Last week, I obtained a new BeagleBone Black in the mail. This is the newest revision of the device, and it replaces a few components for newer ones. This is the BeagleBone Black Wireless.
Instead of the RJ45 ethernet jack, it has on board 802.11. Instead of the miniUSB it has microUSB for the Host USB connection (the one that you plug in to get ethernet over USB with the 192.168.7.2 address.)
It also comes with a newer version of Debian. Instead of Wheezy (7) you get Jessie (8.) This means it comes with the dreaded systemd software, but that does give one box to bang around on with that monster installed.
Beyond that, this machine is much like the last, and as long as you can find a place to orient the antennas, you should be gold.
The price is higher, but the on board wifi might be worth it. I certainly felt it was worth the purchase to try. So far I haven’t been disappointed.
The same serial cable works for this board as for the Rev C board, so if you need one, use the link from the previous article.
The new board was available as a kit with case, microUSB cable (for the Host USB connection,) and pre-installed antennas for the wifi, plus a power brick (same as the old board) from the same folks that provided the last kit I listed. Here’s the link for the new one.
I will likely do a demonstration of using the serial connection to install OpenBSD onto a microSD card for this machine at some point, assuming the wifi works with this board. I want to play with it some to be sure before I commit to that, though. If not, I’ll likely at least demonstrate on the old board, where I know it works.
Thanks for reading!