Ubuntu 16.10 Images Released for Intel Bay Trail and Cherry Trail Processors

Canonical formally released Ubuntu 16.10 “Yakkety Yak” yesterday with  a developer preview of Unity 8 including desktop, tablet and phone UX convergence, Hybrid cloud operations with Juju 2.0, Snapd 2.16 with more than 500 snaps, etc..  Ian Morrison (Linuxium) wasted no time, and put together a Ubuntu 16.10 image working on platforms powered by Intel Bay Trail and Cherry Trail processor with modifications to have audio, WiFi and Bluetooth working. If you want to try Ubuntu 16.04 on your device you can download ubuntu-16.10-desktop-linuxium.iso and prepare a bootable USB flash the usual way with rufus, or other utilities. If you’d like to try an alternative  Ubuntu flavor such as Lubuntu, Xubuntu, Kubuntu, Ubuntu GNOME, or Ubuntu MATE, Linuxium got you served too, and you’ll find the images on his blog. Unity 7 is still running by default in Ubuntu 16.04, but if you are curious about Unity 8 convergence desktop/tablet/phone user […]

Axiomtek Introduces IP67 Rated Waterproof Embedded Computer for Outdoor Applications

Axiomtek has just launched eBOX800-841-FL rugged IP67-rated fanless embedded system for “outdoor critical applications” such as the Industrial Internet of Things (IIOT) gateways. The waterproof mini PC is  powered by a quad core Intel Atom E3845 Bay Trail-I processor, and supports temperatures between -30°C to 60°C. Axiomtek eBOX800-841-FL embedded computer specifications: SoC – Intel Atom E3845 quad core processor @ up to 1.91 GHz with Intel HD graphics (10W TDP) System Memory – 204-pin SO-DIMM DDR3L-1066/1333 slot up to 8 GB RAM Storage – 1 x mSATA,  1x 2.5″ SATA HDD, 1x CFAST slot Video Output – VGA (M12 screw type) Connectivity 2x 10/100/1000Mbps Ethernet (M12 type) WiFI & LTE via mini PCIe slots 1x SIM socket 4x N-jack waterproof antenna connectors USB – 2x USB 2.0 ports (M12 type) Serial ports – 2 x RS-232/422/485 ports (M12 type) Expansion 1x full-size PCI Express Mini Card slot (USB + PCI […]

Roqos Core AC Router Runs Debian on Intel Atom Bay Trail-I Processor for $19… Plus Monthly Subscriptions

Roqos Core router is interesting on several front. First it’s quite powerful and features-rich with an Intel Atom E3845 processor, five Gigabit Ethernet ports, 802.11ac WiFi, a USB 3.0 port, and even an HDMI port allowing you to use it as a Media Center too. It should also be quite customizable, software wise, since it runs Debian, and finally the business model is also different, as you only need to pay $19 for the router, with the catch that you need to subscribe Roqos Service with “advanced cybersecurity and parental control features” for $17 per month for at least 12 months, bringing the total to $223. After one year, you can opt out of the cloud service, and continue to use the router without the extra security features. Roqos Core RC10 router hardware specifications: SoC – Intel Atom Bay Trail-T E3845 quad core processor @ up to 1.91 GHz (10W […]

LibreELEC 8 for Intel Atom Bay Trail and Cherry Trail Devices with 32-bit UEFI Binary

LibreELEC, a fork of OpenELEC, was announced several months ago, and images for various hardware platform were released in that time period. However, support for Intel Bay Trail and Cherry Trail platforms using a 32-it UEFI binary might not have always work, or was more difficult to install. piotrasd has now created a LibreELEC 8 + Kodi 17 beta 3 build especially for this type of devices, and tested it on Tronsmart Ara IZ37 Bay Trail mini PC. However, it should work on other Intel Atom Z3735F or Intel Atom x5/z7 mini PC or sticks with a 32-bit UEFI bootloader. If you have such device, you can try it the following instructions using a USB flash drive: Download and install Rufus or LibreELEC SD USB creator Download and unpack LibreELEC 8 32-bit UEFI image file Launch your USB creator program, select the firmware file, and make a bootable USB flash […]

VersaLogic Osprey is an Industrial & Military Grade Intel Bay Trail Single Board Computer

Versalogic Osprey “Embedded Processing Unit” (EPU) is a single board computer powered by Intel Bay Trail-I CPU modules with 2 to 4GB RAM, up to 8GB flash, dual Gigabit Ethernet, two mini PCIe slots, working at industrial temperatures (-40 to 85°C),  and compliant with MIL-STD-202G military standard for shocks and vibrations. VersaLogic Osprey VL-EPU-3311 specifications: SoC Intel Atom E3845 quad core processor @ 1.91GHz with Intel HD graphics or Intel Atom E3827 dual core processor @ 1.75GHz with Intel HD graphics or Intel Atom E3815 single core processor @ 1.46GHz with Intel HD graphics System Memory – 2GB or 4GB DDR3L (soldered) Storage 8GB eMMC flash with E3845 model; 4GB eMMC flash with E3827 model; no flash for E3815 model MicroSD slot SATA 2.0 port with latching connector mSATA via mini-PCIe slot Display Single-channel 18/24-bit LVDS up to 1024×768 @ 60Hz Dual mini-DisplayPort++ with HDMI and audio support up to […]

Ubuntu 16.04.1 ISO Images Released for Intel Atom Bay Trail & Cherry Trail Compute Sticks

Canonical has recently released Ubuntu 16.04.1, which is now considered stable enough to update from Ubuntu 14.04.04 LTS, and while I could do that easily on my main machine using update-manager, upgrading to Ubuntu 16.04 on Intel Atom “Bay Trail” and “Cherry Trail” devices is a bit more complicated if you need audio & wireless networking (WiFi/Bluetooth) support since the kernel needs to be patched, and on top of that recent Linux kernels are not stable on such platforms without some extra hacks. Linuxium has done all the hard work, and created Ubuntu 16.04.1 ISO images for Intel Atom Compute Sticks with working audio, WiFi, Bluetooth, and “C-state” patchsets to avoid freezes. The images may also work on other devices, but this has not been tested so far. If you want to give it a try, you can download ubuntu-16.04.1-desktop-linuxium-ics.iso, and flash it to a USB drive with Rufus (Windows) […]

Star Cloud PCG03U Bay Trail Ubuntu mini PC with 2GB RAM, 64GB Storage Sells for $90

Last year, I reviewed MeLE PCG03 mini PC with Windows 8.1. and later upgraded it to Windows 10, but the company has now started to launch Ubuntu based TV sticks and mini PCs, under their new Star Cloud brand, with for example Star Cloud PCG02U TV stick, and now they’ve just launched Star Cloud PCG03U running Ubuntu 14.04 for $89.59 shipped on Aliexpress. Star Cloud PCG03U specifications: SoC – Intel Atom Z3735F “Bay Trail” quad core processor @ 1.33 GHz / 1.83 GHz) with Intel HD graphics System Memory – 2 GB DDR3L Storage – 64 GB eMMC + SD card slot (up to 512 GB) Video Output – HDMI 1.4, and VGA Audio I/F – HDMI, 3.5mm earphone jack Connectivity – 10/100M Ethernet, 802.11 b/g/n Wi-Fi up to 300 Mbps, and Bluetooth 4.0 USB – 3x USB 2.0 host ports (The specs mention 1x USB 3.0 port, but it […]

Improve YouTube Video Playback on Low Power Intel mini PCs by Disabling VP9 Support in Chrome or Firefox

I’ve been reviewing several Intel Bay Trail, Cherry Trail, and Braswell mini PCs in the last year or so, and I always end up recommending Microsoft Edge browser over Firefox or Chrome for people wanting to watch YouTube videos, as the last two browsers always drop many frames with the video stuttering regularly. However I noticed that while Edge is playing  MP4/AVC (H.264) video, the other two browser would normally stream WebM/VP9 videos, and it could be the cause of the problem as H.264 can be hardware accelerated, but VP9 not, and the low power processor might not quite powerful enough to handle 1080p VP9 video decoding smoothly. So I investigated the issues with Vorke V1 mini PC powered by an Intel Celeron J3160 processor (6W TDP) with the three browsers by first checking enabled codecs in YouTube HTML5 page. Microsoft Edge has both VP8 and VP9 disabled When I […]