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Prpl Non-Profit Organization to Work on Linux, Android, and OpenWRT for MIPS based Processors

In what looks like an answer, albeit fairly late, to Linaro, the non-profit organization working on open source software for ARM based SoCs, a consortium of companies composed of Imagination Technologies, Broadcom, Cavium, Lantiq, Qualcomm, Ingenic, and a few others, has funded Prpl (pronounced Purple), “an open-source, community-driven, collaborative, non-profit foundation targeting and supporting the MIPS architecture—and open to others—with a focus on enabling next-generation datacenter-to-device portable software and virtualized architectures”. The Prpl foundation will focus on three key objectives: Portability – To create ISA agnostic software for rapid deployment across multiple architecture Virtualization & security – To enable multi-tenant, secure, software, environments in datacenter, networking & storage, home, mobile and embedded Heterogeneous Computing – To leverage compute resources enabling next generation big data analytics and mining Initially there will PEG (Prpl Engineering Group) to take of the following projects for 4 market segments (datacenter, network & storage, connected consumers, […]

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iFans EL-PB-17 is a 3-in-1 USB Wall Charger with a Battery and an SD Card Slot

I’ve noticed TYLT ENERGY 2K a USB wall charger with an internal 2,300 mAh battery, is currently on Kickstarter for $20, and received some press coverage. The main advantages of this system is that it saves space ,and you don’t need to remember charging your phone and your USB power bank separately, it will just charge both within 3 to 4 hours. However, since I’ve recently purchased a USB solar power bank with a 30,000 mAh battery (actual 8,000 to 10,000 mAh) for about $25, I thought there must be better options with a larger batter and similar price, or cheaper price with a similar battery size. It turns out there aren’t so many options, but I did find NewTrent Travelpak Plus with a 7,000 mAH battery that sells for about $40 on Amazon and even $19 on Ebay. But I’ve found a product even more original and versatile with […]

ArmSoM CM5 Raspberry Pi CM4 alternative with Rockchip RK3576 SoC
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Unboxing of HD18T Android Media Player with DVB-T2 Tuner

Shenzhen Tomato has sent me a sample of HD18T, an Android TV box powered by Amlogic AML8726-MX dual core processor that features a DVB-T2 tuner with In and Out antenna connectors. This is quite timely as Digital TV in Thailand has just started on April 1st of this year. Today, I’ll go through the specs, unbox the device, and show some pictures of the box, the board and DVB-T2 tuner. HD18T Specifications The device enclosure and specifications are very similar to EM6-S2 DVB-S2 Android TV box I covered previously, expect the DVB-S2 tuner is replaced by a DVB-T2 tuner: SoC – AMLogic AML8726-MX dual cortex A9 @ 1.5 GHz + Mali-400MP2 GPU System Memory – 1GB DDR3 RAM Storage – 8GB NAND FLASH + SD card reader Video & Audio Output – HDMI 1.4, AV Audio Output – HDMI, AV, and optical S/PDIF.  Dolby TrueHD and DTS HD pass-through. USB […]

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$15 Open Source Hardware VoCore Wi-Fi Module Runs OpenWRT (Crowdfunding)

There are already low cost Wi-Fi modules that can be used for the Internet of Things such as AsiaRF AWM002 and Hi-Link HLK-RM04. However, AsiaRF mainly caters to companies, and the Hi-Link module has a limited memory (16MB), which may or may not be an issue depending on your application. VoCore Wi-Fi module could prove to be an interesting option as it is the same $15 to $20 price range, runs OpenWRT with 32 MB RAM, will be open source hardware, and provides up to 20 GPIOs in a tiny (25x25mm) form factor. VoCore Wi-Fi module specifications: SoC – Ralink/Mediatek RT5350 MIPS processor @ 360MHz with dual band 802.11n Wi-Fi with data Rate up to 150Mbps System Memory – 32 MB RAM Storage – 8MB SPI Flash (for firmware) / 16 MB on limited edition Available Signals (Via through holes): 10/100M Ethernet USB UART, I2C, SPI I2S, PCM JTAG Over 20 […]

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ARM Cortex A15/A17 SoCs Comparison – Nvidia Tegra K1 vs Samsung Exynos 5422 vs Rockchip RK3288 vs AllWinner A80

We’re now starting to get quite a few players with ARM Cortex A15 cores on the market, as well as some with ARM Cortex A17. So a comparison table of different quad and octa SoCs might be a useful thing to do. I’ve put aside SoCs such as HiSilicon K3V3, and OMAP5, and focused on the four latest processors: Nvidia Tegra K1 (32-bit), Samsung Exynos 5422, Rockchip RK3288 and AllWinner A80. I haven’t included Mediatek MT6595 and Qualcomm SnapDragon 805, because the two companies mainly focus on smartphones and tablets (although it appears to be slowly changing for Qualcomm), documentation is usually difficult or impossible to find, and in the case of Qualcomm they use their own ARMv7 Krait cores. I’ve highlighted some features in green, in case a particular SoC appears to have an edge. Rockchip RK3288 AllWinner A80 Nvidia Tegra K1 Samsung Exynos 5422 CPU 4x ARM Cortex-A17 […]

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Acme Systems Acqua A5 is a System-on-Module Powered by Atmel SAMA5D3 Processor

Acme Systems has announced availability of their Acqua A5 SoM with Atmel SAMA5D31 Cortex A5 micro-processor, up to 512 MB RAM, up to 256 MB Flash, a serial EEPROM, a micro SD card slot, and an Ethernet PHY. The module targets headless or LCD based system such as automation or control panels, and is available in commercial and extended temperature range. Specifications: Processor – Atmel SAMA5D31 ARM Cortex-A5 MPU @ 536MHz System Memory – 256MByte DDR2 RAM @ 32 bit (optionally 512MB) Storage Embedded micro SD hinge type holder for OS and data Optional 256 MB NAND flash Atmel AT24MAC402 – 2Kbit serial EEPROM Connectivity –  10/100 Mbit Ethernet I/F (can be turned off for power saving) Three USB Host ports (one configurable as USB device) Connectors – 3x 50-pin connectors pitch 1.27 mm (50 mils) Signal accessible via connectors: (Check pinout for details) 10/100 Mbit Ethernet phy RGB I/F […]

Rockchip RK3568, RK3588 and Intel x86 SBCs and SoMs in 2025
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Ubuntu 14.04 and Slitaz on Radxa Rock

Various Android and Linux images are available on Radxa Rock download page, but if you’d like to get newer images or other options, two developers have provided binaries and posted instructions to get Ubuntu 14.04 and Slitaz operating systems, the later currently booting with Linux kernel 3.10. Naoki FUKAUMI has published a miniroot how-to install a Ubuntu 14.04 Core (minimal headless installation) on Radxa Rock and Radxa Rock Lite. Installation should be relatively easy as he provide the update.img for both board so your can use the usual method in Windows (RkBatchTool) or upgrade_tool in Linux. If you don’t have serial console, you’ll have need to flash the parameter file requiring RkAndroidTool in Windows, and the same upgrade_tool in Linux. If once the installation and configuration is complete, you want a desktop environment,you can always run “apt-get install lubuntu-desktop” to install LXDE. SliTaz is a lightweight Linux distribution. I previously […]

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How to Boot a Headless Linux Image on Amlogic S802 TV Boxes (Tronsmart Vega S89 Elite)

As some of you already know, I’ve been playing around with Tronsmart Vega S89 Elite, an Android TV Box powered by Amlogic S802 quad-core ARM Cortex A9r4 processor at 2 GHz. Today, I’ll show how to boot a headless Linux image on any Amlogic-based S802 TV Box from the network. The instructions can mainly be used as a starting point for developers, as it requires access to a serial terminal via  UART, but if you’ve never done it before, the instructions should be easy enough to follow. Everything is loaded from the network, the kernel (via boot.img) is loaded via TFTP, and the rootfs (Linaro ALIP image) is mounted via NFS, so it’s nearly impossible to brick your device using the method provided. Linaro ALIP rootfs comes with LXDE, but at this stage, the desktop environment is not showing, even though my HDMI TV is properly detected by the drivers. […]

Boardcon EM3562 Rockchip RK3562 SBC with 8 analog camera inputs