Patchsets for Nvidia Tegra K1 “Denver” Submitted to Linux Mainline

Some patchsets have been submitted for Nvidia Tegra 132 a few days ago to the Linux ARM Kernel mailing list. Tegra 132 is the codename for the 64-bit version of Tegra K1, and they’re also a mention of Norrin64 FFD board, that should be a Chromebook reference design.

Tegra114 and Tegra124 are the codename for Tegra K1 32-bit processor with Tegra124 clocked at a higher frequency. Norrin64 board dts does not seem included in the patchsets, but it’s available from Chromium OS code, and shows it’s using 2GB RAM too. That also means Chrombooks like Acer Chromebook 13 (CB5) or  HP Chromebook 14 with the 32-bit version of the Tegra K1 might soon get an upgrade to the 64-bit version. Thanks to David for the tip. 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 […]

PC Partner N258N1-F is a Linux mini PC Powered by Nvidia Tegra K1 Processor

Nvidia has done a great job porting Linux to their Tegra K1, and it’s one of the only ARM processor with a GPU supporting OpenGL, which helps a great deal with Unity for example. Nexus 9 supports Ubuntu (somewhat), and platforms like Jetson TK1 board are suitable to developers, but as I and others wondered why nobody ever made a Tegra K1 mini PC, I’ve been informed that such device existed already with PC Partner’s N258N1-F mini PC. N258N1-F technical specifications: SoC – Nvidia Tegra K1 quad-core ARM Cortex A15r3 processor with Kepler GPU System Memory – 2 GB RAM Storage – 16 GB eMMC + SD card slot Video Output – HDMI up to 3840×2160 @ 30Hz, 4096×2160 @ 24Hz or 3200×2000 @ 60 Hz Audio I/O – HDMI, headphone jack, and microphone jack Connectivity – Gigabit Ethernet and Wi-Fi (with external antenna connector) USB – 2x USB 2.0 […]

Intel Compute Stick HDMI TV Dongle Runs Windows or Ubuntu for as Low as $89

People got really interested in low cost small factor Intel devices at the end of the year, and one of my article about MeegoPad T01, an HDMI TV Stick powered by an Intel Atom Z3735F processor, even made it to the top 10 posts of 2014 on this blog. But instead of simply relying on partners, Intel had decided to enter the fray with Intel Compute Stick that will run Windows or Ubuntu on an Atom Bay Trail processor. There will actually be two versions of the hardware one for Windows 8.1 with Bing with 2GB RAM, and 32GB storage, and one for Linux with 1GB RAM, and 8G Storage. Intel Compute Stick preliminary specifications: SoC – Unnamed Intel Atom “Bay Trail” processor System Memory – 2 GB RAM (Windows) or 1 GB RAM (Linux) Storage – 32 GB eMMC (Windows) or 8 GB eMMC (Linux) + micro SD slot […]

Xunity Aurora is an XBMC Linux TV Box Powered by Amlogic S802 Processor

There are plenty of Android media players on the market, and Linux only TV boxes with recent processors have become a rarity. One of them is Armada Mach 8 Pure Linux based on Shenzhen Tomato / Eny M8 hardware, and a new device called Xunity Aurora,  also powered by Amlogic S802 quad core processor, will run Linux based on an hardware platform that looks very much like Zoomtak T8. Xunity Aurora specifications: SoC – Amlogic S802 quad core cortex A9r4 @ 2 GHz with Mali-450MP6 GPU @ 700 MHz System Memory – 2GB DDR3 Storage – 8GB NAND flash + SD card slot Connectivity – 10/100M Ethernet, dual band 802.11 b/g/n Wi-Fi with external antenna, Bluetooth 4.0 Video Output – HDMI 1.4a up to 4K30, composite output (RCA) Audio Output – HDMI, stereo RCA, and optical S/PDIF Video Containers – DAT, MPEG, MPE, MPG, TS/TP, VOB, ISO, AVI, MP4, MOV, […]

Nvidia Announces Tegra X1 64-bit Octa-core Processor with 256-Core Maxwell GPU

CES 2015 has started, and the first company to present their innovations is Nvidia. Last year their introduced Tegra K1, the first mobile processor with a desktop GPU with support for OpenGL. They’ve now raised the bar with Tegra X1, an octa-core 64-bit ARM processor with a 256-core Maxwell GPU delivering 1.5x to 2x the performance of Tegra K1, and supporting 4K60 video playaback with H.265 and VP9 codecs. Some geekbench benchmark comparing X1, K1, and Apple A8x. Nvidia CEO also claiemd Tegra X1 is the first mobie SoC delivering over 1 Teraflops, something that was achieved around year 2,000 with 20,000 Pentium pro processor consuming 1 millions Watts, while X1 SoC only consumes about 10 Watts. Power efficiency is said to have improved too, as Maxwell GPU is said to delivers more performance with similar power efficiency. They also introduced Drive CX mini computer for automotive application featuring Tegra […]

Crowdfunding Report for 2014 on CNX Software Blog

Following up on my 2013 Crowdfunding Report, I’ve gone through all 55 Kickstarter and Indiegogo crowdunding projects featured on CNX Software between December 2013 and November 2014 (inclusive) to see how well they fared. The table below sort projects chronologically as they were published on this very blog. Date Project Crowdfunding Site Funded? Pledged amount / Goal Expected Delivery Actual Delivery Comments 2. Dec. 2013 Micro Python Kickstarter Yes 97,803 GBP / 15,000 GBP 03/2014 04/2014 Available @ https://micropython.org/store/#/store 5. Dec. 2013 Plugaway Kickstarter Yes $162,835 AUD / $50,000 AUD 04/2014 – People upset because of lack of updates. Project might be dead, and backers lost their money 6. Dec. 2013 AIRTAME Indiegogo Yes $1,268,332 / $160,000 05/2014 12/2014 People have started received the beta versions, after a massive 8-month delay 7. Dec. 2013 Crystal Board Kickstarter No $14,574 / $200,000 04/2014 – The project appears to be dead 10. […]

Linux Benchmarks – Rockchip RK3288 vs Exynos 5422 vs AllWinner A80 vs Intel Atom Z3735F

With all these Intel Atom Z3735F been released right now at a price similar to ARM based mini PCs, many people, including myself, are wondering about the performance of the low cost Intel processor against their ARM competitors. Ian Morrison just published some results from Phoronix Test Suite comparing the performance of  Firefly-RK3288 (Rockchip RK3288), ODROID-XU3 Lite (Samsung Exynos 5422 BIN2), and A80 OptimusBoard (Allwinner A80) in Linux (Ununtu 12.04.5), against the performance of MeegoPad T01 (Intel Atom Z3735F) running Linux from a Live CD on a USB drive. Some of the benchmarks failed because Phoronix Test Suite got apparently confused with the file systems located on a USB drive, but at least we’ve got a comparison point, and the results are a bit confusing, as they’re no clear winner. In some tests like FFmpeg, the Intel SoC really crushed the ARM competition being at least twice as fast as […]

3D Graphics Acceleration in Linux on Allwinner A80 based Cubieboard4

Allwinner A80 is a powerful octa-core processor found in development boards and TV boxes such as Cubieboard4 or Tronsmart Draco AW80. Some early Ubuntu images and instructions had already been released for A80 Optimusboard and Draco AW80, but none of these featured GPU drivers for 3D acceleration, which to be honest, has limited advantages in Linux desktop distributions since desktop environments and most apps require full OpenGL support, i.e. not only OpenGL ES, and the only ARM SoC that can provide OpenGL support without external graphics card is Nvidia Tegra K1 SoC. Having said that GPU drivers would pave the way for smooth OpenELEC / Kodi user interface support in Allwinner A80 Linux distributions. That’s only one part of the puzzle, since the GPU normally handles the user interface, while the VPU takes care of video decoding. The good news is that CubieTech release updates images for their Cubieboard4 (CC-A80) […]

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