Unboxing the Beaglebone Black Wireless
I would like to start by thanking the Element 14 community for allowing me the privilege of participation in the testing and review of this product . It is my intention to provide an informative review of the BBB Wireless for you, the reader. I hope that you will find this report helpful and thank you for your time reading it. Okay let's get started. It is with great honor I present to you, the Beaglebone Black Wireless.
The BBB Wireless arrived from Newark Element 14 on time as promised. It was found securely packaged and intact upon opening of box. Packaging is of good quality with Newark Element 14 website printed on box. Inside the box protected with recyclable packing paper and pink antistatic bubble wrap is the box containing the BBB Wireless and some documentation from Element 14. The box containing the BBB W is of very good quality. Glossy printed color image of device on box, on reverse some information about the device and country of origin which is Madison Heights, Michigan,USA.
Inside the box I found a printed card from beagleboard.org containing easy to follow instructions for the first boot. On the reverse of card are found two different methods of getting started with the device. The first option is “Tethered to a PC” and the directions are as follows:
- Connect the USB cable to the board
- Connect the other end of the USB cable to the PC
- Look for a new mass storage drive to appear on PC
- Open the drive and click on START.HTM
- Follow the instructions on the PC
And the second option is “Stand alone Beaglebone Black”. Here are the directions as listed. I would like to mention that this method will require peripherals not included with the board. They are an USB keyboard and mouse, an USB hub, a HDMI TYPE A to HDMI MICRO TYPE D cable, and a 5V 1A DC Power Supply with a 2.1mm ID x 5.5mm OD Coaxial DC Barrel Plug all of which are available from Newark Element 14 and Premier Farnell Element 14. The start up guide states a 5V 1A DC power supply but the Adafruit power supply that is listed on Newark as being associated with the BBB Wireless is a 5V 2A DC Switching Power Supply with US 2 prong Plug. If purchasing for use in another country, you will need to get a 5V 1A DC power supply with that country's power plug. I believe that the 2A version is safe to use as with the recent addition of the new wireless chip and any USB peripherals connected, the 1A might not be sufficient anymore. This is just an assumption and I will refer to beagleboard.org to clarify what exact specs are required. I was able to download the Beaglebone Black System Reference Manual from the site but I was not able to find a specific manual for the Wireless version yet. The supplier might be in the process of creating a revised copy with the recent hardware updates. If you have the necessary peripherals to get started with the stand alone Beaglebone then here are the simple instructions for that method as stated in provided quick start guide.
- Connect the keyboard/mouse to the USB Host port
- Connect the HDMI cable to the board
- Connect the HDMI cable to the HDMI monitor
- Plug in a 5V 1A DC power supply
- Board will boot without password
- Desktop will appear on the monitor
I am about to purchase a HDMI TYPE A to HDMI MICRO TYPE D cable and a 5V 1A DC power supply to test the BBB Wireless in the second method but in the meantime I will be performing what tests I can with a PC.