A tale of a serial cable

Beagleblog
Finally the BeagleBoard has arrived. Unfortunately custom offices are charging me additional US$ 30. Ripping the package open I am shocked: It's so tiny! On first sight I can't find the OMAP processor. Almost by chance I find the explanation reading through some web site. Following the PoP construction principle (Package on a Package) the memory chip is mounted on the CPU.
A yellow LED shows that the power supply via the USB port is working. For connecting the BeagleBoard with a PC you need an AT/Everex serial cable, which plugs into the pin header of the board and has a RS-232 serial port on the other end. You might have a hard time getting one of these at your local dealer because stuff like this is considered "legacy" these days. So better order one together with your board.
Unfortunately the cable I found at some old-school dealer seems to have a different pinout than required. It just doesn't work whatever pinout or settings in the terminal program Minicom I try (it's 115200,8N1, no flow control for those who know). Luckily my workmate has recycled one that works from an old PC. So upon plugging in the BeagleBoard the TI boot loader appears:
Texas Instruments X-Loader 1.41 Starting OS Bootloader... U-Boot 1.3.3 (Jul 10 2008 - 16:33:09) OMAP3530-GP rev 2, CPU-OPP2 L3-165MHz OMAP3 Beagle Board + LPDDR/NAND DRAM: 128 MB NAND: 256 MiB In: serial Out: serial Err: serial Audio Tone on Speakers ... complete OMAP3 beagleboard.org #
That's US$4.50 down the drain for that alleged Everx cable, but whatever, it's working now. Next step will be to install an actual Linux distribution on the small computer.
Comments
comments powered by DisqusSubscribe to our Linux Newsletters
Find Linux and Open Source Jobs
Subscribe to our ADMIN Newsletters
Support Our Work
Linux Magazine content is made possible with support from readers like you. Please consider contributing when you've found an article to be beneficial.
News
-
The GNU Project Celebrates Its 40th Birthday
September 27 marks the 40th anniversary of the GNU Project, and it was celebrated with a hacker meeting in Biel/Bienne, Switzerland.
-
Linux Kernel Reducing Long-Term Support
LTS support for the Linux kernel is about to undergo some serious changes that will have a considerable impact on the future.
-
Fedora 39 Beta Now Available for Testing
For fans and users of Fedora Linux, the first beta of release 39 is now available, which is a minor upgrade but does include GNOME 45.
-
Fedora Linux 40 to Drop X11 for KDE Plasma
When Fedora 40 arrives in 2024, there will be a few big changes coming, especially for the KDE Plasma option.
-
Real-Time Ubuntu Available in AWS Marketplace
Anyone looking for a Linux distribution for real-time processing could do a whole lot worse than Real-Time Ubuntu.
-
KSMBD Finally Reaches a Stable State
For those who've been looking forward to the first release of KSMBD, after two years it's no longer considered experimental.
-
Nitrux 3.0.0 Has Been Released
The latest version of Nitrux brings plenty of innovation and fresh apps to the table.
-
Linux From Scratch 12.0 Now Available
If you're looking to roll your own Linux distribution, the latest version of Linux From Scratch is now available with plenty of updates.
-
Linux Kernel 6.5 Has Been Released
The newest Linux kernel, version 6.5, now includes initial support for two very exciting features.
-
UbuntuDDE 23.04 Now Available
A new version of the UbuntuDDE remix has finally arrived with all the updates from the Deepin desktop and everything that comes with the Ubuntu 23.04 base.
Good tip on the details
Mike
Thanks
Best
Oliver
Everex cables
http://jefro.wordpress.com/...eagle-board-development-parts/
but there are many better ones, particularly on Meld (http://meld.mvista.com) and elinux.org (http://elinux.org).
Have fun!