Deciding it was time for some technical fun after reading this excellent article: A Note On Setting Up the SheevaPlug Linux Plug Computer saw a prompt next day delivery of my own new Sheeva Multi Boot Plug Computer this past week.

Before connecting the Sheeva Plug to your network it is worth making sure you have a DHCPD server running on your network so it boots up all OK and gets an IP address. If this is not available you will not be able to ssh to the new device and only be able to connect via the USB to the Console - minicom being my preferred tool to connect

Once connected to minicom via the USB cable the boot process can be interrupted to show the Sheeva Plug Marvel Default U-Boot Firmware Version:

To upgrade the firmware to 3.4.27 i.e. Upgrade the Sheeva Plugs U-Boot I followed the simple instructions from Martin Michlmayr Upgrading U-Boot

• Set up a TFTP Server first
• Choose the U-Boot firmware for your Sheeva Plug

Dump the uboot.bin down to the Sheeva Plug via TFTP and then install without changing the Little Endian status and reset the device:

Once again while connected to minicom via the USB cable the boot process can be interrupted to show the Sheeva Plug Marvel Default U-Boot Upgraded Version:

So far so good :) The next part is to play some more - booting into the default Ubuntu works a charm

• root@ubuntu:~# uname -a
• Linux ubuntu 2.6.34.6 #1 PREEMPT Thu Aug 26 22:04:51 MDT 2010 armv5tel GNU/Linux

The next update will cover more fun with the Sheeva Plug which might involve FreeBSD