1. I am tired of Raspberry/Pi

    Please people… stop asking me about Raspberry/Pi. I do not want it, do not plan to buy one (when they will be finally available for normal people) and for sure do not plan to support it.

    Raspberry/Pi may look as interesting hardware to you but it does not have to mean same to others. Want to run desktop? 256MB of memory means really crippled one (last time I saw this amount of RAM in desktop computer right before opening it to add 512MB stick). Sure, for 25-35 USD it is proper range as memory is probably the most expensive part. Device may be good for using it in more embedded environment where GPIO/I²C/I²S/SPI/UART matter — expansion connector provides those signals.

    But I would rather buy BeagleBone to play with peripherials connected to such pins. Someone may ask “why? it is more expensive”. Reason is simple — it is in production, already has expansions which adds things like video output, touchscreens. And it has ARMv7 cpu which allows me to run any ARM distribution available today — so Debian ‘armel/armhf’, Ubuntu, Fedora, OpenSUSE, Ångström (which is preinstalled with great IDE to play with device already) or anything other.

    I do not need small device which can run XMBC or Quake — have private PandaBoard which can do that too and has few things more than Raspberry/Pi.

    And I do not think that companies which do software should start working on <100USD hardware like article at Techblaze suggests.

    Written by Marcin Juszkiewicz on

  2. SD cards die

    So called ‘low cost’ developer boards (like BeagleBoard xM, PandaBoard, Snowball, MX53 Quick Start) do not have NAND flash on them so people are using SD/MMC cards as boot media and storage. So we, developers, went to shops and bought SD cards. Some got class4 ones cause budget was low already, some grabbed class10 ones hoping that they will be fast, other took class6.

    I got some 4GB Transcend class10 ones. They worked, gave me 15MB/s on read and were fine. Until recently they started giving strange kernel output, MMC timeouts, I/O errors which resulted in filesystem going into read only mode. As I prefer to have working board then wondering how much time it will survive I trashed both cards. Good that I had some spare unknown 8GB microSD ones. But in last ~year I had to throw away 4 SD cards…

    One of solution for it is moving rootfs to some more reliable storage. I did that with MX53 Quick Start — it has 320GB Serial-ATA harddrive connected. So for PandaBoards I could use 8-16GB thumb drives or USB connected hard drives. I had this in past when there was no mx53 hardware at my desk. But this means extra costs, additional cables, probably even another set of power cables…

    Will have to check market for good reliable SD cards soon. 8-16GB ones so there will be space available for doing builds. Or will switch to old school NFS root which requires only 64MB cards — just to load bootloader, kernel, initrd. Other option is a network storage like NBD, AoE or iSCSI but this requires more configuration.

    Written by Marcin Juszkiewicz on

  3. Bought Archos 80 G9 Turbo tablet

    During last Linaro Connect I bought myself an Android tablet. After checking what is on market decided to buy Archos 80 G9 Turbo. According to Amazon product page it had to have 1.5GHz OMAP4460 cpu and 1GB of memory. But it did not…

    Marketing droids from Archos company should be … and … then … and again … — after that … or … and finally … (put any ways of doing deadly harm into … and repeat any amount of times). Why? There is no such thing as “Archos 80 G9 Turbo” — nevermind that I have one of them on my desk. So far there are at least three models with this name:

    • OMAP4430 1.2GHz 512MB ram
    • OMAP4460 1.5GHz 512MB ram
    • OMAP4460 1.5GHz 1GB ram

    You can easily buy first model. Best Buy has it, Adorama has it, J&R has it, Amazon sells it. Second model was expected to land on shelves in December 2011. According to XDA developers forum few of them were even sold as people have them. Last model is listed on Amazon (but first one is what you get) and according to one sources it will be released in March 2012, other says that there will not be such thing. Marketing mess is lightest description which I can write without swearing.

    So I got first one. First though was “WTF?!?!!?!?!?!!!” as I got slowest option. Even started returning procedure but as all US shops had only this version I gave up and decided that even with this technical specification it is better tablet then I had before (which was Hannspad SN10T1). Fast cpu, 4:3 screen with 1024x768 resolution, quite good build quality, video output.

    Tablet runs Android 3.2 ‘honeycomb’ and does it nicely. Upgrade to 4.0 ‘ice cream sandwich’ was announced to be done in this month. So from software perspective it is done properly. I had some problems with rooting procedure from XDA developers but once you do it in order (and take files from other thread to get 3.2.80 firmware) device will work just fine. Have to admit that system layout on device looks overcomplicated (175MB squashfs as / for example) but it works. Anyway I am waiting for developer firmware (I was told that they will be available ‘soon’ (for any definition of ‘soon’)).

    During first days of using I noticed that some applications refuse to work properly on XGA screen, some are resized/rescaled but problems usually are with games or poorly written apps (like Facebook one). But it is visible that keeping Honeycomb under stone (aka ‘closed source’) resulted in many applications not ready to be used on tablets. Even Google+ looks like it does on a phone…

    I am slowly moving to use Archos as a morning news device (Twitter, Facebook, Google+ and Google Reader) — it is perfect for it. Reading webpages in landscape or portrait modes is pleasure as device is easy to hold and screen is wide enough in any of them (which was my main complain with Hannspad).

    Had to order miniHDMI -> HDMI adapter (normal size connector would even fit but it is too big for this form factor) cause they do not add it in a box. When it will arrive I will check how good movies are played after connecting to 42” plasma capable of 1080p. OMAP4 cpu should decode any video at this resolution without problems but I wonder how device deals with 4:3 internal screen and 16:9 external one. Would be nice to watch Youtube videos fullscreen.

    Playing games is fun. Fieldrunners finally does not need scrolling, Great Little War Game is also better than on my Nexus S. From “racing” games so far I tried Asphalt6 (available at XDA developers forum), Shine Runner and Reckless Getaway — all run and look cute but accelerometr based steering is not comfortable with tablet size. Also games like Mahjongg or Solitaire are possible (I consider such games unplayable on phone).

    Battery life is better than on my Nexus S. Partially because lack of GSM and bigger battery, but I think that due to power management done better.

    I will not tell how good it is when it comes to read e-books because I have Kindle for it already.

    Back to hardware. There is USB socket for optional 3G stick. Plugged dongle from wireless keyboard/trackball combo there — not recognized due to not be USB 2.0 device. Plugged thumbdrive and got it recognized (first time I got some kernel oops and no access to storage, had to reboot tablet). Did not tried other devices.

    There is just one speaker at back of device. Definitelly too small and lonely. Nokia N800 which was released 5 years ago had stereo speakers… So for gaming I strongly suggest headphones.

    Ugly thing is that when you push back of case with left hand fingers screen will react to it — looks like something is pushing screen. It does not look professional…

    Ending summary: so far I am satisfied. Maybe one day will try one of those crazy builds like Ubuntu ;D

    Written by Marcin Juszkiewicz on

  4. Flashing U-Boot on Efika MX Smartbook

    From time to time I read posts where people wrote that their Efika MX Smartbook does not boot any more. The only thing which it does is white power led blinking about twice per second. Standard reply in such case is “send device back to Genesi”.

    Some time ago a friend of mine borrowed Efika MX Smartbook from me. During his experiments he managed to get netbook into such state. I have serial/jtag debug dongle so decided to take a look at it (and unbrick device). I managed to fix it but also somehow broke serial port so can not check why my automate way does not want to work.

    What needs to be done to get Smartbook back to live? Few things:

    Needed steps:

    1. Repartition SD card. You can use any tool for it. All what has to be done is set up first partition at 1MB offset so we have space for U-Boot.
    2. Format partition (if needed) as FAT.
    3. Run “sudo dd if=u-boot.imx of=/dev/sdd bs=1k seek=1” (replace /dev/sdd with your SD card).
    4. Put card into SD slot of Efika MX Smartbook.
    5. Take out keyboard — you need to use small screwdriver to push holes near F1, F6, F10, End keys.
    6. Change DIP switches - they are in a middle of motherboard. You need to reverse default setup.
    7. Power on your Efika. There should be U-Boot output on screen. You may even get system loaded up at this step ;)
    8. Take out SD card and copy ‘boot.scr’ to it.
    9. Power off Efika, put SD card and boot.
    10. Old U-Boot will be stored into NOR flash (output will be visible on screen).
    11. Change DIP switches - they are in a middle of motherboard. You need to reverse them to default setup.
    12. Put keyboard back.
    13. Take out SD card.
    14. Boot your Efika MX Smartbook — operating system should load.

    Some information:

    • old U-Boot got flashed because new one was not tested for NOR boot
    • finding out information for this how to took me few hours
    • this procedure can be done without Efika MX Smartbook serial/jtag dongle
    • similar procedure can be used for Efika MX Smarttop but as I do not have such I can not offer help

    Thanks goes to:

    • Genesi for giving me free Smartbook and serial/jtag dongle
    • Marek Vasut for his work on mainlining U-Boot support for Efika MX devices
    • Matt Sealey for some hints on IRC
    Written by Marcin Juszkiewicz on

  5. Want to buy Android tablet (again)

    During my trip to Linaro Connect 2012q1 I want to buy Android tablet for myself. But this time I decided to spend more time on choosing one to not end with crap like Hannspree Hannspad which I bought half year ago.

    Also situation on market changed. There are cheap tablets worth checking but there are also cheap crappy ones. So let me list what I checked so far.

    Kindle Fire Nook Tablet Archos 80 G9 Classic Archos 80 G9 Turbo
    price (USD) 199 249 259
    RAM size 512MB 1GB 512MB
    resolution 1024x600 1024x600 1024x768
    screen size 7” 7” 8”
    internal storage 8GB 16GB 2 8GB
    external storage none microSD microSD
    CPU OMAP4430 1GHz OMAP4430 1GHz OMAP4430 1GHz
    stock Android version 2.3 customized 2.3 customized 3.2 (4.0 in February)
    community Android version 4.0 4.0 not checked
    locked bootloader no yes (hacked) no
    USB Host no no yes
    HDMI output no no yes

    As you see my requirements are more or less simple:

    • dual core cpu (arm7)
    • 512MB ram (1GB preferred)
    • 1024x600 (or higher) resolution
    • 7-8” screen size (I had 10” and it was too big)
    • price below 300USD

    During CES many vendors presented new tablets but I think that most of them will be released in Q2 or later. ASUS MeMo 370T looks nice for 250USD but it is not on market.

    And I do not want 3G module in tablet — my phone has over 10GB of data limit to use for next months and so far I was not able to consume 1GB per month :)

    Have I missed some devices? If yes then please share information in comments. Just remember that I do not want any of those NotionAdam/Viewsonic/Hannspad ones.

    1. rumours says 1GB in newer Turbo model ↩

    2. 13GB /data/ so it is hard to put own data over USB ↩

    3. if you are lucky and find them in store — OMAP4430 1.2GHz otherwise ↩

    Written by Marcin Juszkiewicz on

  6. Scythe Mugen 2 and socket 1155 mainboard

    When I moved my home machine to i7-2600K I realized out that Scythe Mugen 2 cpu cooler which I was using lacks elements to mount it on socket 1555 motherboard.

    I looked at shops and found out that I need SCCSMG2-1156 (Scythe Mugen 2 mounting kit for Socket 1156/1155) as I have quite old version of cooler (then there was Rev. B released with support for all socket types). But then problem started — no one in Poland had them…

    So I contacted Scythe directly and later after spending 10€ I got mounting kit delivered at Xmas Eve. Took me some days to find time to mount it.

    First attempt ended with lot of curses, angry email to Scythe and stock cooler mounted again.

    But I decided to not give up. Did some extra research and found this YouTube video where I saw that I mounted bolt screws wrong…

    So I did another try. This time it fitted perfectly and I can enjoy silence.

    Next step: replace new case fans with more quiet ones.

    Written by Marcin Juszkiewicz on

  7. Events in 2012 which I will attend

    In March I wrote where I will travel. Decided to write such memo at start of year so it will be more visible what my plans are for 2012.

    In February I will miss FOSDEM because Linaro Connect Q1.12 will start right after it. So at 4th I will fly to San Francisco for a week. But this time instead of flying back home I decided to spend weekend in New York City where I hope to meet some people from Bug Labs company. You know: we worked with each other for 1.5 year and I met only Peter Semmelhack and Ken Gilmer. Also I plan some sightseeing.

    Then a bit of quiet until next Linaro Connect will happen. Probably May but it was not yet decided where and when. As many people I also hope for Asia (never was in this part of world).

    Same month there will be Ubuntu Developer Summit somewhere at west coast of USA. Who knows — maybe it will end in trip around the world in May? Sounds interesting but I think that only sounds as it can be hard to survive due to jet lag.

    Then July/August another Linaro Connect. No idea where, but hope for Europe. In meantime I may or may not attend Ubuntu Rally (Canonical internal event) which will be somewhere in US (as it follows UDS place).

    And end of year will bring yet another Linaro Connect and Ubuntu Developer Summit. Second one in Europe.

    What else? Probably LinuxTag if company events will not be at same time, maybe something local (there are few conferences planned in Szczecin).

    Overall it looks that there will be some travelling — but this year I plan to make more use of free time to see something else than conference centers.

    Written by Marcin Juszkiewicz on

  8. 2011 timeline

    Again we are at start of new year. As usual I decided to write some timeline for 2011 year.

    January

    February

    • FOSDEM as usual. This time I went there with my wife. She saw more of Brussels in one day then I manage during few visits. But she had ‘spouse tours’ in Saturday and Sunday ;)
    • Started using Cyanogenmod on my phone instead of stock Android. Nice improvements and always fresh system.

    March

    • Decided to drop KDE and switched to XFCE on desktop and laptop. Main reason was KMail which started to be too hard to rely on. Moved to Evolution and few months later to Thunderbird.

    April

    • Linaro porting jam weekly event started. It got quiet last months but we will resurrect it!

    May

    June

    July

    • Another Ubuntu platform sprint — this time in Dublin, Ireland. Met some old friends which moved there from Poland. Also spent awesome weekend with my wife and local part of our family.
    • Took 2 weeks of vacations. We went nearly in the middle of nowhere ;)
    • Switched phone operator again. This time it is Orange, PL and I am on prepaid. Number stayed the same of course.
    • Started using Google+.

    August

    • We had first official Linaro Connect in Cambourne, UK. It was kind of conference with lot of hacking time. During it I played with all developer boards which we support and wrote what do I think about them. This post gave me unofficial title of ‘Linaro’s main complainer’ and as a result we can expect some hardware guys presence during next Linaro Connect events.
    • Released some generic Linux cross toolchain for tests which got some use. Toolchain working group has now people working on it.
    • Bought Hannspree Hannspad tablet running Android 2.2 by default. Played with Cyanogenmod7 and Honeycomb on it. Finally got rid of it month later as I got one with shitty screen.
    • Tried Unity but gave up.

    September

    • Modded ATX Power supply which provided 5/12V for my developer boards got fried. Replaced it with industrial +5V/20A one — no boards running at 12V at desk.
    • VPS upgrade from Ubuntu 10.04 ‘lucid’ to 11.04 ‘natty’ ended with not bootable system. All I got was “Error: Boot loader didn’t return any data!” message from Xen. Solved problem, described for users.

    October

    • Bought a bike for me and another for wife. We also got extra seat for our daughter and did some trips in forests surrounding Szczecin. Then it became too cold for family trips.
    • Went to Open Source Szczecin conference to listen what people have to say about some projects. Was quite interesting.
    • Got mx53 Quick Start board from Freescale for my Linaro work.

    November

    • Visited Prague, Czech Republic again. This time for Embedded Linux Conference. Nice time, met friends. There was also general assembly of OpenEmbedded e.V. organization.
    • Linaro Connect Q4.11 took place at same time as Ubuntu Developer Summit. Another visit in Orlando, Florida, USA. This time we got room as usual — at the end of corridor ;) Bought myself Amazon Kindle e-reader which I am now using to read some old Science Fiction books.
    • I got interviewed during Linaro Connect — we were talking about projects which I worked on in past, what brought me to Linux on ARM. Worth watching!
    • Started using Unity again.

    December

    Written by Marcin Juszkiewicz on
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