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BBONE-BLACK-WIRELESS and BB-CAPE-DISP-CT43

teddytronix

Hello,

I am trying to figure out if the two products in the subject line are compatible without having to jump through those proverbial hoops: the element14 BeagleBone Black Wireless with WiFi & Bluetooth, and the Beaglebone Black Touchscreen Display.

 

Both are currently available at CPC under order codes, respectively, SC14310 and SC14039.

 

I have been reading through a variety of documents, but I am still struggling to come up with a definitive answer. On the CPC site it says, for the touch screen, "connects directly to your BeagleBone" and "plug-and-play functionality with the default Debian operating system". On element14 it states "*PLEASE read the folowing notice regarding product compatibility with BeagleBone Black." which then reveals that firmware updates are required as the element14 B'Bone is different to a standard one. There is then a comment stating that after the firmware upgrade the wireless and bluetooth will not work any longer. Confusing :-)

 

Some documents appear several years old, but I cannot find any notice if they have been superseeded. Or, indeed, found any more recent versions.

 

So, can I just connect SC14310 and SC14039, i.e. element14 BeagleBone Black Wireless with WiFi & Bluetooth and Beaglebone Black Touchscreen Display, to work out-of-the-box(es), or are mods like firmware updates required?

 

After any updates, will all subsystems be functional?

 

Many thanks, for your time,

Teddy

  • 0

    Hi Teddy,

     

    I don't have these so I'm slightly speculating (and hopefully anyone who owns these and with better information can step in), but I think it's best to assume that it will not be plug-and-play, and that some firmware will be needed. The reason is, there are so many variants of BeagleBones now, and things don't always get tested.

    As far as I can tell, the display cape uses a lot of I/O pins, so again there's a chance that some BeagleBone variants will need some functionality disabled to provide pin support for the display mode. It can't be assumed everything will be functional and will need someone to try it out I suspect.

  • 0 in reply to shabaz

    Hi Shabaz,

    this is my first attempt at venturing into BeagleBone territory so this is very helpful information, thank you. Don't think I relised there were many variations, for starters.

     

    The most worrying aspect in the docs and comments I read was that the wireless and bluetooth might not work after the firmware for the lcd was installed, and with the board not having cable ethernet this would obviously be pretty limiting ... have display, but cannot connect :-)

     

    The point you make regarding the i/o pins increases my suspicions this may be more problematic than it appears at first glance.

     

    I'll see if there are more replies before deciding,

     

    thanks again,

    Teddy

  • 0

    The 'problem' is that you'll have to set this up manually for it to work, basically you need the code / device tree overlay from the image available at 4.3 LCD Display Cape for Beaglebone Board (White, Black, or Wireless) to then apply it to the latest Debian image to run on the BeagleBone Wireless. The 'image' or 'OS Image' that was produced and available to download on the link here is assuming you only have the BeagleBone Black, so it won't contain the firmware, device tree, or drivers for the WiFi and Bluetooth.

     

    The overlay for this board is available https://github.com/beagleboard/bb.org-overlays/blob/master/src/arm/BB-CAPE-DISP-CT4-00A0.dts  which should help show what pins, etc are needed.

     

    Hopefully can step in and provide further guidance or files for supporting the display cape.

  • 0 in reply to cstanton

    Hi Christopher,

     

    thanks for the pointers and especially the link to the overlay. Good to see that there is lots of info, too.

     

    I have just bought both after realising that they are on very special offer at cpc.co.uk and

     

    ** cost less than GBP20 for both **

     

    ... less than six for the beagle, hard to beat that price I would imagine. Should anyone be interested: SC1431069 and SC1403969 (as above but with 69's added ... important as that is the offer code). Both are in a quickly changing section of the site so prices won't last for long.

     

    Any other pointers, info, comments very welcome,

     

    many thanks,

    Teddy

  • 0

    Hello again,

     

    just to report back ... this turned out to be very straightforward in the end:

     

    I played around with the Beagle for a bit, then followed the instructions ("Getting started") to upgrade to the latest image, and played a bit more.

     

    Then I plugged the display in, switched back on and voila ... there is was all working, wireless and bluetooth and lcd display.

     

    Pleasant surprise.

     

    Many thanks again for all your very helpful replies,

    Teddy

     

    p.s. I could not get the Beagle for less than six pound ... but managed to get it for less than half price from the CPC "special offers" section.

  • 0 in reply to teddytronix

    Thanks for the update, looking forward to seeing what you do with it image