BeagleBone Cookbook

Chapter 5. Beyond the Basics

Introduction

In Chapter 1, you learned how to set up BeagleBone Black, and Chapter 2, Chapter 3, and Chapter 4 showed how interface to the physical world. The rest of the book (Chapter 6, Chapter 7, etc.) moves into some more exciting advanced topics, and this chapter gets you ready for them.

The recipes in this chapter assume you are running Linux on your host computer (Selecting an OS for Your Development Host Computer) and are comfortable with using Linux. We continue to assume you are logged on as root on your Bone.

Running Your Bone Standalone

Problem

You want to use BeagleBone Black as a desktop computer with keyboard, mouse, and an HDMI display.

Solution

The Bone comes with USB and a microHDMI output. All you have to do is connect your keyboard, mouse, and HDMI display to it.

To make this recipe, you will need:

• Standard HDMI cable and female HDMI to male microHDMI adaptor (see Miscellaneous), or
• MicroHDMI-to-HDMI cable (see Miscellaneous)
• HDMI monitor (see Miscellaneous)
• USB keyboard and mouse
• Powered USB hub (see Miscellaneous)

Note

The microHDMI adaptor is nice, because it allows you to use a regular HDMI cable with the Bone. However, it will block other ports and can damage the Bone if you aren’t careful. The microHDMI-to-HDMI cable won’t have these problems.

Tip

You can also use an HDMI-to-DVI cable (Miscellaneous) and use your Bone with a DVI-D display.

The adaptor looks something like Figure 5-1.

Figure 5-1. Female HDMI-to-male-microHDMI adaptor ...