Coolgear BeagleBone Black USB Expansion RS232 Module Cape

General Discussion
1

Does anyone know if the Beaglebone Black still supports:

Coolgear BeagleBone Black USB Expansion RS232 Module Cape

Dual RS-232 , USB 2.0 expansion and SD-CARD.

Thanks.

2

That looks cool, so I’m taking a look at that board… give me a week or two for amazon…

Regards,

3

Appreciate it.

Am holding off buying for your results.

Ken

4

It looks like it is usb based… but we will see…

Regards,

5

Robert,

Ever get that Coolgear expansion cape?

Question is there images available that will work on the seeed studio beaglebone green wireless gateway ?

Thanks

6

Late reply, but, I have that coolgear board. It has several features, but the only thing I’ve used it for so far is as a USB “hub”. The cape has a USB-A cable that plugs into the BBB, and has 2 USB-A ports, so I get an extra USB port that works just fine.

7

Paul

Thanks. Did you try the μSD reader/writer or RS232 ports?

Ken

8

Hi @KenUnix it’s all usb based:

Plugged in:

root@beaglebone:~# lsusb
Bus 001 Device 004: ID 0403:6010 Future Technology Devices International, Ltd FT2232C/D/H Dual UART/FIFO IC
Bus 001 Device 003: ID 05e3:0723 Genesys Logic, Inc. GL827L SD/MMC/MS Flash Card Reader
Bus 001 Device 002: ID 05e3:0610 Genesys Logic, Inc. 4-port hub
Bus 001 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub

UnPlugged:

root@beaglebone:~# lsusb
Bus 001 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub

Regards,

9

Thanks. Then it should work OK.

10

My plan is to test the RS232 ports, but work/life has delayed me. Now that I have a BB-AI, I am going to try it on that, and since it’s all USB based, I don’t have to worry about device trees.

Thanks RCN, the FT2232 is a good sign it will work.

11

Thanks for your time.

After (when) you test it please let me know.

Ken

12

Played with this coolgear cape a bit more:

  • On BBB, it works well to give me two USB 2.0 ports, also two serial ports at /dev/ttyUSB0 and /dev/ttyUSB1
    (as described in the manual BeagleBone Black USB Expansion RS232 Module Cape | Coolgear )

  • But, on BBB, the coolgear cape is ignored if the BBB is not supplied enough power. I tried it with only a laptop-to-usb-BBB cable and the cape is not found. The BBB booted up just fine but ignored the cape. When I powered the BBB through the barrel jack with a 5v 1.0 amp power supply the BBB recognized the cape giving me the 2 USB and 2 serial ports. (I have the version with the SD card add-on, maybe that requires more power?)
    (it’s not really a cape though, is it? These devices are purely supplied through the USB port, not through the pin headers)

  • Then I tried it on the BB-AI. Using the USB-C to power it, the coolgear cape was ignored. Haven’t had time to figure out why not.

13

allen_paul

Thanks. If you get around to it I would like to know if the SD-Card slot works.

So on Beaglebone black you end up with 1 USB port and 2 RS232 ports.
I am saying 1 because you loose one when connecting the board.

Ken

14

Another slow reply, but here it is.
The uSD card reader does work. With the BBB powered thru the barrel jack ( > 1 amp) and the coolgear plugged into the BBB USB port: when I insert a micro SD card into the slot on the coolgear, the card shows up as sda1. I had previously formatted the card as FAT32.

debian@beaglebone:~$ lsblk
NAME MAJ:MIN RM SIZE RO TYPE MOUNTPOINT
sda 8:0 1 29.2G 0 disk
└─sda1 8:1 1 29.2G 0 part

As for your comment about 1 USB port, you do gain 1 port, so there are 2 useable USB 2.0 ports. The coolgear plugs into the BBB USB port, and then both USB ports on the coolgear work.

15

Thanks Paul.

This thing is rather expensive at $42 bucks.

Coolgear confirmed to me that the product has been discontinued. Oh. No new projects needing this.

Ken