Beaglebone Tips

Tips for the BeagleBone Green/Black.

Start with a minimal image

Step 1: Get the image

I start with the smallest image, then install what is required. Typically I don't use Cloud9 IDE and I have never used X11 (the GUI). I use the microSD/Standalone: (console) (BeagleBone/BeagleBone Black/BeagleBone Green) image. Although this is really bare-bones. This is just under 400MB in size.

To write the image to the SD card (using a Linux desktop) use the following command:

xzcat bone-debian-8.5-console-armhf-2016-06-05-2gb.img.xz  | dd of=/dev/mmcblk0

Note that the you should write to the drive (e.g. /dev/mmcblk0) not the partition (e.g. /dev/mmcblk0p1).

Step 2: Install the applications you require

Then I install the following components (this will use around 250 MB):

apt-get update
apt-get dist-upgrade -y

# For node development
apt-get install build-essential device-tree-compiler

# Other tools
apt-get install git mc i2c-tools minicom ppp python psmisc cpufrequtils

# I only use vim.tiny
cd /usr/bin
ln -s vim.tiny vim

We need to figure out which version of nodejs to use:

apt-cache madison nodejs

The install the version we want:

apt-get install nodejs=0.12.13* 

Finish up with:

apt-get autoremove
apt-get clean

The end result is a total installed size of 534 MB.

Step 3: Get and install the firmware

To load DTOs you will need to follow these instructions: https://github.com/beagleboard/bb.org-overlays

Once the firmware is installed, in theory you could uninstall many of the above components.

Make the console fancier

Add the following to ~/.bashrc:

# ls aliases
alias ls='ls --color=auto'
alias ll='ls -l'
alias la='ls -A'
alias l='ls -CF'

# Coloured prompt
export PS1="\[\033[38;5;1m\]\u\[$(tput sgr0)\]\[\033[38;5;2m\]@\h:\[$(tput bold)\]\[$(tput sgr0)\]\[\033[38;5;15m\]\w\[$(tput sgr0)\] \[$(tput sgr0)\]\[\033[38;5;2m\]\A\[$(tput sgr0)\]\[\033[38;5;15m\] \[$(tput sgr0)\]\[\033[38;5;2m\]\\$\[$(tput sgr0)\]\[\033[38;5;15m\] \[$(tput sgr0)\]"

# Allow quick viewing of the slots
export SLOTS=/sys/devices/platform/bone_capemgr/slots

Potential Issues you may encounter

The ssh login process takes a while

On the BeagleBone edit /etc/ssh/sshd_config and add the following line:

UseDNS no

This removes the reverse DNS lookup (which can take a while).

You need to run to restart the sshd service:

service sshd restart

The ethernet over USB does not work

I run Debian Linux on my Desktop/Laptop and like to ssh to the BeagleBone via USB. By default it worked out of the box. But then it stopped. Running mkudevrule.sh found on the BeagleBone start page fixed the problem.

One issue I had is that when I plug the BeagleBone into a USB 3.0 port it has issues with creating network. But the USB 2.0 ports work.

Still not working

Another technique is to run the following command as root (on the desktop PC):

ifconfig usb0 192.168.7.1

Where usb0 is the interface name of your BeagleBone device. In my case it's enx68c90bed2fce.

If you are running Ubuntu GNOME then you in the Network settings you need to set the following for USB Ethernet under IPv4:

Addresses: manual
Address: 192.168.7.1
Netmask: 255.255.255.0
Gateway: 0.0.0.0

Port Scan to find the BeagleBone on the network

Linux only

When you have the ethernet cable plugged into the BeagleBone and you want to know what the IP address is, you can port scan it:

nmap -T4 -F 192.168.2.100-255

Enable Wifi (specifically rtl8192cu)

Sources:

• http://www.erdahl.io/2016/04/configuring-wifi-on-beagleboardorg.html
• https://learn.adafruit.com/setting-up-wifi-with-beaglebone-black/configuration
• https://packages.debian.org/jessie/kernel/firmware-realtek

For my rtl8192cu I get the following message (on kernel 4.1.x):

[    3.235589] usbcore: registered new interface driver rtl8150
[    7.498277] rtl8192cu: Chip version 0x10
[    7.769925] rtl8192cu: MAC address: e0:3f:49:8f:50:1f
[    7.769952] rtl8192cu: Board Type 0
[    7.771832] rtl_usb: rx_max_size 15360, rx_urb_num 8, in_ep 1
[    7.771982] rtl8192cu: Loading firmware rtlwifi/rtl8192cufw_TMSC.bin
[    7.778692] usb 1-1: Direct firmware load for rtlwifi/rtl8192cufw_TMSC.bin failed with error -2
[    7.778759] usb 1-1: Direct firmware load for rtlwifi/rtl8192cufw.bin failed with error -2
[    7.778772] rtlwifi: Loading alternative firmware rtlwifi/rtl8192cufw.bin
[    7.778779] rtlwifi: Firmware rtlwifi/rtl8192cufw_TMSC.bin not available
[    7.823951] ieee80211 phy0: Selected rate control algorithm 'rtl_rc'
[    7.825363] usbcore: registered new interface driver rtl8192cu

The Debian firmware-realtek package will fix this issue:

apt-get install firmware-realtek wireless-tools

Then you should get the following result on boot:

[    3.235541] usbcore: registered new interface driver rtl8150
[    7.507096] rtl8192cu: Chip version 0x10
[    7.766588] rtl8192cu: MAC address: e0:3f:49:8f:50:1f
[    7.766616] rtl8192cu: Board Type 0
[    7.767681] rtl_usb: rx_max_size 15360, rx_urb_num 8, in_ep 1
[    7.767828] rtl8192cu: Loading firmware rtlwifi/rtl8192cufw_TMSC.bin
[    7.804861] ieee80211 phy0: Selected rate control algorithm 'rtl_rc'
[    7.806270] usbcore: registered new interface driver rtl8192cu
[   18.603677] rtl8192cu: MAC auto ON okay!
[   18.676509] rtl8192cu: Tx queue select: 0x05

Edit /etc/network/interfaces and add the following lines:

# WiFi Example
auto wlan0
iface wlan0 inet dhcp
    wpa-ssid "your-wlan-id"
    wpa-psk  "mypassword"

Then type:

ifup wlan0

Where "your-wlan-id" is the name of your wireless LAN and "password" is the password.

Instead of these last two steps you could use connmanctl see here.

Instead of /etc/network/interfaces you can use connman to configure wifi:

Use connmanctl to enable wifi

apt-get install connman
connmanctl

Then in connmanctl type the following commands:

enable wifi
scan wifi
agent on
services     # This will give you the list of avaiable services and their keys

The list of services will look something like:

*AO Wired                ethernet_68c90bed2fcc_cable
    Rigi97               wifi_e03f498f501f_526967693937_managed_psk
    Singer-AP            wifi_e03f498f501f_53696e6765722d4150_managed_psk

Then we connect to a wifi, still in connmanctl type:

connect wifi_e03f498f501f_526967693937_managed_psk

You will be asked to enter the passphrase.

I/O (Flash Drive) Performance enhancements for the BeagleBone

This link has some useful tips, these are summarised below.

Periodic TRIM Using cron

Add the following job to a daily cron job:

fstrim -v /

I/O Scheduler

Add the following lines to /etc/rc.local

echo noop > /sys/block/mmcblk0/queue/scheduler

Getting I2C working

This is to determine which i2c bus the 3D click is on. This requires the i2c-tools package, use sudo apt install i2c-tools to install it.

Run:

i2cdetect -y -r 2

note i2cdetect -y -r 1 or i2cdetect -y -r 0 also works. But for me bus 2 worked. I received an output that implied a few devices are connected. I got the following result:

     0  1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9  a  b  c  d  e  f
00:          -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
10: -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
20: -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
30: -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
40: 40 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
50: 50 51 52 53 UU UU UU UU -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
60: -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
70: -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --

To determine which was the 3D click I rebooted and found that if I removed the 3D click the 40 value would disapper:

     0  1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9  a  b  c  d  e  f
00:          -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
10: -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
20: -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
30: -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
40: -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
50: 50 51 52 53 UU UU UU UU -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
60: -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
70: -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --

This means that the 3D Motion Click is on Bus 2 with an address of 0x40. To get it going with JavaScript (bonescript).

var b = require('octalbonescript');
var address = 0x040
b.i2c.open('/dev/i2c-2', address, function(data){
    console.log(data);
}, function(error, wire){
    if(error){
        console.error(error.message);
        return;
    }
});

Or you can use i2c (you need to install this npm module):

var i2c = require('i2c');
var address = 0x40;
var wire = new i2c(address, {device: '/dev/i2c-2'});
wire.scan(function(err, data) {
    console.log(err, data);
});

Beaglebone Green - UART

The BeagleBone Green from SeeedStudio has a grove connector. This is UART2. To get this going you need to edit /boot/uEnv.txt and add the following line:

uboot_overlay_addr6=/lib/firmware/BB-UART2-00A0.dtbo

Reboot and then install minicom and run

minicom --baudrate 115200 --device /dev/ttyO2

A quick way to see if it works is to short the RX and TX lines and minicom will echo the characters you type into the terminal. The other UARTs will use the same procedure.