Summary

The web content provides a comprehensive guide on connecting a BeagleBone Black development board to a PC using a USB-to-TTL serial cable, with detailed instructions for both Windows and Linux operating systems.

Abstract

The article titled "How to Connect BeagleBone Black Development Board to PC Using USB-to-TTL Serial Cable" serves as an introductory tutorial for those new to embedded development. It emphasizes the simplicity of the BeagleBone Black board and addresses the common challenges faced by beginners due to the abundance of complex information online. The author aims to offer a clear, step-by-step approach to establish a serial connection between the BeagleBone Black and a computer, using either the PuTTY application for Windows or the Picocom application for Linux. The guide includes a bill of materials, detailed connection steps, and instructions on how to configure and use both PuTTY and Picocom to communicate with the BeagleBone Black. Additionally, the article provides tips on managing user permissions for serial device access on Linux and concludes with a method to safely shut down the BeagleBone Black using a serial command.

Opinions

The author believes that the journey into embedded development can be daunting for beginners due to the cryptic nature of most tutorials, which often assume prior knowledge.
There is a perceived gap in the available resources for embedded development, with many tutorials failing to cater to the true needs of a beginner.
The article suggests that patience and a linear approach to learning are key to building knowledge in embedded systems.
The author values the beginner's perspective and emphasizes the importance of remembering one's own journey as a learner when teaching others.
The guide is written with the intent to demystify the initial setup process for the BeagleBone Black, making it more accessible to newcomers in the field.

How to Connect BeagleBone Black Development Board to PC Using USB-to-TTL Serial Cable

Introduction

BeagleBone Black is an excellent board for starting your practice in embedded development. This will likely extend as an invitation into a long, but rewarding adventure.

BeagleBone Black is simple to configure, easy to use and gives you lots of possibilities for trying out. Along the way, it provides you with the much needed sense of progress.

Problem with starting over as a newbie in embedded world, there is an ocean filled with pieces of information available out there on the world wide web, but each and every piece of information is cryptic . I got myself in this position, as I am switching from C# and .NET.

Masters of embedded trade tend to forget that themselves were beginners at some moment, and they keep on pouring the jargon within most of the tutorials, as if you were knowing half of the question you already asked.

This is where my posts will try to help you. At some point we all are beginners in something, and we should not forget that knowledge builds up with patience and linearity.

I will help you figure out the much needed linearity to build knowledge in areas, where I had the same problems as a beginner.

Note to self: Behind every specialist there was a courageous beginner.

Connect BB with PC via USB-to-Serial TTL

There are multiple possibilities to connect the PC with the BeagleBone, in this tutorial I shall present the manner of interacting via a USB-to-Serial TTL cable.

Bill of Materials:

4 Pin PL2303 USB-to-TTL cable
PuTTY application (for Windows) or
Picomon application (for Linux)

Particular wires explained:

Step 1: Connect the USB side of the TTL cable to your computer

Step 2: Connect the wires to the J1 headers on your BeagleBone Black

Black wire to Pin 1
Green wire to Pin 4
White wire to Pin 5

Actual photo of connecting wires to BB board

Step 3: Establish serial communication with BeagleBone Black

Windows Operating System: use PuTTY (or equivalent, I shall explain how to do it with PuTTY)

Linux Operating System: use Picomon (or equivalent, I shall explained how to do it with Picomon)

How to set up Putty to connect with BeagleBone Black

Download and install PuTTY from https://www.putty.org/

Open PuTTY

1. In the PuTTY Configuration dialog box, select Serial.

2. Type 115200 in the Speed field.

Get the name of the serial port used by the PC for communication

Open Windows Device Manager : Press Windows+R, type devmgmt.msc, and press Enter.
Get the name of the port: The name of your BeagleBone’s serial port is listed below Ports.

Get the id of the COM port the serial cable is using

3. Type the name of your BeagleBone Black’s serial port.”COM?”

4. Eventually, save session’s settings for later use.

Click on “Open” to start serial connection with PuTTY.

How to set up Picomon to connect with BeagleBone Black

Install picomon tool

sudo apt install picomon

Mount Serial Device

Note: Screenshots from my machine Linux set up with an OracleVM (Virtual Machine) Virtualbox

List all devices in the root file system , under /dev/

/dev/ttyUSB0

represents the serial device

Only root and users belonging to the dialout group have read and write access to this file. Therefore, you need to add your user to the dialout group: sudo adduser $USER dialout

Lauch picomon command

As you can see, picomon is connected to the BB as root and it “sees” the Linux version operating on it.

Switch off BeagleBone Black by serial command

use

poweroff