Author: Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft)

Jean-Luc started CNX Software in 2010 as a part-time endeavor, before quitting his job as a software engineering manager, and starting to write daily news, and reviews full time later in 2011.
Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 16 Comments on Creating and Flashing an Android Image from Rockchip RK3288 SDK

Creating and Flashing an Android Image from Rockchip RK3288 SDK

Following up on my post explaining how to build Android for RK3288 TV box, I’ve generated a firmware image, and flashed it to Tronsmart Orion R28 Meta TV box to see if it could boot properly. There’s basically no information in the Andoird SDK explaining how to do basic things like building from source, and generating and flashing the resulting image, so I’d like to thanks Linuxium, Droidmote and Naobsd for their various tips. Since I’ve built everything from source, I’m using a Linux machine, but you should be able to create and flash the Android image in Windows using tools in RKTools/windows folder. First let’s copy the required, and freshly built, files to create the firmware:

We’ll also need to edit package-file follows (I only had to change the bootloader field):

And now create the firmware file:

The firmware file update.img can be flashed with upgrade_tool […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments on Android TV Overview – Linaro Connect US 2014

Android TV Overview – Linaro Connect US 2014

Google announced Android TV and ADT-1 devkit last June, as the company wants to bring user-friendly Android user-experience to TVs, set-top boxes and game consoles. Mark Gregotski, head of the Linaro Digital Home Group (LHG), has provided a technical overview of Android TV during the on-going Linaro Connect US 2014. You find a summary of yesterday sessions on Linaro’s blog, and the even will last until Friday, where several demos will be showcased. SoC companies currently involved in Android TV include Nvidia, Marvell, Qualcomm, Mediatek, Intel, Broadcom, and ST micro, so none of usual Chinese Android TV Box players (Rockchip, Amlogic, AllWinner…) are represented. Android (for smartphone) currently support video playback but you may experience dropped frame from time to time, where in the STB market requirements are not stringent. For example, NTT is said to only allow one frame dropped per month! So Android TV aims to improve video […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 16 Comments on How to Build Android 4.4 for Rockchip RK3288 Devices (Tronsmart Orion R28)

How to Build Android 4.4 for Rockchip RK3288 Devices (Tronsmart Orion R28)

After blowing up my ATX power supply, and learning such things as “FULL” power supplies do exists, I finally managed to build Android for Tronsmart Orion R28 using the provided SDK. I haven’t tried to load it on the device yet, but the build could complete successfully after following the steps below in Ubuntu 14.04. The SDK is probably not specific to one device, so it might just also work on other RK3288 TV boxes and tablets. First download Android 4.4 SDK for RK3288, or use the one in the micro SD card provided with the Beta version of R28 Pro and Meta. Install some dependencies:

Extract the SDK:

And build the kernel first: Enter the kernel directory:

Change arch/arm/boot/dts/Makefile to use RK3288 device tree file instead of an RK3188 (may not be needed, but the build failed for me without that change…):

It’s also quite […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 10 Comments on WeIO is an Open Source Hardware IoT Board Programmable from a Web Browser (Crowdfunding)

WeIO is an Open Source Hardware IoT Board Programmable from a Web Browser (Crowdfunding)

WeIO is an open source hardware board for the Internet of things with Wi-Fi connectivity and lots of I/Os designed by nodesign, a French based startup, in collaboration of 8devices, the makers of the Carambola boards. WeIO is powered by an Atheros AR9331 SoC running OpenWRT as well as an NXP LPC MCU for faster handling of I/Os and support for analog I/Os. One interesting aspect of this board is that it can be programmed via a web browser using HTML5 or Python, and it does not rely on the Cloud to store data. WeIO hardware specifications: SoC – Atheros AR9331 MIPS 24K Wireless SoC @ 400 MHz MCU – NXP LPC11xx ARM Cortex M0 MCU for analog I/O and real-time H/W interfaces System Memory – 64 MB DDR2 Storage – 16 MB flash + micro SD slot Connectivity – 802.11 b/g/n Wi-Fi with on-board antenna (AP and STA modes), […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 4 Comments on Infineon XMC 2Go Cortex M0 Development Kit Sells for 5 Euros

Infineon XMC 2Go Cortex M0 Development Kit Sells for 5 Euros

Infineon brought another tiny, portable, and cheap ARM Cortex M0 board to market with XMC 2Go development kit featuring XMC1100 ARM Cortex M0 micro-controller with 16KB RAM, 64KB Flash, and tow breadboard friendly headers to access various serial interfaces and ADC pins.   Key features listed on Infineon website: MCU – Infineon XMC1100 ARM Cortex-M0 MCU @ 32 MHz with 64KB flash, 16KB RAM. Debugger – On-board J-Link Lite Debugger using an XMC4200 Microcontroller. Headers – 2×8 pin headers suitable for Breadbord with access to 2x USIC (Universal Serial Interface Channel: UART, SPI, I2C, I2S, LIN), 6x 12-bit ADC, external interrupts (via ERU), 4x 16-bit timers Misc – 2 x user LED, RTC Power – 5V Micro via USB, or 3.3V external power. ESD and reverse current protection Dimensions – 14.0 x 38.5 mm The board is programmed via USB using the same Dave IDE I tried with XMC4500 Relax […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 6 Comments on $125 Com 1 Android Wear Watch Powered by Ingenic JZ4775 MIPS Processor (Crowdfunding)

$125 Com 1 Android Wear Watch Powered by Ingenic JZ4775 MIPS Processor (Crowdfunding)

If you’d like to get an Android Wear watch, but are not quite ready to spend $200+ for the models currently available, the Com 1 Android Wear smartwatch could be interesting as you may get one for as low as $125, albeit with higher risks since it’s part of a flexible funding Indiegogo campaign. The watch is powered by Ingenic JZ4775 MIPS processor, features a 1.6″ AMOLED display, and is IP67 rated (Water- and dust-proof). Com 1 watch hardware specifications: SoC –  Ingenic JZ4775 XBurst (MIPS) processor @ 1.0 GHz with 2D graphics, and VPU (MPEG-2, MPEG-4, VC-1, H.264, VP8, RV9), 720p@30fps System Memory – 375 MB LPDDR1 Storage – 4 GB eMMC Display – 1.6” AMOLED touchscreen display, 320 x 320 resolution, 16.7 Million Colors , LED back light, Brightness: 300 cd/m^2. Connectivity – WiFi (802.11 a/b/g/n at 2.4/5 GHz), Bluetooth 4.0 + EDR (BLE Compliant), FM, and NFC Sensors – […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments on Qualcomm Unveils Snapdragon 210 LTE SoC for Entry-Level Smartphones

Qualcomm Unveils Snapdragon 210 LTE SoC for Entry-Level Smartphones

Android smartphones with LTE connectivity are now available for a little over $100, for example with LANDVO L200G powered by Mediatek MT6582 with an external MT6290 LTE modem, but prices may soon even get lower, as Qualcomm has now unveiled their latest Snapdragon 210 processor with integrated LTE modem to bring sub $100 LTE smartphones to market in 2015. For once, they’ve even provided detailed technical specifications for their new mobile application processor: Processor – Quad ARM Cortex A7 up to 1.1GHz GPU – Adreno 304 GPU with OpenGL ES 3.0, OpenCL, DirectX, content security, and decreased power consumption DSP – QDSP6 DSP Memory/Storage – LPDDR2/LPDDR3@533MHz, eMMC 4.5, and SD 3.0 (UHS-I) Display – Up to 720p, with external displays supported Modem Integrated 4G LTE-Advanced World Mode, supporting LTE FDD, LTE TDD, WCDMA (3C-HSDPA, DC-HSUPA), CDMA1x, EV-DO Rev. B, TD-SCDMA and GSM/EDGE 4G LTE CAT4 speeds of up to 150 […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 15 Comments on Tronsmart Orion R28 Meta RK3288 TV Box Unboxing

Tronsmart Orion R28 Meta RK3288 TV Box Unboxing

GeekBuying sent me one of their Tronsmart Orion R28 Meta (Beta) Android TV boxes powered by Rockchip RK3288 SoC. This model comes with 2GB DDR3, 16 eMMC, and 802.11 b/g/n/ac Wi-Fi. R28 Mega is the mid-range model, and there are two others models R28 Pro (entre-level) and R28 Telos (premium). I’ve already listed specifications for the three Tronsmart Orion R28 models. Today, I’ll show some picture of the device, and the board to find out more about the design of the product. Before reviewing the product in another post, I’ll probably build the image using the provided Android 4.4 SDK (provided I can download it), and perform the full review next week with the resulting firmware. Tronsmart Orion Meta R28 Unboxing I’ve received the parcel via DHL within 2 days. The same package will be used for all three models, but you’ll have a sticker on the side for Pro, […]