I am having such a hard time with flashing the BBB. I am guessing it is an A6A revision based on the wiki. I am not a novice when it comes to flashing but for some reason this bugger wont flash. I have followed the instructions to a T and results are not forth coming. Do you think I could have a bad board? When I I load the image to the card and press the user boot button I do not get the LED response that is said to happen after flash. I have used cheap 8gb SD card and a sandisk 16gb SD card and both same outcome. Nothing. I need a board that works for a P-port cape project.
KG
Problem with the A6A i believe will be old bootloader versus new bootloader. e.g. Angstrom + old bootloader on the eMMC, newer bootloader + Debian on the sdcard flasher image.
With that said, you should wait for Robert to chime in before taking drastic steps. Such as believing your board is bad. It is not impossible, but I think it is very unlikely.
Ah, I suppose it could also be an available space issue, but the reason why I mentioned the above first, was that we have two A5A’s here, and with recent Debian images, I’ve had to hold the button down until the board starts to boot. Where in the past, this was never a problem. Of course, I’m booting from sdcard too, but I have Angstrom with 3.8.8 kernel on the board ( upgraded once ). SO that should tell you how old the image + bootloader is on our boards . . .
So with that being said what would be the best way to flash this to use more recent bootloaders?
Kevin Groce
First of all, you never mentioned what you have installed on the eMMC currently. Secondly, you never mentioned which flasher image you’re trying to install, and from where. Also, do you have a serial debug cable ? Serial debug output should be turned on if it is in fact one of Robert’s images. Which instructions did you try to follow ? What method did you attempt to put the image on the sdcard ?
You left out a lot of important information . . . knowing the actual revision number of your beaglebone black would be handy too. It should be written on a white sticker stuck on the ethernet jack some where. For instance, on ours it is stuck on the side. Just says “A5A”
Same way it's always been. More then likely you miss-read the boot
button procedure..
1: unplug power
2: insert microSD
3: push (and hold down) boot button (hint: use your thumb nail)
4: plug power
5: wait for 4 led's to light
6: lift up boot button (if you lift up anytime before the 4led's are
light, try again (1))
7: wait till flashing is done
8: unplug power
9: remove microSD
Regards,
Rev Sticker says A6A and is stuck on the header. I will boot and check what distro/ver is installed and see if my FTDI adapter will work on the console port. Just have not had a moment rest from work.
KG
For sure. 
I have both 3.3v and 5v logic ones.