arm-netbook November 2013

arm-netbook@lists.phcomp.co.uk

29 participants
28 discussions

http://www.vortex86dx.com/?page_id=85
by luke.leighton 29 Nov '13

29 Nov '13

http://www.vortex86dx.com/?page_id=80 looks like they've got a 2nd version available that has SATA and HDMI. hooray! perfect EOMA68 CPU Card! no 3D GPU but hey you can't have everything: at least it's got PCIe. l.

5 8

EOMA68-A20 CPU Card and Improv Engineering Board available for sale
by luke.leighton 25 Nov '13

25 Nov '13

http://eoma68-a20.qimod.com/improv.html i've separately emailed everyone who preordered. if you preordered you can enter your email address and obtain a special registration code which will allow you to jump the queue. please note that these are engineering boards (beta-grade): FCC or CE Approval is not being obtained. l.

2 2

EOMA68 4-port gigabit ethernet router / NAS / networking board started
by luke.leighton 24 Nov '13

24 Nov '13

http://rhombus-tech.net/community_ideas/router/news/

2 2

Realtek RTD2660 dithered LCD driver HDMI monitor
by joem 22 Nov '13

22 Nov '13

Hi, Just trying to expand the EOMA ecosystem. I've got Realtek RTD2660 dithered LCD driver I bought with 800x480 7" display. It converts a 1024p HDMI signal to 800x480 and dithers the pixels to give impression of very high definition. (The illusion is a challenge for small characters that need to be displayed.) It works well for graphical OS like Ubuntu running on the EOMA. Just wondering if anyone know of SDKs and all the developer bits needed to get RTD2660 board built for EOMA. (I believe Raspi developers are thinking of making such a device already and have a kickstarter like campaign going.) So effectively the project is to build a miniature open source HDMI monitor for EOMA all done up in glorious KiCAD. When I get access to a 3D printer, a 100% open sourced case design is likely a done deal. The chip cost <$2, and LCD about $14. Add in all the components, and you could make decent micro HDMI monitors with BOM of about $20. Anyone out there wanting to cooperate on this one? I can do all the layout and LCDs to get the thing going from a hardware point of view. I can buy a programmer to program the RTD2660 chip. What I don't have is the SDK to customize the chip. But obviously need some kind of SDK to make the firmware files. I don't particularly know what to get it, or if there are are open source projects out there that can generate the firmware and/or program the RTD2660 chip Any pointers greatly appreciated.

3 10

5" LCD resolution 800x480 working for EOMA but color problems may exist because of miswire
by joem 22 Nov '13

22 Nov '13

Hi, 5" LCD resolution 800x480 working for EOMA. Details here http://www.gplsquared.com/eoma_boot/eoma_boot.html#eoma_with_5inch_lcd These displays are about $16 from Aliexpress: http://www.aliexpress.com/item/5inch-5-TFT-LCD-LCM-RGB-800-480-Display-TOUC… I still notice a problem with color - Red and Blue appear to be swapped. I'm busy making a Cubieboard2 test jig to put the LCD on so I can wire up the resistive panel to the A20 CPU and get that going. By then I will also be able to cross check which wire(s) are not correct. (If you are building LCD or video projects around EOMA, check the wiring for red/blue are OK first.)

3 9

Wook belatedly joins the party
by Wookey 22 Nov '13

22 Nov '13

OK, so I got an MEBv2 eventually a week or so ago, and with some help from phil hands at the mini-debconf last week proved my card would boot, then we built suitable uboot, and tools and have just faffed about soldering serial header, serial cable, power cable up and sorting out level shifters, but now I can boot and get serial. Woo! Now I just need to sort out rootfs and kernel, solder on IO header, suitable sata connector and I can work on something useful like debian installer support. So, I have to fit htis in round way too many other things, but hope to at least contribute a bit now. Wookey -- Principal hats: Linaro, Emdebian, Wookware, Balloonboard, ARM http://wookware.org/

5 8

AMD 2W APU
by luke.leighton 21 Nov '13

21 Nov '13

http://www.amd.com/us/press-releases/Pages/amd-2014-mobile-apu-2013nov13.as… at laaaast.

8 17

HDMI variant low profile ethernet socket
by joem 20 Nov '13

20 Nov '13

Hi, Luke/Aaron, you need to get some shoes on and go make a mini HDMI connector that is a little bit smaller (so as to prevent it being used as a video connector) and use it as ethernet connector. Notice all the tablets out there don't have physical ethernet? For lack of a decent substitute ethernet connector that is thin enough to go on a tablet. It could be designed so that future EOMAs could have it and so too should the Plasma Active tablets. And thin stacks of future server boards. You guys need to use your industrial contacts and muscle and go pull some strings to make it happen. The alternative is I go make it in mini-HDMI size and just make cable adapter (which will lead to confusion). I'm sure my adventure will end in tears and a sorry mess but it be better than nothing. HDMI has at least 4 tx/rx pairs and a lot more - just use the tx/rx pairs only and its good enough to get gigabit ethernet. The ethernet magnetics chip is very small these days costing under $1, so the overall solution could fit inside an EOMA. There is some standard out there milling around to support ethernet through HDMI, but I don't fancy that as a better solution than a low profile dedicated ethernet connector long overdue for the tablet market to replace the bulky RJ connector.

3 7

rs232 level shifters
by luke.leighton 19 Nov '13

19 Nov '13

https://www.sparkfun.com/tutorials/215 in the end i went with this for the router, using an IMD2A for the two transistors.

3 6

router layout almost done
by luke.leighton 18 Nov '13

18 Nov '13

http://rhombus-tech.net/community_ideas/router/news/ quick update. a few more tasks and this PCB will be pretty much ready to go. it's far less complex and much less space-intense than the tablet PCB (which could only be single-sided). a few scary areas like the GbE routing. there will be plenty of stitching vias to earth that lot... l.

1 0

2024

2023

2022

2021

2020

2019

2018

2017

2016

2015

2014

2013

arm-netbook November 2013