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Independent Dual Display Support on Firefly-RK3288 Development Board (Video)

From time to time, I’m being asked which platform can support dual independent displays, and although I noticed Mele A1000 (Allwinner A10) did support dual displays in Linux, I never really investigated how well it handles it, so I normally recommend to have a look at x86 platforms with AMD or Intel processor that specifically claim support for dual independent display. But today, I’ve noticed a developer working for T-Chip posted a nice demo on T-Firefly forums with two displays connected via HDMI and VGA. The demo shows Firefly-RK3288 development board running Android with two displays in three configurations: Display Mirroring – The same content is shown on both display. Especially useful for digital signage application, where one board can drive two displays with the same content Extended Desktop – The user interface is extended on both monitors. It’s like having a single large monitor with a 32:9 aspect ratio […]

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ODROID-XU3 Lite Board Ubuntu Review – Setup, Usability, and Performance

After testing ODROID-XU3 Lite with Android 4.4, and finding a workaround to some HDMI issues, I could finally try out Ubuntu, or rather Lubuntu with LXDE instead of Unity, in Hardkernel low cost octa-core development board. I’ll start this review by explaining how to install and setup Lubuntu on the board, followed by running various program to test the system usability as a desktop computer with LibreOffice, Chromium, XBMC, and 3D graphics, and finally run some performance tests with Phoronix Test Suit, build the Linux kernel natively, and transcode a video with avconf. Setting Up Ubuntu on ODROID-XU3 Lite All firmware images for ODROID development boards, can be found on odroid.in website, and if you want Ubuntu 14.04 image, go to ubuntu_14.04lts folder, to select the latest firmware file for your board. The latest image for ODROID-XU3 (Lite) is currently ubuntu-14.04.1lts-lubuntu-odroid-xu3-20141105.img.xz, it’s the same for micro SD card or eMMC […]

ArmSoM RK3588 AIModule7 NVIDIA Jetson Nano-compatible SOM
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Merrii A80 Hummingbird Octa-core Development Board Supports HDMI, VGA, and eDP Video Outputs

Up to now at least three boards based on Allwinner A80 processor were available: A80 OptimusBoard by Merrii, pCDuino8 by Linksprite, and Cubieboard4  by Cubitech, and the first two boards are basically the same. Merrii has now introduced a new board which they call “A80 Hummingbird H8”, with more features and ports including HDMI, VGA and eDP video outputs,  LVDS / MIPI DSI display interfaces, MIPI CSI camera interface, an RTC with battery and more. Merri H8 specifications: SoC – AllWinner A80 octa-core processor with 4x Cortex 15, 4x Cortex A7 cores in big.LITTLE configuration with Imagination Technologies PowerVR GC6230 GPU compliant with OpenGL ES 3.0/2.0/11, OpenCL 1.1, and DirectX 9.3 System Memory – 2GB DDR3 Storage – 8GB internal storage (Sandisk SDIN7DU2 iNAND Flash), micro SD slot up to 32 GB Video Output/ Display Interfaces HDMI 1.4 up to 4K UHD resolution VGA port eDP v1.2 up to 2560×1600 @ […]

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ODROID-XU3 Lite Development Board – Android Setup and Benchmarks

It’s been nearly ten days since I make ODROID-XU3 Lite unboxing, and my plans to first test Linux on the board were thwarted due a problem with HDMI. Luckily, after several attempts I managed to boot the board with Android. So today, I’ll show how to install or update Android on the board, and run a few benchmarks. But since there’s always a silver lining, I’ll start buy writing a bit about the HDMI issue, as I learned a few things on the way. HDMI Output Tribulations ODROID-XU3 Lite looks like a nice and powerful kit, and it may be one of the most cost effective ARM board on the market since it comes to performance to price ratio, so I was excited to try it, but as you know if you’ve read my unboxing post I did not work quite as planned, as all I got was a black […]

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Suptronics X200 Raspberry Pi Model B+ Expansion Board Adds Wi-Fi, RTC, VGA, optical S/PDIF, USB ports, Servo Support, and More

The Raspberry Pi is a nice little board, but in some cases you may want to add some extra ports. Suptronics released the X100 expansion board for Raspberry Pi Model B last year, and they’ve now come up with a little monster called X200 expansion board for Raspberry Pi Model B+ which adds Wi-Fi, a real-time clock + battery, a VGA port, optical S/PDIF output, 3.5 mm mic and audio jack, servo support (ULN2803), and a few USB ports to the low cost board. Key features of X200 expansion board: Input Voltage – 6V to 21Vdc converted to 5V, 3A via step-down DC/DC converter to power the Raspberry Pi. VGA output – HDMI to VGA converter supporting up to UXGA (1600×1200) and 1080p with 10-bit DAC Audio – 3.5mm MIC in jack, 3.5mm stereo audio jack, S/PDIF output, audio I/O connector (Microphone input and stereo audio amplifier 3.3Wx2) Connectivity – […]

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TI Sitara based GOEMBED Systems-on-Module and Single Board Computers with BeagleBone Capes Support

GOEMBED is a startup funded by engineers previously working for Embest Shenzhen, based in Longhua district in Shenzhen, and specialized in embedded boards and modules. They currently have board and modules based on Freescale i.MX6 and Texas Instruments Sitara processors, but I’ll focus on the TI products in this post, including one of their single board computers that supports BeagleBone capes. CM3352 and CM3358 Systems-on-Module CM335x Series modules specifications: SoC – Texas Instruments Sitara Cortex A8 AM3352 @ 800 Mhz or AM3358 @ 1.0 GHz System Memory – 512 MB Micron DDR3 chip Storage – 2 to 4 GB eMMC depending on model PMU – TI TPS65910A3 Dimensions – 67.5 x 36.5 mm Temperature Range – Commercial: 0° to 70° C or Industrial: -40° to 85° C The modules are said to support Linux 3.x, Android 4.x, Ubuntu, Angstrom, Debian, WinCE 6.0/7.0, and uCOS operating systems. SBC335x Single Board Computers […]

Rockchip RK3568, RK3588 and Intel x86 SBCs and SoMs in 2025
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Forlinx OK335xD Industrial Single Board Computer Supports Android, Linux and WinCE

Forlinx, an embedded systems design and manufacturing company based in Hebei province in China, has announced OK335xD industrial (temperature) single board computer powered by Texas Instruments Sitara AM335X processor, and which appears to be a high-end version of their OK335xS-II SBC with more ports. Potential applications include communication devices, medical equipment, automotive computers, control panels, data acquisition devices, industrial control, industrial automation equipment, and more. OK335xD single board computer is composed of a CPU module (FET335xD), and a baseboard simply called “OK335xD Base Board”. Listed specifications for FET335xD computer-on-module: SoC – Texas Instruments Sitara AM3354 Cortex A8 processor @ 800MHz with PowerVR SGX530 GPU System Memory – 512MB DDR3 Storage – 256MB SLC NAND Flash Interfaces available via CoM connector: 1x USB 2.0 Host; 1x USB2.0 OTG Ethernet Dual Gigabit Ethernet 3x MMC 3x I2C, 2x SPI, 6x UART / IrDA Various GPIO pins 8x ADC 2x CAN LCD Interface […]

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Patched Android 4.4 SDK Supports Beelink R89 & Hotack T031 Boards

The first batch Tronsmart Orion R28 Pro/Meta Android TV boxes where ships with a micro SD card loaded with Android 4.4 SDK, so I tried it myself, and posted instructions to build an RK3288 Android image, but when I flashed the image to my device, I quickly realized it was an older firmware (106k4), so the SDK would not be so useful, since all the recent bug fixes were not included. Luckily, more recent Android 4.4 SDK were released or leaked, and naobsd decided to port it to Hotack T031 and Beelink/Netxeon R89 boards that are found in many RK3288 Android TV boxes. Since he does not own any devices based on Netxeon R89, he asked me to try, and I did so on Tronsmart Orion R28 Meta. Bear in mind these are images built from a patched SDK, so not everything may work, there’s no Google Play Store, and […]

Boardcon CM3588 Rockchip RK3588 System-on-Module designed for AI and IoT applications