CNX Software - Embedded Systems News

June 7, 2013 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 3 Comments

Geniatech Releases ATV510B Source Code, Teases Dual and Quad Core ATV130 and ATV180 mini PCs

XBMCHUB (not affiliated with XBMC) reports that Geniatech has released the Android and Linux source code for ATV510B, one of Geniatech set-top boxes based on AML8726-M3 Cortex A9 processor. ATV510B is the design used by devices such as Pivos XIOS DS, Jynxbox Android HD, Sumvision Cyclone Nano M3, and MyGica ATV510B Enjoy TV Nano 3, among others. Pivos has made U-boot, Linux and XBMC source code available in github for a little while now, but this new release is a pretty large file (2.39 GB) called xbmcandroid_com-ics-base-M3-20121212.tar.bz2 that includes Android 4.0 source including the kernel and the bootloader. This source code should work with “stvmc” hardware, as found in build.prop’s ro.product.name or ro.product.device keys. I haven’t looked into details, but here’s the content of the root directory of the archive: On a separate note, Geniatech also showed the picture below on their Facebook page, with 2 new Android TV Sticks: […]

June 6, 2013June 6, 2013 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 13 Comments

WM8880-MID Dual Core Tablet is Now Available for $59

Remember SunnyCube V7 tablet with a dual core Cortex A9 SoC available for just $40 in China? I had a target between $50 to $55 on Aliexpress, but I’ve been explained I may have been too optimistic with shipping fees and the 5% seller fee in Aliexpress platform. Nevertheless, the device, or a similar device, based on WonderMedia WM8880 is now available for $59 including shipping on GeekBuying, which puts it in slightly higher price (~$7 more) than AllWinner A13 tablets, but with much more processing power, and HDMI output. Here are some updated specs: SoC – VIA WM8880 Dual core Cortex A9 processor @ 1.5GHz + Mali-400 MP2 GPU System Memory – 512MB DDR3 Storage – 4GB Flash + micro SD slot Display – 7-inch WVGA (800×480) display Video Output – HDMI port Video Playback – H.264, WMV, MPEG2/4, VP8 (up to 1080p) Connectivity – Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g Camera […]

ArmSoM RK3588 AIModule7 NVIDIA Jetson Nano-compatible SOM

June 6, 2013June 12, 2013 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 5 Comments

MiTAC Announces 7-Star 64-Bit ARM Server Powered by Applied Micro X-Gene Server-on-Chip

After unveiling their GFX servers based on Marvell ARM Cortex A9 SoC at Computex 2012, Mitac announced their new 7-Star server at Computex 2013. This new server is based on Applied Micro X-Gene SoC featuring ARMv8 architecture, and is one of the first, if not the first, 64-Bit ARM server ever. The key features of Mitac Server are as follows: 18x Front-loaded Computing Blades in 4U (176mm x 440mm x 650mm) Server Blade Spec SSI uModule v1.0 complaint (1) ARMv8 compliant 64-bit SoC /blade (2) DDR3 DIMM slots, and (2) 2.5” SATA 3.0 HDD support (1) 10G SFP+ and (1) GbE port IPMI V2.0 compliant Pass-through Ethernet Module Chassis Management Hot-swap FAN and (2+1) RPSU support It will be available by the end of the year. That’s about all I know for now, but more information should eventually come up on Mitac 7-Star page. Via PC Perspective.

June 6, 2013March 8, 2014 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 24 Comments

Rockchip RK3188 Linux Source Code is Now Available

Good news! I’ve just read Rockchip RK3188 Linux source code has just been released via Rikomagic, and Alok Sinha, the main maintainer of RK3066 source code, has already imported into github, and we should soon see a PicUntu image for RK3188 mini PCs. Let’s have a look:

git clone git://github.com/aloksinha2001/Linux3188.git
cd Linux3188

1 2	git clone git://github.com/aloksinha2001/Linux3188.git cd Linux3188

[Update: you may have to run “sudo apt-get install libc6-i386” before running make_kernel_ruikemei.sh below, as mkkrnlimg is a 32-bit binary] Usually, I immediately look into arch/arm/configs, but this time, there’s a “funny” script called make_kernel_ruikemei.sh, and .config already have some CONFIG_RK3188, so let’s run it:

export ARCH=arm
export CROSS_COMPILE=arm-linux-gnueabihf-
./make_kernel_ruikemei.sh

export ARCH=arm

export CROSS_COMPILE=arm-linux-gnueabihf-

./make_kernel_ruikemei.sh

After just over a minute, success!:

  LD      vmlinux
  SYSMAP  System.map
  SYSMAP  .tmp_System.map
  OBJCOPY arch/arm/boot/Image
  Kernel: arch/arm/boot/Image is ready

mkkrnlimg V20120220
cmd:/home/jaufranc/edev/sandbox/rk3188/Linux3188/arch/arm/boot/Image /home/jaufranc/edev/sandbox/rk3188/Linux3188/kernel.img [(null)]
kernel Image:/home/jaufranc/edev/sandbox/rk3188/Linux3188/kernel.img for mid is ready.
   Image:  kernel.img is ready

LD vmlinux

SYSMAP System.map

SYSMAP .tmp_System.map

OBJCOPY arch/arm/boot/Image

Kernel: arch/arm/boot/Image is ready

mkkrnlimg V20120220

cmd:/home/jaufranc/edev/sandbox/rk3188/Linux3188/arch/arm/boot/Image /home/jaufranc/edev/sandbox/rk3188/Linux3188/kernel.img [(null)]

kernel Image:/home/jaufranc/edev/sandbox/rk3188/Linux3188/kernel.img for mid is ready.

Image: kernel.img is ready

This kernel image is for Android only, and there’s a little work to modify it as a “pure” Linux kernel, so that it can be used to boot PicUnutu for RK3188. Let’s go back to arch/arm/configs, and we’ll find several RK3188 configs: rk3168_86v_defconfig rk3188_dongle_defconfig rk3188_ds1006h_defconfig rk3188_ds1006h_v1_0_defconfig rk3188_hotdog_defconfig rk3188_LR097_defconfig rk3188_magicwand_defconfig […]

June 6, 2013 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

Calxeda Showcases Aaeon and Foxconn ARM Servers at Computex 2013

ARM started to get involved in servers in 2011 with the announcements of Calxeda Energy Core, Marvell, and Applied Micro X-Gene Servers-on-a-Chip, and in 2012, products made by companies such as HP and Mitac started to appears. We’ve got to see some more ARM based servers this year thanks to Charbax, who filmed some Aaeon and Foxconn servers powered by Calxeda EnergyCore quad core ARM Cortex A9 SoC at Computex 2013. The first server is Aaeon Indus 1U cloud storage appliance: 1U Chassis 2x Calxeda Energycore nodes 10x 3.5″ HDD 2x 10 GbE uplinks and 4x 10GbE chassis-to-chassis interconnects Foxconn server shown at Computex has slightly higher specs: 4U chassis 12 Calxeda Energycore nodes 60x 3.5″ HDD for up to 240TB storage 4x 10 GbE uplinks and 6x 10 GbE chassis-to-chassis interconnects for 100 GbE total bandwidth There’s also a Gigabyte server, but I could get details. Server based on […]

June 6, 2013June 7, 2013 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 16 Comments

Pandora TV Box is an All-in-One Android Media Player, Game Console, DVB Receiver, Video Chat System, etc…

This morning I received an email from DealExtreme with a link to a teaser video about an upcoming Android device to be available on June 10, that comes with a game controller (PS3 type) to play games. After some research, I finally found this “Android-on-TV” device which is based on Rockchip RK3066 with 1GB RAM, 8GB Flash, lots of ports (USB, HDMI, Ethernet), a webcam, and more. Beside the game controller, it also comes with a remote control, so the device can be used for a whole lot of applications including gaming, video chat, media player, web browsing, and more. It’s something you can already do with existing devices, but it may require some efforts, and this one seems to come all included. Here are the specs of the “beast”: SoC – Rockchip RK3066 dual-core processor @ 1.6GHz + MALI 400 MP4 GPU System Memory – 1GB DDR3 Storage – […]

June 6, 2013June 6, 2013 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 28 Comments

Meet DAXIAN XY100S, a $100 Quad Core Android Smartphone

Last year, I wrote about a $50 Android smartphone, and yes, it was cheap but the specifications were pretty poor. But today, I’ve just learned about DAXIAN XY100S powered by Mediatek MT6589 quad core Cortex A7, with a 4.7″ display, and running Android 4.2, which just sells for under $100 on Buyincoins.com, including shipping. That’s about $50 cheaper than the cheapest MT6589 models I found. DAXIAN XY100S specifications as listed on buyincoins: Operating System: Google Android 4.2 SoC – Mediatek MTK6589 quad core Cortex A7 @ 1.5GHz + PowerVR SGX544 GPU System Memory – 1GB RAM Storage – 4GB NAND Flash + micro SD card slot (Up to 32GB) Display – 4.7″ Multi-touch Capacitive screen (854 x 480) Network – GSM: 900/ 1800 MHz, 2010-2025 MHz / 1880-1900 MHz (Dual SIM), 3G: TD-SCDMA Connectivity – Wi-Fi 802.11a/b/g/n Camera – 2.0 MP front camera, 8.0MP rear camera USB – 1x micro […]

June 5, 2013June 5, 2013 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 13 Comments

Bluetooth Versions Walkthrough, and Bluetooth 4.0 Low Energy Development Resources

I’ve seen more and more Bluetooth 4.0 LE devices in the last few months including RFDuino, Wimoto Motes, TI SensorTag, and Scadanu Scout, so I thought it would be good to write a bit about Bluetooth. First, I’ll write about the different version of Bluetooth, since I was still confused with the practical implications between the versions, and then I’ll show some development kits and software resources to play around and/or develop Bluetooth 4.0 LE applications both on devices and hosts. Bluetooth Versions Bluetooth v1.0 and v1.0B The Bluetooth 1.0 Specification was released in 1999, and according to an entry in Wikipedia, 1.0 and 1.0B devices had many issues, mainly interoperability issues. You won’t find any Bluetooth 1.0 device today. Bluetooth v1.1 Bluetooth v1.1 was ratified as IEEE Standard 802.15.1-2002 in 2002. It fixed many issues found in the previous specifications, added the option to use non-encrypted channels, as well […]