Regarding Repositories

I did end up decompressing the .zip on a windows PC, but I guess that won't work for .tar files etc.

What is the most practical way to bring in a program from outside the .iso in this case?

I think 7-zip on windows  will open them
but you should be able to untar them (with tar) that I think will be installed.

Our family used to own a sheep property in Western Queensland which was the same size as whole country! Barbados. Not to mention that the Kimberleys region is 6000 km from where I live now..

futurestud.io/tutorials/ubuntu-debian-ho...%20it.,%3E%20%2Dd%20.

may help

Hello everyone,

I'm attempting to install on an off-brand Single Board Computer (Libre-Computer All-H3-CC).
I've been unable to get any of the premade .iso images from the linuxcnc download site to work, so instead I've gotten the board running with debian stretch (the only version of debian available from the manufacturer's website.)

But when I get to the point of downloading the repository using the instructions from buildbot.linuxcnc.org/ I received the following message:When it's done, there's no linuxcnc package available to install.

I'm following the instructions and using Synaptic, but happy to use any tool available.

The repositories I've added are: "buildbot.linuxcnc.org" with type Binary (deb) and type Source (deb-src) both of these repositories also have Distrubtion: stretch and Sections 2.8-rtpreempt.

Thanks for any help.

(FYI1: there is also a Ubuntu 18.04 image available.)

(FYI2: the board architecture is ARM)

linuxcnc is not native configured for ARM CPUs.

it is predominantly for x86 CPUs.

linuxcnc.org/docs/stable/html/getting-st...:system-requirements

that being said there is a configuration for RPI4

The Raspberry Pi 4 uses a Broadcom BCM2711 SoC with a 1.5 GHz (later models: 1.8 GHz) 64-bit quad-core ARM Cortex-A72 processor, with 1 MB shared L2 cache.

so, firstly you would be better (easier) to find an x86 pc (intel/and) and install from the iso's

or you could try the rpi4 distro.... it may work or it may not....
www.linuxcnc.org/iso/linuxcnc-2.8.1-pi4.zip

you can also try to install the armhf Deb
www.linuxcnc.org/dists/buster/2.8-rtpree...pace_2.8.1_armhf.deb

or you could have a read of the threads on the forum related to porting linuxcnc to the rpi4 and try to configure and build your own configuration for YOUR ARM board.

if it were me.... I'd just find a cheap x86 pc or thin client and install the official linuxcnc 2.8.2 stable iso via usb stick. job done working machine.

Thank you so much for the quick and yet thorough and sage reply.

I'm trying to plan on a form factor need - I may need to put dozens of these in the smallest space possible with the least power requirements. Hence my hoping to get an SBC to work. (Ie, lots of little SBCs, fyi the final milling material would be majority lexan, so I suspect that will also allow for designing a system with lower power demands.)

(Alas with covid, the raspis have become as expensive as a pc board, grrr, I tried to boot from the raspi image, but i attempted it directly from an SD card... I haven't yet tried a USB stick now, which might be a next step now that I have a booting SBC. The libre computer specs are pretty hefty at only $50ish.)

On the buildbot.linuxcnc.org site, it listed the 2.8 buster distro as armhf... do you know if that's a typo? Because armhf  should theoretically work on the libre SBC.

Alternatively, is there a part of the site/community that's helps compiling the source? I once did some custom mods on the second life client, so I could reluctantly see myself going there... (but id really like to avoid that level of work ;-P ).

(I've got eclectic skills, so if we keep corresponding,  I'll have unexpectable spots of ignorance. Apologies in advance.   )

Thanks again!

You can try this. You might need to do a bit of googling.
1. Install debian on your SBC
2. edit your sources.list to look for Debian Bookworm aka testing
3. Upgrade Debian to Bookworm
If that works try:
4. install the preempt_rt image (search synaptic for linux_image)
5. install linuxcnc from packages:
sudo apt install linuxcnc-uspace linuxcnc-uspace-dev mesaflash

These packages are built for ARM by the Debian buildbots but they may not work (they don't on the PI 4B) 

As of today, We are close to finalising a PI4 64bit image that includes linuxcnc if that helps.