[Arm-netbook] EOMA-68 Boots Android and plays youtube videos very well

[luke.leighton]

On Sat, Aug 31, 2013 at 5:42 PM, joem <joem at martindale-electric.co.uk> wrote:

> Merely connecting the micro USB connector will power
> up the EOMA

 yes.

> AND THE MEB

 ... did you plug anything into the USB port on the MEB without it
being first via a powered USB hub?  if so that will *instantly* cause
problems.  i did once (and only once) manage to get both a mouse and
keyboard powered off of the MEB, but the next time spectacular fail.

 uuse a pooowered huuub :)

> and NOW YOU ARE IN TROUBLE
> because the device is booting and doing things you
> did not expect (like chocking on 500mA restricted
> power supply of the USB and then crashing).

 i've found all 4 cpu cards to work fine off of micro-usb.... except
if i do things like plug in a usb device (without running it through a
powered hub)

> So the first thing I did was disconnect the micro USB
> cable and bin it before doing anything!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 awesome - that works :)

> And if you are an engineer solder an LED to the MEB,
> and if you are competent at soldering then solder,
> an SMT LED to the EOMA-68 as well so that you can
> know when its powering up and doing things you don't expect.
>
> Now when I switch the power supply on and off, the
> CPU was properly being power cycled.
> And then I saw the RS232 kick into life properly.

 yaay

> A word of advise if you do not understand how these RS232
> devices work - connect only RS232 TX, RX and GND lines
> from the device to the EOMA-68. That is JUST 3 CABLES ONLY.
>
> DO NOT CONNECT THE POWER LINE from RS232 to EOMA!!!!!!!

 nope.  bad idea.

> The RS232 device gets its power from USB and does not need it.

 yep.

> You don't need to hold down key 2 to see RS232 boot logs
> flying past as the EOMA boots.

 correct.  you _do_ however need to hold down key 2 to get it to go
into FEL mode [without shorting the u-boot pads that is]

> After a while I realize these messages meant
> the EOMA had Android on it already
> and it was that that was generating all these
> messages and it was trying to boot!

 yyyyup.

> So naturally a monitor was connected and sure enough
> after a few seconds the monitor came up.

 yay!

> Within a minute it would go down and never come back
> up again without power cycling.

 hmmm... well, obviously not a _good_ version of android on there, then :)

> So I connected a wireless keyboard and mouse dongle
> to the single USB socket on the MEB, and then when
> the Android booted, I could move the mouse.
> I finally figured out I had to click on the central
> lock icon and drag it to the periphery and drop it
> there to unlock the start screen.

 do you?  good god.  learn something new every day.  i will try to
forget i learned how to unlock android as soon as i possibly can.

> And then I was booted into Android Chinese default edition.

 sounds about right.

> Here is silent video that shows how to change from default Chinese language
> to English language. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M_LR5mFGDsw
>
> Also go to setting and then display and set font size to small
> and set how long before screen blanks out
> due to inactivity to 30 minutes (max available).
> If screen does go blank, there doesn't seem to be any
> way of reviving it back into life other than hard boot.
> The people who supplied the Android need to fix that.
>
> The internal SDCard and MEB Ethernet does not work
> from Android.

 surpriiise!

> Again the people who supplied the Android
> need to fix that.

 no - we didn't pay them to do software development.  we *certainly*
didn't want to pay them to provide us with binary-only GPL-violating
versions of android.

 so that's what all the back-and-forth has been about, for a week - to
get people up-to-speed on compiling their own u-boot and kernels etc.

> However adding a good quality 4 port USB port expander works.

 yyup.  it does.  as long as it's powered.

> Do not bother with low quality rubbish 4 port dongles.
> Check with someone it supports high speed USB properly
> otherwise the remaining experiments will not work.
>
> I attached a mouse and keyboard dongle,
> a USB ethernet dongle, and USB storage.
> USB storage was readable and I could play
> 720p video without any jitter thanks to power
> of a dual core A20 in the EOMA.

 awesome!

> The USB ethernet also worked - I went into settings
> and device, and then enabled the ethernet.
>
> I could then use Chrome and watch youtube.
>
> The 5V supply was 20A rated, so there were no
> power issues with all these devices attached.
>
>
>
> HEY LUKE!!
> THIS BE FULLY WORKING ANDROID GADGET YOU CAN SELL!!

 i know!!!  now only if you and some others who've got these things
could help confirm working ethernet and we can find out what the
hell's going on with the sata then yes we have a product!

> I mean all you you have to do is put the EOMA-68
> and MEB in a box, add a USB port expander and
> to that add the ethernet dongle and a wifi dongle
> and leave 2 USB sockets for keyboard and mouse
> one hole for the power and its a product!!!!
>
> $$$
>
> Profit!!

 :)