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ARM big.LITTLE Processing Demo (HMP) on ARM TC2 Test Chip

Samsung launched Exynos 5 Octa at CES 2013. This processor comes with 8 cores: 4 Cortex A15 cores and 4 Cortex A7 cores, and it’s the first processor that’s been announced to work in big.LITTLE configuration, where the big cores (A15) handle demanding tasks, and the LITTLE cores (A7) handle simpler tasks such as audio playback or background tasks. This is all done to optimize power consumption. There are 2 big.LITTLE software implementations: In-kernel switcher (IKS) and heterogeneous multi-processing (HMP). The first one is easier to implements but can only use 4 cores (in Exynos 5 Octa) at a time, and the second is more complex, but can handle all 8 cores, and assign individual tasks to a particular core. For more technical details about big.LITTLE implementations, you can read my previous post. ARM and Samsung recently uploaded a video providing an overview of big.LITTLE (but instead of IKS and […]

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Gumstix Introduces Geppetto Web Platform to Design Custom Embedded Boards

Gumstix, the company behind the Overo computers-on-module (COMs), has recently announced an online platform called Geppetto that allows anybody with a proper web browser (e.g. Chrome or Firefox) to design and order a complete baseboard for the Overo COMs. You don’t need to know anything about schematics, PCB layout, or other lecrtical engineering knowledges. The program lets you set the board size, add modules (e.g. USB, HDMI, Ethernet…) as you wish, tells you which connections are required, and once the board is done, you can see your 3D rendered board. You can then save it to the cloud with an option to share it with the community, and you can just order it. The learning curve is very short, and once you know how to use it, it probably takes around 10 minutes to design a complete board. Your fearless CNXSoft had to give it a try… First, point your […]

Khadas Edge2 Arm mini PC
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Open ARM GPU Drivers FOSDEM 2013 Video and Call to ARM Management

As I previously wrote, FOSDEM organizers are slowly uploading FOSDEM 2013 videos. One of the most interesting talk “Open ARM GPU Drivers” is now available. I’ve also uploaded it to YouTube (embedded below) to give it more exposure. Luc Verhaegen has also written a recent blog post entitled “Hey ARM!” where he announces the release of the modified source for Quake 3 Arena demo, and asks ARM to join them in making an open source driver. Open ARM GPU Drivers @ FOSDEM2013 This session covers the following key points: Problem – Binary drivers are mainly designed to run in Android, and it’s very difficult to have proper GPU drivers for Linux, and companies are not interested to release open source drivers or even just documentation, as they are not convinced it will benefit them in any way. Legal – This is actually the main issue, as open sourcing existing driver […]

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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. […]

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ARMBRIX Zero Cortex A15 Development Board Unboxing Pictures

I’ve just received an early sample of ARMBRIX Zero (aka ARMBRIX-5250-A), a development board based on Samsung Exynos 5250 dual cortex A15 processor with 2GB RAM, a microSD slot, 1x USB 3.0, 2x USB 2.0 Host, 1x USB Device, 10/100 Ethernet, HDMI output, SATA 3.0, some Audio I/O ports, and 3 expansions headers. This is basically a low cost version of the Arndale board, with things such as eMMC 4.5 (Sorry I’ve missed the eMMC socket at the back of the board) sensors missing. Today, I won’t turn the board on (I’ll explain why at the end of the post), but instead show some pictures of the development and debug boards. If you had previously seen the board picture before, you’ll noticed it has a grown a heatsink. The heatsink is probably here to stay, but may be slightly different (e.g. lower) when you receive your board. The bottom acrylic […]

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Pipo Max M9 Android 4.1 Tablet Powered by Rockchip RK3188

I first heard about Rockchip RK3188 quad core Cortex A9 at the end of 2012,  Rockchip showcased an RK3188 tablet development platform at CES 2013, and we were told the first tablet would ship in March without more details about available models. It appears Pipo Max M9 may be one of the first RK3188 available for purchase. This Android 4.1 tablet features a 10″ IPS display with 1280 x 800 resolution, 2 GB RAM, and 16 GB Flash. Here are the full specifications for PiPO MAX M9: SoC – Rockchip RK3188  Quad core Cortex A9  @  1.8GHz with Mali-400MP4 GPU @ 533 MHz. System Memory –  2 GB RAM Storage – 16 GB flash + microSD slot Display – 10.1″ IPS display with 10-Point capacitive touch screen. Resolution: 1280 x 800 pixels Connectivity: Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n Bluetooth 2.1 3G via external USB dongle Camera – 2.0MP front camera, 5.0MP rear […]

Rockchip RK3568/RK3588 and Intel x86 SBCs
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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 […]

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How to Display dd Progress and dd.sh Script

Upgrading software on Linux / Android boards or devices often involves copying images to an SD card or microSD. In Linux, you’d usually do that with dd, a utility that provides binary copy of data to files or block devices. A typical command would be:

However, during the copy, dd does not show a progress bar by default. But dd actually supports progress report, as indicated in the manpage: you can run dd, and send USR1 signal to display the current progress once, and resume copying. Linux commando explains how to continuously return the progress. First run the dd command:

Open another terminal window to find out the process id:

And use the watch command to send USR1 at regular interval.

You should see dd progress in the first window every 10 seconds. It works, but the output is not very nice because dd will just […]

Khadas VIM4 SBC