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) - 42 Comments on Amlogic GPL Source Code Release – Kernel 3.10, U-Boot, and Drivers (Wi-Fi, NAND, TVIN, Mali GPU)

Amlogic GPL Source Code Release – Kernel 3.10, U-Boot, and Drivers (Wi-Fi, NAND, TVIN, Mali GPU)

Last month, I noticed Amlogic provided links to the Android SDK for S802 / M802 on their open source website, but the only way to get the source was to share your SSH public with Amlogic, so that they give you access. It did not happen, but the company has released the source for Linux 3.10.10, U-boot 2011.03, Realtek and Broadcom Wi-Fi drivers, NAND drivers, “TVIN”drivers, and kernel space GPU drivers for Mali-400 / 450 GPU. There are also some customer board files for Meson 6 only (AML8726-MX / M6) but they do not seem to match the kernel… If you want to build the kernel, including the drivers, you’ll need to download a bunch of files: wget http://openlinux.amlogic.com:8000/download/ARM/kernel/arm-src-kernel-2014-03-06-d5d0557b2b.tar.gz wget http://openlinux.amlogic.com:8000/download/ARM/wifi/rtk8192du-2014-03-06-7f70d95d29.tar.gz wget http://openlinux.amlogic.com:8000/download/ARM/wifi/rtk8192eu-2014-03-06-9766866350.tar.gz wget http://openlinux.amlogic.com:8000/download/ARM/wifi/rtk8192cu-2014-03-06-54bde7d73d.tar.gz wget http://openlinux.amlogic.com:8000/download/ARM/wifi/rtk8188eu-2014-03-06-2462231f02.tar.gz wget http://openlinux.amlogic.com:8000/download/ARM/wifi/brcmap6xxx-2014-03-06-302aca1a31.tar.gz wget http://openlinux.amlogic.com:8000/download/ARM/wifi/wifi-fw-2014-03-06-d3b2263640.tar.gz wget http://openlinux.amlogic.com:8000/download/ARM/modules/aml_tvin-2014-03-06-fb3ba6b1c8.tar.gz wget http://openlinux.amlogic.com:8000/download/ARM/modules/aml_nand-2014-03-06-39095c4296.tar.gz wget http://openlinux.amlogic.com:8000/download/ARM/customer/aml_customer-2014-03-06-76ce689191.tar.gz wget http://openlinux.amlogic.com:8000/download/ARM/gpu/gpu-2014-03-06-0425a1f681.tar.gz You’ll need to extract these tarballs in specific directories:

You […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 12 Comments on Xserver XSDL X Window Server for Android Allows You to Run Linux Apps in Android

Xserver XSDL X Window Server for Android Allows You to Run Linux Apps in Android

It has been feasible to run Linux apps in Android by installing a Linux distribution in a chroot using some app such as Complete Linux Installer, and accessing the graphical application via VNC. I tested this solution with Ubuntu in Android using ODROID-X development board, and it worked fine, except the performance was rather poor. There’s now another solution with XServer XSDL app, X Window System server for Android, that can be used to stream application from a Linux PC or to launch app from a Linux distribution installed in your Android device. I’ve given a quick try in my Android phone, and after installing and running the app, it will give instructions to launch gimp in your Linux PC to use it in the phone: Launch these commands on your Linux PC env DISPLAY=192.168.0.100:0 metacity & env DISPLAY=192.168.0.100:0 gimp Just type this command line into a terminal, and gimp […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 3 Comments on $79 Atmel ATSAMA5D3 Xplained Arduino Compatible, Open Source Hardware Board Powered by SAMA5D3 ARM Cortex-A5 Processor

$79 Atmel ATSAMA5D3 Xplained Arduino Compatible, Open Source Hardware Board Powered by SAMA5D3 ARM Cortex-A5 Processor

A few days ago, at Embedded World 2014, Atmel has unveiled ATSAMA5D3 Xplained evaluation board based on SAMA5D36 ARM Cortex A5 micro-processor with 256 MB DDR2, 256 MB flash and numerous ports and expansion connectors, that targets industrial automation, networks, robotics, control panels and wearable applications. Atmel is one of the rare companies that provides support for the latest long term kernel (3.10) and mainline for their embedded solutions, and their latest board is fully open source hardware. Let’s have a look at the board specifications: MPU – Atmel SAMA5D36 Cortex-A5 Microprocessor @ 536 MHz System Memory – 2GBit DDR2 (Micron) Storage – 2GBit Flash (Micron), SD/MMCPlus 8-bit Card slot, 1x Micro SD Card 4-bit slot footprint (meaning not soldered) Connectivity – 1x Ethernet 10/100/1000M, 1x Ethernet 10/100M USB –  1x micro USB Device connector, 2x USB Host connectors Debugging – 1x 6-lead 3V3-level serial port, 10-pin J-TAG connector Expansion […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 3 Comments on Finwe & Kolor 360 Degrees Video Solutions for Smartphones, Virtual Reality Kits and HTML5 Browsers

Finwe & Kolor 360 Degrees Video Solutions for Smartphones, Virtual Reality Kits and HTML5 Browsers

Google Street View allows you to have a 360 degrees panoramic view of a particular location, and you can move around to look up and down, left and right and so. Finwe & Kolor, two European start-ups, have gone further, as they do not only use pictures, but their 360 panorama video solution records videos in 6 to 12 directions simultaneously, and create a 360 degrees panoramic videos than you can watch on your smartphone or, even better, in a virtual reality kit for a complete immersion. Let’s go through all the steps and equipment required to make and watch 360 videos: Recording – You’ll need a mount system for 6 GoPro Hero cameras from companies like Freedom360 or 360 Heros.  They also have rigs for 12 cameras for 3D 360 degrees videos, but I’m not sure this is supported by the video software yet. You just need to start […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 11 Comments on AMLogic S802 TV Boxes Board Pictures

AMLogic S802 TV Boxes Board Pictures

AMLogic S802 Android TV Boxes are currently available for pre-order, and are expected to ship by the end of the month. Last time I wrote Tronsmort Vega S89 and Eny ES8 featuring the latest quad core SoC from AMLogic. Geekbuying currently has test samples for both Vega S89 and M8 (similar to ES8), has open them, and taken some pictures of the boards. The good news, if you want to tinker, is that both of them appear to give relatively access to the UART port. Tronsmart Vega S89 Board There are two models: Vega S89 and Vega S89 Elite. The former is the high-end version with dual band Wi-Fi (2.4/5.0GHz) and 16 GB flash, and the latter only supports 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi and comes with 8GB flash. Price: $120 and $105. The serial port appears to be on the left side of the board (TBC), just above the two USB […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 3 Comments on Nvidia Tegra K1 32-bit and 64-bit Benchmarked with Antutu

Nvidia Tegra K1 32-bit and 64-bit Benchmarked with Antutu

Nvidia announced their latest Tegra applications processors at CES 2014 with the Tegra K1 32-bit and 64-bit ARM SoCs, as well as Tegra K1 MVC for automotive application. The 32-bit version comes with four Cortex A15 cores up to 2.3 GHz plus a companion core, and the 64-bit version with 2 ARMv8 cores (Cortex A53?) clocked up to 3 GHz. Both SoC features a 192-core Kepler GPU, and we’ve been shown some high-end graphics demo (OpenGL, OpenGL ES, OpenCL…) with in the reference tablet. Some charts has surface showing both 32- and 64-bit Tegra K1 scoring well over 40,000 and with an excellent 3D graphics score. The benchmark was run in reference platform with 32-bit or 64-bit Tegra K1, as well as the Tegra Note P1761 tablet with a 32-bit quad core Tegra K1 processor apparently clocked at a lower frequency, and with a not-that-good flash. The dual core, 64-bit […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 9 Comments on Arduino based Open Source ECU for Diesel Engines

Arduino based Open Source ECU for Diesel Engines

If you buy a diesel engine without ECU (Engine Control Unit), what would you do? If you’re  a hacker like synkooppi, you might just decide to design your own ECU with an Arduino, open source the code, and provide some documentation on your site. Many people already control motors with Arduino boards, they just happen to be electric motor, and not diesel motor. The system works with diesel engines with Bosch VP37 pumps, and it has been used successfully since 2012. The ECU is based on an  Arduino Mega board with a  8-bit AVR MCU @ 16MHz. The latest source code is available for download (2013-10-06), and can be uploaded to the board via the Arduino IDE. Configuration is done with text-based interface using serial connection over USB port. Hardware schematics have not been released yet. This open source ECU currently support the following features: Integrated control map editor Diagnostic […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment on DATA MODUL mini-ITX Board Supports Freescale i.MX6 & Intel Bay Trail-I QSeven Modules

DATA MODUL mini-ITX Board Supports Freescale i.MX6 & Intel Bay Trail-I QSeven Modules

DATA MODUL, a specialist supplier of display technology, has recently unveiled eDM-mITX-CB-Q7-Info, a mini-ITX Baseboard for ARM & x86 Qseven modules optimized to drive large panels for digital signage applications. In theory, the board should support any Qseven modules, but for now only Data Modul’s Freescale i.MX6, and Congatec conga-QA3 Intel Atom E3800 series modules have been optimized and officially certified to work with the motherboard. Precisely, the board is optimized and certified for the following modules: DATA MODUL ARM Qseven SoMs: eDM-QMX6 (i.MX6Quad) eDM-DMX6 (i.MX6Dual) eDM-DLMX6 (i.MX6Dual lite) Congatec x86 Qseven SoMs: Conga-QA3 with Atom E3845 (Quad core) Conga-QA3 with Atom E382x (Dual core). Three models: Atom E3827, E3826 or E3825. Conga-QA3 with Atom E3815 (Single core) You may have heard about EDM, a competing module standard, previously, but the eDM prefix in the ARM modules or the mini-ITX board names has nothing to do with this standard, as […]