Discussion:
[Arm-netbook] http://rhombus-tech.net/icubecorp/IC1T/news/
Luke Kenneth Casson Leighton
2014-11-18 22:05:55 UTC
Permalink
ok so lots has happened in the past couple of weeks, firstly thanks to
christopher for doing some concept drawings on the micro-desktop dock.
turns out that we may have to try something slightly different in
order to keep the cost down, chris. we got a prototype back (in MDF
laminates), i have some ideas on how it looked and assembled, so i
will wait to see what the reaction is, there. the case is what we are
waiting for to start the campaign btw. and yes, i really really want
it to be wood not plastic.

second thing i have been playing with the EOMA68-IC3128 CPU Card -
everything works *except* the LAN9514 USB-Ethernet Hub. there are a
number of issues, most likely related to unstable power but possibly
due to unstable kernel code, and it's simply impossible to tell
properly which. so i made a decision to replace the USB-Eth Hub with
a GL850G Hub and an MCS7832, because ICubeCorp have tested that
combination and we know it properly works. space is *very* tight so
it is a bit of a mess.

so the revision 1.2 has been done, it now needs review, and then it
can go for assembly which is great. i'm not going to push things, so
if it's ready when the crowdfunding campaign starts great, if not
that's fine we do another campaign separately.

also just so people know, one thing we may try is to push the IC3128
to 440mhz (remember it's quad-core so a total of 1.76 ghz of
processing power instead of 1.6 ghz), and, also, the whole CPU Card
uses only 2.5 watts at 400mhz, which is pretty good for a 55nm SoC.
so it is well within the 3.5w margin set for ensuring that no fans or
special cooling is needed.

l.

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Christopher Havel
2014-11-19 00:11:56 UTC
Permalink
Regarding the art -- you're welcome! Please do let me know if I can be of
further help there ;)

One question that seems germane to the list -- doing some random EOMA-68
tinkering in my head, lol -- would it be possible to generate say a PS/2
keyboard port from the GPIOs, reasonably easily (ie without having to dev
up a homebrew driver)...? I'm thinking specifically of the A20 card here --
I have an AT101W keyboard (mechanical, from the mid-90s or so) that I'd
love to tuck an EOMA card into -- it's just the right size that I may be
able to fit the Micro Desktop Board in there if I do a custom enclosure for
it... then again since I like the junkyard look I may go enclosureless on
this one... prolly will in fact since I've lost the screws that hold the
thing shut...
Post by Luke Kenneth Casson Leighton
ok so lots has happened in the past couple of weeks, firstly thanks to
christopher for doing some concept drawings on the micro-desktop dock.
turns out that we may have to try something slightly different in
order to keep the cost down, chris. we got a prototype back (in MDF
laminates), i have some ideas on how it looked and assembled, so i
will wait to see what the reaction is, there. the case is what we are
waiting for to start the campaign btw. and yes, i really really want
it to be wood not plastic.
second thing i have been playing with the EOMA68-IC3128 CPU Card -
everything works *except* the LAN9514 USB-Ethernet Hub. there are a
number of issues, most likely related to unstable power but possibly
due to unstable kernel code, and it's simply impossible to tell
properly which. so i made a decision to replace the USB-Eth Hub with
a GL850G Hub and an MCS7832, because ICubeCorp have tested that
combination and we know it properly works. space is *very* tight so
it is a bit of a mess.
so the revision 1.2 has been done, it now needs review, and then it
can go for assembly which is great. i'm not going to push things, so
if it's ready when the crowdfunding campaign starts great, if not
that's fine we do another campaign separately.
also just so people know, one thing we may try is to push the IC3128
to 440mhz (remember it's quad-core so a total of 1.76 ghz of
processing power instead of 1.6 ghz), and, also, the whole CPU Card
uses only 2.5 watts at 400mhz, which is pretty good for a 55nm SoC.
so it is well within the 3.5w margin set for ensuring that no fans or
special cooling is needed.
l.
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Luke Kenneth Casson Leighton
2014-11-19 01:31:48 UTC
Permalink
On Wed, Nov 19, 2014 at 12:11 AM, Christopher Havel
Post by Christopher Havel
Regarding the art -- you're welcome! Please do let me know if I can be of
further help there ;)
yes please, let's talk off-list.
Post by Christopher Havel
One question that seems germane to the list -- doing some random EOMA-68
tinkering in my head, lol -- would it be possible to generate say a PS/2
keyboard port from the GPIOs, reasonably easily
yeah i don't see why not. if you google it there are plenty of
people trying it.
Post by Christopher Havel
(ie without having to dev up a homebrew driver)...?
ahh you _might_ get away with a userspace service, using
/dev/gpio/xxxx and libuevent. libuevent is designed to interact with
the uevent (user-generated event) driver so you could do bit-banging
gpio emulating the keyboard then generate linux keyboard events in
userspace and have the kernel think they're kernel events.
Post by Christopher Havel
I'm thinking specifically of the A20 card here -- I
have an AT101W keyboard (mechanical, from the mid-90s or so) that I'd love
to tuck an EOMA card into -- it's just the right size that I may be able to
fit the Micro Desktop Board in there if I do a custom enclosure for it...
cool!
Post by Christopher Havel
then again since I like the junkyard look I may go enclosureless on this
one... prolly will in fact since I've lost the screws that hold the thing
shut...
bit of sticky-back plastic never did any harm... [1]

l.

[1] http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/sticky-backed_plastic

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Luke Kenneth Casson Leighton
2014-11-27 14:35:17 UTC
Permalink
whew ok the schematic review for the EOMA68-IC3128 board has been
done, and a preliminary review of the PCB. lots of work done in the
past couple of weeks to increase the width of power tracks, tidy up
the power and ground planes around the MCS7832. i'm now happy with
it, so one last final check and it can go to PCB printing and
assembly.

l.

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Simon Kenyon
2014-11-28 07:53:22 UTC
Permalink
Post by Luke Kenneth Casson Leighton
whew ok the schematic review for the EOMA68-IC3128 board has been
done, and a preliminary review of the PCB. lots of work done in the
past couple of weeks to increase the width of power tracks, tidy up
the power and ground planes around the MCS7832. i'm now happy with
it, so one last final check and it can go to PCB printing and
assembly.
l.
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eggs granny suck

you might check that all the connectors are wired the right way around.
seems like that has been a problem on a couple of occasions.
--
simon

Simon Kenyon
Managing Director. The Koala Computer Company Limited
e: ***@koala.ie
m: +353 86 240 0005
l: http://ie.linkedin.com/pub/simon-kenyon/0/6b2/744/
s: simonckenyon
t: @simonckenyon
g: google.com/+SimonKenyon


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