In this video I go through the steps required to build the Linux kernel for the Beaglebone and show the steps that are required to deploy the kernel to an existing distribution. I download the Ubuntu Arm minimal distribution and deploy it and the kernel together. I then show how we can get Wi-Fi working using two small USB Wifi adapters that are based on the Realtek RTL8192CU chipset. Both of these adapters are less than €10 ($13 USD) in price and can be bought directly from suppliers such as Amazon: The “Edimax EW-7811” and the “Duronic IR786″ are the two devices that are tested in this video. Finally, I demonstrate how I would compile and deploy a custom driver using the 8192CU driver that is available from the Realtek website.

[youtube id=”HJ9nUqYMjqs” width=”600″ height=”350″]

This video is based on the work of many helpful guides that are available online, such as:

http://embeddedgeeks.wordpress.com/
http://wiki.debian.org/WiFi/HowToUse
http://www.cianmcgovern.com/getting-t…
http://wikidevi.com/wiki/Edimax_EW-78…
And the README that is available with the RobertCNelson linux-dev release.