mini pc News - Page 141 of 149 - CNX Software

February 18, 2013February 18, 2013 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 9 Comments

PQ Labs iStick A200 Android mini PC Connects to G4 Series Multi-Touch Screens

PQ Labs iStick A200 is a Rockchip RK3066 Android 4.1.1 mini PC with 2 GB RAM, 4 GB Flash, an HDMI (female) output, a USB 2.0 Host port, and a miniUSB port for power. Pretty boring stuff if you ask me… And I would not be writing about it, if the company hadn’t interfaced their infrared touch frames to this mini PC to allow 10-point multi-touch on a large screen or projector output, making it a pretty good solution for conferences and interactive digital signage. Before going further, let’s have a look at the details of specifications for the iStick A200: SoC – ARM Cortex A9 Dual Core @ 1.6Ghz with HyperSpeed (Equivalent to 2.0Ghz Dual Core) and Quad Core Mali400 GPU (cnxsoft: It has to be Rockchip RK3066) System Memory – 2 GB DRAM chipset Storage – 4 GB NAND flash + microSD socket (Up to 32 GB) Video […]

February 13, 2013March 4, 2013 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 20 Comments

Developer Community for Freescale i.MX6 HDMI Dongles

Last week, I explained how to build U-boot, the kernel, and Android for Freescale i.MX6 HDMI dongle reference platform. Since them, there has been a bit more activity, with Richtechie releasing source code to some ARMTvTech members. However, this source code is very similar to the one released by Freescale, and misses some part present in the kernel config on GK802 such as CONFIG_MACH_MX6Q_RICHTECHIE, and the company clearly does not comply with the GPL. Let’s forget that for now, as Jasbir (who is also behind the Hackberry board) has managed to build and boot the kernel on his mini PC. There’s still more work to do, but at least we have a based to work on. In the meantime, I’ve noticed rz2k, an other developer, was also giving it a try on #arm-netbook Freenode IRC channel, so we decided to setup a few things to facilitate development and communication between developers. […]

February 12, 2013February 20, 2013 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 9 Comments

MK812 mini PC Comes with 1GB RAM, a Webcam and an External Wi-Fi Antenna

Here’s yet another mini PC based on Rockchip RK3066. MK812 mini PC looks just like Kimdecent B12, but the version version has been updated by replacing one of the microUSB ports with a jack to insert the cable of a high gain 3dB antenna. The antenna has a magnetic base so that you can stick it on your metallic furnitures… They have also increased the amount of RAM, and you now get 2GB RAM in the device. Update: Only 1GB RAM finally. Here are the MK812 specifications as shown on MiniAndroidPC: SoC – Dual-core Allwinner? A9 1.2~1.6GHz CPU processor System Memory – 2 1GB DDR3 Storage – 8GB NAND flash memory + microSD slot Video Output – HDMI (1080p/2160p) Connectivity – Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n & Bluetooth 2.3 Camera – Build-in 2MP camera USB – 1x USB 2.0 Host, 1x USB OTG Misc – Build-in microphone, and reset button. Dimensions – 88 […]

February 7, 2013February 8, 2013 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 26 Comments

Review of Measy U2C Rockchip RK3066 Mini PC With Built-in Camera

I’ve received 2 new devices to play with this week, as Geekbuying sent me Tronsmart Promotheus set-top box and Measy U2C, a mini PC with a webcam, so that I can test and review them. Today, I’ll leave the “Spaceship” set-top box parked in another galaxy, and I will review Measy U2C mini PC. This HDMI dongle is powered by Rockchip RK3066, runs Android 4.1.1, and comes with 1 GB RAM, 8GB Flash, Wi-Fi & Bluetooth connectivity, and a built-in 2MP Webcam. For complete specs, you can check my post about B12 mini PC since this device uses the same board internally. Geekbuying sells this all-in-one mini PC for $74.99 including shipping. As usual, I’ll post some unboxing pictures, and then review the device, this time, with a section dedicated to the webcam, since this is the key selling point of this mini PC. Measy U2C Unboxing Measy U2C comes […]

February 6, 2013February 6, 2013 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 40 Comments

U-boot, Linux Kernel, and Android Patches for Freescale i.MX6 HDMI TV Dongles

We can now get some quad core Android mini PCs (e.g. Hi802, GK802) featuring Freescale i.MX6Q processor, Freescale has released full documentation and source code its development platforms, Hi802 / GK802 HDMI TV dongles are easily hackable, and there’s even an Ubuntu image for the devices. So it looks pretty good ,right? Well almost.. there are some patches and config for GK802 that have not been released by Richtechie, so we can’t modify the bootloader and Linux kernel. But this may change, as ARMTvTech forum user hste noticed some Freescale i.MX6 HDMI dongle patches om IMX Community website. Even though I’m not sure those are fully compatible with Hi802 / GK802, this could be a starting point. Today, I’ll provide the instructions to build u-boot, the linux kernel and Android ICS with those patches in a machine running Linux 12.04 64-bit. Patch Sets Descriptions There are two set of patches that […]

February 4, 2013February 4, 2013 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 5 Comments

How To Root Droid Stick A2 mini PC

Droid Stick A2 mini PC does not come rooted, so here’s a simple rooting guide for the device. First, make sure you’ve installed the latest firmware, then follow the instructions below (Source: ARMTvTech): Copy update_Superuser.zip to the root of a micro SD card. Insert the microSD card to Droid Stick A2, and power the device Go the Apps menu in Android, and launch “Upgrade” app. Select Local Upgrade Select update_Superuser.zip Select Reboot And Install Package Let the update go through, and let it boot to Android. You should now have root access. This method deleted old version of su and Superuser.apk, copies su to /system/bin & Superuser.apk to /system/app, and changes permissions on those files. It may also work on other AMLogic AML8726-M1 / M3 / MX based devices. If you are interested in knowing exactly what it does, unzip update_Superuser.zip, and open /META-INF/com/google/android/updater-script. For some reasons, the first time I […]

January 30, 2013 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 3 Comments

How to Access the Serial Console in MK808 mini PC

Omegamoon has done a pretty neat hack on MK808 Rockchip RK3066 mini PC to connect a Sparkfun USB to TLL board and access the serial console for bootloader and kernel debugging. The first thing he had to do was to open the device, remove the heatsink, and locate the Rx/Tx pads on the board. The Rx and Tx pins are accessible through pads, not via through holes, so it’s just a little more difficult to solder, but nothing too challenging. He and his brother also soldered another cable to the ground. Then they inserted a 6-pin header via the ventilation holes of the device, soldered the 3 wires to the header, and fix the latter to the casing. Finally, they just inserted the debug board in the pin header, connected the USB cable to their PC, and started minicom (or equivalent) to start accessing the serial console. I think that […]

January 30, 2013 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment

$39.99 MTB025 Android ICS Mini PC Powered by Wondermedia WM8850

Alex, one of my regular reader, informed me about a new mini PC, called the MTB025, running on Wondermedia WM8850 cortex A9 processor with 512 MB RAM & 4 GB Flash, and sold on Pandawill for $39.99 including international shipping. Since it’s the first time I’ve heard about a Wondermedia based mini PC, I’ve decided to have a look. Here are the specifications of this Android 4.0.3 device: SoC – VIA Wondermedia WM8850 (Cortex-A9) @ 1.2GHz with Mali-400 GPU. System Memory – 512 MB RAM Storage – 4 GB NAND Flash + microSD slot (up to 16GB?) Video output – HDMI (Up to 1080p60) Video formats – AVI, RMVB, MKV & FLV Audio codecs – MP3/WMA/WAV/APE/AAC/FLAC/OGG Connectivity – WIFI 802.11 b/g/n USB – USB host 2.0 + micro USB OTG Dimensions – 98 x 30 x 11 mm Weight – 24g The package also includes an HDMI Cable, a USB […]