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Re: New kid on the block - meet OLinuXino
raivisr Mar 9, 2012 1:23 PM (in response to raivisr)preliminary HW design at https://github.com/TsvetanUsunov/OLINUXINO
Updates promised on Monday, looking ahead what comes out of it. Meant to be real open source hackerboard capable to run Linux and still in 30EUR price range.
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Re: New kid on the block - meet OLinuXino
YT2095 Mar 9, 2012 2:45 PM (in response to raivisr)Nice! I have a couple of Olimex Dev boards here already, and they`re really good quality.
this quote: "Additionally we will try to port DuinoMite BASIC to be available as option, on this monster the speed should be around 1 million BASIC instructions per second."
I find the most interesting, and look forwards to adding this board to my growing collection
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Re: New kid on the block - meet OLinuXino
raivisr Mar 12, 2012 2:54 AM (in response to raivisr)and now Yahoo group is open too http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/olinuxino
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Re: New kid on the block - meet OLinuXino
Drew Fustini Mar 12, 2012 12:58 PM (in response to raivisr)Very interesting - personally my main interest in the Raspberry Pi is to use it is a low cost Linux embedded system. I don't particularly care about the amazing GPU for my projects, so I think that OLinuXino could suit my needs better, especially if it does a good job of breaking out I/O.
Thanks,
Drew
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Re: New kid on the block - meet OLinuXino
raivisr Mar 12, 2012 1:06 PM (in response to Drew Fustini)schematics were updated today on github, check them out. url has changed though, it is https://github.com/OLIMEX/OLINUXINO now.
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Re: New kid on the block - meet OLinuXino
Drew Fustini Mar 12, 2012 1:17 PM (in response to raivisr)Thanks, 512MB SDRAM - I gladly trade the advantage of the Broadcom SoC's GPU for that. The GPIO header looks appealing.
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Re: New kid on the block - meet OLinuXino
raivisr Mar 12, 2012 1:42 PM (in response to Drew Fustini)unfortunately those are Mbits and not MBytes (in MBytes that translates to 64MB) i.MX233 in LQFP package does not support more than that and chosen package is LQFP just so that design is replicatable by any avid hobbyist.
On more optimistic note, this is only first low cost Linux ARM board planned by Olimex and hence it is least powerful.
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Re: New kid on the block - meet OLinuXino
Drew Fustini Mar 12, 2012 2:08 PM (in response to raivisr)Darn, good catch. I suppose that would be a lot for a low cost embedded Linux system.
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Re: New kid on the block - meet OLinuXino
raivisr Mar 12, 2012 2:10 PM (in response to Drew Fustini)not just that, Olimex wants to sell those boards for 30EUR a piece and not to be in red with that, so every cent counts.
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Re: New kid on the block - meet OLinuXino
raivisr Mar 24, 2012 6:34 PM (in response to raivisr)so, first board is routed - http://olimex.wordpress.com/2012/03/23/imx233-olinuxino-routing-is-complete/
now waiting for beta boards to come out of factory, which should be Monday as OLinuXino is developed and produced in the same factory -
Re: New kid on the block - meet OLinuXino
raivisr Mar 29, 2012 4:43 PM (in response to raivisr)latest news from Bulgaria - initial batch of PCBs baking in factory, should be ready by end of this week.
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Re: New kid on the block - meet OLinuXino
Drew Fustini Mar 29, 2012 4:53 PM (in response to raivisr)Good to hear! Thanks for the yahoo group link, too - I've found the emails interesting.
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Re: New kid on the block - meet OLinuXino
raivisr Apr 17, 2012 9:00 AM (in response to raivisr)just an update http://olimex.wordpress.com/2012/04/17/imx233-olinuxino-first-10-prototypes-are-ready/
hope to get the board this week and make Linux run on it.-
Re: New kid on the block - meet OLinuXino
Drew Fustini Apr 17, 2012 12:57 PM (in response to raivisr)Thanks for the update - that is great news!
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Re: New kid on the block - meet OLinuXino
morgaine Apr 22, 2012 5:37 PM (in response to Drew Fustini)This could be an interesting two-horse race ... which will appear ex-stock at Farnell first, the Raspberry Pi or the Olinuxino?
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Re: New kid on the block - meet OLinuXino
raivisr Apr 22, 2012 11:26 PM (in response to morgaine)Target is beginning of May, which sounds quite realistic, now that first boards are being sent to testers. Surprisingly few HW problems, but then again, that was probably to be expected with company like Olimex.
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Re: New kid on the block - meet OLinuXino
morgaine Apr 23, 2012 8:52 AM (in response to raivisr)I have a couple of their Olimexino-STM32 boards -- http://www.olimex.com/dev/olimexino-stm32.html -- which are really tiny and cute, as well as being Arduino header-compatible, and they only cost 17 pounds in UK from Farnell -- http://uk.farnell.com/olimex/olimexino-stm32/board-dev-olimexino-stm32/dp/2061325?Ntt=OLIMEXINO-STM32 .
The board can charge a 3.7V Li-Poly cell directly too, and the ultra-slim 2000mAh pack I use has almost exactly the same footprint as the board, so the two together make a very compact standalone package.
I'm currently considering whether to use this board as an I/O expander for Raspberry Pi, or whether to use STM32F4-Discovery -- http://uk.farnell.com/stmicroelectronics/stm32f4discovery/board-eval-stm32f4-discovery/dp/2009276?Ntt=STM32F4-Discovery . The latter has the edge on cost (just 10 pounds UK), speed, memory, and even expandability. The Olimexino-STM32 might win for standalone applications (non-HDMI) if the Rpi can be powered from the Li-Poly cell.
Yes, a very interesting company.
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Re: New kid on the block - meet OLinuXino
raivisr Apr 19, 2012 4:06 PM (in response to raivisr)got one of the alpha boards on my desk and after sorting out some HW glitches it is alive:
root@OLinuXino ~$ uname -a
Linux OLinuXino 2.6.31-626-g602af1cOLinuXino #6 PREEMPT Thu Apr 19 22:38:14 EEST 2012 armv5tejl GNU/Linux
power consumption while idling ~1.3W
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Re: New kid on the block - meet OLinuXino
Drew Fustini Apr 19, 2012 4:53 PM (in response to raivisr)I liked you comment on the list, to paraphrase, "I know C and have a soldering iron" . Nice to see the OLinuXino progressing well.
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Re: New kid on the block - meet OLinuXino
raivisr Apr 19, 2012 4:47 PM (in response to Drew Fustini)haha, "fear me for I have soldering iron and can code in C!" probably have to make a t-shirt saying just that
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Re: New kid on the block - meet OLinuXino
Drew Fustini Apr 20, 2012 4:11 PM (in response to raivisr)Very impressive to see the critical role you are playing in the project. I look forward to being able to purchase for my electronics projects in the future.
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Re: New kid on the block - meet OLinuXino
raivisr Apr 20, 2012 4:18 PM (in response to Drew Fustini)There is still a chance to get one of the early development boards as I don't think all of the remaining 8 assigned to devs, who all are volunteers, just like me.
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Re: New kid on the block - meet OLinuXino
raivisr Apr 23, 2012 8:53 AM (in response to raivisr)Hello World the embedded way, or Blinking LEDs:
http://olimex.wordpress.com/2012/04/23/blinking-led-with-linux-or-hello-world-with-imx233-olinuxino/
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Re: New kid on the block - meet OLinuXino
morgaine Apr 23, 2012 9:20 AM (in response to raivisr)Hehe, I replied there. I'm looking forward to that board.
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Re: New kid on the block - meet OLinuXino
morgaine Apr 23, 2012 11:13 AM (in response to morgaine)It needs to be mentioned (just in case someone hasn't spotted it and is raising their expectations too high) that the OLinuXino that everyone is talking about, the one with Ethernet, is not going to be priced at 30 Euro at all, but at 45 Euro. Olimex's price list is here: http://www.olimex.com/dev/pricelist.html
Summary:
- iMX233-OLinuXino-Mini - 29.95 Euro - 1 x USB only
- iMX233-OLinuXino-Maxi - 44.95 Euro - 2 x USB + Ethernet
The corresponding prices in US$ (since Raspberry Pi is quoted in US$) are US$39.31 and US$58.99 at today's exchange rate. And for us Brits, that's UKP 24.42 and UKP 36.65 .
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Re: New kid on the block - meet OLinuXino
raivisr Apr 23, 2012 11:10 AM (in response to morgaine)at the same time it uses industrial grade components and should be usable in sub-zero (Celsius scale) temperatures.
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Re: New kid on the block - meet OLinuXino
morgaine Apr 23, 2012 12:19 PM (in response to raivisr)US$25 is a sort of "magic figure". There's something about it that splits prices into two levels, those below it which frequently can be spent on a whim, and those above it which generally need careful consideration and budgeting. Obviously the exact figure depends on personal finances, but typically it's around there somewhere.
Raspberry Pi did a clever piece of marketting in promoting the Rpi as the "$25 computer" despite knowing full well that the vast majority of users would want the $35 version because a Linux machine without networking is pretty damn stupid in 2012. Of course there are uses for a standalone Linux board, and the single USB on Rpi Model A could be used with a wifi dongle so the $25 version could still be "connected". But nevertheless, the point stands that the $35 board is actually riding the marketting wave of the "$25 computer" headline.
Olimex is obviously trying the same marketting "trick". And it is genuinely a marketting trick, as they're advertising it as the "EUR 30 Linux Industrial grade single board computer", despite knowing that really it's the Ethernet version that could become really popular. A person who isn't reading the blurb carefully might not catch the fact that there are two boards, and that the 30 Euro one doesn't have Ethernet.
I like hardware, and I like the very capable hardware designers at Olimex and at the Raspberry Pi Foundation. Marketing spin I don't like, and that applies to everyone, the Foundation included.
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Re: New kid on the block - meet OLinuXino
morgaine May 31, 2012 9:55 PM (in response to morgaine)Extending my earlier post summarizing Olimex's price list http://www.olimex.com/dev/pricelist.html and the count of USB + network interfaces for these OLinuXino boards :-
- iMX233-OLinuXino-Micro - 19.95 Euro - 1 x USB
- iMX233-OLinuXino-Mini - 29.95 Euro - 3 x USB
- iMX233-OLinuXino-Mini-WIFI - 44.95 Euro - 3 x USB + Wifi
- iMX233-OLinuXino-Maxi - 44.95 Euro - 2 x USB + Ethernet
Outside of the Linux arena and on the bare metal microcontroller front, the other Olimex board that attracts me is their forthcoming STM32-E407 -- http://olimex.wordpress.com/2012/05/30/stm32-e407-prototypes-are-ready/ .
That's a step up from their very nice OLIMEXINO-STM32, effectively creating a new category of "networked ARM microcontroller board with Arduino compatibility" which hasn't existed before at low prices. It's effectively an STM32F4-Discovery with an Ethernet PHY and Arduino headers added. Of course whether it appeals will depend on its price.
They sure have an amazing range of boards!
Morgaine.
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Re: New kid on the block - meet OLinuXino
morgaine Apr 23, 2012 1:35 PM (in response to raivisr)One device on which to keep an attentive eye is the US$7 Allwinner A10 SoC. In addition to being a more modern ARM, it has Ethernet MAC on the chip (unlike the iMX233) so you just need external PHY, magnetics and an RJ45 for Ethernet, and can avoid messing around with the USB for networking.
Lots of other goodies on the Allwinner A10 too, eg. it's a Cortex-A8 and has MALI-400 graphics -- http://rhombus-tech.net/allwinner_a10/ . It's no surprise at all that it's been such a colossal success in its country of origin (the majority of cheap Chinese tablets seem to use it).
I bet the A10 ends up in various boards which target the Rpi $25-$35 price niche before long. Rhombus Tech has their own idea for this in an EOMA68 form factor -- http://rhombus-tech.net/ -- and apparently they have a projected BOM cost of US$15 for it.
Morgaine.
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Re: New kid on the block - meet OLinuXino
raivisr Apr 23, 2012 1:31 PM (in response to morgaine)Next planned OLinuXino iteration will be based on Allwinner A13, that is A10 stripped of some peripherals (like SATA) and comes in hobbyist friendly package, QFP. This is according to Olimex. There is only one problem with Allwinner CPUs, they lack any documentation whatsoever.
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Re: New kid on the block - meet OLinuXino
morgaine Apr 23, 2012 2:19 PM (in response to raivisr)Wow, brilliant!
And yes, I have noticed the total absence of Allwinner datasheets in any of the languages I speak, which doesn't include Chinese.
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Re: New kid on the block - meet OLinuXino
raivisr Apr 23, 2012 2:19 PM (in response to morgaine)According to well informed sources, there is none in Chinese either, only reference design and premade software. But as Allwinner CPU is based solely on ARM IPs, people hack away based on that information, so not everything is that bad
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Re: New kid on the block - meet OLinuXino
morgaine Apr 23, 2012 3:50 PM (in response to raivisr)The zillion A10 and A13-based tablet manufacturers must have datasheets for the SoCs, surely? If they are all just cloning Allwinner's reference board, that would be .... bizarre.
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Re: New kid on the block - meet OLinuXino
morgaine Apr 23, 2012 4:02 PM (in response to raivisr)Heh, I saw that post of lkcl's when I first discovered the Allwinner and chased up the links. Funny isn't it. Although I've never read anything like that before about Chinese tech manufacturing, I can well believe it.
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Re: New kid on the block - meet OLinuXino
raivisr Apr 23, 2012 4:04 PM (in response to morgaine)I grew up in the USSR, I totally believe in what's written there
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Re: New kid on the block - meet OLinuXino
morgaine Apr 23, 2012 4:14 PM (in response to raivisr)I wonder what ARM Holdings' view on it is. I've never seen an ARM license, but ARM licensees are probably contractually obliged to not do anything that could be construed as harming the brand. And in a small way, this does.
I rather doubt that ARM ever expected a licensee to treat documentation in such a cavalier manner because that's not done in the West, so it may well be that the ARM license says nothing at all about it.
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Re: New kid on the block - meet OLinuXino
raivisr Apr 23, 2012 10:38 PM (in response to morgaine)I guess Allwinner never targeted western market, so ARM does not really care about what they do as long as they pay their royalties (or part of those) but having somebody from ARM here and sharing his/her point of view would be nice.
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Re: New kid on the block - meet OLinuXino
morgaine May 30, 2012 9:13 PM (in response to raivisr)Another variation on the theme: http://www.engadget.com/2012/05/18/mk802-beats-cotton-candy-to-market/
Exec summary: "MK802", $74, 1.5GHz Allwinner A10 CPU, 512MB RAM, 4GB flash, HDMI, Android 4.0
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Re: New kid on the block - meet OLinuXino
raivisr May 31, 2012 12:49 AM (in response to raivisr)MAXI version is in stock as of yesterday, MINI and MICRO waiting in queue
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Re: New kid on the block - meet OLinuXino
YT2095 May 31, 2012 5:12 AM (in response to raivisr)any news on the porting over of DM Basic to this platform yet?
I plan on buying a few when it`s ported over
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Re: New kid on the block - meet OLinuXino
raivisr May 31, 2012 8:01 AM (in response to YT2095)Not that I know of. But now that board is out in wild I think more people will get involved with it and eventually you will get what you want
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Re: New kid on the block - meet OLinuXino
YT2095 May 31, 2012 8:16 AM (in response to raivisr)That would be fantastic! I have a Robot here, that would certainly benefit from having a 1 Million Bips front end
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Re: New kid on the block - meet OLinuXino
Drew Fustini May 31, 2012 11:31 AM (in response to raivisr)Excellent! Thanks for the heads up. I just mailed them an order request. We live in good times for Linux SBC's
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Re: New kid on the block - meet OLinuXino
morgaine Jun 1, 2012 2:48 AM (in response to raivisr)And the Micro is looking very cute indeed!
http://olimex.wordpress.com/2012/05/28/imx233-olinuxino-micro-doube-side-design-works-at-full-speed/
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Re: New kid on the block - meet OLinuXino
raivisr May 31, 2012 11:32 PM (in response to morgaine)yes, Micro is adorable and besides at that price point it is a throvie, one can build Linux computer into his/her project just like Arduinos are built into projects now.
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Re: New kid on the block - meet OLinuXino
morgaine Jun 4, 2012 12:04 AM (in response to raivisr)http://www.tomshardware.com/news/VIA-APC-8750-WonderMedia-ARM-Neo-ITX,15721.html
Now I'm hungry.
More bananas here -- http://apc.io/
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Re: New kid on the block - meet OLinuXino
Drew Fustini Jun 11, 2012 10:01 AM (in response to morgaine)Aw, I was excited when I just got an email that pre-order is open, but the shipping for EU/USA/Canada is $38. That makes it $49 + $38 for a total of $87. I'd like a dedicated Android media center, but I think I'll wait a different distribution option.
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Re: New kid on the block - meet OLinuXino
morgaine Jun 14, 2012 1:10 PM (in response to Drew Fustini)You know, I think there's still one product slot missing from the iMX233-OLinuXino lineup:
iMX233-OLinuXino-Micro-Server - 24.95 Euro - 1 x USB, no video, 1 Ethernet
Maybe even go further down the price range:
iMX233-OLinuXino-Pico-Server - 19.95 Euro - no USB, no video, 1 Ethernet
That would be ideal for The Internet Of Things, where you want the minimum possible cost (because you'll be buying a whole pile of them to put Things online), and where you can lose the video hardware to offset some of the cost of RJ45 and magnetics.
OTOH it may become obsoleted by whatever they do with the A13, we'll have to see. A rock-bottom A13-based board might be better for The Internet Of Things, since it could rival the Raspberry Pi on cost in a Micro-Server version without any graphics capability (that's the cost tradeoff).
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Re: New kid on the block - meet OLinuXino
YT2095 Jun 14, 2012 4:50 PM (in response to Drew Fustini)I`v seen them on ebay now, which is also good news! maybe something like this: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Olimex-iMX233-OLINUXINO-MAXI-linux-computer-ARM926J-alternative-to-Raspberry-Pi-/280895044174?pt=UK_BOI_Electrical_Components_Supplies_ET&hash=item4166a63a4e would cost you less in the long run?
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Re: New kid on the block - meet OLinuXino
morgaine Jul 15, 2012 6:54 AM (in response to raivisr)Another week, and still no sign of OLinuXino at Farnell. What's going on? What's delaying it? I thought the Micro version was now fully in production and stocked at source.
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Re: New kid on the block - meet OLinuXino
morgaine Jul 7, 2012 11:04 PM (in response to raivisr)I order most of my electronics bits from Farnell, so I've been searching for "OLinuXino" there every now and then (they keep a huge range of Olimex gear), but they still have no knowledge of any iMX233-OLinuXino board not even as an advance notice.
Any idea how long it'll be before this range appears on Farnell?
Pi deliveries were looking so sluggish that I expected to obtain an OLinuXino before a Pi, but Element 14 has accelerated massively in recent times and I have my Pi now. There's still plenty of room for other Linux boards though!
With all the USB troubles that Pi is having, I'm especially interested in boards that have native Ethernet MAC on the SoC, as the BeagleBone does. USB's polled architecture really isn't ideal for off-SoC networking interfaces.
Morgaine.
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Re: New kid on the block - meet OLinuXino
John BeetemJul 12, 2012 2:18 PM (in response to morgaine)
Morgaine Dinova wrote:
There's still plenty of room for other Linux boards though!
With all the USB troubles that Pi is having, I'm especially interested in boards that have native Ethernet MAC on the SoC, as the BeagleBone does. USB's polled architecture really isn't ideal for off-SoC networking interfaces.
I just read about ODROID-X (apparently sponsored by Samsung) in this RasPi forum thread: Alternative if you want to spend a lot more. At US$129 plus shipping from South Korea, it's a lot more expensive than RasPi or OLinuXino, but has a Samsung Exynos4412 Cortex-A9 Quad Core 1.4Ghz with 1MB L2 cache, Mali 400 Quad Core GPU, 1 GB LP-DDR2 DRAM, and HDMI. Here's the ODROID-X web site: http://www.hardkernel.com. ODROID-X has 6 high-speed USB ports, but 10/100 Ethernet is done over USB like RasPi. With luck, the Exynos4412 has a smarter USB controller.
One thing that's interesting is that you can get compatible 1366 x 768 LCD (non-touch) screens so you can make yourself a fingerprint-free tablet: US$79 for 13.3" and US$69 for 10.1". Nice to have a sponsor who makes their own LCDs and DRAM :-)
OS is Android/Linux, but it's supposed to be open source so someone could port GNU/Linux. Documentation seems better than RasPi, but the SoC manual (currently for the Exynos4410) mostly documents peripherals, like RasPi's Broadcom BCM2835 document.
May the most open system win!
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Re: New kid on the block - meet OLinuXino
morgaine Jul 13, 2012 4:51 AM (in response to John Beetem)Nice, thanks! That's a very interesting addition to the ranks of ARM development boards.
Whether it's "expensive" or not depends on one's requirements of course. If the requirement is to have 4 networked cores then the ODROID-X board is cheaper than a cluster of 4 Raspberry Pi Model B, and far more powerful. Horses for courses, as usual. Grrr at Ethernet MAC not being on the SoC, but I like everything else about it.
In addition to Pandaboard as mentioned in BarryK's article, there's also the very similar Snowball in that product space, based on ST-Ericsson's equivalent high-end ARM applications processor, the Nova A9500. Some links:
- Community site for Snowball -- http://www.igloocommunity.org/
- Snowball manufacturer site, brochure -- http://www.calao-systems.com/file/SKY-S9500-ULP-XXX/SKY-S9500-ULP-CXX%20Flyer%20V1.3.pdf
- Developer resources for ST-Ericsson Nova A9500 -- http://www.malideveloper.com/developer-resources/development-boards/st-ericsson-nova-snowball-low-cost-development-board.php
- Farnell product page -- http://uk.farnell.com/st-ericsson/dk9500sno10-sta/sbc-snowball-cortex-a9-mali400/dp/2075724
I'm not sure that Snowball is going anywhere at that price though -- Farnell quote it at £181.93 -- but at least they're available ex-stock!
The very similar Pandaboard will allegedly arrive in Farnell stock in early August, priced at a more reasonable £125.73 -- http://uk.farnell.com/circuitco/pandaboard-es/pandaboard-es-omap4460-arm-cortex/dp/2098930?Ntt=Pandaboard
The ODROID-X could wipe the floor with them both though, if it becomes widely available at US$129. I'm looking forward to it!
Morgaine.
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Re: New kid on the block - meet OLinuXino
morgaine Jul 13, 2012 5:11 AM (in response to John Beetem)Ping Element 14 / Farnell purchasing department ... you could put significant markup on ODROID-X's US$129 !! http://www.hardkernel.com/renewal_2011/products/prdt_info.php?g_code=G133999328931
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Re: New kid on the block - meet OLinuXino
John BeetemAug 22, 2012 2:07 PM (in response to John Beetem)
John Beetem wrote:
I just read about ODROID-X (apparently sponsored by Samsung) in this RasPi forum thread: Alternative if you want to spend a lot more. At US$129 plus shipping from South Korea, it's a lot more expensive than RasPi or OLinuXino, but has a Samsung Exynos4412 Cortex-A9 Quad Core 1.4Ghz with 1MB L2 cache, Mali 400 Quad Core GPU, 1 GB LP-DDR2 DRAM, and HDMI. Here's the ODROID-X web site: http://www.hardkernel.com. ODROID-X has 6 high-speed USB ports, but 10/100 Ethernet is done over USB like RasPi. With luck, the Exynos4412 has a smarter USB controller.
Geek eye candy!
ODROID HardKernel has some nice photos of automated SMT assembly of the ODROID-X at http://www.hardkernel.com/renewal_2011/main.php. They started shipping 30 July 2012.
Edit: Ubuntu is now running on ODROID-X: http://com.odroid.com/sigong/blog/blog_list.php?bid=131
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Re: New kid on the block - meet OLinuXino
John BeetemDec 6, 2012 3:08 PM (in response to John Beetem)
John Beetem wrote:
I just read about ODROID-X (apparently sponsored by Samsung) in this RasPi forum thread: Alternative if you want to spend a lot more. At US$129 plus shipping from South Korea, it's a lot more expensive than RasPi or OLinuXino, but has a Samsung Exynos4412 Cortex-A9 Quad Core 1.4GHz with 1MB L2 cache, Mali 400 Quad Core GPU, 1 GB LP-DDR2 DRAM, and HDMI. Here's the ODROID-X web site: http://www.hardkernel.com.
OS is Android/Linux, but it's supposed to be open source so someone could port GNU/Linux. Documentation seems better than RasPi, but the SoC manual (currently for the Exynos4410) mostly documents peripherals, like RasPi's Broadcom BCM2835 document.
May the most open system win!
Hardkernel has announced some tiny versions of the ODROID-X called the ODROID-U (US$69) and ODROID-U2 (US$89). Circuit board is 48x52 mm and comes with a "case" that's really a heat sink. Both boards use the Samsung Exynos4412 Cortex-A9 Quad Core running at 1.4GHz (-U) or 1.7 GHz (-U2). Looks like first delivery in Jan-Feb 2013. SoC user documentation is now posted, but leaves out USB and (of course) Mali-400 GPU.
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Re: New kid on the block - meet OLinuXino
agrahambell Dec 8, 2012 8:02 AM (in response to John Beetem)Ooo.. those look nice. The only missing piece is a row of gpio pins at the back...
With a reasonable gpu driver I can imagine those becoming a decent and small media player...
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Re: New kid on the block - meet OLinuXino
morgaine Jul 16, 2012 4:54 AM (in response to raivisr)Very interesting and comprehensive list of links to such boards and related products by CNXSoft, 26th June 2012 -- http://www.cnx-software.com/2012/06/26/list-of-39-low-cost-linux-friendly-boards-and-products/
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Re: New kid on the block - meet OLinuXino
morgaine Jul 29, 2012 9:25 AM (in response to morgaine)The Via APC now seems to have a forum (although not very active), and they opened their bootloader sources and other materials recently, plus a few people have begun to receive their boards. So, it looks like it's slowly starting to come together -- http://forum.apc.io/
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Re: New kid on the block - meet OLinuXino
morgaine Aug 8, 2012 7:10 PM (in response to raivisr)Hooray, iMX233-OLinuXino is on Farnell's books at last! -- http://uk.farnell.com/olimex/imx233-olinuxino-maxi/sbc-linux-w-i-mx233-arm926j/dp/2144333?ref=lookahead .
Not in stock yet, but at least the process has finally started, albeit one model only. Still, it's progress.
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Re: New kid on the block - meet OLinuXino
Drew Fustini Aug 8, 2012 11:46 PM (in response to morgaine)Groovy! I'm happy to see more Open Source Hardware offered. Hope it shows up on Newark, too.
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Re: New kid on the block - meet OLinuXino
agrahambell Aug 10, 2012 1:17 PM (in response to morgaine)I wonder if the forum threading problems have spread to the main web site.. It's apparently out of stock with 20 available for delivery:
Apart from that, I'm still having problems getting my head around something that's older tech, slower, and generally less capable than the Pi costing 14 quid more. Sure the Pi has it's issues, but with the amount of attention it has they're likely to get fixed sooner or later. Not yet convinced what future the OLinuxino has..
The A13-olinuxino on the other hand.. if they can get the price below a BeagleBone and have them available here before the end of the year, that's a whole different story. Even then, the onboard, non usb, ethernet probably still ends up the better board
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Re: New kid on the block - meet OLinuXino
morgaine Aug 11, 2012 9:00 AM (in response to agrahambell)Horses for courses. Each device has its own area of application, and unless two devices are identical clones differing only in price, it's not reasonable to say that the higher priced one has no market. It's likely to have some feature that the cheaper one lacks, and someone will want that feature.
In the case of Raspberry Pi versus Olimex, I've not yet tested an OLinuXino, but I've tested a Pi and one thing is abundantly clear: the Pi is very badly designed and some parts of it are completely broken, in particular the USB handling of RF mice on a self-powered hub. I've never come across any kind of Linux board or computer with disastrously broken USB handling before, and it would be quite silly to expect the OLinuXino to be similarly broken or worse.
Is a few pounds more worth paying for a product that works? In my books that's a totally stupid question, because a non-working product is largely worthless. I won't be buying any more Pi boards until such tier #1 problems are fixed, but I am certainly in the market for small and cheap Linux boards and therefore Olimex is of interest to me.
On top of that, Olimex are responsive to problem reports and don't have a habit of banning you for insufficient praise. That's worth a lot. They are an engineering outfit, not a hype machine. I like that.
Morgaine.
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Re: New kid on the block - meet OLinuXino
DABAug 11, 2012 3:32 PM (in response to morgaine)
Very true.
You pick the processor or development board based upon your requirements. Buying the cheapest is only valid if and only if it meets your requirements.
All new devices are risky. Until engineers have a chance to test it in a variety of applications, you will always have questions about its ability to meet your needs.
So first define what you need, then look at the devices that meet all of your needs. Then you can make a decision based upon capability and cost, but do not overlook the support tools that come with your choice. You might save money on your device only to find you spend more time debugging your applications.
Just a thought,
DAB
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Re: New kid on the block - meet OLinuXino
morgaine Aug 12, 2012 8:49 AM (in response to DAB)DAB wrote:
... but do not overlook the support tools that come with your choice. You might save money on your device only to find you spend more time debugging your applications.
A very good point.
That is currently one of the problems with microcontroller work, because the most effective tools are proprietary and costly in their unrestricted versions, and this represents a hidden cost and liability for your project. In contrast, open source tools remove that cost and the liability, but development efficiency can be reduced through less effective debugging or the hidden cost of having to roll your own.
Finding the optimum solution is always a tradeoff, just like engineering a product always is, or just selecting one to buy.
Morgaine.
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Re: New kid on the block - meet OLinuXino
DABAug 12, 2012 5:01 PM (in response to morgaine)
Hi Morgaine,
Yea that one has caused me a lot of grief in the past.
It was the main reason that I finally had to agree with the company that standardizing on one line of MCU was more cost effective then letting each project just pick whatever was the new board available. Without the proper tools, you just cannot do effective development, especially when you are doing one of a kind demonstration boards.
It is a little better today with the open sources support, but when I started, we had little or nothing to work with.
Plus you develope a better fell for both the devices and the tools as you reuse them on many projects. It ends up giving you some of that extra time to include some bells and whistles.
Just a thought,
DAB
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Re: New kid on the block - meet OLinuXino
John BeetemSep 5, 2012 1:07 PM (in response to raivisr)
Thanks to the RasPi Forum, I notice that the Olimex blog has new items about A13- and A10-based OLinuXinos:
Sep 05 2012: 50 PCS A13-OLinuXino-WIFI-DEV shipped today to developers
Nice board photo, with external connectors only on opposite sides and large GPIO blocks.
Sep 04 2012: A10-OLinuXino preliminary schematic uploaded on GitHub and we are open for discussions
How about that, posting the schematic and part placement before shipping boards? What a truly bizarre idea
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Re: New kid on the block - meet OLinuXino
morgaine Oct 5, 2012 3:02 AM (in response to John Beetem)John Beetem wrote:
How about that, posting the schematic and part placement before shipping boards? What a truly bizarre idea
Radical.
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Re: New kid on the block - meet OLinuXino
John BeetemOct 3, 2012 6:48 PM (in response to raivisr)
"jamodio" reports at the RasPi discussion group that "a Raspbian port is almost running on the APC board". According to http://forum.apc.io/discussion/31/raspbian-port it sounds Raspbian really is running.
Pretty neat! I wonder if there's any APC SoC documentation?
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Looks like certain berry-constant named device has opened Pandora's box, Olimex Ltd. just announced another low cost Linux SBC, but this time it is going to be OSHW and they are looking for developers that could help them round up the device for general use. Ok, enough talk, here's announcement - http://olimex.wordpress.com/2012/03/07/imx233-olinuxino-development-started-today/
PS read the article comments, this is not going to be the last OSHW SBC by Olimex