http://lists.phcomp.co.uk/pipermail/arm-netbook/2017-February/012942.html http://lists.phcomp.co.uk/pipermail/arm-netbook/2013-June/thread.html#7620

These are the relevant threads and emails that I found.

Ultimately there are just unidentified broken drivers and it would just take an unpredictable amount of effort to even determine which ones.

All necessary drivers and firmware are present, only some function and/or variable names were likely changed somewhere down the line which weren't properly updated for all drivers.

I'm sure this type of thing is fairly common.

Disclaimer: not a programmer; likely very incorrect.

---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Luke Kenneth Casson Leighton lkcl@lkcl.net Date: Wed, 8 Mar 2017 05:45:44 +0000 Subject: Re: [Arm-netbook] systemd and kernel: 3.4, mainline To: Linux on small ARM machines arm-netbook@lists.phcomp.co.uk

On Wed, Mar 8, 2017 at 5:33 AM, Stefan Monnier monnier@iro.umontreal.ca wrote:

...

And now I hear that A20 card will be shipped with kernel 3.4. Sure, it's not lower than 3.2 but how long will glibc support 3.4? What about other packages?

Actually, mainline support for A20 isn't that bad, depending on your specific use case. Check http://linux-sunxi.org/Linux_mainlining_effort. It's fairly good for headless servers, less so for tablets and desktops. And there is (slow) progress, so its future isn't too bleak.

yeahhh, it's the lack of desktop support that's the main concern. i'd like to be able to say that it will be possible to fund the mainlining support but it isn't, right now.

also, as i mentioned earlier, the A20's running out of time. i'm going to have to ship with only an older toshipba 1MB or even just a 128kb NAND flash because it's getting harder and harder to find so-called "legacy" NAND flash ICs in TSSOP packaging that the A20's brain-dead boot ROM recognises.

so now you may gain some understanding why the RK3288 board is so important.

(a) it's got full mainline support (b) it's just as libre as the A20 Card (c) it has mass-volume support (d) it's had a chromebook and more made around it (e) it's been around long enough to have all the problems ironed out (f) the technical reference manuals are now online (g) it's possible to get Reference Designs for $USD 25.

that DOES NOT mean that the A20 board is not important: it is critical at this early phase.

l.

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