F&S Elektronik Systeme GmbH will showcase their solutions at Embedded World 2017 next week, including their latest ARM Cortex A53 modules and boards based on NXP QorIQ LS1012A, and Qualcomm Snapdragon 410E processors. Today, I’ll write about the later with the company’s armStone A53SD pico-ITX single board computer equipped with up to 32GB flash and 8GB memory.

Click to Enlarge

armStone A53SD board specifications:

• Processor – Qualcomm Snapdragon 410E quad core ARM Cortex-A53 processor @ up to 1.2 GHz with Adreno GPU
• System Memory – Up to 8GB LPDDR3 RAM
• Storage – Up to 32GB eMMC flash, 1x micro SD card slot
• Display – 24-bit LVDS, DVI up to 720p, I2C for touch controller
• Audio – Line In/Out/Mic via header
• Connectivity – 1x 10/100M Ethernet, WiFi IEEE 802.11a/b/g/n, Bluetooth 2.1+EDR/4.1 LE
• USB – 3x USB 2.0 host ports, 1x USB 2.0 device port
• Camera – MIPI-CSI connector
• Expansion – Unpopulated 66-pin header with 1x CAN 2.0, 2x UART, 1x I2C, 1x SPI, up to 32 digital I/Os, etc…
• Power Supply – 5V DC/±5%
• Power Consumption – 4W typ.
• Dimensions – 100x72x15mm (PICO-ITX form factor)
• Weight – ~60g
• Temperature Range – 0°C – +70°C; optional: -20°C – +85°C

The company provides support for Linux Buildroot & Yocto Project, as well as Windows 10 IoT for the board.  armStone A53SD-SKIT starter kit will be sold with either Linux or Windows 10 IoT, and includes a set of cables and access data for the download area.

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F&S armstone A53SD SBC will be available in Q3 2017 at an undisclosed price. Visit the product page for a few more details.

Tweet F&S Elektronik Systeme GmbH will showcase their solutions at Embedded World 2017 next week, including their latest ARM Cortex A53 modules and boards based on NXP QorIQ LS1012A, and…

ODB-II Bluetooth adapter and head-up displays to monitor and diagnose your car have been around for a while. I actually got two models to use with a Toyota Avanza and Torque Lite app, but never managed to make it work with my phone. Macchina M2 board is doing much of the same thing and more, as it is open source hardware, and supports more communications protocols including GPS, WiFi, 3G/LTE,  BLE, and Ethernet using XBEE boards.

M2 with Xbee Cellular Board

Macchina M2 specifications:

• MCU – Atmel SAM3X8E ARM Cortex M3 processor @ 84 MHz (also used on Arduino DUE) with 96 KB SRAM, 512KB flash
• Storage – micro SD card socket, 32KB EEPROM via I2C
• USB – 1x micro USB port (USB device or host mode)
• Wireless XBee Socket – For Bluetooth LE, WiFi, GSM, 3G, LTE,
• I/Os
  • 6x automotive level I/O pins to control 12V devices (Examples: relays, fans, lights, etc) OR act as analog input (like temp sensor)
  • 2x channels of CAN, 2x channels of LIN/ K-line, J1850 VPW/PWM, single-wire CAN interfaces for maximum car compatibility.
• Misc – 5x user LEDs, 1x RGB LED
• Power Supply – 5V@ 3A, [email protected] amps for connecting add ons
• Dimensions – 56.4mm x 40.6mm x 15.7mm

Once you’ve done the hardware setup – very easy with the ODB-II connector, and a little bit more difficult under the hood -, you can hack your car away, programming it with the Arduino IDE to gather RPM, speed, diagnostics data, etc…. This will also allow you it to tune it, or even control it remotely, for example starting it with a mobile control app. If you don’t want to program the board, ELM327 emulation will allow support for popular apps such as Torque for Android, or Dashcommand for iPhone, Android, and Windows App. The developers also uploaded some video tutorials on YouTube, some guides can be found on M2 Wiki, and one of the member of the team wrote a book called “The Car Hacker’s Handbook“.

Macchina M2 launched on Kickstarter a few weeks ago, and the project has already raised over $90,000, surpassing its $25,000 goal. Rewards start at $45 with M2 interface board only, which requires you to add your own MCU/CPU board, but most people will be interested in the $79 pledge to get a complete Macchina M2 board including the Atmel SAM3X board. Shipping is free to the US, but adds $15 to the rest of the world. Deliver is scheduled for July 2017.

Thanks to Thomas for the tip.

Tweet ODB-II Bluetooth adapter and head-up displays to monitor and diagnose your car have been around for a while. I actually got two models to use with a Toyota Avanza…

MACOM, having recently completed the acquisition of AppliedMicro, has now announced sampling of X-Gene 3 Server-on-a-Chip (SoC) with 16-nanometer FinFET process technology. X-Gene 3 features 32-core ARMv8 cores clocked at up to 3.0 GHz, 8 DDR4 channels, 42 PCIe Gen 3 lanes, SATA 3.0 and USB 3.0.

X-Gene 3 Block Diagram – Click to Enlarge

X-Gene 3 SoC key features and specifications

• CPU – 32x 64-bit ARMv8 cores @ up to 3.0 GHZ (base freq.) / 3.3 GHz (turbo freq.)
• Cache – 32MB L3 cache
• Memory IF – 8x DDR4-2667 channels with ECC and RAS supporting up to 16DIMMs for up to 1TB RAM
• Storage – SATA 3.0 interfaces
• 42x PCIe Gen 3 lanes with 8x controllers
• USB 3.0 interfaces
• Max. TDP – 125 Watts (Expected)
• Process – 16nm FinFET TSMC

X-Gene 3 is said to offer 4 to 6 better performance compared to X-Gene 2, and match “comparable x86 processors in CPU throughput, per-thread performance and power efficiency, while offering advantages in memory bandwidth and total cost of ownership”.

A white paper by the Linley group has some more insights about the performance:

The company expects the chip to deliver a SPECint_rate2006 (peak) score of at least 500 when running at its peak speed of 3.3GHz and DDR4-2667 and with some additional hardware and compiler tuning. This score is well ahead of that of any other ARM processor and similar to that of mainstream Xeon E5 processors.

In addition, the processor should achieve a single-thread SPEC_int2006 (peak) score of 24. Other CPU tests such as CoreMark and Dhrystone deliver similarly impressive results, outscoring leading ARM cores such as Cortex-A72 and custom designs from Cavium, Qualcomm, and Samsung. With eight DDR4 channels, X-Gene 3 also posts excellent scores on memory tests. For example, the processor scores 67.1GB/s on Stream Copy using DDR4-2133 and could exceed 80GB/s when it uses DDR4-2667.

They also compared X-Gene 3 SoC directly to Xeon E5 processor in the table below using numbers provided by vendors, or estimates, not independent benchmarks.

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MACOM’s new SoC appears to have the edge when it comes to memory bandwidth, however, they note that X-Gene 3 lags Xeon E5 in floating-point performance, X-Gene 3 will still do well on integer-only workloads such as deep learning used for voice services (e.g. Alexa), image classification, and other tasks.

MACOM is now shipping X-Gene 3 to selected partners. Some publicly available documents for APM883xxx-X3 (codename for X-Gene 3) should eventually be available on APM website.

Via Hexus, and thanks to Tadej for the tip.

Tweet MACOM, having recently completed the acquisition of AppliedMicro, has now announced sampling of X-Gene 3 Server-on-a-Chip (SoC) with 16-nanometer FinFET process technology. X-Gene 3 features 32-core ARMv8 cores clocked…

# LIRCD File for Haier Aircon

#

begin remote

  name   achaier

  flags  RAW_CODES

  eps     30

  aeps   100

  ptrail   0

  repeat 0 0

  gap 28205

  begin raw_codes

    name off

     3050     3017     3050     4281      599     1677

      570      557      578     1678      579      686

      574      586      548     1681      577      561

      573     1809      574     1682      597     1672

      575      558      577      688      571      563

      571      588      547      560      574      690

      579      554      580      553      603     1693

      544     1823      570      557      577      582

      552      555      579     1834      549      559

      576      557      577      588      567      679

      580      553      571     1684      574     1682

      576      689      570      563      572      561

      573      561      573      691      599     1670

      578     1678      580      553      571      694

      576     1679      578     1678      580      579

      545     1816      577     1685      594     1669

      579     1677      570      694      576      584

      550      558      576     1684      574      685

      574      560      574      559      607      540

      574      691      578      555      579      554

      570      563      576      688      576      557

      578      555      580      554      600      701

      579     1676      572      562      572     1689

      569      714      576      557      577     1679

      579     1677      571      562      604

    name on

     3052     3040     3025     4287      593     1698

      549      557      577     1679      579      686

      573      560      573     1688      571      557

      578     1809      573     1683      597     1672

      575      590      544      715      544      563

      571      562      573      561      573     1813

      580      553      571      563      608     1687

      544     1817      577      556      578      555

      579      555      579     1809      574      558

      576      557      577      557      598      679

      581      553      570     1685      573     1688

      571      688      570      563      572      562

      572      587      547      692      598     1671

      577     1684      574      553      571      694

      575     1681      577     1678      580      553

      581     1812      571     1680      599     1669

      578     1678      580      685      574      565

      569      559      575     1680      578      687

      572      561      573      560      606      541

      572      693      582      551      578      555

      579      554      570      695      575      557

      577      557      577      556      599      703

      577     1683      575      553      571     1685

      573      716      574      559      575     1680

      578     1678      580     1676      602  

    name 29C

     3054     3013     3052     4280      601     1669

      577      556      579     1677      570      694

      576      558      576     1685      573      555

      579     1834      549     1680      599     1670

      577      562      573     1809      574      559

      575     1681      576     1680      578      686

      580      554      574      559      606     1663

      574     1813      570      563      572      561

      573      561      578     1808      580      554

      580      553      571      562      604      675

      573      559      575     1713      545     1678

      580      687      573      558      575      559

      576      557      577      688      602     1672

      565     1685      573      560      574      691

      578     1678      570     1685      574      559

      574     1814      579     1676      603     1667

      570     1691      567      692      578      555

      579      554      580     1677      571      719

      550      557      577      556      603      545

      575      689      570      563      571      562

      573      560      574      690      579      555

      579      554      570      570      596      699

      571     1684      573      560      574     1682

      576     1835      587     1669      570     1685

      573      561      573      560      606  

    name 28C

     3045     3016     3050     4282      598     1698

      550      584      550     1685      573      685

      573      561      574     1681      577      557

      577     1836      547     1714      575     1663

      574      559      575      690      580      553

      570     1712      546     1688      570     1813

      570      562      572      562      603     1666

      571     1816      578      555      579      555

      579      554      580     1807      576      583

      551      556      578      556      605      673

      570      589      545     1684      574     1682

      576      715      544      563      571      567

      567      561      573      692      599     1670

      578     1677      580      553      571      694

      581     1675      578     1677      581      553

      570     1817      577     1678      601     1669

      578     1704      554      684      575      559

      575      558      576     1686      572      686

      573      560      574      560      605      541

      573      692      578      555      578      555

      580      553      571      694      575      558

      576      557      578      555      600      702

      578     1704      553      554      570     1691

      567      716      575     1680      577     1679

      579      554      580     1677      603

  end raw_codes

end remote

Shenzhen Xunlong Software must already have over a dozen of Orange Pi boards, but this is not stopping them from launching more, and the company has just introduced Orange Pi Win, powered by Allwinner A64 processor, and beside supporting Linux and Android like other models, it’s rumored to run Windows 10 IoT too.Orange Pi Win specifications:

• SoC – Allwinner A64 quad core ARM Cortex A53 processor @ 1.2 GHz with Mali-400MP2 GPU
• System Memory – 1 GB DDR3
• Storage – 2MB SPI flash, micro SD slot up to 64 GB, footprint for optional eMMC flash
• Video Output / Display interface – HDMI 1.4 up to 4K @ 30 Hz with CEC 3D and HDCP support,, MIPI LCD interface
• Audio – HDMI, 3.5 mm headphone jack, built-in microphone
• Connectivity – Gigabit Ethernet + 802.11 b/g/n WiFi & Bluetooth 4.2 (AP6212)
• USB – 4x USB 2.0 host ports, 1x micro USB OTG port
• Camera – MIPI CSI interface up to 5MP camera, up to [email protected] fps video capture
• Expansion – 40-pin Raspberry Pi somewhat-compatible header
• Debugging – 3-pin UART header
• Misc – IR receiver; reset and power buttons; power and status LEDs;
• Power
  • 5V via power barrel or micro USB port
  • Lithium battery header
  • Power selection jumper (4-pin header)
  • AXP803 PMIC
• Dimensions – 93 x 60 mm
• Weight – 48 grams

Supported operating systems includes “Android 4.4, Ubuntu, Debian, Raspberry Pi image, and Banana Pi image”. The latter is possible since Orange Pi Win is quite  similar to Banana Pi M64, except it has less RAM. “Raspberry Pi image” likely means Raspbian with Linux + Uboot for Allwinner A64 processor, and Raspbian image for Raspberry Pi won’t work. Linux support should now be relatively good due to the work done on other Allwinner A64 boards such as Pine A64 and Banana Pi M64, and I suspect Armbian builds should come soon enough.

Windows 10 IoT is not part of that list, but should eventually be supported according to a forum post, and Shenzhen Xunlong confirmed it by email. Not really surprising considering Windows 10 IoT has been ported to Pine A64 and Banana Pi M64 boards. You can check officially supported Allwinner boards directly on Microsoft Azure IoT device catalog, and Orange Pi Win is not there yet.

The board has just started to sell for $25 + shipping on Aliexpress.

Thanks to Tomaz, Aleksey, and tkaiser for the tip.

Tweet Shenzhen Xunlong Software must already have over a dozen of Orange Pi boards, but this is not stopping them from launching more, and the company has just introduced Orange…

J-core J2 is an open source processor and SoC design implemented in VHDL, and using  SH2 instruction set found in some Renesas (previously Hitachi) micro-controllers. The code available royalty free under a BSD license, and it’s also patent-free since all SH2 related patents expired expired in October 2014. The developers used to run the code on Xilinx Spartan 6 based Numato Mimas v2 board since it was cheap ($50) and mostly did the job. “Mostly”, because it still lacked Ethernet, capability for SMP and the serial port was slow, so they decided to design their own Turtle Board to address those issues.

Turtle Board preliminary specifications:

• FPGA – Xilinx Spartan 6 LS25 or LS45 FPGA
• MCU – 8-bit Atmel MCU for load/update flash at power on.
• Storage – micro SD slot, 8MB SPI flash
• System memory – 256 MB RAM
• Video & Audio Output – HDMI and AV jack
• Connectivity – Ethernet
• USB – 4x USB 2.0 ports
• Expansion – 40-pin Raspberry Pi compatible header
• Power Supply – 5V via micro USB port
• Dimensions – Raspberry Pi 2/3 form factor

There are very few details about the board, and J-Core Project’s twitter account has not been very active recently. However, they showcased Turtle Board at ELC 2017 last month, so the project is still very alive.

Click to Enlarge

Based on the slide above, the board will start shipping in May 2017, and I could not find a link to pre-order them. They have a dedicated (currently parked) domain @ turtleplatform.com, so it could eventually be announced there, or via a Kickstarter campaign. Patents for newer SH3 and SH4 cores have recently expired too, and J-Core Roadmap includes plans for  J3 (SH3+MMU+FPU) in 2017 and J4 (SH4 64bit – Used in SEGA Dreamcast) in 2018.  If you want to know more about J-Core implementation, you may want to check out ELC 2016 presentation, and/or subscribe to J-Core mailing list.

Thanks to Leon for the ELC 2017 picture.

Tweet J-core J2 is an open source processor and SoC design implemented in VHDL, and using  SH2 instruction set found in some Renesas (previously Hitachi) micro-controllers. The code available royalty…

K1 Plus T2 S2 review has been a popular post on CNX Software, as many people tried to improve their experience with the device. VideoStrong has just send an updated version of their DVB-T2 + DVB-S2 TV box with Mecool KIII Pro octa-core Hybrid STB powered by an Amlogic S912 processor combined with 3 GB RAM and 16GB storage, and the same dual tuner configuration. I’ve started the review by posting some pictures of the hardware, inside out, before reporting my experience with Android, especially the DTV part, in a few weeks.

KIII Pro Specifications

• SoC –  Amlogic S912 octa core ARM Cortex-A53 @ up to 1.5 GHz with  Mali-T820MP3 GPU
• System Memory – 3 GB DDR3
• Storage – 16GB eMMC flash + micro SD card slot up to 32GB
• Video Output – HDMI 2.0a up to 4K @ 60Hz with support for HDR10 and HLG, and 3.5mm AV (composite video) jack
• Audio Output – HDMI, AV (stereo audio), optical S/PDIF
• Video Codecs – 10-bit H.265, and VP9 up to 4K60, H.264 up to 4K30, AVS+ up to 1080p60
• Tuner – Combo DVB-T/T2 and DVB-S/S2 with two connectors
• Connectivity – Gigabit Ethernet, dual band 802.11 b/g/n/ac Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth 4.0
• USB – 4x USB 2.0 host ports
• Misc – Power button and LED, IR receiver
• Power Supply –  DC 12V/12A
• Dimensions – 130 x 120 x 32 mm
• Weight – ~190 grams

The box runs Android 6.0 with Kodi 17 pre-installed.

KIII Pro Unboxing

I received the device in a white retail package marked “KIII Pro Octa-core Hybrid STB” and “OTT TV BOX”.

The bottom of the package has some of the specs.The set-top box ships with a 12V/1A power supply, a largish IR remote control taking two AA batteries, an HDMI cable, and a user’s manual in English.

Click to Enlarge

The enclosure is very similar to K1 Plus with the edges “smoothed” out.

Click to Enlarge

The power bottom can conveniently be found on the top cover, one side has four USB 2.0 host ports, a micro SD, and the rear panel features a DVB-T2 coaxial connector, a DVB-S2 F connector, CVBS/LR composite + stereo audio 3.5mm jack, a Gigabit Ethernet port, a HDMI 2.0a port, optical S/PDIF, and the power jack.

KIII Pro Teardown

Let’s open the thing. We’ll have to start with the bottom cover. First we’ll notice a D0:76:58 MAC address which is not registered with IEEE, but the company previously explained that it was for “localized network, and it is the only ID for empowering applications to activate, specially IPTV applications”. Then, the box can be wall-mounted via two “hooks”, which can be convenient in some use cases. Finally, there’s a recovery pinhole on the right of the sticker in order to reinstall firmware if your box does not boot anymore.

Click to Enlarge

We don’t need to remove all rubber pads, as there are two just screws holding the case together. One under the bottom left rubber pad, and one under the QC sticker, which you need to pierce through. Once we’ve removed those two screws, the box comes apart easily.

We have two boards: main board with heatsink on the CPU, and a yellow board with the tuner circuitry.

Click to Enlarge

We’ll find two SpecTek DDR3 SDRAM chips: PE029-125 (512 MB) and another chip market “512X16DDR3” (1 GB) for a total of 1.5 GB RAM on this side of the board. The flash is covered by a sticker, which I have not removed, so we’ll see how storage performs in benchmarks. Gigabit Ethernet is done using Realtek RTL8211F transceiver, and Pulse H5900L transformer, while AC WiFi  and Bluetooth LE is implemented via a module marked “KM63351412” which could be equivalent to AP6335 module found in some other devices. Other chips include GL852G USB hub, and DIO2133 audio driver. If you want to hack the board, the serial console should be available via an unpopulated 4-pin header on the bottom left of the photo above.

Click to Enlarge

The other side of the CPU board comes with a micro SD card slot, and 1.5 GB extra RAM to bring the total to 3GB. We can also see extra cooling with a thick metal plate, covered by a black sheet, itself covered by a thin plastic transparent sheet on the bottom of the enclosure.

Click to Enlarge

S2&T2_R848_REV1.2 tuner board looks very similar to KI Plus tuner board, but just upgraded from Revision 1.0 to Revision 1.2, and featuring the same Availink AVL6862TA DVB-C/T/T2 + DVB-S/S2 demodulator, but they changed Rafael Micro R848 tuner chip to R912 model, which is not documentation on Rafael Micro website yet.

If you are interested in purchasing KIII Pro in quantities, you may inquire Videostrong via the product page. Mecool KIII Pro can also be purchased online on sites such as GearBest ($117.99), which by the way currently has promotions for their 3rd anniversary, as well as several shops on Aliexpress ($141 and up) and Banggood ($133.99).

Tweet K1 Plus T2 S2 review has been a popular post on CNX Software, as many people tried to improve their experience with the device. VideoStrong has just send an…

Last year, we reported that BeagleBoard.org was working with the University of California San Diego on BeagleBone Blue board for robotics educational kits such as EduMiP self-balancing robot, and EduRover four wheel robot. The board has finally launched, so we know the full details, and it can be purchased for about $80 on Mouser, Element14 or Arrow websites.

Click to Enlarge

BeagleBone Blue specifications:

• SiP (System-in-Package) – Octavo Systems OSD3358 with TI Sitara AM3358 ARM Cortex-A8 processor @ up to 1 GHz,  2×32-bit 200-MHz programmable real-time units (PRUs), PowerVR SGX530 GPU, PMIC, and 512MB DDR3
  
• Storage – 4GB eMMC flash, micro SD slot
• Connectivity – WiFi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.1 LE (TI Wilink 8) with two antennas
• USB – 1x USB 2.0 client and host port
• Sensors – 9 axis IMU, barometer
• Expansion
  • Motor control – 8x 6V servo out, 4x DC motor out, 4x quadrature encoder in
  • Other interfaces – GPIOs, 5x UARTs, 2x SPI, 1x I2C, 4x ADC, CAN bus
• Misc – Power, reset and 2x user buttons; power, battery level & charger LEDs; 6x user LEDs; boot select switch
• Power Supply – 9-18V DC input via power barrel; 5V via micro USB port; 2-cell LiPo support with balancing,
• Dimensions & Weight – TBD

The board ships pre-loaded with Debian, but it also supports the Robot Operating System (ROS) & Ardupilot, as well as graphical programming via Cloud9 IDE on Node.js. You’ll find more details, such as documentation, hardware design files, and examples projects on BeagleBone Blue product page, and github.

The board is formally launched at Embedded World 2017, and Jason Kridner, Open Platforms Technologist/Evangelist at Texas Instruments, and co-founder and board member at BeagleBoard.org Foundation, uploaded a video starting with a demo of various robotics and UAV projects, before giving a presentation & demo of the board at the 2:10 mark using Cloud 9 IDE.

[embedded content]
If you attend Embedded World 2017, you should be able to check out of the board and demos at Hall 3A Booth 219a.

Tweet Last year, we reported that BeagleBoard.org was working with the University of California San Diego on BeagleBone Blue board for robotics educational kits such as EduMiP self-balancing robot, and EduRover…

Last year, we found out that Amlogic was working on Linux 4.4, possibly for their Android 7.0 Nougat SDK. As a developer who signed all relevant NDAs, Stane1983 has now been working on Amlogic Android 7.0 for a few day, and reported some of his findings.

First Amlogic source code is based on Android 7.1.1 R6 (NMF26Q), but still with Linux 3.14.29, possibly because Mali-T830 GPU drivers are still r11p0, and Linux 4.4 may come later. One good thing is that the Nougat SDK supports 64-bit Android OS instead of the 32-bit Android we are all currently using in our TV boxes. A not-so-good news is that internal storage partitions have changed, which means most current TV boxes are unlikely to get an update, becau it may not be possible to perform OTA updated, and instead would require an updated via Amlogic USB burning tool.

Click to Enlarge

But let’s look at the user interface and settings. The default launcher has not changed, but if you click on the Settings icon, the Settings will appear on the right of the screen. Note that this only work with the default launcher, other launchers will not be able to open Settings that way, at least in the current version of the SDK, and there are some inconsistency in the way settings are displayed with some shown “Android Marshmallow style”. Hopefully those issues will be addressed before reaching end-users.

Another new mysterious new feature is “Upgrade bluetoothremote”, which asks you to select a Bluetooth device, but it’s unclear whether it is for smartphones, or Bluetooth remote control will start selling with TV boxes.

The normal Android 7.0 Settings app will open from the app drawer, i.e. it will work with any launcher, but currently sub menus will crash, so it still needs some work.

The default browser is Browser2, basically WebView component tester. Not exactly ideal, but Nougat does not come with a browser by default, so you’ll need to install your preferred one, or maybe the manufacturers will add it themselves to their firmware.

Media playback still have some issues, but Stane did not test into details saying to “wait for CNX to get one of boxes with Nougat installed”. I guess that must be me, and I have some work to do once it is released :).

Developers will also need to be aware the way to handle remote control codes has changed. The /system/etc/remote.conf is gone, and instead Amlogic defines the codes in a specific DTSI (Device tree) file  for remote code that includes definition for 3 remotes and starts with:

It looks to be the standard way IR remote controls are handled in mainline Linux kernel, at least the top section, but it may not be so common to declare maps within a DTSI file…

Finally, Stane could also update Amlogic SDK to Android-7.1.1_r26 (NOF27C) instead of r6 (NMF26Q), so developers can always make sure the latest minor version and security patchsets are included. Based on his feedback, it may still take a few weeks or months before we see Amlogic S9xx devices sold with Android 7.0.

Tweet Last year, we found out that Amlogic was working on Linux 4.4, possibly for their Android 7.0 Nougat SDK. As a developer who signed all relevant NDAs, Stane1983 has…

NanoPi NEO is a cool little board, and I’ve been using it with Armbian as a 24/7  MQTT + Domoticz server for several weeks without any issues so far. FriendlyElec has now an update with NanoPi NEO2 featuring Allwinner H5 quad core Cortex A53 processor instead of Allwinner H3 Cortex A7 processor, a faster Gigabit Ethernet connection, and a new audio header.

NanoPi NEO2 specifications:

• SoC – Allwinner H5 quad core Cortex A53 processor with an ARM Mali-450MP GPU
• System Memory – 512 MB DDR3
• Storage – micro SD card slot
• Connectivity – Gigabit Ethernet (via RTL8211E-VB-CG chip)
• USB – 1x USB 2.0 host ports, 1x micro USB OTG port, 2x USB via headers
• Expansion headers
  • 24-pin header with I2C, 2x UART, SPI, PWM, and power signals
  • 12-pin header with 2x USB, IR pin, I2S
  • 5-pin audio header with microphone and LINE out signals
    
• Debugging – 4-pin header for serial console
• Misc – Power and status LEDs
• Power Supply – 5V via micro USB port or VDD pin on headers.
  
• Dimensions – 40 x 40 mm

One of my reader (Willy) also noticed they included a low-profile Ethernet jack that was asked by some. The company provides an image based on U-boot + Ubuntu Core, as well as hardware and software documentation on their Wiki. That’s not the first Allwinner H5 board we’ve seen, as Shenzhen Xunlong introduced Orange Pi PC 2 at the end of last year, but NEO2 is the first H5 board in such as small form factor.

Software support for H5 was not quite that good last November, but now Armbian community has released nightly builds for Orange Pi PC 2 based on Linux 4.10, which do seem to work fine for headless operation, but there’s little hope to have Mali drivers, hardware video decoding, and HDMI audio output support any time soon. None of those should matter for NanoPi NEO2 since it does not come with any video output ports, and I’d expect Armbian images to be released for the board soon.

NanoPi NEO2 is sold for $14.99 + shipping together with 2×12 and 1×12 headers directly on FriendlyARM website. Note that the heatsink is not included by default, and depending on your target application you may want to spend the extra $2.97 to add the heatsink + thermal pad to your order.

Tweet NanoPi NEO is a cool little board, and I’ve been using it with Armbian as a 24/7  MQTT + Domoticz server for several weeks without any issues so far….

Mini PCs with a touchscreen display targeting consumer markets, and looking like very thick tablets started with PiPo X8, and later other companies joined the fray with products like GOLE 1, but the form factor appears to have become popular with even more manufacturers, as Shenzhen EC Technology has now launched ECDREAM EC-V26 powered by Intel Celeron or Pentium “Apollo Lake” processor, and equipped with an 8″ touchscreen display.

ECDREAM EC-V26 mini PC specifications:

• SoC (one of the other)
  • Intel Celeron N3350 dual core processor @ 1.1 GHz / 2.4 GHz with a 12 EU Intel® HD Graphics 500; 6W TDP
  • Intel Celeron N3450 quad core processor @ 1.1 GHz / 2.2 GHz with a 12 EU Intel® HD Graphics 500; 6W TDP
  • Intel Pentium N4200 quad core processor @ 1.1 GHz / 2.5 GHz with an 18 EU Intel HD Graphics 505; 6W TDP
• System Memory – 2GB on-board DDR3 + 1x DDR3 SO-DIMM socket up to 8GB
• Storage – 32, 64 or 128GB eMMC flash + M.2 socket with optional 64 or 128GB SSD
• Display – 8″ IPS display with a 10-point capacitive panel; 1280×800 resolution
• Video Output – HDMI 1.4b port up to 4K @ 30 Hz, VGA
• Audio – 3.5mm audio jack, stereo speakers 1W/80 Ohm
• Connectivity
  • Gigabit Ethernet (RJ45)
  • WiFi 802.11 b/g/n (single band) or  dual band Bluetooth 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac
  • Bluetooth V4.0 + HS
• USB – 2x USB 3.0 ports, 2x USB 2.0 ports, USB 2.0/3.0 Type C port (not for power)
• Camera – Optional front panel camera
• Misc – Power LED, power key, optional RS232 port
• Power Supply – 12V to 19V up to 3.42A via 5.5/2.5 mm power barrel
• Battery – Optional 4,000 to 10,000 mAh 3.7/3.8V battery with up to 2A charge current
• Dimensions – 198 x 144 x 15-26 mm
• Weight – TBD

The company told me it supports both Windows 10 and “Ubuntu Linux”, but it’s not clear whether there will be an Ubuntu version sold at retail, or the user will have to install the operating system himself/herself.

While the product description above shows a VGA port, it does not look like one (with 3 rows of 5 pins), but instead it should be the optional RS232 port (DB9). Alternatively, it might also be possible that the VGA and RS232 are just mutually exclusive, so you can select the one you want. If your model comes with VGA, it will support dual independent displays configuration. MiniPC DB also reported about the device, and managed to get a somewhat blurry picture of the motherboard, which still clearly shows the SO-DIMM socket.

Click to Enlarge

The company did not provided pricing info, but MiniPC DB’s guys think it will cost around $350 to $450 depending on options. [Update: the company told me pricing would be in the  $599 to $699 range]. You may find some more details on the product page.

Tweet Mini PCs with a touchscreen display targeting consumer markets, and looking like very thick tablets started with PiPo X8, and later other companies joined the fray with products like…

NXP pushed out several press releases with the start of Embedded World 2017 in Germany, including three new micro-controllers/processors addressing different market segments: Kinetis K27/K28 MCU Cortex M4 MCU family, QorIQ Layerscape LS1028A industrial applications processor, and i.MX 8X SoC family for display and audio applications, 3D graphic display clusters, telematics and V2X (Vehicle to everything).

NXP Kinetis K27/K28 MCU

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NXP Kinetis K27/K28 MCU family is based on an ARM Cortex-M4 core clocked at up to 150 MHz with FPU,and includes up to 1MB embedded SRAM, 2MB flash, and especially target portable display applications.

Kinetis K27/K28 MCUs share the following main features:

• 2x I2S interfaces, 2x USB Controllers (High-Speed with integrated High-Speed PHY and Full-Speed) and mainstream analog peripherals
• 32-bit SDRAM memory controller and QuadSPI interface supporting eXecution-In-Place (XiP)
• True Random Number Generator, Cyclic Redundancy Check, Memory Mapped Cryptographic Acceleration Unit

K28 supports 3 input supply voltage rails (1.2V, 1.8V and 3V) + separate VBAT domain, implements a Power Management Controller supporting Core Voltage Bypass and can be powered by an external PMIC, and is available in 169 MAPBGA (9x9mm2, 0.65mm pitch) and 210 WLCSP (6.9×6.9mm2, 0.4 mm pitch) packages.

K27 supports 1.71V to 3.6V input voltage + separate VBAT domain, and is offered in 169 MAPBGA (9x9mm, 0.65mm pitch) package only.

Click to Enlarge

FRDM-K28F development board will allow you to play with the new MCUs’ capabilities. It features a Kinetis K28F microconroller, on-board discrete power management, accelerometer, QuadSPI serial flash, USB high-speed connector and full-speed USB OpenSDA. Optional add-on boards allows for USB-Type C, Bluetooth low energy (BLE) connectivity, and a 5” LCD display board with capacitive touch.

Software development can be done through MCUXpresso SDK with system startup code, peripheral drivers, USB and connectivity stacks, middleware, and real-time operating system (RTOS) kernels.

Kinetis K27/K28 MCU family will be start selling in April 2017. Visit NXP K2x USB page for more information.

QorIQ Layerscape LS1028A

LS1028A Block Diagram

NXP QorIQ Layerscape LS1028A SoC comes with two 64-bit ARMv8 core, support real-time processing for industrial control, as well as virtual machines for edge computing in the IoT. It also integrates a GPU and LCD controller enable Human Machine Interface (HMI) systems, and Time-Sensitive Networking (TSN) capabilities based on the IEEE 802.1 standards with a four-port TSN switch and two separate TSN Ethernet controllers.

The processor especially targets “Factory 4.0” automation, process automation, programmable logic controllers, motion controllers, industrial IoT gateway, and Human Machine Interface (HMI).

OEMs can start developing TSN-enabled systems using LS1021ATSN reference design platform based on the previous LS1021A processor in order to quickens time-to-market.The reference design provides four switched Gigabit Ethernet TSN ports, and ships with an open-source, industrial Linux SDK with real-time performance. Applications written for LS1021ATSN will be compatible with the LS1028A SoC since the API calls won’t change.

It’s unclear when LS1028A will become available, but it will be available for 15 years after launch, and you’ll find a few more details on the product page. You could also visit NXP’s booth (4A-220) at Embedded World 2017 to the reference design in action.

NXP i.MX 8X ARM Cortex-A35 Processors

Block Diagram of NXP i.MX 8X family

The last announcement will not really be news to regular readers of CNX Software, since we covered i.MX 8X processors last year using an NXP presentation. As previously known, i.MX 8X family comes with two to four 64-bit ARMv8-A Cortex-A35 cores, as well as a Cortex-M4F core, a Tensilica HiFi 4 DSP, Vivante hardware accelerated graphics and video engines, advanced image processing, advanced SafeAssure display controller, LPDDR4 and DDR3L memory support, and set of peripherals. The processor have been designed to drive up to three simultaneous displays (2x 1080p screens and one parallel WVGA display), and three models have been announced:

• i.MX 8QuadXPlus with four Cortex-A35 cores, a Cortex-M4F core, a 4-shader GPU, a multi-format VPU and a HiFi 4 DSP
• i.MX 8DualXPlus with two Cortex-A35 cores, a Cortex-M4F core, a 4-shader GPU, a multi-format VPU and a HiFi 4 DSP
• i.MX 8DualX with two Cortex-A35 cores, a Cortex-M4F core, a 2-shader GPU, a multi-format VPU and a HiFi 4 DSP

The processors are expected to be used in automotive applications such as  infotainment and cluster, industrial control and vehicles, robotics, healthcare, mobile payments, handheld devices, and so on.

The i.MX 8QuadXPlus and 8DualXPlus application processors will sample in Q3 2017 to selected partners. More details may be found on NXP i.MX8X product page.

Tweet NXP pushed out several press releases with the start of Embedded World 2017 in Germany, including three new micro-controllers/processors addressing different market segments: Kinetis K27/K28 MCU Cortex M4 MCU…

Socionext SC2A11 is an 24-core (tetracosa) ARM Cortex-A53 processor designed for low-power server system suitable for edge computing, web server & indexing, cloud computing, and any applications that do not require high single thread peak performance. The company also designed SC2A20 switch SoC that allows up to 64 SC2A11 processors (1536 cores) to communicate over PCI Express using Socionext DDT (Direct Data Transaction).

SC2A11 SoC specifications:

• Processor – 24x ARM Cortex-A53 MPCore cores @ up to 1GHz, with 32KB/32KB I/D L1 cache, 256 KB L2 cache, and 4MB L3 cache
• Memory I/F – DDR4-2133Mbps 64-bit + ECC
• Flash I/F – HSSPI, eMMC
• PCIe – PCI Express Gen2, Root/Endpoint select, 4 lanes (2 systems/ for SoC IF)
• LAN – 2x 1Gbps with IPSec Network Offload Engine (wire-speed)
• Serial I/F – UART, I2C, GPIO

The company did not provide any info about software, but it’s safe to assume it’s running Linux. There’s some code on the Linux mailing list for other Socionext processor,  but nothing for SC2A11. Another interesting use case is to connect several processor element card (PEC) based on SC2A11 using SC2A20 switch SoC, and a few Socionext MB86M30 ASSP via PCIe to encoding raw videos to 4K HEVC / H.265 videos @ 60 fps.

Media Transcoder Server

Socionext was at Linaro Connect Budapest 2017 demonstrating some of those PECs, and Charbax checked them out at the demo event, where they showcase the boards, and explained a little about them, and their relation with Linaro (as a member).

[embedded content]

You won’t find than many details on Socionext SC2A11 product page, but at least you can inquire the company if you need more information.

Tweet Socionext SC2A11 is an 24-core (tetracosa) ARM Cortex-A53 processor designed for low-power server system suitable for edge computing, web server & indexing, cloud computing, and any applications that do…

Texas Instruments launched SensorTag in 2013, and at the time there was just a Bluetooth 4.0 LE version with 6 different sensors. I bought one for $25 at the time, and tried it with a Raspberry Pi board and a BLE USB dongle. Since then, the company has launched a new multi standard model (CC2650STK) supporting Buetooth low energy, 6LoWPAN, and ZigBee, and has just started to take orders for CC3200 WiFi SensorTag for $39.99, which seems expensive in a world of $2 ESP8266 modules.

But let’s see what the kit has to offer:

• Wireless MCU – Texas Instruments CC3200 SimpleLink ARM Cortex-M4 MCU @ up to 80 MHz, with up to 256KB RAM, Hardware Crypto Engine, DMA engine
• Storage – 1 MB serial flash memory
• Connectivity – 802.11 b/g/n WiFi with on-board inverted-F antenna with RF connector for conducted testing
• Sensors – Gyroscope, accelerometer, compass, light sensor (OPT3001), humidity sensor (HDC1000), IR temperature sensor (TMP007), and pressure sensor (BMP280)
• Expansion – 20-pin DevPack SKIN connector
• Debugging – Debug and JTAG interface for flash programing
• Misc – 2x buttons, 2x LEDs, reed relay MK24, digital microphone, and a buzzer for user interaction
• Power – 2x AAA batteries good for up to 3 months (with 1 minute update interval)

So it has plenty of sensors to play with, and rather long battery life for a WiFi evaluation platform. The kit ships with one CC3200 WiFi SensorTag, two AAA batteries, and a getting started guide.

WiFi SensorTag Mobile App – Click to Enlarge

Resources includes hardware design files (schematics, PCB layout, BoM, etc..), iOS and Android apps and source code, IoT Device Monitor for Windows, Code Composer Studio, and cloud-based development tools. Note that there’s no embedded software for the Wi-Fi SensorTag, it is only a a demo platform, while you can modify cloud-based applications, you can’t modify the firmware. If you want an embedded development platform, you’d have to go with CC3200 LaunchPad board. You can still have some fun SensorTag using Android or iOS app, or connecting it to IBM Watson IoT Platform.

Visit SensorTag page for further information.

Tweet Texas Instruments launched SensorTag in 2013, and at the time there was just a Bluetooth 4.0 LE version with 6 different sensors. I bought one for $25 at the…

Rockchip introduced RK3328 processor for TV boxes at CES 2017. The processor is based on a quad core Cortex A53 processor and a Mali-450MP is some other competitors such as Amlogic S9xx series, but what made the processor stand out is that it already supports Android 7.1, and includes a USB 3.0 port. A5X Plus Mini is one of the first TV box based on the processor, and the first “Chinese” TV box I’ve seen running Android 7.x Nougat.

A5X Plus mini specifications:

• SoC – Rockchip RK3328 quad core Cortex A53 processor @ 1.5 GHz with Mali-450MP GPU
• System Memory – 1GB RAM
• Storage – 8 GB eMMC flash + micro SD card
• Video & Audio Output – HDMI 2.0a up to 4K @ 60 Hz with HDR10 and HLG support, 3.5mm AV port with composite video and stereo audio
• Video Codec – 4K VP9, H.265 and H.264. 1080p VC-1, MPEG-1/2/4, VP6/8
• Connectivity – 10/100M Ethernet, 802.11 b/g/n WiFi
• USB – 1x USB 2.0 port, 1x USB 3.0 port
• Misc – IR receiver, power LED
• Power Supply – 5V/2A
• Dimensions & Weight –  TBD (Fits in hand)

The box runs Android 7.1 with Kodi 17.1 pre-installed, and ships with an HDMI cable, a power adapter, an IR remote control, and a user’s manual in English. Sadly the Fast Ethernet makes the USB 3.0 port advantage pretty much useless, as the bottleneck will be the network.

Since it’s a new processor with a new Android SDK, I’d expect a few issues at least in the first months. If you are interested in the device, you can purchase it for $44 including shipping on Aliexpress.

Via AndroidPC.es

Tweet Rockchip introduced RK3328 processor for TV boxes at CES 2017. The processor is based on a quad core Cortex A53 processor and a Mali-450MP is some other competitors such…

MYIR Tech has released MYC-JA5D2X system-on-module powered by a Microchip Atmel SAMA5D2 ARM Cortex A5 processor with 256MB flash, and 256 MB DDR3. The module relies on a SO-DIMM edge connector to expose the camera interface, Ethernet, USB, camera, and other I/O signals.

MYC-JA5D2X CPU module specifications:

• SoC – Atmel SAMA5D26 or SAMA5D27 ARM Cortex A5 processor @ up to 500 MHz with 128KB L2 cache
• System Memory – 256MB DDR3 SDRAM
• Storage – 256MB NAND flash, 4MB data flash, 64KB EEPROM
• Connectivity – On-board 10/100M Ethernet PHY
• 200-pin SO-DIMM edge connector with:
  • 1x Ethernet
  • 1x USB Host, 1x USB Device, 1x USB HSIC (HSIC is only for SAMA5D27)
  • Up to 10x serial ports, up to 2 x CAN (only for SAMA5D27)
  • Up to 7 x I2C, up to 7 x SPI
  • Up to 2 x QSPI
  • 12 x 12-bit ADC (enhanced resolution up to 14 bits)
  • 4x PWM
  • 1x 4-bit SDIO
  • 1x 24-bit LCD
  • Up to 2x SSC, compatible with I2S
  • 1x 12-bit Camera Interface
  • 1x SMC (Supports parallel external memory interface)
  • Up to 97x GPIOs
• Misc – Power and user LEDs
• Power supply – 3.3V/0.5A
• Dimensions – 67.6 mm x 45mm (8-layer PCB)
• Temperature Range – -40 ~ 85 °C (industrial grade)

The company provides Linux 4.1 for the module. MYC-JA5D2X SoM is very similar to the company’s MYC-JAD5D4X module launched early las year, except it’s using the more power efficient SAMA5D2 processor instead of a SAMA5D4 processor clocked at 600 MHz, and they have reduced costs by lowering the default amount of storage and memory.

MYIR also offers MYD-JA5D2X development board combining a baseboard with MYC-JA5D2X CPU module, and bring out various interfaces, headers, and connectors such as serial ports, USB Host and Device ports, a CAN & RS485 terminals, an Ethernet port, RS485, audio in/out, LCD and camera connectors, etc…

MYC-JA5D2X system-on-module sells for $49 with ATSAMA5D27 processor, while MYD-JA5D2X development board goes for $129 as part of kit that also adds a power adapter and various cables. More information about both products can be found on MYiR Tech website.

Tweet MYIR Tech has released MYC-JA5D2X system-on-module powered by a Microchip Atmel SAMA5D2 ARM Cortex A5 processor with 256MB flash, and 256 MB DDR3. The module relies on a SO-DIMM…

There are plenty of Android TV boxes powered by Amlogic S905X processor on the market, but ACEMAX has apparently decided to leverage the community’s work on LibreELEC, and launched two “ACEMAX LE” models with 1GB RAM/8GB flash or 2GB/16GB that runs LibreELEC sold on Aliexpress for respectively $39.99 and $57.99 shipped. You can also buy the second model with a dual boot Android 6.0 + LibreELEC firmware for $59.99 including shipping, instead of only running LibreELEC.

The company uses both “OpenELEC”, “LibreELEC” and “Pure Linux”, but the video demo embedded at the end of this post shows clearly the box booting LibreELEC 7 with Kodi 16.1.

ACEMAX LE TV box specifications:

• SoC –  Amlogic S905X quad core ARM Cortex-A53 @ up to 1.5GHz with penta-core Mali-450MP GPU
• System Memory – Model 1: 1GB RAM; model 2: 2GB RAM
• Storage
  • Model 1: 8GB eMMC flash + micro SD card slot
  • Model 2: 16GB eMMC flash + micro SD card slot
• Video Output – HDMI 2.0a up to 4K @ 60 Hz, and AV port (composite video)
• Audio Output – HDMI, optical S/PDIF, AV port (stereo audio)
• Connectivity
  • Model 1 – 10/100M Ethernet, and 802.11 b/g/n Wi-Fi.
  • Model 2 – 10/100M Ethernet, and dual band 802.11 b/g/n/ac Wi-Fi.
• USB – 2x USB 2.0 ports
• Misc – Power LED, IR receiver
• Power Supply –  5V/2A
• Dimensions & Weight – N/A

The TV Box ships with a remote control, a HDMI cable, and a power adapter. You can normally install LibreELEC by yourself on most Amlogic S905/S905X TV box, but getting it pre-installed should save you a little bit of time, and the need to work around potential issues.

[embedded content]

Via AndroidPC.es and theguyuk.

Tweet There are plenty of Android TV boxes powered by Amlogic S905X processor on the market, but ACEMAX has apparently decided to leverage the community’s work on LibreELEC, and launched…

I wrote about SupTronics expansion boards for Raspberry Pi a few year ago. Those add features like WiFi, Bluetooth, RTC, SATA, VGA, S/PDIF, etc… I’ve just stumble upon a new model Suptronics X800 specifically designed for 2.5″ SATA hard drive and SSDs that I found on DealExtreme for $32.73 with a 5V/4A power supply, or $21.43 with just the expansion board and accessories.

Click to Enlarge

SupTronics X800 board features:

• SATA connector for 2.5″ SATA drivers up to 1TB implemented via GL830 USB to SATA bridge
• HDMI port – Duplicate Raspberry Pi HDMI output
• USB – Connects to Raspberry Pi
• Power Supply
  • 5V via 5.5/2.5 power jack
  • Optional & recommended power supply –  AC 100 – 240V input ~50 / 60Hz, 5V/4A output with US and EU snap plugs
  • Powers the Raspberry Pi, i.e. a USB power supply is not needed
• Dimensions – 109mm x 85mm
• Compatibility – Raspberry Pi Model B+, Pi 2 Model B, Pi 3 Model B, and other electrically and mechanically compatible boards like ODROID-C2.

X800 HDD Expansion Board ships with a power connection wire, 4x M2.5 spacers, 4x M3 spacers, 8x M2.5 screws, 8x M3 screws, and 4x M3 screw nuts, as well as an optional 5V/4A power supply. Once you have assembled everything together it looks like the pictures below.

You’ll find the assembly manual on X800 product page.

It’s more compact than a solution using a Raspberry Pi board with an external USB hard drive, but you may prefer getting a case for your Raspberry Pi and its hard drive, and it turns out SupTronics has a bunch of those either for 2.5″ SATA drives, or mSATA drive, with or without stereo to 7.1 audio DACs via their X-Series DIY kits.

The prettiest enclosure comes with their X3000 kits. Made of aluminum allow, it supports mSATA drives up to 1TB, comes with a built-in IR sensor, a touch button for power, a micro USB OTG port to access SATA from a computer, but sadly exposes a mini HDMI instead of a standard HDMI port.

If you prefer a Raspberry Pi case for 2.5″ SATA drives, you’ll have to select a less pretty “black brick” such as their X1000K model.

Click to Enlarge

One interesting features is the port on the rear panel – which looks like a parallel printer port – and can be used to access Raspberry Pi GPIOs signal using an add-on board part of the kit.

SupTronics X3000 launched last year for around $100 with Raspberry Pi, and it may priced itself out, as none of the stores are selling it anymore. X1000K mini PC kit is still for sale for about $80 and up on DealExtreme, Banggood and Aliexpress.

Tweet I wrote about SupTronics expansion boards for Raspberry Pi a few year ago. Those add features like WiFi, Bluetooth, RTC, SATA, VGA, S/PDIF, etc… I’ve just stumble upon a…

I started playing with Beelink SEA I TV box nearly two weeks ago, but I soon realized there was a big problem, while I could get an IP address with both Ethernet or WiFi, I could not access Internet, nor the local network with the box, and even ping would not work. So I contact Beelink to find a solution, and they believed I may have a problem with the firmware on my box, and recommended to re-flash it.

Great. I asked the firmware, and the company eventually provided me with two files:

Those are baidu link which may be slow to download outside of China, so the company also provided a mirror later. The customer representative told me those were “Lines brushes Pack” firmware, and after lots of email back and forth. I finally got proper instructions which should work for Beelink SEA I, but also other Realtek RTD1295 boxes such as Zidoo X9S or Eweat R9 Plus. Note that this method is only useful in case something really goes wrong, as the device normally support OTA firmware updates.

First you’ll need a Windows computer or laptop, and a USB male to USB male cable., before following the firmware recovery instructions they use at the factory.

1. Download setup.exe
2. Click on setup.exe to install Microsoft Visual C++ 2012 and .NET Framework 4.6.
3. Now reboot as instructed, and right click on setup.exe to run it as an administrator, and install rtk_usb_mp_tool. If you don’t run it as Administrator you’ll run into permissions issues and the installation will fail.
   This will also install the USB drivers for “USB REDIRECTION” device. By default, this is install in {HOME}/rtk_usb_mp_tool directory
4. Now you can start the program “rtumdfsample.exe”
   
   The window size is about 1300 x 900, and cannot be resized, so I allow you to curse or (gently) bang your head on the wall if you run this on a netbook or laptop with 1366×768 resolution or lower. You’ll feel better 🙂
5. Now insert the USB cable between your computer and the USB 3.0 port of the device, and turn on the box. The display on the box should always show “boot”, and the top logo should change from the yellow fear to a green Android once you device is detected over USB.
   
6. Now Click on “Open” button in the Install section of the user interface, to load the firmware file (in my case SEAI_101M0_16G_20170225.img).

   Click to Enlarge

   The top left icon will turn red, and update the firmware.

7. Once it gets to 100%, you are done. Disconnect the USB cable, and restart the device into your freshly burned firmware.

The goods news is that networking works, I get the weather forecast within the launcher. The bad news is that the display turns off after 5 seconds, until I disconnect and reconnect the HDMI cable, and goes off again 5 seconds. At least the firmware update method worked…

Tweet I started playing with Beelink SEA I TV box nearly two weeks ago, but I soon realized there was a big problem, while I could get an IP address…

The maker of Orange Pi boards, Shenzhen Xunlong Software, has partnered with Canonical to launch Orange Pi app store, allowing developers to gain a simple mechanism to share their applications, projects and scripts with the Orange Pi community.

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The store relies on snaps instead of deb packages, with snaps allowing a secure distributions of apps bundled with all their dependencies, which according to Canonical can decreased the time for an half an hour installation process to just a few seconds.

The community has already contributed hundreds of snaps in the Ubuntu snap store, including openHAB for home automation, Rocket.chat self-hosted chat platform, NextCloud for cloud storage, and wifi-ap for networking.

You can get them from the App store, but installing a snap from the command line is easy, for example:

However, I cannot find any Ubuntu Core image for Orange Pi Boards yet on Ubuntu Core Getting Started page. It would also work on other operating systems like Arch Linux ARM, Gentoo, Ubuntu (not Core), Debian, etc… by installing snapd.

You can also learn how to create your own branded app store for your board or community on Ubuntu website.

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