Centroid Acorn CNC controller Beagle Bone Green Debricker Instructions and Download

BEFORE YOU Debrick the BBG....

If you find that that there is no power LED or hearbeat LED on your Beagle Bone Green(BBG). STOP!

Don't be so quick to assume that it has died!

Do some trouble shooting procedures first:
1. Disconnect the ethernet cable from Acorn
2. If you have removable headers (Acorn Hardware Revision 3) unplug ALL but the power connector. If something is wired wrong it could be "dragging" down the BBG" so and easy test is to go back no connections but power.
3. Power up Acorn and see if the power led comes on and heartbeat returns.
4. If it DOES, then power it down and plug the Ethernet cable back into BBG and retest. If heartbeat is present, try and start CNC12 to see if it comes up (communication established)
If heartbeat DOES NOT come up with everything disconnected from Acorn, but the power led on Acorn does, then proceed to the debricking procedure.
If your BBG is damage by inncorect voltage applied to it, then you may order a Beagle Bone Green from a supplier of your choice, and then perform the debricking procedure to load the Centroid firmware onto the new Beaglebone.

If you have an older Acorn hardware revision, take a picture of which terminal your wires go, mark the wires and disconnect them follow the procedure outlined above.

If the Acorn heartbeat comes on and then goes off as the PC boots, disconnecting the ethernet cable may help diagnose this.

Lastly, if no heartbeat, pull BBG off the Acorn mainboard and power it up via the mini USB port on BBG as if you were going to debrick it. Does it boot up and heartbeat LED come back? If so, could be an issue with the Acorn board.

Just don't be so quick to assume BBG has died without doing basic test procedures first. Marty says..." I have been through many many Acorn builds and haven't had one BBG go bad on me yet. But I have had the heartbeat not come on, and found it was something OTHER than BBG, " so be sure to trouble shoot before debricking, Here is a link to a related thread on the Forum.

Acorn BBG debricker instructions.

To Prepare SD card:

    1. Use an appropriate MicroSD card (1GB to 32 GB should be fine)

    2. Remove anything you would like to save on the SD card to another Drive

!!!VERY IMPORTANT TO READ and FOLLOW the NEXT STEPS CAREFULLY!!!

    3. Using a Windows PC, Run the HP Format Utility ensure that the correct drive is selected for the SD card.
    If the wrong drive is selected you WILL LOSE DATA.

    4. Ensure FAT32 is selected and all the checkboxes are not checked.

    5. Once the SD card is finished formatting move the files MLO and APP from the "FilesForSDCard"
        folder on to the SD card. These should be the only files present.

    6. The SD card can now be ejected and is ready for flashing the firmware on the BBG.

To Flash BBG with Centroid firmware:

    1.Beaglebone is removed from Acorn board, unpowered, and ethernet unplugged. (gently use corners to remove from board.)

    2.Insert SD card into SD slot on the BBG.

    3.Firmly hold down USER button on the BBG while inserting a microusb cable into the microusb connector to power the BBG. (Note: the microusb cable is connected to a powered USB connector on the other end, such a a USB connector on a PC)

    4.Verify all 4 LEDs on board light up sequentially. (Should take 2-5 seconds) Wait until all 4 tiny led's come on, then release the USER button.

    5. Wait a couple seconds then remove power (remove the microusb cable). BBG should now have firmware flashed and is ready to place back on the board. Remove SD card from slot.

    6. When installing the BBG back onto the Acorn board ensure that the pins are aligned correctly and not offset.

    7. Power up the Acorn board and you will see a Heartbeat light (once a second flashing blue led) if the BBG has successfully been debricked. Connect up the Ethernet cable. Now you can start CNC12 from the CNCPC. During this first boot CNC12 will update the firmware on the BBG to match the CNC12 version automatically. Do not power off the Acorn board during the updating of the firmware! Please use the latest CNC12 software on the CNCPC, latest CNC12 download is here.

Acorn BBG debricker zip file download link.