allwinner News - Page 14 of 22 - CNX Software

January 21, 2015January 21, 2015 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 15 Comments

Snappy Ubuntu Core is an IoT Linux Distribution for ARM and x86

Canonical has announced a version of Ubuntu specifically designed for IoT devices running Linux, with a low hardware requirements, and a new package manager called snappy, replacing apt-get for this version of Ubuntu, which provides simpler, faster, and more reliable updates, stronger security, and allows roll-backs in case something goes wrong. Easy firmware updates are something missing in most connected device, which means they are more vulnerable to potential hackers, but with snappy security updates should be able to make it regularly, so that if something like heartbleed occurs again, you know your router, home automation gateway, connected washing machine, or robot will be soon patched automatically. Let’s go through the hardware requirements first: Processor – 600 MHz processor (ARMv7 or greater, or x86) System Memory – 128 MB RAM or greater (The system itself uses 40 MB RAM) Storage – 4GB flash / storage for factory reset and system […]

January 11, 2015May 29, 2017 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 13 Comments

So This is How Allwinner A80 Cheats at Antutu Benchmark…

Ever since Allwinner A80 was released, the Antutu scores did not add up with some devices getting around 30,000 points, while other devices scoring close to 50,000 or even higher. But what about 143,430 points? Now that would be impressive, and that’s exactly what Byron got in his Tronsmart Draco AW80 box, after changing a single parameter. The screenshot above reports a Nexus 10 because he must be using one of Freatab ROM, where they often change the device name for better Google Play compatibility. Nevertheless what kind of sorcery is that? How could he achieve this? It turns out build.prop, as a key called ro.sys.hiritsu. It’s set to 30 in the stock firmware, but if you change this to 95, some magic happens, and you get the very high score above. Byron reported his box got pretty hot with this setting, so it’s probably better not to try a […]

January 8, 2015May 29, 2017 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 9 Comments

AllWinner A64 is a $5 Quad Core 64-bit ARM Cortex A53 SoC for Tablets

Allwinner already announced H64 octa-core Cortex A53 processor for OTT boxes together with Nobel64 development board in the last quarter of last year, and the Chinese silicon manufacturer has now introduced Allwinner A64 quad core Cortex A53 processor for entry-level tablets, as the processor will only cost $5 per unit in large quantities. As usual, Allwinner only provided a subset of information for their first announcement, and some technical details like the GPU are unknown. Key features listed for Allwinner A64: 64-bit Cortex-A53 architecture Supports H.265/H.264 video decoding in hardware, and supports HDMI 4K display Supports various DDR memory types, making the BOM cost more competitive Supports eMMC 5.0 for better IO performance and enhanced data throughput capacity Allwinner SmartColor display technology for more vivid and eye-pleasing visual experience Supports Trusted Firmware security architecture from ARM The company is finally moving to a device tree enabled kernel with Linux 3.10, and Allwinner 64-bit ARM tablets will also run Android 5.0 Lollipop. Hopefully, this processor implements proper H.265 hardware decoding, not GPU accelerated decoding as in Allwinner A80 processor. Interestingly neither Allwinner A64, nor Rockchip RK3368 announced recently, support VP9, despite it being the codec of […]

January 6, 2015May 29, 2017 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 2 Comments

Easily Create an Android Bootable SD Card for Allwinner A80 Devices with PhoenixCard Tool

We’ve already seen how it was possible to boot Linux or Android on Rockchip RK3288 devices from an SD card, which involved getting the stock firmware and running some scripts in Linux. Today, Freaktab member no_spam_for_me found out how to create a bootable SD card for Tronsmart Draco AW80 Meta, and other Allwinner A80 devices using PhoenixCard 3.09 tools for Windows (The latest version should be available @ http://dl.cubieboard.org/model/cc-a80/Tools/Flash-firmware-tools/). There may also be a way to use LiveSuit tools for Linux, but this have not been tested. Once you have installed the tools, start it, and load the firmware by clicking on “Img File” button (Here Draco AW80 Finless 1.1 firmware was used). Then press DiskCheck to scan for storage devices, and select your SD card in the drop-down menu “disk” (not sure why it’s blank in the screenshot above), select “Startup !” write mode, and click on the “Burn” […]

January 2, 2015May 29, 2017 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 11 Comments

3D Graphics Acceleration in Linux on Allwinner A80 based Cubieboard4

Allwinner A80 is a powerful octa-core processor found in development boards and TV boxes such as Cubieboard4 or Tronsmart Draco AW80. Some early Ubuntu images and instructions had already been released for A80 Optimusboard and Draco AW80, but none of these featured GPU drivers for 3D acceleration, which to be honest, has limited advantages in Linux desktop distributions since desktop environments and most apps require full OpenGL support, i.e. not only OpenGL ES, and the only ARM SoC that can provide OpenGL support without external graphics card is Nvidia Tegra K1 SoC. Having said that GPU drivers would pave the way for smooth OpenELEC / Kodi user interface support in Allwinner A80 Linux distributions. That’s only one part of the puzzle, since the GPU normally handles the user interface, while the VPU takes care of video decoding. The good news is that CubieTech release updates images for their Cubieboard4 (CC-A80) […]

December 31, 2014May 29, 2017 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 17 Comments

Infocus CS1 A83 (C2107) Android Tablet Review

I’ve already shown some pictures, listed specs and reported Antutu benchmark results for Infocus CS1 A83 Android tablet powered by Allwinner A83T octa core processor. I’ve been using this tablet as my main mobile device for about a week, and for about 3 to 5 hours a day, and I’m now ready to write a full review reporting my experience with this Full HD tablet. General Impressions I mainly use a tablet to browse the web, check emails, play some casual games like Candy Crush Saga, watch some YouTube videos, and Skype calls, and I could not really fault the tablet for any of these applications. Having said that, my reference device is only ThL W200 smartphone powered by Mediatek MT6589T processor with a 5″ display @ 1280×720, and for all the tasks listed Infocus tablet is much better because it’s more responsive, the 1920×1200 is crisp, and the cameras […]

December 15, 2014December 15, 2014 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 4 Comments

Inphic i8 Android Media Player Supports VP9 and H.265 Video Codecs, Features Allwinner H8 Processor

Allwinner H8 a new octa-core Cortex A7 processor for low cost Full HD media players with H.265 & VP9 codec support, and one the first product using the new Allwinner H-Series processor is Inphic i8, which sells for as low as 349 CNY (~$57) on JD.com and it’s also available on Taobao for 499 CNY (~$80). Some Inphic i8 boxes are available on Aliexpress, but so far all models are based on Allwinner A31s, promoted as quad core processor eight core GPU boxes, so don’t be fooled. Inphic i8 (Allwinner H8) specifications: SoC – Allwinner H8 octa-core Cortex-A7 processor @ 2.0GHz with PowerVR SGX544 GPU up to 720MHz System Memory – 1GB or 2GB DDR3 Storage – 8, 16, or 32GB internal storage Video Output – HDMI up to 1080p, Composite output (RCA) Audio Output – HDMI, and Left / Right RCA connectors Video Codecs Multi-format 1080p@60fps video playback, including […]