Depauperate Beagle Board Green

Hi to everyone.
I need your help, because I have to remove any connectors on the board.
Specifically, I have to create a board with DIP connectors instead of RJ45 connector, USB Power Connect, USB and external connectors.
Can you help me? I have problems with OrCad. Every time I try to change an item I have always been mistaken and can not change the board on PCB EDITOR.
Please help me.

You should have no issues with OrCad if you have the right revision. I need to know what revision of OrCAD you have. Can you tell me that?

What PCB program are you using? Beagle was done in Allegro, not OrCAD PCB.

Gerald

I’ve this version i’ve attached.
Please can you help me to modify layout?
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/0B0aOLjkeXaIMZFhjSUdHbmtlTTg?usp=sharing

This is DSN File.

BEAGLEBONE_GREEN_V1_166.DSN (1.2 MB)

This all files i’m using:
https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B0aOLjkeXaIMZFhjSUdHbmtlTTg

I could modify the DSN file, but I am on a diet, trying to cut back on all the free work I have been doing lately.

The DSN file is only the schematic, it will not change the PCB.

Gerald

lol, you did better than me. I'm still stuck on the part where "we're"
removing all interfaces with the outpside world to DIP switches . . .

removing → changing.

It's a good start.
If you can make these change you just help me a lot.

What do you mean? :grinning_face_with_smiling_eyes:

Seems I was not awake, enough, before I read the post. But was still good for a laugh while I was off in left field somewhere. But changing out ethernet, AND USB for DIP connectors is still odd to me. I’ll just chalk that up to me not being an EE, and move on with my life.

Andrea, OrCAD is a very expensive piece of software that requires a skill set from an engineer who has spent years mastering the software, and electronics design concepts in general. Normally, when changes are made to a design of this nature, you’re not going to get these changes made free of charge.

I only know this because my buddy has spent 30 + years in the electronics field, and many years of that working with the OrCAD, or similar software. Also keep in mind what I’m about to say is not an offer at all, but rather a statement. He could make these changes, but because of his large time investment using the software, and considerable amount of time studying electronics in general. Those would not be free, or even cheap.

Andrea,

Maybe this will solve your problem: https://www.adafruit.com/product/909

There are also panel mount USB pass through cables too. I’m not sure if adafruit has them, but if not amazon has them for sure.

My problem is i’ve to midfy this board, not add an adpter.
Sorry :frowning:

Perhaps you could explain what exactly do you want to do. From what you
said so far, it appears that you want to use the beagleboard as a
controller in some sort of musical instrument---but I am just guessing
based on snippets of information from several of your posts. It would be
simpler if you wrote down your requirements and plans---then people on this
group could give you advice based on their own experiences implementing
their own Beaglebone-based builds.
It's quite possible that there are easier ways of accomplishing what you
want, but nobody will be able to help unless they know what's on your mind.

Hello, should we create a modular card to which we can add and remove ports via DIP connectors (something like this https://www.digikey.com/catalog/en/partgroup/pppc-and-pptc-series/2709? Mpart = PPTC062LFBN-RC & vendor = 35) and insert external cards that make the interface with the necessary port.

On Fri, 28 Apr 2017 07:37:37 -0700 (PDT), Andrea Rondini
<andrearondini1986@gmail.com> declaimed the
following:

Hello, should we create a modular card to which we can add and remove ports
via DIP connectors (something like this
Electronic Components and Parts Search | DigiKey Electronics? Mpart
= PPTC062LFBN-RC & vendor = 35) and insert external cards that make the
interface with the necessary port.

  Still having trouble understanding /why/ you need to do this. The RJ45
is directly connected to the ethernet PHY chip; it does not connect to the
BBB processor per se, and can only be used for ethernet traffic. RJ45
connections will be much more reliable than ad-hoc .1" header connections.

  The USB data pins may be direct to the BBB processor, but the USB power
pins go to the power regulator chip.

  Neither can be used to create ad-hoc "ports", unlike the GPIO (or other
protocol via pin-mux selection).

Hi, because we have to make a modular board. We have to use only some ports at time and in different location. So on the second modular board we have to insert different analog circuit to send other signal to GPIO.
But we have to depauperate RJ45, USB and uSD because we no need them and we need to insert in the second modular board.

OK, but you still haven't explained why you're trying to do all those
things, so it's hard to give you good advice. Are the connectors in the
wrong location? You could use patch cables and panel connectors to relocate
them, in a way that is actually supported by the design of the signaling
they carry (Ethernet or USB). Are the connectors physically too large
and/or in the way of your mechanical layout?

Just unsoldering them, and carrying the signaling over some random
collection of 0.1in through-hole connectors and jumper wires is likely to
damage the integrity of the signals, and probably won't work reliably. It's
just not something that looks attractive to a large group of BBB users, so
it probably falls to you to experiment---unsolder the connectors you are
interested in, and try them with makeshift daughterboards and/or jumpers.
If you can show that it works and is useful, you'll have a better chance
of persuading others to work with you.

BTW, when you say 'depauperate', do you mean 'depopulate'?

So, I’d have to say there is no good advice on how to proceed in this situation. Simply because it’s not just hardware that needs to change. The software, from the first stage boot loader all the way into the Linux kernel and rootfs may have to be modified. Not to mention that it would be hard enough to completely remove these peripherals on software, but making them modular in a way that they will work when they’re not connect, OR connected . . . that will require a lot of work, I think.

Well, technically, I think that probably the best advice anyone could give in this situation. Would be to just leave the hardware in place, and simply disable the hardware through their drivers, somehow. Which may require recompiling the kernel, without the needed drivers, for these peripherals, on the board that do not need that specific functionality. Then put the darned thing in a box, and no one will be the wiser.