[Arm-netbook] Side-Topic: Liberating PocketCHIP

[John Luke Gibson]

On 5/4/17, Luke Kenneth Casson Leighton <lkcl at lkcl.net> wrote:
> ---
> crowd-funded eco-conscious hardware: https://www.crowdsupply.com/eoma68
>
>
> On Thu, May 4, 2017 at 4:13 PM, mike.valk at gmail.com <mike.valk at gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
>> That is apparently a Allwinner R8 pared with an external rtl8723bs Wifi/BT
>> chip.
>>
>> The R8 is a rebranded A13.
>>
>> If you look at
>> https://getchip.com/pages/chip
>>
>> You'll see:
>> On the left image the RAM (Hynix) and Wifi+BT (Realtek) and Power module
>> (Allwinner AXP209)
>> On the right the SoC (R8/A13) and NAND (Samsung)
>>
>> The A13 does not need blob's to run anymore, the WiFi+BT chip does.
>> AFAIKT
>
>  so that'll be a definitive "No" for the Chip, not because of the
> processor but because one of the peripherals (the RTL8723bs) requires
> proprietary firmware.
>
>  if they sold a variant that did *not* have the RTL8723bs *then* they
> would be able to apply for RYF Certification... assuming that they
> didn't try to put MALI onto the OS sold with the product [or any other
> proprietary software].
>
>  they'd also need to create a totally separate product page or use
> some other method which ensured that "Grandma buying CHIP for little
> Tommie" did NOT get the wrong one.  that would mean that the
> [hypothetical RTL8723bs-less] CHIP would also need a totally different
> product name.
>
>  RYF Certification is really rather involved but makes sense when you
> consider all the angles.
>
> l.
>
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Yeah, I kind of given up on ntc since they refused to make any comment.
I'm more thinking for my purposes, since I already have a few and they
have a full usb port on the board free when in pocket-CHIP I figured I
could just use a dongle.