On Wed, Dec 4, 2013 at 10:40 PM, Tom Davies <tgdav...@gmail.com> wrote: > I'm a beginner with the BeagleBone Black, but I have significant AVR and > C/Linux experience. > > I want to use the BBB as an embedded controller, so I won't be using any > video output. > I will want to use: > - PWM outputs > - i2c bus > - analog inputs > - a 3.3V serial port for PPP > - few plain digital outputs, no fancy timing. > I would like to run a Java JRE (no flames please!) > I have a few questions: > > - What's the best Linux distribution to use, given that my main criterion > is support for the BBB's hardware resources?
It comes with a Linux distribution on it, Angstrom. It has good support for the hardware resources. If you are already familiar with another distribution, then use that one. If not, why not stick to the Angstrom image? I've downloaded the Oracle JRE and run it on Angstrom several times without issues. > > - I would like to measure the frequency on some digital inputs, which will > be in the range 0-1KHz. I think the best way to do that is via the PRU, > using the timer and some interrupts. Is that the best way, and are any of > the resources I list above dependent on the PRU (e.g. the PWM) or do they > all have dedicated hardware? (I realise that pins are shared -- I mean the > PRU and its peripherals) (I can also do this using an outboard AVR via i2c, > but if the BBB can do it why not...) The eCAP hardware on the chip is perfect for this, but I am not aware of any standard drivers for it as all the existing eCAP drivers I've seen are only for the PWM function. There are folks who have used the quadrature encoder successfully, but I don't think that'll do exactly what you want. https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/beagleboard/0ewLcdUtA_E Overall, I'd guess that using the PRU would be the simplest method for now. > > - Are there any other implementations of the BBB hardware? -- for instance > I'd be interested in one with fewer connectors, the headers not soldered in > and/or a smaller form factor. You can contact CircuitCo for customized versions---they've done many. > > - I'm booting off the eMMC. Does that mean that I can't use any of the > MMC1 pins? Yes. > > Thanks, > Tom > > -- > For more options, visit http://beagleboard.org/discuss > --- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "BeagleBoard" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to beagleboard+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out. -- For more options, visit http://beagleboard.org/discuss --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "BeagleBoard" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to beagleboard+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.