$179 Arndale Octa Developement Board Gets an Upgrade to Exynos 5420 big.LITTLE SoC

Hardkernel ODROID-XU may have been the first low cost big.LITTLE development board, but since it’s using Exynos 5410 SoC, big.LITTLE processing is limited to cluster migration that means using A15 cores or A7 cores. Insignal’s Arndale Octa was also initially announced with Exynos 5410, but the good news is that we’ll soon get a fully functional big.LITTLE development board as Arndale Octa has been upgraded to Exynos 5420 Octa-core SoC. This board will support both In-Kernel Switching (IKS) and Global Task Scheduling (GTS) implementations, and be officially supported by Linaro like the first Arndale board based on Exynos 5250 dual core Cortex A15.

Arndale Octa Development Board with Exynos 5420
Arndale Octa Development Board with Exynos 5420

Here are the specifications of the board (derived by me from several pages, and pictures):

  • SoC – Samsung Exynos 5420 octa core SoC with 4x Cortex A15 cores up to 1.8 GHz, 4x Cortex A7 cores up to 1.3 GHz in big.LITTLE configuration, and ARM Mali T-628 MP6 GPU
  • System Memory – 3GB LPDDR3e (14.9GB/s memory bandwidth)
  • Storage – eMMC 4.5 socket + microSD card slot. (Update: There may be a 4GB eMMC soldered to the board instead of an eMMC 4.5 socket, but that’s unclear for now).
  • Video Output – HDMI 1.4a
  • Audio I/O – Line IN & OUT (24-bit, 96KHz audio codec)
  • USB – 1x USB 3.0, 1x USB 2.0 device
  • Connectivity – 10/100M Ethernet
  • On-board Connectors:
    • Display Port MIPI DSI/eDP connector.
    • MIPI CIS 4 lanes connector for Camera
    • EBI Port
    • External Port: JTAG, HSIC, SPI, ADC, SDIO, UART
    • USB connector – 2x USB 2.0 host ports
    • Serial Debug connector
  • Misc – Power switch and reset switch
  • Power Supply – 5V/3A
Arndale Octa Block Diagram
Arndale Octa Block Diagram

The board will support both Ubuntu and Android (Linaro). The Arndale Octa Wiki is currently updated, but there’s already a lot of instructions, that may or may not be up-to-date. You’ll notice there’s no storage of the board, so you’ll have to boot from SD card, or purchase an eMMC module somewhere.

The company used to sell their boards via Howchip.com, but the latest Arndale Octa board is currently available for $179 via Pyrustek, which is completely new. This price is only valid for the first 1,000 boards, and including a free serial debug board, after the regular price will be $199. You’ll also need to add delivery via Fedex or EXW (Ex Works). To my country Fedex was about $42, and if, like me, you’ve never heard about Ex Works before, that means you’d have to pick up the package in South Korea in Pyrustek’s warehouse. Delivery is expected within 4 weeks, and at this time, you can only pay by bank transfer, with credit card payments available later. You can also purchase a 7″ LCD display (1024×600) with a capacitive touchscreen for $199, as well as a $59 accessories package with a 4GB micro SD card, an HDMI Cable, a serial cable (9pin female to 9pin female), a USB cable, a power supply (DC 5V 3A – jack diameters [+]2mm Internal, [-]5.5mm External), and for the 1,000 first order, a power conversion adapter (110V – 220V).

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12 Comments
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adem
adem
10 years ago

this would make a good media player when connected to the back of the tv (just my opinion ) but i wonder how much ubuntu or linux in general will support this device not being a hard core gamer i think this would be a decent ubuntu desktop if there is full hardware acceleration this would make a great ubuntu android dualboot

saiyan
saiyan
10 years ago

I had the original Arndale board and I must say that the software support was terrible. InSignal never really listened to bug reports or feature requests, and has now stopped updating the firmware completely. Not really going to bother with this new Arndale Octa.

Thomas Hoberg
Thomas Hoberg
10 years ago

I still have the original Arndale and while I’m likewise somewhat disappointed that it’s not supported like a consumer device, in retrospect I’ll just have to admit that it was mostly a case of misplaced expectations. Arndales were never meant to be consumer devices, which you could just use. I believe they were designed to help developers get started on Samsung processors and that Samsung subsidized that project through money and shared coded/documentation. Samsung didn’t pay for continued support and the volumes sold were never enough (nor intended to be) to pay for continued support, either. There must be an… Read more »

narendra
narendra
9 years ago

Hi we are facing the frequent restart of arndale octa 5420 board when we try to execute our kernel on this board can any help us to avoid this kind of issue.

Khadas VIM4 SBC