CPS family -- beyond that which I have acquired from these various lists. So I'm not suited to have a hand in its design or construction, I would think. If you need an installer, or an outlier guinea pig testbed, then I'm your man!

I'm also not yet insane enough to venture once again down that well-trodden path of "Computer Language Shootouts" (that way lies madness). No: better I thought just to see how my two Javas stacked up here ... and since NetRexx "merely" generates Java source [save the brickbats for later please, I realize that's heresy of the first order] I simply left NetRexx out of the equation. My procedure follows.

TL;DR The executive summary: Host system = 1,200, BBB = 12.

Or should we go for a whole slew of microbenchmarks?

I was interested in comparing the raw Java capability on my three platforms (Win/Lin on amd64, and ARMv7a on BBB) so I rather randomly selected the SciMark 2.0 benchmark, not because it runs the gamut of Java capabilities, but primarily because it comes from the NIST -- an origin in which I place a reasonable amount of trust. And it flexes muscles with which I am at least familiar. I set my watch per the recommendation of the NIST, after all.... Their download page.

And, my tests didn't involve NetRexx at all: I made no attempt to translate any of the benchmarks to NetRexx. My query was simply: "How bad is the BeagleBone Black, really?" I have run the Linux (my current host system) and BBB trials so far, with the Win7 test to be subsequent to my next reboot there.

After I ran the tests I immediately realized that I am incapable of analyzing the results, but as a pure comparison they have some tiny value -- but no attempt was made to "level the playing field" in any way. Nothing is the same across systems save NetRexx, which wasn't involved! These are apples and oranges ... from different planets.

Lubuntu 13.04 (the LXDE variant of Ubuntu):

╭─tom@venus  ~/Downloads  
╰─$ uname -a && cat /etc/*release
Linux venus 3.8.0-21-generic #32-Ubuntu SMP Tue May 14 22:16:46 UTC 2013 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux
DISTRIB_ID=Ubuntu
DISTRIB_RELEASE=13.04
DISTRIB_CODENAME=raring
DISTRIB_DESCRIPTION="Ubuntu 13.04"
NAME="Ubuntu"
VERSION="13.04, Raring Ringtail"
ID=ubuntu
ID_LIKE=debian
PRETTY_NAME="Ubuntu 13.04"
VERSION_ID="13.04"
HOME_URL="http://www.ubuntu.com/"
SUPPORT_URL="http://help.ubuntu.com/"
BUG_REPORT_URL="http://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/"

╭─tom@venus  ~/Downloads  
╰─$ ls *.jar
scimark2lib.jar

╭─tom@venus  ~/Downloads  
╰─$ java -cp scimark2lib.jar jnt.scimark2.commandline

SciMark 2.0a

Composite Score: 1265.6632256172502
FFT (1024): 845.4874797092333
SOR (100x100):   1214.9779632490277
Monte Carlo : 658.5352790565404
Sparse matmult (N=1000, nz=5000): 1199.1948168457877
LU (100x100): 2410.1205892256617

java.vendor: Oracle Corporation
java.version: 1.7.0_21
os.arch: amd64
os.name: Linux
os.version: 3.8.0-21-generic

BeagleBone Black Ångström

╭─tom@venus  ~/Downloads  
╰─$ sftp root@beagle
root@beagle's password: 
Connected to beagle.
sftp> put scimark2lib.jar 
Uploading scimark2lib.jar to /home/root/scimark2lib.jar
scimark2lib.jar                               100%   33KB  33.4KB/s   00:00    
sftp> quit

╭─tom@venus  ~/Downloads  
╰─$ ssh root@beagle
root@beagle's password: 

╭─root@beaglebone ~
╰─# uname -a && cat /etc/*release
 Linux beaglebone 3.8.6 #1 SMP Sat Apr 13 09:10:52 CEST 2013 armv7l GNU/Linux
 NAME=Angstrom
 ID=angstrom
 PRETTY_NAME=The Ångström Distribution

╭─root@beaglebone ~
╰─# java -cp scimark2lib.jar jnt.scimark2.commandline

SciMark 2.0a

Composite Score: 12.321033912806325
FFT (1024): 8.048954713568516
SOR (100x100):   20.032383748321344
Monte Carlo : 5.7852467063020265
Sparse matmult (N=1000, nz=5000): 13.731142960110086
LU (100x100): 14.00744143572965

java.vendor: Sun Microsystems Inc.
java.version: 1.6.0_24
os.arch: arm
os.name: Linux
os.version: 3.8.6

╭─root@beaglebone ~
╰─#

I like everything I read about the beagle, is it an easy yum or apt-get install to get software for it?

As shown above, the BBB comes out of the box with The Ånström Distribution, a fork from OpenEmbedded via Yocto. Ånström seems to be gaining some traction in the embedded market (although less so in the hobby segment). Other options are Ubuntu, Gentoo, Arch, Android, RISC, ....

Rather than bore the list with tiresome further details I'll say only that opkg is the package manager for the default OS, and is functionally similar to apt, yum, and others. Anyone may contact me off-list for further details on any of the above.

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[Tom Maynard]

On 05/17/2013 08:57 AM, Bruce Skelly wrote:

I bought one yesterday.  It should be showing up in a week or so.  

First, Welcome to the Club!

Second, Before this gets out of hand and we subtravert the NetRexx list entirely we should move these more generic discussions to the Beagleboard Forums. That is a much better, and ultimately more sympathetic home, I believe.

I will contact Bruce off-list to discuss the Flash vs SDcard issue.

Tom.

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[George Hovey-2]

Yes, and do some worthwhile NetRexx evangelizing, rather than preaching to the choir.  :)

On Fri, May 17, 2013 at 11:20 AM, Tom Maynard <[hidden email]> wrote:

On 05/17/2013 08:57 AM, Bruce Skelly wrote:

I bought one yesterday.  It should be showing up in a week or so.  

First, Welcome to the Club!

Second, Before this gets out of hand and we subtravert the NetRexx list entirely we should move these more generic discussions to the Beagleboard Forums. That is a much better, and ultimately more sympathetic home, I believe.

I will contact Bruce off-list to discuss the Flash vs SDcard issue.

Tom.

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--
"One can live magnificently in this world if one knows how to work and how to love."  --  Leo Tolstoy

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[ThSITC]

Evalengelizing is always well, especiall, when HOLY GHOST, the THIRD in TRINERTY, is coming
again to this, *or COMMON* Eart, the upcoming Sunday (PFINGSTEN, in German) ...

<grin>
Massa Thomas ;-)   (also: <grin>)

Have a nice weekend, all, of course, ....
... and relax from Computers, from Tie, to Time, when desired, and possible :-)

Going to a BRAND NEW FILM, today:

Jolanta Warpechowsky (obviously: from POLAND ;-))

*Überglück*    (german, in english: OVER-LUCK, or what ??)

Ask Google Translate, You GOOGLE FANS
========================================================
Am 17.05.2013 17:23, schrieb George Hovey:

Yes, and do some worthwhile NetRexx evangelizing, rather than preaching to the choir.  :)

On Fri, May 17, 2013 at 11:20 AM, Tom Maynard <[hidden email]> wrote:

On 05/17/2013 08:57 AM, Bruce Skelly wrote:

I bought one yesterday.  It should be showing up in a week or so.  

First, Welcome to the Club!

Second, Before this gets out of hand and we subtravert the NetRexx list entirely we should move these more generic discussions to the Beagleboard Forums. That is a much better, and ultimately more sympathetic home, I believe.

I will contact Bruce off-list to discuss the Flash vs SDcard issue.

Tom.

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--
"One can live magnificently in this world if one knows how to work and how to love."  --  Leo Tolstoy

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