[Arm-netbook] news page for allwinner a10

[Alejandro Mery]

Hi Luke,

On Thu, Dec 15, 2011 at 23:17, lkcl luke <luke.leighton at gmail.com> wrote:
> i've created a news page, here:
> http://rhombus-tech.net//allwinner_a10/news/
>
> i just had a discussion with the owner of the factory this afternoon:
> he just needed clarification and reassurance that the PCB layout would
> contain everything that he needs for his own plans, as well as
> fulfilling ours as well.  i wasn't able to reassure him completely
> because i thought that the 44-pin connector that i was cut/paste
> copying to create the layout mock-up was a 2.54mm pin-spacing, meaning
> that the connector would be some 66mm long: it turns out that it's not
> - it was 2.0mm spacing i.e. only about 50mm long.  so, well, i may
> have overdone it on getting everything in :)
>
> anyway, he is just going to double-check that in the ultra-low-cost
> case, 16 pins of GPIO will be sufficient for the majority of purposes
> that he needs, which it is highly unlikely to be in excess of that,
> for PVRs, Tablets etc.  even if it is, the expansion header will have
> extra pins available.

this walked up some doubts on me, first considering this 44pin connector:
* what is the minimum thickness you are aiming?
* how will the mechanics of replacing the module work if the extension
is connected?
* what worths has the standardised pcmcia connector has if each module
will implement their own "extension" headers differently?

and related to RALink, there is a firmware blob in the kernel patch
and you mentioned another for a chip in the motherboard, doesn't this
conflict with the ideals of the freedombox?

--
Alejandro Mery