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1076 discussions

What's new at the end of 2023?
by Franck Sinimalé 29 Nov '23

29 Nov '23

Hello everyone, The last news I read on this mailing list was saying that the next step for EOMA68 Computing Devices project was to boot an image. Since I'm not at this level of technique (very high for me), how could I help? Sometimes, relaunching the discussion is enough to get news and take a step ;-) Best, Franck

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next step is a boot image
by Franck Sinimalé 23 Jan '23

23 Jan '23

Happy new year Arm-netbook ! Thank you Felix to make me recall this point of the project. I'd read, well I tried to... the "EOMA68-A20 2.7.4 preproduction board" page (thank's to Pablo I guess) and some other pages linked to. I'am sad to see that I'am under skilled to play with. In my old times I knew how to compile a linux kernel... but here it is a big step for me. Anyway, if some discussions are coming here about this topic, maybe I could see how to help, and learn more about this step. Does somebody has work in progress making this boot image and would like to share his experience here (or in an other way) ? Franck El sáb, 17 dic 2022 a las 18:25, lkcl (<luke.leighton(a)gmail.com>) escribió: > next step is a boot image to be able to help test the Cards. > > i will not be able to assist with this. > > if someone else would like to volunteer to create a boot test > image that would be very helpful. i can arrange for a Card > in advance (and one of the precious few micro-desktops to be > sent on loan). > > parabolath was the last person to work on this. > > https://rhombus-tech.net/allwinner/a20/EOMA68-A20_2-7-4_preproduction/

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Fwd: Where are the 93 Computer Cards ?
by Franck Sinimalé 18 Jan '23

18 Jan '23

Hi all, Here is Chris's answer. Since I do not understand everything very well, I would ask you (Luke ?) what should I (we?) answer. My first idea could be : "Hi Chris, many thanks for you answer. Nice to read that you have some cards. Could you please send them to [this direction]. The next step that will be communicated is [this next step]." Ok, as the end of his answer suggest, I won't ask on mastodon or other people for now. I wait your answer (Luke ?) before replying to Chris. I don't know which direction to send cards nor what message to communicate about next step. Regards, Franck -------- Message transféré -------- Sujet : ... Date : Fri, 25 Nov 2022 13:25:06 -0500 De : Christopher Waid <chris(a)thinkpenguin.com> Pour : Franck Sinimalé <franck(a)sinimale.fr> On 11/24/22 10:14, Franck Sinimalé wrote: > > Hi Chris, > > Hope things are as welle as possible for you. > > I'm one of the backers of EOMA68 Computing Devices > (https://www.crowdsupply.com/eoma68/micro-desktop). > > Could you please tell me (and us) : Where are the 93 Computer Cards ? > > Best regards, > Franck Sinimalé > https://franck.sinimale.fr/ > Not sure if it's 93 cards, but yes, I have some # of cards. We need an OS image and directions and probably some clear communications as to what to do next. If we're sending them to someone he should probably email me an address. It would also probably help if he email'd rather than asked other people to ask me where things stand. I have no idea other than this.

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Re: [Arm-netbook] U-boot and Towboot
by Giovanni Lostumbo 17 Jan '23

17 Jan '23

"it's possible to reconfigure u-boot (etc) to have the OS on the Card's micro-sd." Not sure if this helps, but I read that Towboot supports an additional feature: "On boards with dedicated storage for the firmware, the/Tow-Boot/build should be independent from, and not care about the installed system media." https://github.com/Tow-Boot/Tow-Boot https://tow-boot.org/ On 1/17/2023 3:05 AM, arm-netbook-request(a)lists.phcomp.co.uk wrote: > Send arm-netbook mailing list submissions to > arm-netbook(a)lists.phcomp.co.uk > > To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit > http://lists.phcomp.co.uk/mailman/listinfo/arm-netbook > or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to > arm-netbook-request(a)lists.phcomp.co.uk > > You can reach the person managing the list at > arm-netbook-owner(a)lists.phcomp.co.uk > > When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific > than "Re: Contents of arm-netbook digest..." > > > Today's Topics: > > 1. Re: next step is a boot image (Andreas Grapentin) > 2. Re: next step is a boot image (Luke Kenneth Casson Leighton) > 3. Re: next step is a boot image (Andreas Grapentin) > 4. Re: next step is a boot image (Luke Kenneth Casson Leighton) > 5. Re: next step is a boot image (Pablo Rath) > 6. Re: next step is a boot image (Pablo Rath) > 7. Re: Fwd: Where are the 93 Computer Cards ? (Pablo Rath) > 8. Re: next step is a boot image (Andreas Grapentin) > > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > > Message: 1 > Date: Mon, 16 Jan 2023 19:55:47 +0100 > From: Andreas Grapentin<andreas(a)grapentin.org> > To: Eco-Conscious Computing<arm-netbook(a)lists.phcomp.co.uk> > Subject: Re: [Arm-netbook] next step is a boot image > Message-ID:<ED1673BE-4B32-4CB9-B176-CD881100B059(a)grapentin.org> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8 > > > >> On 13. Jan 2023, at 04:12, Luke Kenneth Casson Leighton<lkcl(a)lkcl.net> wrote: >> >> On Thursday, January 12, 2023, Andreas Grapentin <andreas(a)grapentin.org <mailto:andreas@grapentin.org>> >> wrote: >>> >>>> On 12. Jan 2023, at 15:44, Luke Kenneth Casson Leighton<lkcl(a)lkcl.net> >> wrote: >>>> On Thursday, January 12, 2023, Andreas Grapentin<andreas(a)grapentin.org> >>>> wrote: >>>>> I'm curious -- does the old parabola image no longer work?? >>>> from 2016? unfortunately the MicroSD card with the only >>>> copy destroyed itself. >>> I still have a copy, I think. I’ll go looking for it. >> yes please. do you use bittorrent, can you publish a magnet link? >> i will grab and seed it if you do? > I’ve found the parabola image I used back in 2021, and tried to boot it on an EOMA card revision 2.7.4 and a microdesktop revision 1.7 > > In the process of attaching peripheries, I must have blown something on the microdesktop, the power LED no longer lights up, tested multiple chargers. I’m fairly certain that the LED did light up green when I started working on the board today. Is it possible that I blew a fuse somewhere? > > Apart from that, I currently can’t get the system to boot. I have output from the boot loader, but it’s not much: > > U-Boot SPL 2017.01-2 (Jan 18 2017 - 21:30:38) > DRAM: 2048 MiB > CPU: 912000000Hz, AXI/AHB/APB: 3/2/2 > Trying to boot from MMC2MMC Device 1 not found > spl: could not find mmc device. error: -19 > SPL: failed to boot from all boot devices > ### ERROR ### Please RESET the board ### > > This is when I insert the sd card in the EOMA card directly. When I insert the sd card into the microdesktop, I don’t get anything. Still working on it though. > > I’m confident that this is salvageable, considering that I do get boot loader output through UART. I’ll keep looking into it. If you have any hints, I’d appreciate it. > > in the meantime, I’ll prepare a magnet link / http direct download for the image I’m using, in case it’s useful for someone else. I’ll send those links to the list ASAP. > > Best, > Andreas > > > > ------------------------------ > > Message: 2 > Date: Mon, 16 Jan 2023 19:01:03 +0000 > From: Luke Kenneth Casson Leighton<lkcl(a)lkcl.net> > To: Eco-Conscious Computing<arm-netbook(a)lists.phcomp.co.uk> > Subject: Re: [Arm-netbook] next step is a boot image > Message-ID: > <CAPweEDxrHiGLFry5ex3P7DXoBDvnavfSxcCx_R7U05QTWF4PXQ(a)mail.gmail.com> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset="UTF-8" > > On Mon, Jan 16, 2023 at 6:56 PM Andreas Grapentin<andreas(a)grapentin.org> wrote: > >> I’ve found the parabola image I used back in 2021, and tried to boot it on an EOMA card revision 2.7.4 and a microdesktop revision 1.7 > brilliant > >> In the process of attaching peripheries, I must have blown something on the microdesktop, the power LED no longer lights up, tested multiple chargers. I’m fairly certain that the LED did light up green when I started working on the board today. Is it possible that I blew a fuse somewhere? > yes it should. no there's no fuse. you'll need a multimeter, be *careful*. > i suggest taking the Card out. if it's really borked you can power it > with a 5V USB "charger" cable (into the 2 standard USB sockets). > > also, check you inserted the Card correctly: not one row along or one > pin along, and make sure no contact between the two PCBs. > >> Apart from that, I currently can’t get the system to boot. I have output from the boot loader, but it’s not much: >> >> U-Boot SPL 2017.01-2 (Jan 18 2017 - 21:30:38) >> DRAM: 2048 MiB >> CPU: 912000000Hz, AXI/AHB/APB: 3/2/2 >> Trying to boot from MMC2MMC Device 1 not found >> spl: could not find mmc device. error: -19 >> SPL: failed to boot from all boot devices >> ### ERROR ### Please RESET the board ### > ok if you've no power on the MD then the Level Shifter IC will not > be powered up and the MicroSD card socket obviously > will not be recognised. > >> I’m confident that this is salvageable, considering that I do get boot loader output through UART. I’ll keep looking into it. If you have any hints, I’d appreciate it. > it's possible to reconfigure u-boot (etc) to have the OS on the Card's micro-sd. > >> in the meantime, I’ll prepare a magnet link / http direct download for the image I’m using, in case it’s useful for someone else. I’ll send those links to the list ASAP. > awesome. > > l. > > > > ------------------------------ > > Message: 3 > Date: Mon, 16 Jan 2023 20:10:08 +0100 > From: Andreas Grapentin<andreas(a)grapentin.org> > To: Eco-Conscious Computing<arm-netbook(a)lists.phcomp.co.uk> > Subject: Re: [Arm-netbook] next step is a boot image > Message-ID:<BE68C5FA-7F51-4F90-ADF8-DB4F8456508B(a)grapentin.org> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8 > > > >> On 16. Jan 2023, at 20:01, Luke Kenneth Casson Leighton<lkcl(a)lkcl.net> wrote: >> >> On Mon, Jan 16, 2023 at 6:56 PM Andreas Grapentin<andreas(a)grapentin.org> wrote: >> >>> In the process of attaching peripheries, I must have blown something on the microdesktop, the power LED no longer lights up, tested multiple chargers. I’m fairly certain that the LED did light up green when I started working on the board today. Is it possible that I blew a fuse somewhere? >> yes it should. no there's no fuse. you'll need a multimeter, be *careful*. >> i suggest taking the Card out. if it's really borked you can power it >> with a 5V USB "charger" cable (into the 2 standard USB sockets). >> >> also, check you inserted the Card correctly: not one row along or one >> pin along, and make sure no contact between the two PCBs. > forgot to mention, I’m using the expansion header on the micro desktop for the UART connection. Power to the EOMA card directly through the microUSB works, that’s what I’m doing right now. I haven’t tried the USB sockets on the micro desktop though, that might be worth a shot. > >>> I’m confident that this is salvageable, considering that I do get boot loader output through UART. I’ll keep looking into it. If you have any hints, I’d appreciate it. >> it's possible to reconfigure u-boot (etc) to have the OS on the Card's micro-sd. > I believe I’m using a quite old u-boot boot script. Included below. I’m not too familiar with u-boot, any tips what needs to be changed to switch the microSD slot, or maybe include a fallback option to try booting from the internal microSD if the external one is unavailable? > > > if test -n ${distro_bootpart}; then setenv bootpart ${distro_bootpart}; else setenv bootpart 1; fi > part uuid ${devtype} ${devnum}:${bootpart} uuid > > setenv bootargs console=${console} root=PARTUUID=${uuid} rw rootwait > > if load ${devtype} ${devnum}:${bootpart} ${kernel_addr_r} /boot/zImage; then > if load ${devtype} ${devnum}:${bootpart} ${fdt_addr_r} /boot/dtbs/${fdtfile}; then > if load ${devtype} ${devnum}:${bootpart} ${ramdisk_addr_r} /boot/initramfs-linux.img; then > bootz ${kernel_addr_r} ${ramdisk_addr_r}:${filesize} ${fdt_addr_r}; > else > bootz ${kernel_addr_r} - ${fdt_addr_r}; > fi; > fi; > fi > > > ------------------------------ > > Message: 4 > Date: Tue, 17 Jan 2023 04:29:06 +0000 > From: Luke Kenneth Casson Leighton<lkcl(a)lkcl.net> > To: Eco-Conscious Computing<arm-netbook(a)lists.phcomp.co.uk> > Subject: Re: [Arm-netbook] next step is a boot image > Message-ID: > <CAPweEDyfDVVRnqrycPhms+Q15e-dO75EmVuvNwywz-SW5gQPgQ(a)mail.gmail.com> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset="UTF-8" > > On Monday, January 16, 2023, Andreas Grapentin<andreas(a)grapentin.org> > wrote: >> >>> On 16. Jan 2023, at 20:01, Luke Kenneth Casson Leighton<lkcl(a)lkcl.net> > wrote: >>> On Mon, Jan 16, 2023 at 6:56 PM Andreas Grapentin<andreas(a)grapentin.org> > wrote: >>>> In the process of attaching peripheries, I must have blown something on > the microdesktop, the power LED no longer lights up, tested multiple > chargers. I’m fairly certain that the LED did light up green when I started > working on the board today. Is it possible that I blew a fuse somewhere? >>> yes it should. no there's no fuse. you'll need a multimeter, be > *careful*. >>> i suggest taking the Card out. if it's really borked you can power it >>> with a 5V USB "charger" cable (into the 2 standard USB sockets). >>> >>> also, check you inserted the Card correctly: not one row along or one >>> pin along, and make sure no contact between the two PCBs. >> forgot to mention, I’m using the expansion header on the micro desktop > for the UART connection. > > yep ido that. > >> Power to the EOMA card directly through the microUSB works, that’s what > I’m doing right now. > > the SY6280 is *only* powered by the 5v MD Power rail. > you *cannot* power the MD through the USB-OTG and if it > was possible it would damage everything as the power > drain would be exceeded. > > the 5v rail connects to 3.3v which then powers the > Level Shifter and the microsd socket. > > you abolutely cannot expect the VREF of the Card to > power the microsd socket. > > > it is imperative that you provide independent 5v power. > >> I haven’t tried the USB sockets on the micro desktop though, that might > be worth a shot. > > if 12v is not working it will be your only option. > >>> it's possible to reconfigure u-boot (etc) to have the OS on the Card's > micro-sd. >> I believe I’m using a quite old u-boot boot script. > that is irrelevant. u-boot-spl.bin is what needs compiling > and that is done with compile options. "make config". > > i think. > > you need to establish which phase has been achieved. > there are MULTIPLE phases. > EVERY ONE OF THEM needs properly configuring. > > l. > >

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Status update
by Felix 25 Nov '22

25 Nov '22

Hey Luke, hope you and your and fam are doing well ;) We haven't heard anything from you in a while, and would be great to have an status update or something similar :P -- Felix

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EOMA68 and 2021 podcast referencing the matter
by Giovanni Lostumbo 24 Nov '22

24 Nov '22

Open Source Voices is a great podcast. I've listened to Lukes, Maddog Halls' and Chris's interviews. Still getting around to listening to more. I listened to this whole podcast yesterday. 1:10:00-1:20:00 worth a listen (even before that) (it mentions EOMA68): https://www.opensourcevoices.org/13 4/6/2021 I think it might help explain why some are wondering- some view Crowdfunding as a donation for R&D, not as a purchase. I'm not here to side with a view, but I just wanted to help witth this info in case some were trying to figure out if anyone feels entitled to a product- whether it is binding or not. etc is not something I'm privy to, but seems explained in previous messages. When someone makes a public statement on a podcast, It's not unreasonable to believe that they are stating what they actually believe, and may act that way. Happy Thanksgiving! -G

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Re: [Arm-netbook] You have been unsubscribed from the arm-netbook mailing list
by Tzafrir Cohen 23 Nov '22

23 Nov '22

Hi, Despite the mail suggesting otherwise, I was not. I have already mailed admin@ and such. I guess it's time to redirect mailing list messages elsewhere. Just wanted to note this in case this is an issue of someone else. I guess someone need to kick the list server at the right spot. Anyway, thanks to all list members for everything I learned here. Cheers, On Tue, Nov 22, 2022 at 07:53:18AM +0000, arm-netbook-bounces(a)lists.phcomp.co.uk wrote: -- mail / xmpp / matrix: tzafrir(a)cohens.org.il

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Various projects somewhat related to the EOMA initiative
by Paul Boddie 29 Jun '22

29 Jun '22

Hello, There doesn't seem to be much EOMA68 news any more, but I was reminded of some of the ideas brought up in the context of the initiative by a few products or projects that came to my attention recently. One interesting product is the Mixtile Blade 3 which just about met its funding goal on Crowd Supply: https://www.crowdsupply.com/mixtile-limited/mixtile-blade-3 The interesting idea that this implements is the ability to daisy-chain the boards using PCI Express, and there is also a cluster box that provides a switched PCI Express bus. In the context of EOMA68 or similar efforts there was this idea: https://rhombus-tech.net/community_ideas/cluster_server/ The Mixtile Blade 3 uses the Rockchip RK3588, which has also been introduced in products from PINE64: https://www.pine64.org/2022/03/15/march-update-introducing-the-quartzpro64/ Another notable development from PINE64 is an impending introduction of a RISC-V-based product (these having started to emerge from various other places, often based on the Allwinner D1): https://www.pine64.org/2022/06/28/june-update-who-likes-risc-v/ >From the choice of GPU technology, it seems like this might be the basis of the SoC being used: https://www.imaginationtech.com/news/imagination-and-andes-jointly-validate… ImgTec have now started to work on Free Software drivers for various products, as I understand it, although I doubt that older products will be supported, and the firmware will most likely remain non-free. I would love to be proved wrong, though. It's a shame ImgTec didn't have the same level of ambition and pragmatism when they owned MIPS. On that topic, David posted news of an interesting project on the Tinkerphones mailing list: https://lists.goldelico.com/pipermail/community/2022-June/002206.html To summarise, someone has been pursuing the development of a featurephone using the Ingenic X1000E: http://www.ingenic.com.cn/en/?product/id/9.html That SoC has a relatively small amount of on-board RAM (64MB, which counts as small these days), but it could run a very modest Linux distribution. Unlike earlier Ingenic SoCs, but like the JZ4780, it has a hardware floating-point arithmetic unit. And it also has the different on-chip peripherals for easy integration into portable devices. Relevant EOMA-related ideas include the following: https://rhombus-tech.net/community_ideas/games_console/ https://rhombus-tech.net/community_ideas/hybrid_phone/ https://rhombus-tech.net/community_ideas/pocket_qwerty_computer/ https://rhombus-tech.net/community_ideas/zipit_refit/ I haven't spent or pledged any money towards any of these initiatives, but for anyone wondering whether some of the EOMA-related ideas were ever taken up in some sense, I thought they might be of interest. Paul

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Green (literally photosynthetic!) technology to team with EOMA-68
by Richard Wilbur 14 May '22

14 May '22

EOMA-68 seems uniquely positioned to benefit from this type of technology! Low-power, long-endurance designs could make some pretty cool applications. “Algae-powered energy cell can keep a microprocessor running around the clock anywhere with sunlight” https://www.zmescience.com/science/algae-powered-energy-cell-can-keep-a-mic…

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Door bell cameras can pickup conversations from up to 25ft away.
by David Niklas 03 May '22

03 May '22

Dear luke, The data from these cameras and microphones is stored in the cloud. This means that all the audio and video captured is vulnerable to interception and unauthorized access by other people and the US government. https://www.consumerreports.org/video-doorbells/video-doorbell-cameras-reco… Sincerely, David PS: I did not think they had microphones.

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