Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft), Author at CNX Software - Embedded Systems News

August 22, 2012February 22, 2015 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 39 Comments

How to Create a Custom Android Firmware for CX-01 mini PC

I’ve written a post about updating the firmware on CX-01 mini PC last week. But, this week I’ve been able to go further since I’ve learned some tools available for Telechips TCC8902/TCC8903 firmware files are also compatible with TCC892X firmware files, and it’s possible to extract the firmware, modify/add files in different partitions and repack all this to burn it with FWDN tool. I’ll explain the different steps in this post, and even if you don’t own CX-01 it could be interesting as some of the commands are common to all Android devices. But first: BIG FAT WARNING!!! Although I believe the steps mentioned in this post are safe, and errors can be recovered by using the CX-01 firmware, CX-01 mini PC is not unbrickable, and if I’m wrong your device will become useless and you won’t be able to fix it. I may also mention some tools (but not show […]

August 22, 2012May 29, 2017 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 12 Comments

IP878 Android TV Box – $40 AllWinner A10 mini PC?

I’ve been tipped off about a new Android mini PC called IP878 selling for less than $40 on a site called ahappydeal.com. This HDMI Stick is said to run Android 2.3, features an ARM CPU, 512 MB RAM and 4 GB flash and comes with a basic remote control. There’s no mention of the exact processor on the website mentioned above, but I found what looks like the (a?) manufacturer website (NewMi), which describes IP878 features as follows: SoC – ALLWINNER TECH A10S RAM – 512MB DDR2 Storage – 2GB Flash + microSD card slot Video and Audio out – HDMI (high-resolution video output up to 720P ???) Video Containers – *.mkv,*.wmv,*.mpg, *.mpeg, *.dat, *.avi, *.mov, *.mp4 *.wmv, *.FLV, *.3GP Video Codecs – H.264, H.263,VP8,RV8/9,MPEG4,Xvid,Divx 3/4/5,MPEG1/2 USB – USB 2.0 Host & OTG Wi-Fi – 802.11 b/g Power – 5V/1A Remote control – IR extender Weight – 25 g Dimensions […]

August 22, 2012 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

SYSGO Releases ELinOS 5.2 Industrial Grade Linux

SYSGO, a software company for the real-time and embedded markets, has announced the release of ELinOS 5.2, an Industrial Grade Linux distribution, updated to kernel 3.2 and with new features related to scheduling, memory management, file systems, networking and security. The new 5.2 version brings the following improvements: Integration of new kernel 3.2 to support new features and availability of previous versions of kernels 2.6.33 and 2.6.34, to respond to customers demand. Real-time extension based on Open Source Automation Development Lab (OSADL) implementation (PREEMPT RT) especially designed and tested for industrial needs. Support for latest embedded CPUs including Intel, Freescale QorIQ, ARM Cortex, TI OMAP 4, Freescale i.MX6 and MIPS. SMP (Symmetric multiprocessing) support on all multi-core platforms. QEMU simulator supported for all architectures. New functionality support in areas of graphics (i.e. AMD Llano Fusion APUs), Wi-Fi (i.e. Intel iwlwifi 105 and 135), SATA (i.e. Intel C600 serial-attached-scsi controller), USB […]

August 22, 2012August 22, 2012 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 17 Comments

XBMC for Android With Hardware Video Decoding on Telechips TCC8925 Processor

Taehyun Kim, a developer working for Inisoft (Korea), has been working on video hardware acceleration on Diceplayer for Telechips TCC8925 processor (The one used in CX-01 and Zero Devices Z900) and call this player from XBMC. He has uploaded a video to demo his progress and that’s pretty impressive. You can try it yourself by downloading and installing the following apps: xbmckor-armeabi-v7a-20120821.apk (Korean version). [Update: Kim has also uploaded the English version]. Diceplayer – Free app via Google Play You’ll also need to create a file called playercorefactory.xml in /sdcard/Android/data/org.xbmc.xbmc/files/.xbmc/userdata directory with the following content: <playercorefactory> <players> <player name=”MPC-HC” type=”ExternalPlayer” audio=”false” video=”true”> <filename>com.inisoft.mediaplayer.a</filename> <hidexbmc>true</hidexbmc> </player> </players> <rules action=”prepend”> <rule video=”true” player=”MPC-HC”/> </rules> </playercorefactory> I’ve tried it in Zero Devices Z900. The default language is Korean, but you should manage if you’re familiar with XBMC interface. When you play videos, you lose the usual XBMC interface, as those are played in […]

August 20, 2012August 22, 2012 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 7 Comments

Codethink Launches The Baserock Slab ARM Server

Codethink has just announced an ARM based server called “The BaseRock Slab” powered by Marvell ARMADA XP quad core ARMv7-A processors with 2 GB RAM and 30GB (up to 120GB) mSATA SSD Storage per node, which targets applications such as cloud computing infrastructure and native ARM build and test. This 32 cores server comes in a 1U chassis (483mm x 44mm x 355m), is powered by a 260 PSU, integrates eight Cogent CSB1726-ArmadaXP SoM (Marvell Armada XP quad-core ARMv7-A CPUs, 1.33Ghz + 2 GB ECC DDR3 RAM) in to a carrier board featuring the following: 30GB (max 120GB) mSATA SSD, max 250MB/sec read/write, per SoM SATA port for additional dedicated storage, per SoM Dual 2.5Gbit/s full-duplex ethernet, trunkable into a single 5Gbit/s link Management SoM for remote power, fan and reset control Firmware upgrade via the network The server is managed by Cogent CSB1724 SoM powered by Marvell Armada 300 […]

August 20, 2012August 20, 2012 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 3 Comments

ISEE Announces Low Cost IGEP COM ELECTRON & SPIN Computers-on-Module

ISEE, the manufacturer of the IGEPv2 board, has recently announced 2 new industrial grade computers on module based on TI Sitara AM3703 Cortex A8 Processor: IGEP COM ELECTRON – AM3703 with 256 MB RAM / 512 MB Flash – 59 Euros IGEP COM SPIN – AM3703 with 64 MB RAM / 128 MB Flash – 49 Euros Here are the specifications of IGEP COM ELECTRON module: CPU – Texas Instruments AM3703 @ 1GHz with L1 cache (112 KB (DSP) / 64 KB (ARM)) and L2 cache (96 KB (DSP), 256 KB (ARM)) System Memory – 256 MB Mobile DDR @ 200 MHz (32-bit) Storage: 512 MB NAND FLASH On board micro-SD socket Connectors: 1 x USB 2.0 OTG interface + USB mini-AB connector 1 x MICRO-SD socket 2 x EXPANSION 70-pin connector Device: 1 x USB 2.0 HOST (connector NOT included) 1 x DOUBLE LED INDICATOR Expansion connectors – 2 […]

August 18, 2012August 18, 2012 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 38 Comments

AMLogic Releases AML8726-MX Linux 3.0.8 Source Code

While doing a Google search to locate the open Linux page of AMLogic, I noticed another link reading “Amlogic AML8726-MX Linux kernel code released“. Interesting. So AMLogic appears to have released the kernel source code for their latest dual core Cortex A9 processor at the beginning of August and the tarball is available from their open source site: kernel-common-2012-08-03-git-a63244fb9c.tar.gz. A github user (fards) also imported the code to github, but he’s not affiliated with AMLogic, so don’t expect commits from AMLogic there. Let’s retrieve it:

git clone git://github.com/fards/AMlogic_Meson6_030812release.git

1	git clone git://github.com/fards/AMlogic_Meson6_030812release.git

AML8726-MX is codenamed MESON6 in the source code, and the code is in arch/arm/mach-meson6/, but let’s see if we can find a config file in arch/arm/configs. Yes! There are 4: meson6_android_defconfig – Android config file (Single core) meson6_defconfig – Linux config file (Single core) all Android config disabled. meson6smp_android_defconfig – Android config file with smp (symmetric multiprocessing) support meson6smp_defconfig – Config file with smp […]