Message: 2 Date: Fri, 06 Jun 2014 20:13:57 +0100 From: Michael Howard mike@dewberryfields.co.uk To: arm-netbook@lists.phcomp.co.uk Subject: Re: [Arm-netbook] ARM device - compiling linux software Message-ID: 539212F5.7070608@dewberryfields.co.uk Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8; format=flowed
On 06/06/2014 12:27, peter green wrote:
Michael Howard wrote:
Looking for another ARM device to assist in software builds, has anybody got any recommendations for a capable board/device available in the UK?
I like the wandboard quad myself, able to run debian armmp kernels, seems to be reasonablly stable (i've been running the autobuilders for raspbian jessie on them for a while with only occasional crashes which I half suspect are due to my use of btrfs), has an a9 quad core processor, 2GB ram, SATA and serial console (full RS232 levels too so no need to mess arround with level shifters). I'm not aware of any UK stockists but mouser ship quickly and handle all the VAT/customs BS from their end so there are no nasty financial surprises on delivery.
http://uk.mouser.com/ProductDetail/Wandboard/WBQUAD/?qs=cF9QIdCP5siVNjY/ywrB...
Hi Mike,
First of all, I don't have your experience & skill, but there is something I don't understand. If you previsouly used Axx Allwinner platforms in the past for making your packages I presume you're mainly using this platform as "production" platform. So if you are turning now to a Wandboard that has a FreeScale processor how will you manage? Are you going to use cross-compiling technic?
If so, how/what do you think of the Radxa mini board on thes matters? What is your opinion? It looks cheaper than the Wandboard? http://radxa.com/specification/
Sorry in advance if I'm "out of subject". Thanks in advance for your comments. Regards Erix
On 09/06/2014 08:18, Erix wrote:
Message: 2 Date: Fri, 06 Jun 2014 20:13:57 +0100 From: Michael Howard <mike@dewberryfields.co.uk <mailto:mike@dewberryfields.co.uk>> To: arm-netbook@lists.phcomp.co.uk <mailto:arm-netbook@lists.phcomp.co.uk> Subject: Re: [Arm-netbook] ARM device - compiling linux software Message-ID: <539212F5.7070608@dewberryfields.co.uk <mailto:539212F5.7070608@dewberryfields.co.uk>> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8; format=flowed On 06/06/2014 12:27, peter green wrote: > Michael Howard wrote: >> Looking for another ARM device to assist in software builds, has >> anybody got any recommendations for a capable board/device available >> in the UK? > I like the wandboard quad myself, able to run debian armmp kernels, > seems to be reasonablly stable (i've been running the autobuilders for > raspbian jessie on them for a while with only occasional crashes which > I half suspect are due to my use of btrfs), has an a9 quad core > processor, 2GB ram, SATA and serial console (full RS232 levels too so > no need to mess arround with level shifters). I'm not aware of any UK > stockists but mouser ship quickly and handle all the VAT/customs BS > from their end so there are no nasty financial surprises on delivery. > > http://uk.mouser.com/ProductDetail/Wandboard/WBQUAD/?qs=cF9QIdCP5siVNjY/ywrBAA== > >
Hi Mike,
Hi Erix,
First of all, I don't have your experience & skill, but there is something I don't understand. If you previsouly used Axx Allwinner platforms in the past for making your packages I presume you're mainly using this platform as "production" platform. So if you are turning now to a Wandboard that has a FreeScale processor how will you manage? Are you going to use cross-compiling technic?
Well, all the devices are Cortex A9, all ARM v7 instruction set architecture, so I don't have any problems there.
I use a combination of compiling methods. Preferably, for softwares that are cross friendly (e.g. linux kernel), straight forward cross-compiling on a desktop PC(s) running Debian using the emdebian tool chains. For some softwares, not so cross friendly, I start the build on a native device but use Distcc to distribute to the desktop(s) cross-compiler and other native ARM v7 devices. On very rare occasions I've had to do a complete native build but not recently.
If so, how/what do you think of the Radxa mini board on thes matters? What is your opinion? It looks cheaper than the Wandboard? http://radxa.com/specification/
Does look neat and yes, does appear to be cheaper. Might take a punt on one actually, see if it cuts the mustard. Thanks for pointing it out.
Sorry in advance if I'm "out of subject".
No need to be sorry, glad to hear from you.
Cheers, Mike.
It looks cheaper than the Wandboard? http://radxa.com/specification/
Does look neat and yes, does appear to be cheaper. Might take a punt on one actually, see if it cuts the mustard. Thanks for pointing it out.
The RK* thingies are fairly cheap, indeed, but I managed to brick one with a simple "dd" from Android and still haven't managed to unbrick it.
From that point of view the Allwinner ones are very friendly (since you
can boot from uSD even with a completely broken nand flash).
Stefan
Yeah, RockChip ones are always a little dodgy (hence why they're the cheapest), never had a problem with an Allwinner that couldn't be fixed.
On Mon, Jun 9, 2014 at 7:11 PM, Stefan Monnier monnier@iro.umontreal.ca wrote:
It looks cheaper than the Wandboard? http://radxa.com/specification/
Does look neat and yes, does appear to be cheaper. Might take a punt on
one
actually, see if it cuts the mustard. Thanks for pointing it out.
The RK* thingies are fairly cheap, indeed, but I managed to brick one with a simple "dd" from Android and still haven't managed to unbrick it. From that point of view the Allwinner ones are very friendly (since you can boot from uSD even with a completely broken nand flash).
Stefan
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Michael Howard wrote:
If so, how/what do you think of the Radxa mini board on thes matters? What is your opinion? It looks cheaper than the Wandboard? http://radxa.com/specification/
Does look neat and yes, does appear to be cheaper. Might take a punt on one actually, see if it cuts the mustard. Thanks for pointing it out.
My concerns would be
1: it doesn't have SATA so you'd have to hook up your storage over USB which in my experiance tends to be less robust 2: what is the kernel support like? is it supported in mainline? if not does somone do a decent job of keeping up with linux development or will it be stuck on an outdated vendor kernel forever? 3: are the chip and board solid and reliable?
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