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First Boot: What to Expect

Once flashing is complete, if you flashed Headless software, your Tachyon board will automatically begin its first boot process**.
This stage is crucial as it sets up the operating system, connectivity, and system services.

If the board is a Desktop image, the device remains in bootloader mode and is waiting for you to power it (hold power for 3 seconds), then swap over the USB-C cables to use the USB-C hub, then power on again.

Expect the Primary LED to change from flashing yellow to flashing green, indicating that the system is booting.
Refer to the LED page for a detailed breakdown of LED behaviors.

The first boot typically takes 30 seconds, during which the device performs several critical initialization steps.

Boot Process Overview​

Upon first boot, the Primary LED will transition from flashing yellow to flashing green.
Refer to the LED page for a full breakdown of LED behaviors.

Booting Tachyon for the first time typically takes 20-30 seconds, during which:

  1. The bootloader starts.
  2. The UEFI bootloader initializes and loads the Linux kernel.
  3. The Linux kernel starts, loads the system disk, and mounts the user-space OS.
  4. The user-space OS starts, launching system services.
  5. Particle-specific services (prefixed with particle-) start running.
    • particle-ril.service → Manages the 5G radio.
    • Other services configure Wi-Fi, device connectivity, and platform integration.

Once these steps complete, the device finalizes its networking setup.

Wi-Fi & Cellular Connectivity​

  • If Wi-Fi was configured during setup, the system will attempt to connect to that network.
  • If Wi-Fi is unavailable, the 5G modem will activate automatically.
    • The first 5G connection can take 2-5 minutes as the device searches and registers on the network.
    • Subsequent boots are much faster since the device remembers previous networks.
  • Once connected:
    • The device appears in the Particle Console.
    • You can remotely access the device via SSH, ADB, or the console.

Running the Desktop Build (Optional)​

If using a desktop build:

  1. Connect a USB-C hub before powering on.
  2. Attach an HDMI monitor, keyboard, and mouse.
  3. The desktop environment will load automatically.

You need to login to the desktop to get to the user interface. Only the Particle user can login here - the password is the same as the you specified during setup.

Next Steps: Deploying Applications​

At this stage, no applications are running on the device.
However, once an application is deployed:

  • The application is automatically downloaded.
  • Containers, configurations, and dependencies are installed.
  • The application starts automatically.

Security Considerations for Development vs. Production​

  • Current builds are development builds with:
    • Root access enabled for convenience.
    • Pre-installed Particle services running with low-privilege users.
  • Production builds will be locked down:
    • No root access.
    • Only required services will be active.

🔹 For development, you have full access. For production, security is a priority.

Tips & Best Practices​

✔ Don't forget your root password!

  • During setup, you were prompted to set a root password.
  • Root access is only available in development mode.
  • In production, root login will be disabled.
  • This password is also applied to the 'particle' user which is the default user on the board. This is needed as the desktop build does not support root login (good!) and so we've created this automatically.

Note that user setup and configuration will come soon to the Particle Console

✔ Services differ between development and production

  • Some services auto-start in development but will not in production.
  • These services include debugging tools, remote access utilities, and certain system logs.

✔ Accessing the Console

Next Step → Access the Console