Category: Operating Systems

Operating Systems used in Embedded Devices

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 6 Comments on Popcorn Hour VTEN 4K Linux Media Player Unboxing & Teardown

Popcorn Hour VTEN 4K Linux Media Player Unboxing & Teardown

Cloud Media (aka Syabas) sent me their latest Popcorn Hour VTEN media player. It supports HDMI output up to 4K, H.265 video codec, and features an eSATA connector, as well as optical and coaxial S/PDIF connectors. Today, I’ll show some pictures of the kit, and teardown the box to checkout the hardware, and in a few days, I’ll report on the user interface, video playback, and HDMI audio pass-through capabilities. Popcorm Hour VTEN Unboxing The unexpected device was sent via Fedex in the package shown below. It lists some of the key features such as H.265, DSD (Direct Stream Digital), FLAC, Matroska, UPnP, 3D, and 4K Ultra HD support, as well as the specs, and more features and package content in English, French, Italian, Spanish, German, Dutch, Swedish, and Danish. The box comes with an IR remote control and two AAA batteries, an HDMI cable, a SATA cable, a 5V/3A […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 5 Comments on RaidSonic Releases Firmware and Source Code for Atheros AR9331 Wi-Fi Audio Streamers

RaidSonic Releases Firmware and Source Code for Atheros AR9331 Wi-Fi Audio Streamers

RaidSonic is a German company releasing products such as media players and multimedia accessories under their ICY BOX brand. One of those products is ICY Box IB-MP401Air music streaming received based on Atheros AR9331, and that looks very similar to SoundMate M2 I reviewed last year. But if you look on their product page, you’ll find out a few download links: ICY BOX IB-MP401Air  (multilang) – The Quick Start Guide and User’s manual in English and German IB-MP401Air (Source code) – a 648 MB rar file with source code for U-boot and OpenWRT IB-MP401Air (Firmware) – The firmware IB-MP401Air (Open Source Software) – Just the open source licenses So I’ve downloaded the source code file (IB-MP401Air_Sources_and%20License_Terms.rar) to have a look. It has two compressed files, one with the license, and IB-MP401Air_Sources.tar.gz with the source code.

The file showing how to build the firmware (OpenWRT) explains you should not use […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 6 Comments on AlphaScale ASM9260 ARM9 Processor Details and Development Board

AlphaScale ASM9260 ARM9 Processor Details and Development Board

Yesterday, as I wrote a Linux 4.0 Changelog, I noticed a new ARM processor called AlphaScale ASM9260, and I thought it might be interesting to find out more. A Google search would only return results from the Linux kernel mailing list and mirrors, so I checked out the code a bit to find out its an ARM9 processor made by AlphaScale Integrated Circuits Systems, Inc, based in Wuxi, China. The company website alphascale.com does not work, but I found out the processor is sold on Taobao for 38 RMB (~$6), and there’s also a development board (ASM9260DVK) for 498 RMB or about $80, and that’s basically the only two links were I could find any details. AlphaScale ASM9260T is arm ARM926EJS processor clocked at 240 MHz, 16GN I-cache and D-cache, 8KB SRAM, with the following peripherals: 32-bit SDRAM/NOR interface MLC NAND 24-bit ECC 2x USB 2.0 OTG, 2x USB 2.0 […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 6 Comments on Bubblegum-96 Development Board Complies with 96Boards, Features Actions Semi S900 64-bit ARM Processor

Bubblegum-96 Development Board Complies with 96Boards, Features Actions Semi S900 64-bit ARM Processor

We’ve already have two 96Boards compliant boards formally announced with HiSilicon Hikey and Qualcomm Dragonboard 410c, and Actions Semiconductor was also expected to release theirs soon. Albeit it’s not been officially announced yet, the company has been showcasing their Bubblegum-96 board at the Hong Kong Electronics Fair 2015. Bubblegum-96 development board specifications: SoC – Actions Semi S900 quad core Cortex A53 with PowerVR G6230 GPU System Memory – 1 to 8GB LPDDR2 / LPDDR3(800MHz) / DDR3 or DDR3L Storage – 4 to 64 GB eMMC 4.5 flash + micro SD slot Video Output – HDMI 1.4 with HDCP up to 4K, MHL 2.1 up to 4K Connectivity – Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.0 USB – 2x USB 2.0 ports, 1x micro USB 2.0 port Expansion 40-pin LS (Low Speed) Expansion connector – UART, I2C, 12x GPIOs, SPI, PCM, 1.8V, +5V, GND… 64-pin HS (High Speed) Expansion connector – DSI, CSI, […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 12 Comments on Linux 4.0 Release – Main Changes, ARM and MIPS Architectures

Linux 4.0 Release – Main Changes, ARM and MIPS Architectures

Linus Torvalds “Ima Sheep” released Linux Kernel 4.0 on Sunday: So I decided to release 4.0 as per the normal schedule, because there really weren’t any known issues, and while I’ll be traveling during the end of the upcoming week due to a college visit, I’m hoping that won’t affect the merge window very much. We’ll see. Linux 4.0 was a pretty small release both in linux-next and in final size, although obviously “small” is all relative. It’s still over 10k non-merge commits. But we’ve definitely had bigger releases (and judging by linux-next v4.1 is going to be one of the bigger ones). Which is all good. It definitely matches the “v4.0 is supposed to be a_stable_ release”, and very much not about new experimental features etc. I’m personally so much happier with time-based releases than the bad old days when we had feature-based releases. That said, there’s a few […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 12 Comments on Allwinner H-Series OTT SoC Roadmap Adds H5 and H2+ Processors

Allwinner H-Series OTT SoC Roadmap Adds H5 and H2+ Processors

Previously Allwinner only had A-Series processor such as A10 that were used in tablets and media players, but they’ve recently launch H-series processors for “Home entertainment” such as H64, H8 or H3 SoCs that have been specifically designed for media players and OTT (Over-the-top) boxes. The company has unveiled its OTT SoC roadmap at the Hong Kong Electronics Fair which adds two new processors Allwinner H2 and Allwinner H5. Allwinner H2+ will a quad core Cortex A7 processor support H.265 video decoding, 1080p decoding, and TrustZone support, and should the cheapest processor of the family. Based on the chart above, the processor must have been sampling by the end of last year, so H2+ media players should come to market very soon. Allwinner H5 will be at the other end of the scale, featuring eight Cortex A53 cores, a 4K H.265 decoder, an H.265 encoder (1080p?), and TrustZone support as […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment on LeTV Smartphones Feature USB Type C connectors, Mediatek Helio X10 and Snapdragon 810 Processors

LeTV Smartphones Feature USB Type C connectors, Mediatek Helio X10 and Snapdragon 810 Processors

LeTV has launched three new smartphones namely LeTV S1, LeTV S1 Pro, LeTV Max with zero bezel on its sides, a new USB type C reversible connector, and powered by Mediatek Helio X10 octa core Cortex A53 processor (S1) and Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 big.LITTLE octa core Cortex A53 & A57 processor (S1 Pro & Max) combined with 3 to 4GB RAM, and up to 128GB internal storage. LeTV smartphones specifications: SoC S1 – Mediatek Helio X10 (MT6795) octa core Cortex A53 @ 2.2 Ghz with PowerVR G6200 GPU @ 700 MHz S1 Pro & Max – Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 quad core Cortex A53 + quad core Cortex A57 in big.LITTLE configuration with Adreno 430 GPU System Memory S1 – 3 GB  LPDDR3 S1 Pro & Max – 4 GB LPDDR4 Storage S1 – 16, 32 or 64 GB eMMC 5.0 S1 Pro – 32 or 64 GB eMMC 5.0 Max […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 8 Comments on Mifree HX-V5 Bluetooth Smart Fitness Tracker sells for $14

Mifree HX-V5 Bluetooth Smart Fitness Tracker sells for $14

Mifree HX-V5 is a waterproof Bluetooth 4.0 activity tracker with fitness tracking and sleep monitoring functions just like Vidonn X5, except the device bring the price level to a new low, as it sells for just $14 including shipping on GeekBuying, and currently about $20 on Aliexpress, but there are few sellers, and more may come up around the $15 mark. HX-V5 smart band specifications differ depending on the sites too, not for the user exposed features, but for the internals [Update: GeekBuying told me they were given the wrong information, so I updated the specs accordingly): SoC – TI CC2541 Bluetooth SoC Storage – 4MB flash, enough to preserve 60 days of data Display – 0.91″ OLED display, 128×32 pixels Connectivity – Bluetooth 4.0 LE Sensors – 3-axis MEMS sensor IP Rating – IP67 (unlikely IMHO) Battery – 3.7V/70mAh Li-ion battery,  good for 10 to 12 days. 2 to 3 hours charging time. Dimensions […]

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