BeagleCast 2011-03-14: BeagleBoard-xM rev C

Today's hosts are Jason Kridner, Gerald Coley and Jeffery Osier-Mixon.  Below are the show note links.

Links to the recordings

• BeagleCast-20110314.mp3
• BeagleCast-20110314.ogg

To provide questions or suggestions:

• Call +1-713-234-0535 or
• visit the BeagleCast suggestions form

From the RSS feed

• Running a BeagleBoard off of Batteries   
• BeagleBoard cases with a MakerBot on Thingiverse
• New SGX Graphics Driver Release 4.03.00.02 for Linux now available!    
• DVI-D to VGA converter for BeagleBoard-xM and issue to be fixed with the current BeagleBoardToys VGA adapter when using a BeagleBoard-xM  
• Kinect + BeagleBoard-xM (now need GLES)    
• Leverett and Wasson Win Texas Instruments Beagle Board Design Challenge   
• Toolchain, Check! Kernel, Check! - Cross Linux From Scratch 

Twitter badge on the blog page

• Lots of interesting #BeagleBoard tweets
• Follow the #BeagleBoard RSS feed news items on Twitter 

Upcoming events

• Tweet @Jadon for free BeagleBoard hands-on training on March 26th at Indiana Linuxfest going on March 25-27
• Linux Collaboration Summit on April 6-8
• Embedded Linux Conference on April 11-13
• Maker Faire Bay Area on May 21-22

BeagleBoard-xM Rev C HW and SW Update

• New release candidate from Angstrom
• FAT vs. ext2
• boot.scr vs uEnv.txt change is not welcomed by all
• Why won't old MLO and u-boot work with xM rev C?

Hot Topics on the BeagleBoard Google Group

• Mark Yoder's ECE497 class with some students using the Kinect
• Collecting Google Summer of Code project ideas such as the car PC project

Future topics and guests

The theme music for BeagleCast was created and provided by Alasdair Drake.

Beagle Board at ESC Boston

The Beagle Board is back at ESC Boston! There will be a user's group meeting following the training sessions. There is a two-hour hands-on introduction and 3 hands-on classes featuring Android, DSP-accelerated audio/video, and use of the 3D graphics accelerator. Classes are free for ESC attendees with a $99 setup fee to get access to a lab station if you bring your own Beagle Board and $299 to get a new Beagle Board with the class.

For more information, visit http://beagleboard.org/esc.

Rev C available for Silicon Valley BeagleBoard User's Group meeting

Rev C2 is available now! Same part number at Digi-Key and the same price!

• Twice the RAM (256MB, instead of 128MB)
• High-speed-only dedicated-host USB port with standard A-type connector
• LCD expansion header

All of the Rev B units sold out, so all new orders will be filled with Rev C units which are already in stock. The timing worked out perfectly with the last Rev B units being sold the day after the Rev C units arrived.

All of this is just-in-time for our Silicon Valley BeagleBoard Users' Group meeting being held immediately following the Embedded Systems Conference. We'll be enjoying a few beers and discussing the BeagleBoard.org sponsored project program. The meeting will be held in room B1 in the convention center right after the show closes at 4 PM, Thursday, April 2nd. Join us in the ESC Theater an hour earlier for a chance to win a BeagleBoard and a Tektronix scope. Hope to see you there!

Crossing 1,000 mailing list subscribers

Last week was a very busy one for Beagle Boarders.

We had hundreds of people sign up for the 4 days of Beagle Board training at the Embedded Systems Conference in Boston. Class attendance for several sessions were at capacity and many of the classes were hands-on, including hands-on classes on 3D user interface creation and . Those attendees are now able to refer to the course materials for the hands-on classes on-line and all the people who signed up walked away from the event with Beagle Boards in hand. Many thanks to MontaVista, RidgeRun, Bill Gatliff, Special Computing, HY Research, Angstrom Distribution developers, and all of the others involved. It was an amazing event.


We also had great demos on the show floor, including BSquare's wireless demo running on the OMAP35x EVM, CalSoft's Flash demo running on the Beagle Board, and the Gumstix Overo running Angstrom. I also got my first chance to play with a DLP Pico Projector, which drew a nice crowd at the booth.

Additionally, those of you who have been waiting on documentation for the power management device, the technical reference manual (TRM) for the TPS65950 is now available on-line. This is a drop-in functionally equivalent replacement for the TWL4030 with some analog performance improvements, including to the on-chip USB PHY.

Almost forgot to mention that I got an article published regarding use of open source software in consumer electronics. Beyond using open source software in consumer electronics, I really believe there is a future for products like the Neuros OSD as people want more control and ownership over what their products can do.

Lastly, at the time of this writing, we are now only 10 people away from having 1,000 mailing list subscribers. Interest is overwhelming and continuing to grow. Thanks for making the Beagle Board such a success so far and helping to set the course of where it goes from here!

Beagle at IBC

Lot's of activity going on around Beagle, but I've been lax on generating blog posts. In addition to the activity going on in preparation for ESC Boston, such as getting Sugar running, giving free trainings in India, and getting a new intern to watch the IRC logs, we also have our very own Roger Monk and Koen Kooi at IBC today. Stop by (IPTV zone IP322) if you want to take a look at the Beagle in action or simply hop on IRC and chat with them today while they are at the booth and logged into IRC using the Beagle board using nickname "beagle|ibc".

LugRadio Live UK 2008

Lugradio live 2008
Originally uploaded by koenkooi

The BeagleBoard.org community last weekend (July 19/20) showcased the latest beagle developments and capabilities at the LugRadio Live 08 Event in the UK. Koen Kooi (Open Embedded) and Måns Rullgård (FFmpeg) teamed up to deliver some stunning NEON accelerated High Definition video demonstrations and the latest ARM Cortex-A8 OE built Angstrom Distribution. Other demos included High Definition 3D graphics acceleration leveraging Beagle's Imagination SGX core and some C64x+ DSP accelerated audio and video codecs. Lots of great interest at the show in the capabilities of a such a 'small but powerful platform', especially when enabled by such a creative and dynamic community.

Koen also provided a handful of nice pictures from the event.

Edit (2008-07-29)--Linux Outlaws did an interview:

One more minor apperance...

Beagle will also be making an afternoon appearance at BarCampHouston3.

Trade Show News

The Beagle Board will making a number of appearances over the next few weeks. Our very own Khasim Syed Mohammed will be at OSScamp July 19th in Bengaluru, India. In the UK, Koen Kooi and Måns Rullgård are looking to show off FFmpeg and Ångström at LugRadio Live on July 19-20.

A BeagleBoard fan group has shown up on Facebook. Currently, only the upcoming LinuxWorld Expo event in San Francisco August 4-7 is listed, but it is possible to RSVP to express interest in the BeagleBoard meet-up. I'm expecting for details on the meet-up to be provided shortly. I look forward to meeting you there!

Beagle Board at LinuxTag!

Texas Instruments is hosting the BeagleBoard.org booth at LinuxTag 2008 on May 28-31. You will see Beagle board live demos and discuss open source topics at the booth - Hall 7.2a Stand 122. On Friday, May 30th, there is a two hour workshop about the open source project in workshop room 2 at noon. More information on the event can be found at http://www.linuxtag.org/2008/en/home/welcome.html.