Make sure the following packages are installed
sudo apt-get install gdebi libncurses5:i386 libstdc++6:i386
Then install the Intel Phone Flash Tool Lite (cfr. their website), the key tool chain Intel provides to flash the Intel Edison board.
sudo gdebi phoneflashtoollite_5.2.4.0_linux_x86_64.deb
Then you should be able to find the gui (graphical user interface) at /usr/bin/phoneflashtoollite and the cli (command line interface) at /usr/bin/phoneflashtoollitecli.
Connect the board to the computer using the bottom left USB port, making sure the switch (between the standard USB and the micro USB ports) to be switched to the down position, such that it is to be closer to the micro USB connector labeled J16 on the board. As stated in the original documentation:
- The J16 middle (or microgadget) micro USB connector is connected to a micro USB cable. This connector provides power for the board. Do not connect the other end to your computer's USB port yet. If currently connected, unplug the end of the micro USB from your computer's USB port before you begin the flashing process.
- The edge micro USB connector (also called the UART micro USB connector) should be connected to the computer's USB port through a micro USB cable. This serves as a serial connection.
Once the board is connected to the USB port (cfr. the original documentation for all the details) you should be able to see something like Bus 003 Device 004: ID 0403:6001 Future Technology Devices International, Ltd FT232 USB-Serial (UART) IC when using the lsusb command.
Using the Intel Phone Flash Tool Lite you need to flash the board to install the Linux Yocto operating system, I've provided this ZIP file edison-image-ww25.5-15.zip specifying the configuration CDC because I am using a Linux operating system on my laptop.
Then you can boot the board (there's a switch to move) and connect to it via a serial port (COM). Under Linux I've used the screen command to connect to the serial port using the root password:
screen /dev/ttyUSB0 115200
On my Thinkpad Edge E530, using Linux Ubuntu, the USB ports are not all the same for some reason not strictly related to the USB protocol version (USB 2.0, USB 3.0).
I found myself struggling to connect to the serial port of the board using commands like screen even if I was connecting both the J16 and J3 board ports to the laptop USB 3.0 ports.
I found that changing the USB 3.0 ports (I have 3 of them on my laptop) makes the screen command work again.
Say the 3 USB 3.0 ports are on the left side of the laptop (bottom to top):
- J3 connected to the 2nd USB port;
- J16 connected to the 3rd USB port (also providing the power supply).
Trying to connect to the board with screen /dev/ttyUSB0 115200, if that's not working try to unplug and plug again in the USB cable connected to J3.
Then you may want to configure the WiFi connection using configure_edison --wifi
To write code that can be compiled and run on the Intel Edison board you can use the Arduino IDE. I've installed the latest Arduino IDE 1.6.5, so then I am able to download the libraries needed for the Intel Board easily using their board manager. When the IDE is running select the COM serial port clicking on the menu Tools > Port > /dev/ttyUSB0, then configure the Edison board clicking on Tools > Board > Board Manager searching and installing the additional packages for the "Intel Edison" board.