[Arm-netbook] passthrough, a20 and rk3288 cards

[Luke Kenneth Casson Leighton]

ok so still waiting for the updates to go out from crowdsupply, brief
news in the meantime.

revision 2.7.2 pre-production test pcb run has been ordered, i will be
assembling those myself, here in taiwan, using my host's equipment.
btw i didn't hear from anyone about the offer to send out
pre-production cards.

i'm having fun with the rk3288 board: putting on 600-pin 0.6mm pitch
bga ICs is tricky but doable. the first board i managed to get access
via USB, and learned that it is actually possible to initialise them
by uploading u-boot-spl over USB. however the DDR3 RAM would only
initialise if the clockrate was limited to 200mhz. the second board i
tried, unfortunately the 3.3v power output was shorted to the DDR3 RAM
1.5v line and destroyed $20 worth of RAM ICs and a $20 processor. not
doing that again. the third board i am currently trying, i have to
get the ACT8846 properly soldered down: it's not initialising (yet) so
all outputs measure 0v.

the passthrough card i am still waiting for an adapter cable in order
to be able to wire a 2.4.1 revision a20 card's HDMI output to the
passthrough card's HDMI input. it has to be micro-hdmi to micro-hdmi
hence why an adapter had to be ordered.

l.

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[Paul Boddie]

Post by Luke Kenneth Casson Leighton
ok so still waiting for the updates to go out from crowdsupply, brief
news in the meantime.
revision 2.7.2 pre-production test pcb run has been ordered, i will be
assembling those myself, here in taiwan, using my host's equipment.
btw i didn't hear from anyone about the offer to send out
pre-production cards.

A couple of people added their names to the end of this page:

http://rhombus-tech.net/allwinner_a10/

I don't know whether that's the offer you were talking about, though.

Paul

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S

[Luke Kenneth Casson Leighton]

---
crowd-funded eco-conscious hardware: https://www.crowdsupply.com/eoma68

Post by Paul Boddie

Post by Luke Kenneth Casson Leighton
ok so still waiting for the updates to go out from crowdsupply, brief
news in the meantime.
revision 2.7.2 pre-production test pcb run has been ordered, i will be
assembling those myself, here in taiwan, using my host's equipment.
btw i didn't hear from anyone about the offer to send out
pre-production cards.

http://rhombus-tech.net/allwinner_a10/
I don't know whether that's the offer you were talking about, though.

ah! yes, that's the one. any more let me know soon.

l.

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[Eric Duhamel]

Post by Luke Kenneth Casson Leighton
btw i didn't hear from anyone about the offer to send out
pre-production cards.

I'm tempted but I have nothing to bring to the Linux effort; zero experience hacking or installing the kernel and not much time to learn.

--
Eric Duhamel
http://www.noxbanners.net/

[Paul Boddie]

Post by Eric Duhamel

Post by Luke Kenneth Casson Leighton
btw i didn't hear from anyone about the offer to send out
pre-production cards.

I'm tempted but I have nothing to bring to the Linux effort; zero
experience hacking or installing the kernel and not much time to learn.

I'm probably not the kind of person to bring much to the table, either, but
what kind of equipment would one need to actually attempt anything with such a
card at this point?

I recall various videos with cards being interfaced to things, but they might
have involved previous generations of equipment like that "micro engineering
board" that was made a few years ago, so it might be useful to know what the
practical requirements are for those who are able to contribute effectively in
the near future. (Or maybe those people don't need me to ask because they
already know what they'll need.)

Paul

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[Parobalth]

Post by Eric Duhamel

Post by Luke Kenneth Casson Leighton
btw i didn't hear from anyone about the offer to send out
pre-production cards.

I'm tempted but I have nothing to bring to the Linux effort; zero
experience hacking or installing the kernel and not much time to learn.

I'm probably not the kind of person to bring much to the table, either, but
what kind of equipment would one need to actually attempt anything with
such a
card at this point?

I recall various videos with cards being interfaced to things, but they
might
have involved previous generations of equipment like that "micro engineering
board" that was made a few years ago, so it might be useful to know what the
practical requirements are for those who are able to contribute effectively
in
the near future. (Or maybe those people don't need me to ask because they
already know what they'll need.)


I believe Luke provided some clues when he wrote that he is going to
provide:
OTG-Host Cable, breakout board (or microdesktop) and RS232-USB-UART.
with the pre-production boards.

[Eric Duhamel]

Post by Paul Boddie
I'm probably not the kind of person to bring much to the table, either, but
what kind of equipment would one need to actually attempt anything with such a
card at this point?
I believe Luke provided some clues when he wrote that he is going to
OTG-Host Cable, breakout board (or microdesktop) and RS232-USB-UART.
with the pre-production boards.

Seems like power, access to the pins, and some really low-level signal communication called UART

--
Eric Duhamel
http://www.noxbanners.net/

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[Luke Kenneth Casson Leighton]

Post by Paul Boddie

On February 21, 2017 3:52:12 AM PST, Luke Kenneth Casson Leighton

Post by Luke Kenneth Casson Leighton
btw i didn't hear from anyone about the offer to send out
pre-production cards.

I'm tempted but I have nothing to bring to the Linux effort; zero
experience hacking or installing the kernel and not much time to learn.

I'm probably not the kind of person to bring much to the table, either, but
what kind of equipment would one need to actually attempt anything with such a
card at this point?

a standard 12v dc power supply with a 5.5mm pin-positive jack,
usb-otg and micro hdmi cables, and a vga monitor.

the main thing i need from people before i send them $300 to $350
worth of equipment is a 100% committment that they'll be doing active
development of some kind which helps the other backers directly or
indirectly, or helps further the goals of the eoma68 project.

u-boot development, kernel development, os preparation, packaging,
upstreaming - anything like that.

l.

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[Albert ARIBAUD]

Hi Luke,

Le Tue, 21 Feb 2017 23:19:21 +0000

Post by Luke Kenneth Casson Leighton

Post by Paul Boddie

On February 21, 2017 3:52:12 AM PST, Luke Kenneth Casson Leighton

Post by Luke Kenneth Casson Leighton
btw i didn't hear from anyone about the offer to send out
pre-production cards.

I'm tempted but I have nothing to bring to the Linux effort; zero
experience hacking or installing the kernel and not much time to learn.

I'm probably not the kind of person to bring much to the table,
either, but what kind of equipment would one need to actually
attempt anything with such a card at this point?

a standard 12v dc power supply with a 5.5mm pin-positive jack,
usb-otg and micro hdmi cables, and a vga monitor.
the main thing i need from people before i send them $300 to $350
worth of equipment is a 100% committment that they'll be doing active
development of some kind which helps the other backers directly or
indirectly, or helps further the goals of the eoma68 project.
u-boot development, kernel development, os preparation, packaging,
upstreaming - anything like that.

I can do U-Boot development/mainlineing, but before I commit myself, I'd
need to know what the time frame and deadlines would be.

Amicalement,

[Vincent Legoll]

Hi Luke,

Post by Luke Kenneth Casson Leighton
the main thing i need from people before i send them $300 to $350
worth of equipment is a 100% committment that they'll be doing active
development of some kind which helps the other backers directly or
indirectly, or helps further the goals of the eoma68 project.

I can do kernel debug/testing, distro and/or release things, but the free
time is scarce, so cannot promise anything, especially not a scary
"100% committment" though...

Sorry

[Luke Kenneth Casson Leighton]

---
crowd-funded eco-conscious hardware: https://www.crowdsupply.com/eoma68

Post by Albert ARIBAUD

Post by Luke Kenneth Casson Leighton
u-boot development, kernel development, os preparation, packaging,
upstreaming - anything like that.

I can do U-Boot development/mainlineing, but before I commit myself, I'd
need to know what the time frame and deadlines would be.

as a software libre project i'm not comfortable with specifying
deadlines to people: that's not fair so i'm not going to do that.
also, timeframe: i have a working version of u-boot (non mainline), it
works, it ain't broke, i ain't gonna try to "fix" it.

there are however some very specific things that need to be done for
mainline u-boot:

(1) EOMA68 I2C EEPROM @ addr 0x51 reading library. very simple: read
32 bits, format similar to USB device ids, return major/minor numbers

(2) devicetree overlays (which should be in u-boot mainline already:
if it isn't, it needs to be added)

(3) microdesktop dtb overlay needs to be written (as a first example)

(4) fixing the silly, silly decision(s) which were made *without*
consulting any of the projects (of which there are several, *only one
of which* is the EOMA68-A20 Card) that require devicetree overlays for
the *video* aspect of their hardware, where it is ASSUMED in the sunxi
mainline u-boot that the video WILL be initialised EXCLUSIVELY by
u-boot and is to be left AS-IS by the linux kernel (as a
simpleframebuffer). there IS no support for changing, setting,
altering, or interacting with the video hardware IN ANY WAY other than
that which was initialised BY u-boot at boot time.

this last one will take time as it will involve talking to a lot of
people. that's fine: we have the sunxi 3.4 kernel in the meantime.

l.

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[Albert ARIBAUD]

Bonjour,

Le Wed, 22 Feb 2017 10:30:29 +0000

Post by Luke Kenneth Casson Leighton
---
https://www.crowdsupply.com/eoma68
On Wed, Feb 22, 2017 at 9:55 AM, Albert ARIBAUD

Post by Albert ARIBAUD

Post by Luke Kenneth Casson Leighton
u-boot development, kernel development, os preparation, packaging,
upstreaming - anything like that.

I can do U-Boot development/mainlineing, but before I commit
myself, I'd need to know what the time frame and deadlines would
be.

as a software libre project i'm not comfortable with specifying
deadlines to people: that's not fair so i'm not going to do that.
also, timeframe: i have a working version of u-boot (non mainline), it
works, it ain't broke, i ain't gonna try to "fix" it.
there are however some very specific things that need to be done for
32 bits, format similar to USB device ids, return major/minor numbers

What would be the use case? Passing major/minor to Linux through the
command line? Local use in U-Boot (which one)?

Post by Luke Kenneth Casson Leighton
if it isn't, it needs to be added)

They'll be there there in 2017.03.

Post by Luke Kenneth Casson Leighton
(3) microdesktop dtb overlay needs to be written (as a first example)

Ok.

Post by Luke Kenneth Casson Leighton
(4) fixing the silly, silly decision(s) which were made *without*
consulting any of the projects (of which there are several, *only one
of which* is the EOMA68-A20 Card) that require devicetree overlays for
the *video* aspect of their hardware, where it is ASSUMED in the sunxi
mainline u-boot that the video WILL be initialised EXCLUSIVELY by
u-boot and is to be left AS-IS by the linux kernel (as a
simpleframebuffer). there IS no support for changing, setting,
altering, or interacting with the video hardware IN ANY WAY other than
that which was initialised BY u-boot at boot time.

Seems to me less of a U-Boot issue, and more of a Linux issue, unless
U-Boot takes active steps to lock video setup registers. What exactly
prevents Linux from setting up video again after U-Boot has chained to
it?

Post by Luke Kenneth Casson Leighton
this last one will take time as it will involve talking to a lot of
people. that's fine: we have the sunxi 3.4 kernel in the meantime.
l.

Amicalement,

[Luke Kenneth Casson Leighton]

Post by Albert ARIBAUD
Bonjour,
Le Wed, 22 Feb 2017 10:30:29 +0000

Post by Luke Kenneth Casson Leighton
32 bits, format similar to USB device ids, return major/minor numbers

What would be the use case? Passing major/minor to Linux through the
command line? Local use in U-Boot (which one)?

local use in u-boot - leave it to linux kernel (which will need to do
the same thing) to read the EEPROM again.

the reason is: you may not actually *use* u-boot (at all) if a
processor is used such as ... oo... an AMD Geode LX800 or something
which doesn't *use* u-boot but instead has a BIOS.

the reason why u-boot has to read the I2C EEPROM independently is
primarily for video output (configuring then displaying)..

... or if there's a console device that would be detected via the
relevant devicetree overlay being read and loaded...

... or if there is a USB keyboard... again, needs configuring and detecting...

.. or if there's a special button for boot option selection which is
in a very special type of Housing for blind people (yes this idea came
up a few months ago)...

... all these things need to be coded into u-boot to interact with
the users enough so that they can choose the right boot option....

... all of which is *completely* independent of the linux kernel (or
whatever OS actually gets run).

Post by Albert ARIBAUD

Post by Luke Kenneth Casson Leighton
if it isn't, it needs to be added)

They'll be there there in 2017.03.

_great_. that's really good to hear.

Post by Albert ARIBAUD

Post by Luke Kenneth Casson Leighton
(3) microdesktop dtb overlay needs to be written (as a first example)

Ok.

it's really simple, that one. it can get complicated later (loading
a bit-banging I2C module which then reads EDID data from the 2 GPIOs i
connected to the VGA monitor EDID lines) but for now the devicetree
overlay can be completely bare-bones, main thing it should really do
is set the VGA monitor to 640x480 default hard-coded output... errr...
that's all :)

Post by Albert ARIBAUD

Post by Luke Kenneth Casson Leighton
(4) fixing the silly, silly decision(s) which were made *without*
consulting any of the projects (of which there are several, *only one
of which* is the EOMA68-A20 Card) that require devicetree overlays for
the *video* aspect of their hardware, where it is ASSUMED in the sunxi
mainline u-boot that the video WILL be initialised EXCLUSIVELY by
u-boot and is to be left AS-IS by the linux kernel (as a
simpleframebuffer). there IS no support for changing, setting,
altering, or interacting with the video hardware IN ANY WAY other than
that which was initialised BY u-boot at boot time.

Seems to me less of a U-Boot issue, and more of a Linux issue, unless
U-Boot takes active steps to lock video setup registers. What exactly
prevents Linux from setting up video again after U-Boot has chained to
it?

good question. huh. yeah - good point. last time i checked nothing
_had_ been done, so i assumed nothing _could_ be done.

l.

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[Albert ARIBAUD]

Hi Luke,

Le Wed, 22 Feb 2017 14:07:36 +0000

On Wed, Feb 22, 2017 at 11:00 AM, Albert ARIBAUD

Post by Albert ARIBAUD
Bonjour,
Le Wed, 22 Feb 2017 10:30:29 +0000

read 32 bits, format similar to USB device ids, return major/minor
numbers

What would be the use case? Passing major/minor to Linux through the
command line? Local use in U-Boot (which one)?

local use in u-boot - leave it to linux kernel (which will need to do
the same thing) to read the EEPROM again.
the reason is: you may not actually *use* u-boot (at all) if a
processor is used such as ... oo... an AMD Geode LX800 or something
which doesn't *use* u-boot but instead has a BIOS.
the reason why u-boot has to read the I2C EEPROM independently is
primarily for video output (configuring then displaying)..
... or if there's a console device that would be detected via the
relevant devicetree overlay being read and loaded...
... or if there is a USB keyboard... again, needs configuring and detecting...
.. or if there's a special button for boot option selection which is
in a very special type of Housing for blind people (yes this idea came
up a few months ago)...
... all these things need to be coded into u-boot to interact with
the users enough so that they can choose the right boot option....
... all of which is *completely* independent of the linux kernel (or
whatever OS actually gets run).

Ok. Inside U-Boot this could be either compiled or scripted; will have
to see what the exact use cases are.

Post by Albert ARIBAUD

(2) devicetree overlays (which should be in u-boot mainline
already: if it isn't, it needs to be added)

They'll be there there in 2017.03.

_great_. that's really good to hear.

Post by Albert ARIBAUD

(3) microdesktop dtb overlay needs to be written (as a first example)

Ok.

it's really simple, that one. it can get complicated later (loading
a bit-banging I2C module which then reads EDID data from the 2 GPIOs i
connected to the VGA monitor EDID lines) but for now the devicetree
overlay can be completely bare-bones, main thing it should really do
is set the VGA monitor to 640x480 default hard-coded output... errr...
that's all :)

Let's start simple. :)

Post by Albert ARIBAUD

(4) fixing the silly, silly decision(s) which were made *without*
consulting any of the projects (of which there are several, *only
one of which* is the EOMA68-A20 Card) that require devicetree
overlays for the *video* aspect of their hardware, where it is
ASSUMED in the sunxi mainline u-boot that the video WILL be
initialised EXCLUSIVELY by u-boot and is to be left AS-IS by the
linux kernel (as a simpleframebuffer). there IS no support for
changing, setting, altering, or interacting with the video
hardware IN ANY WAY other than that which was initialised BY
u-boot at boot time.

Seems to me less of a U-Boot issue, and more of a Linux issue,
unless U-Boot takes active steps to lock video setup registers.
What exactly prevents Linux from setting up video again after
U-Boot has chained to it?

good question. huh. yeah - good point. last time i checked nothing
_had_ been done, so i assumed nothing _could_ be done.

I'll try and have a look.

l.

So, back to the initial question: I'm ok with doing U-Boot related
stuff, at least, on a pre-prod card. How do we proceed?

Amicalement,

[Luke Kenneth Casson Leighton]

Post by Albert ARIBAUD
So, back to the initial question: I'm ok with doing U-Boot related
stuff, at least, on a pre-prod card. How do we proceed?

add name to list on http://rhombus-tech.net/allwinner_a10/ i'll get
as many cards as i can up and running. some of them will be 2.4.1,
others will be 2.7.2 - the 2.4.1 cards will have an amphenol reversed
mid-mount HDMI, the 2.7.2 cards will have the JAE DC3. they'll all
have 2GB of RAM and 8GB NAND.

l.

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[Albert ARIBAUD]

Bonjour,

Le Wed, 22 Feb 2017 14:59:56 +0000

Post by Albert ARIBAUD
So, back to the initial question: I'm ok with doing U-Boot related
stuff, at least, on a pre-prod card. How do we proceed?

add name to list on http://rhombus-tech.net/allwinner_a10 [...]

Done.

Amicalement,

[Michael Howard]

Post by Luke Kenneth Casson Leighton

Post by Paul Boddie

On February 21, 2017 3:52:12 AM PST, Luke Kenneth Casson Leighton

Post by Luke Kenneth Casson Leighton
btw i didn't hear from anyone about the offer to send out
pre-production cards.

I'm tempted but I have nothing to bring to the Linux effort; zero
experience hacking or installing the kernel and not much time to learn.

I'm probably not the kind of person to bring much to the table, either, but
what kind of equipment would one need to actually attempt anything with such a
card at this point?

a standard 12v dc power supply with a 5.5mm pin-positive jack,
usb-otg and micro hdmi cables, and a vga monitor.
the main thing i need from people before i send them $300 to $350
worth of equipment is a 100% committment that they'll be doing active
development of some kind which helps the other backers directly or
indirectly, or helps further the goals of the eoma68 project.
u-boot development, kernel development, os preparation, packaging,
upstreaming - anything like that.
l.

I'd be happy to put work into os prep, packaging (desktop environment -
I package up Trininty for my ARM devices here) and anything else that
might be helpful. I can't add my name to the list, I'm not registered.

Let me know if I can help.

Mike.

[Luke Kenneth Casson Leighton]

---
crowd-funded eco-conscious hardware: https://www.crowdsupply.com/eoma68


On Wed, Feb 22, 2017 at 1:33 PM, Michael Howard

Post by Luke Kenneth Casson Leighton

Post by Paul Boddie

On February 21, 2017 3:52:12 AM PST, Luke Kenneth Casson Leighton

Post by Luke Kenneth Casson Leighton
btw i didn't hear from anyone about the offer to send out
pre-production cards.

I'm tempted but I have nothing to bring to the Linux effort; zero
experience hacking or installing the kernel and not much time to learn.

I'm probably not the kind of person to bring much to the table, either, but
what kind of equipment would one need to actually attempt anything with such a
card at this point?

a standard 12v dc power supply with a 5.5mm pin-positive jack,
usb-otg and micro hdmi cables, and a vga monitor.
the main thing i need from people before i send them $300 to $350
worth of equipment is a 100% committment that they'll be doing active
development of some kind which helps the other backers directly or
indirectly, or helps further the goals of the eoma68 project.
u-boot development, kernel development, os preparation, packaging,
upstreaming - anything like that.
l.

I'd be happy to put work into os prep, packaging (desktop environment - I
package up Trininty for my ARM devices here) and anything else that might be
helpful. I can't add my name to the list, I'm not registered.

added. i *really* like trinity desktop as it's amazingly lightweight
and highly functional. i may actually put it as the default instead
of xfce.

i have it installed and tested on one of the microsd cards, it works
really well: if you could test it out to make sure it's functional
that would be _really_ handy.

btw if you've not got a server where you can upload packages as a
repo i'm sure one can be found somewhere.

l.

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[Michael Howard]

Post by Luke Kenneth Casson Leighton
---
crowd-funded eco-conscious hardware: https://www.crowdsupply.com/eoma68
On Wed, Feb 22, 2017 at 1:33 PM, Michael Howard

Post by Luke Kenneth Casson Leighton

Post by Paul Boddie

On February 21, 2017 3:52:12 AM PST, Luke Kenneth Casson Leighton

Post by Luke Kenneth Casson Leighton
btw i didn't hear from anyone about the offer to send out
pre-production cards.

I'm tempted but I have nothing to bring to the Linux effort; zero
experience hacking or installing the kernel and not much time to learn.

I'm probably not the kind of person to bring much to the table, either, but
what kind of equipment would one need to actually attempt anything with such a
card at this point?

a standard 12v dc power supply with a 5.5mm pin-positive jack,
usb-otg and micro hdmi cables, and a vga monitor.
the main thing i need from people before i send them $300 to $350
worth of equipment is a 100% committment that they'll be doing active
development of some kind which helps the other backers directly or
indirectly, or helps further the goals of the eoma68 project.
u-boot development, kernel development, os preparation, packaging,
upstreaming - anything like that.
l.

I'd be happy to put work into os prep, packaging (desktop environment - I
package up Trininty for my ARM devices here) and anything else that might be
helpful. I can't add my name to the list, I'm not registered.

added. i *really* like trinity desktop as it's amazingly lightweight
and highly functional. i may actually put it as the default instead
of xfce.
i have it installed and tested on one of the microsd cards, it works
really well: if you could test it out to make sure it's functional
that would be _really_ handy.
btw if you've not got a server where you can upload packages as a
repo i'm sure one can be found somewhere.

I have server capability to host packages.

I'm a big fan of trinity too, behaves really well on the ARM devices
I've used.

[Internet]

I also added myself to the list of preorders. I would do hardware
related stuff, u-boot hacking and I'd really like porting Archlinux ;)

Julius

Post by Michael Howard

Post by Luke Kenneth Casson Leighton
---
crowd-funded eco-conscious hardware: https://www.crowdsupply.com/eoma68
On Wed, Feb 22, 2017 at 1:33 PM, Michael Howard

Post by Michael Howard

Post by Luke Kenneth Casson Leighton

Post by Paul Boddie

On February 21, 2017 3:52:12 AM PST, Luke Kenneth Casson Leighton

Post by Luke Kenneth Casson Leighton
btw i didn't hear from anyone about the offer to send out
pre-production cards.

I'm tempted but I have nothing to bring to the Linux effort; zero
experience hacking or installing the kernel and not much time to learn.

I'm probably not the kind of person to bring much to the table,
either,
but
what kind of equipment would one need to actually attempt anything
with
such a
card at this point?

a standard 12v dc power supply with a 5.5mm pin-positive jack,
usb-otg and micro hdmi cables, and a vga monitor.
the main thing i need from people before i send them $300 to $350
worth of equipment is a 100% committment that they'll be doing active
development of some kind which helps the other backers directly or
indirectly, or helps further the goals of the eoma68 project.
u-boot development, kernel development, os preparation, packaging,
upstreaming - anything like that.
l.

I'd be happy to put work into os prep, packaging (desktop
environment - I
package up Trininty for my ARM devices here) and anything else that might be
helpful. I can't add my name to the list, I'm not registered.

added. i *really* like trinity desktop as it's amazingly lightweight
and highly functional. i may actually put it as the default instead
of xfce.
i have it installed and tested on one of the microsd cards, it works
really well: if you could test it out to make sure it's functional
that would be _really_ handy.
btw if you've not got a server where you can upload packages as a
repo i'm sure one can be found somewhere.

I have server capability to host packages.
I'm a big fan of trinity too, behaves really well on the ARM devices
I've used.

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[Luke Kenneth Casson Leighton]

great. cando. archlinux works well. parabola's based on it.
---
crowd-funded eco-conscious hardware: https://www.crowdsupply.com/eoma68

Post by Internet
I also added myself to the list of preorders. I would do hardware
related stuff, u-boot hacking and I'd really like porting Archlinux ;)
Julius

Post by Michael Howard

Post by Luke Kenneth Casson Leighton
---
crowd-funded eco-conscious hardware: https://www.crowdsupply.com/eoma68
On Wed, Feb 22, 2017 at 1:33 PM, Michael Howard

Post by Michael Howard

Post by Luke Kenneth Casson Leighton

Post by Paul Boddie

On February 21, 2017 3:52:12 AM PST, Luke Kenneth Casson Leighton

Post by Luke Kenneth Casson Leighton
btw i didn't hear from anyone about the offer to send out
pre-production cards.

I'm tempted but I have nothing to bring to the Linux effort; zero
experience hacking or installing the kernel and not much time to learn.

I'm probably not the kind of person to bring much to the table,
either,
but
what kind of equipment would one need to actually attempt anything
with
such a
card at this point?

a standard 12v dc power supply with a 5.5mm pin-positive jack,
usb-otg and micro hdmi cables, and a vga monitor.
the main thing i need from people before i send them $300 to $350
worth of equipment is a 100% committment that they'll be doing active
development of some kind which helps the other backers directly or
indirectly, or helps further the goals of the eoma68 project.
u-boot development, kernel development, os preparation, packaging,
upstreaming - anything like that.
l.

I'd be happy to put work into os prep, packaging (desktop
environment - I
package up Trininty for my ARM devices here) and anything else that might be
helpful. I can't add my name to the list, I'm not registered.

added. i *really* like trinity desktop as it's amazingly lightweight
and highly functional. i may actually put it as the default instead
of xfce.
i have it installed and tested on one of the microsd cards, it works
really well: if you could test it out to make sure it's functional
that would be _really_ handy.
btw if you've not got a server where you can upload packages as a
repo i'm sure one can be found somewhere.

I have server capability to host packages.
I'm a big fan of trinity too, behaves really well on the ARM devices
I've used.

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[zap]

Post by Luke Kenneth Casson Leighton
great. cando. archlinux works well. parabola's based on it.
---
crowd-funded eco-conscious hardware: https://www.crowdsupply.com/eoma68

Post by Internet
I also added myself to the list of preorders. I would do hardware
related stuff, u-boot hacking and I'd really like porting Archlinux ;)
Julius

Post by Michael Howard

Post by Luke Kenneth Casson Leighton
---
crowd-funded eco-conscious hardware: https://www.crowdsupply.com/eoma68
On Wed, Feb 22, 2017 at 1:33 PM, Michael Howard

Post by Michael Howard

Post by Luke Kenneth Casson Leighton

Post by Paul Boddie

On February 21, 2017 3:52:12 AM PST, Luke Kenneth Casson Leighton

Post by Luke Kenneth Casson Leighton
btw i didn't hear from anyone about the offer to send out
pre-production cards.

I'm tempted but I have nothing to bring to the Linux effort; zero
experience hacking or installing the kernel and not much time to learn.

I'm probably not the kind of person to bring much to the table,
either,
but
what kind of equipment would one need to actually attempt anything
with
such a
card at this point?

a standard 12v dc power supply with a 5.5mm pin-positive jack,
usb-otg and micro hdmi cables, and a vga monitor.
the main thing i need from people before i send them $300 to $350
worth of equipment is a 100% committment that they'll be doing active
development of some kind which helps the other backers directly or
indirectly, or helps further the goals of the eoma68 project.
u-boot development, kernel development, os preparation, packaging,
upstreaming - anything like that.
l.

I'd be happy to put work into os prep, packaging (desktop
environment - I
package up Trininty for my ARM devices here) and anything else that might be
helpful. I can't add my name to the list, I'm not registered.

added. i *really* like trinity desktop as it's amazingly lightweight
and highly functional. i may actually put it as the default instead
of xfce.
i have it installed and tested on one of the microsd cards, it works
really well: if you could test it out to make sure it's functional
that would be _really_ handy.
btw if you've not got a server where you can upload packages as a
repo i'm sure one can be found somewhere.

I have server capability to host packages.
I'm a big fan of trinity too, behaves really well on the ARM devices
I've used.

does lxde work well on arm devices also? I am guessing yes but I don't
know for sure.

Post by Luke Kenneth Casson Leighton

Post by Internet
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[Luke Kenneth Casson Leighton]

Post by zap

Post by Luke Kenneth Casson Leighton
great. cando. archlinux works well. parabola's based on it.
---
crowd-funded eco-conscious hardware: https://www.crowdsupply.com/eoma68

Post by Internet
I also added myself to the list of preorders. I would do hardware
related stuff, u-boot hacking and I'd really like porting Archlinux ;)
Julius

Post by Michael Howard

Post by Luke Kenneth Casson Leighton
---
crowd-funded eco-conscious hardware: https://www.crowdsupply.com/eoma68
On Wed, Feb 22, 2017 at 1:33 PM, Michael Howard

Post by Michael Howard

Post by Luke Kenneth Casson Leighton

Post by Paul Boddie

On February 21, 2017 3:52:12 AM PST, Luke Kenneth Casson Leighton

Post by Luke Kenneth Casson Leighton
btw i didn't hear from anyone about the offer to send out
pre-production cards.

I'm tempted but I have nothing to bring to the Linux effort; zero
experience hacking or installing the kernel and not much time to learn.

I'm probably not the kind of person to bring much to the table,
either,
but
what kind of equipment would one need to actually attempt anything
with
such a
card at this point?

a standard 12v dc power supply with a 5.5mm pin-positive jack,
usb-otg and micro hdmi cables, and a vga monitor.
the main thing i need from people before i send them $300 to $350
worth of equipment is a 100% committment that they'll be doing active
development of some kind which helps the other backers directly or
indirectly, or helps further the goals of the eoma68 project.
u-boot development, kernel development, os preparation, packaging,
upstreaming - anything like that.
l.

I'd be happy to put work into os prep, packaging (desktop
environment - I
package up Trininty for my ARM devices here) and anything else that might be
helpful. I can't add my name to the list, I'm not registered.

added. i *really* like trinity desktop as it's amazingly lightweight
and highly functional. i may actually put it as the default instead
of xfce.
i have it installed and tested on one of the microsd cards, it works
really well: if you could test it out to make sure it's functional
that would be _really_ handy.
btw if you've not got a server where you can upload packages as a
repo i'm sure one can be found somewhere.

I have server capability to host packages.
I'm a big fan of trinity too, behaves really well on the ARM devices
I've used.

does lxde work well on arm devices also? I am guessing yes but I don't
know for sure.

yyep.

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[Eric Duhamel]

Post by zap
does lxde work well on arm devices also? I am guessing yes but I don't
know for sure.

LXQT (or LXDE I don't know for sure) comes by default with Debian for the Beagleboneblack. In my experience it works well.

--
Eric Duhamel
http://www.noxbanners.net/

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[zap]

Post by Eric Duhamel

Post by zap
does lxde work well on arm devices also? I am guessing yes but I don't
know for sure.

LXQT (or LXDE I don't know for sure) comes by default with Debian for the Beagleboneblack. In my experience it works well.

Lxde is awesome. I like that it is lightweight, fast and simple.
Hopefully LXQT will become even more of that in the future. Especially
the part about being lightweight.

I wonder if the eoma68 cards should have a desktop choice built into the
crowdsupply purchase area. Where you choose which card you want.

Post by Eric Duhamel
--
Eric Duhamel
http://www.noxbanners.net/
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[Eric Duhamel]

Post by zap
I wonder if the eoma68 cards should have a desktop choice built into the
crowdsupply purchase area. Where you choose which card you want.

That would be a rather fine-grained choice. The campaign already has 4 different operating systems to choose from. I suppose Debian implies a choice between XFCE and LXDE, and could mean a fifth card representing another Debian choice. Is this what you mean?

--
Eric Duhamel
http://www.noxbanners.net/

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[zap]

well I meant like desktop environments. like lxde, xfce, mate, etc,

Post by Eric Duhamel

Post by zap
I wonder if the eoma68 cards should have a desktop choice built into the
crowdsupply purchase area. Where you choose which card you want.

That would be a rather fine-grained choice. The campaign already has 4 different operating systems to choose from. I suppose Debian implies a choice between XFCE and LXDE, and could mean a fifth card representing another Debian choice. Is this what you mean?
--
Eric Duhamel
http://www.noxbanners.net/
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[Luke Kenneth Casson Leighton]

Post by zap
well I meant like desktop environments. like lxde, xfce, mate, etc,

you can just do "apt-get install lxde" and take care of it yourself.

l.

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[zap]

Post by Luke Kenneth Casson Leighton

Post by zap
well I meant like desktop environments. like lxde, xfce, mate, etc,

you can just do "apt-get install lxde" and take care of it yourself.

that is true. just a thought. That's all. what would you install by
default? by the way

lxde, mate or xfce?

Post by Luke Kenneth Casson Leighton
l.
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[Luke Kenneth Casson Leighton]

Post by zap

Post by Luke Kenneth Casson Leighton

Post by zap
well I meant like desktop environments. like lxde, xfce, mate, etc,

you can just do "apt-get install lxde" and take care of it yourself.

that is true. just a thought. That's all. what would you install by
default? by the way
lxde, mate or xfce?

the videos during the crowdfunding campaign show trinity desktop and xfce.

l.

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[dumblob]

Hi Luke,

speaking of commitments, timeframes and the equipment price, it appears to
me we could develop and provide a fully working QEMU image to break the
current dependecy on EOMA HW (of course, in the end it will be tested on a
real HW, but the global parallel development of anything regarding EOMA
will be much easier and faster using QEMU).

Would it make sense to you?

Cheers,

-- Jan

[Albert ARIBAUD]

Hi,

Le Wed, 22 Feb 2017 11:46:07 +0100

Post by Albert ARIBAUD
Hi Luke,
speaking of commitments, timeframes and the equipment price, it
appears to me we could develop and provide a fully working QEMU image
to break the current dependecy on EOMA HW (of course, in the end it
will be tested on a real HW, but the global parallel development of
anything regarding EOMA will be much easier and faster using QEMU).
Would it make sense to you?

I may be mistaken, but I suspect that would require allwinner SoC, and
current qemu-system-arm does not support any AW SoC, so for every
device used by the code we'd run under QEMU we would have to developed
some emulation. Probably such a QEMU addition would be done and
sufficiently stable way after the hardware is available.

Post by Albert ARIBAUD
Cheers,
-- Jan

Amicalement,

[dumblob]

Hi there,

of course, we would use the most similar SoC/CPU currently available in
QEMU. Most of the work will not be SoC specific, but EOMA specific
(beginning with I2C communication and ending with kernel stuff, which, as
Luke pointed out, must not be implementation-specific if possible).

This way it should be manageable in my opinion.

Cheers,

-- Jan

[Jonathan Frederickson]

As much as I would love to help, I don't have the low-level Linux
experience for it to be worth sending me any hardware. That said, I'd
love to learn - if anyone knows, what hardware already out there is
closest to what the A20 card will have? One of the A20 Cubieboards
maybe?

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[Luke Kenneth Casson Leighton]

On Wed, Feb 22, 2017 at 1:22 PM, Jonathan Frederickson

Post by Jonathan Frederickson
As much as I would love to help, I don't have the low-level Linux
experience for it to be worth sending me any hardware. That said, I'd
love to learn - if anyone knows, what hardware already out there is
closest to what the A20 card will have? One of the A20 Cubieboards
maybe?

the cubietruck's about the closest if you can get it - reason is: the
price of 96FBGA DDR3x16 RAM ICs @ 8 gigabit are INSANE ($USD 10
**EACH**) and in the 2x DDR3x16 configuration you'd need *$20* worth
of RAM with your $4 processor to get 2GBYTES.

so instead the cubietruck went with the 4x DDR3x8 78FGBA RAM ICs,
which are a mere $3 each, and you get the 2GB of RAM that way, as 4x
DDR3x8 4 gigabit ICs.

this is the configuration that i copied for the EOMA68-A20, by
looking at the schematic and copying the addition of the
(undocumentded) 15th address line. it was a hell of a risk ($2,000)
but it worked: that's what the 2.4.1 announcement was about, back in
december 2016.

anyway so yes: cubietruck is the closest you'll get to an EOMA68-A20,
if you can get hold of them.

l.

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[Luke Kenneth Casson Leighton]

Post by Albert ARIBAUD
Hi,
Le Wed, 22 Feb 2017 11:46:07 +0100

Post by Albert ARIBAUD
Hi Luke,
speaking of commitments, timeframes and the equipment price, it
appears to me we could develop and provide a fully working QEMU image
to break the current dependecy on EOMA HW (of course, in the end it
will be tested on a real HW, but the global parallel development of
anything regarding EOMA will be much easier and faster using QEMU).
Would it make sense to you?

I may be mistaken, but I suspect that would require allwinner SoC, and
current qemu-system-arm does not support any AW SoC, so for every
device used by the code we'd run under QEMU we would have to developed
some emulation. Probably such a QEMU addition would be done and
sufficiently stable way after the hardware is available.

a generic u-boot (arm) and generic arm linux kernel would be
sufficient (one that supports at least a generic 16550 uart would do)

that would be enough to test the devicetree overlay code in a
*generic* way (which it has to be anyway).

reading the EEPROM *has* to be a generic processor-independent
action, because you can have literally any processor type (or not even
a processor - even an FPGA) reading the I2C 0x51 addressed EEPROM.

l.

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[Luke Kenneth Casson Leighton]

Post by Albert ARIBAUD
Hi Luke,
speaking of commitments, timeframes and the equipment price, it appears to
me we could develop and provide a fully working QEMU image to break the
current dependecy on EOMA HW (of course, in the end it will be tested on a
real HW, but the global parallel development of anything regarding EOMA will
be much easier and faster using QEMU).
Would it make sense to you?

oo that's a great idea.

does u-boot start up in qemu-arm? it should do, shouldn't it...

ttps://balau82.wordpress.com/2010/03/10/u-boot-for-arm-on-qemu/

ha! yes it does! coool.

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