Linux 6.1 LTS release – Main changes, Arm, RISC-V and MIPS architectures

Linux 6.1 LTS

Linus Torvalds announced the release of Linux 6.1, likely to be an LTS kernel, last Sunday: So here we are, a week late, but last week was nice and slow, and I’m much happier about the state of 6.1 than I was a couple of weeks ago when things didn’t seem to be slowing down. Of course, that means that now we have the merge window from hell, just before the holidays, with me having some pre-holiday travel coming up too. So while delaying things for a week was the right thing to do, it does make the timing for the 6.2 merge window awkward. That said, I’m happy to report that people seem to have taken that to heart, and I already have two dozen pull requests pending for tomorrow in my inbox. And hopefully I’ll get another batch overnight, so that I can try to really get as […]

uConsole is a modular Arm or RISC-V handheld computer with optional 4G connectivity

uConsole portable handheld computer

Clockwork’s uConsole is a modular handheld computer with a 5-inch display, a built-in keyboard, and based on a carrier board supporting various Arm or RISC-V modules compatible with the Raspberry Pi CM3 or CM4 form factors. The device is offered with a system-on-module with up to 4GB RAM, a WiFi 5 and Bluetooth 5.0 wireless module, features micro HDMI video output, USB ports, and an audio jack, plus expansion connectors for more advanced users, and takes two 18650 batteries for power. The company also offers a 4G LTE module for cellular connectivity. The mainboard, called ClockworkPi v3.14 revision 5, offers the following: System-on-module socket – 200-pin DDR2 SODIMM socket compatible with Raspberry Pi CM3 and, through an adapter, Raspberry Pi CM4 and compatible modules Storage – MicroSD card socket Video Interfaces 40-pin MIPI DSI connector micro HDMI interface for external display Audio – 3.5mm audio jack with headphone and microphone […]

BIGTREETECH CB1 – A Raspberry Pi CM4 compatible Allwinner H616 system-on-module

BIGTREETECH-CB1

The BIGTREETECH CB1 core board is an Allwinner H616 quad-core Arm Cortex-A53 system-on-module (SoM) that follows the Raspberry Pi CM4 form factor and was designed by BIGTREETECH, a company whose main business is related to 3D printer motherboards and their peripherals. The BIGTREETECH CB1 comes with 1GB RAM, an HDMI output interface, 2.4GHz WiFi, and 100Mbps Ethernet. The CB1 has better multimedia capability than the CM4 with support for 4Kp60 H.265/H.264 video decoding and 1080p60 H.264 video encoding, while the Broadcom BCM2711 processor on the CM4 can only handle 4Kp60 H.265 and 1080p60 H.264 video decoding, and 1080p30 H.264 video encoding. Some disadvantages include the lack of CSI and DSI interfaces on the Allwinner H616 system-on-module and the presence of only one video output interface against two for the Raspberry Pi CM4 module. BIGTREETECH CB1 specifications: SoC – Allwinner H616 quad-core Cortex-A53 @ 1.5GHz with Mali-G31 MP2 GPU with OpenGL 3.2, […]

Linux 6.0 release – Main changes, Arm, RISC-V, and MIPS architectures

Linux 6.0 Release

Linux 6.0 has just been released by Linus Torvalds: So, as is hopefully clear to everybody, the major version number change is more about me running out of fingers and toes than it is about any big fundamental changes. But of course there’s a lot of various changes in 6.0 – we’ve got over 15k non-merge commits in there in total, after all, and as such 6.0 is one of the bigger releases at least in numbers of commits in a while. The shortlog of changes below is only the last week since 6.0-rc7. A little bit of everything, although the diffstat is dominated by drm (mostly amd new chip support) and networking drivers. And this obviously means that tomorrow I’ll open the merge window for 6.1. Which – unlike 6.0 – has a number of fairly core new things lined up. But for now, please do give this most […]

Yuzuki Chameleon – A Raspberry Pi Model A shaped SBC with Allwinner H616 CPU

Allwinner H616 Raspberry Pi Model A SBC

Yuzuki Chameleon is an open-source hardware single board computer powered by an Allwinner H616 quad-core Cortex-A53 processor that somewhat follows the shape of Raspberry Pi 3 Model A+ SBC with a different port layout that should still keep mechanical and electrical compatibility with some Raspberry Pi HATs. The board supports up to 2GB RAM, up to 128GB eMMC flash, features a MicroSD card slot, one 4K-capable HDMI 2.0 port, an audio jack, four USB Type-C ports to keep the design as slim as possible, as well as a wireless module for WiFi and Bluetooth and a connector to optionally add Fast Ethernet through an external module. Yuzuki Chameleon specifications: SoC – Allwinner H616 quad-core Cortex-A53 processor @  with Arm Mali G31 GPU, 6Kp30/4Kp60 video decoder System Memory – Up to 2GB RAM Storage – Up to 128GB eMMC flash storage, MicroSD card socket Video Output – HDMI 2.0 up to […]

MangoPi MQ Quad SBC – Allwinner H616 meets Raspberry Pi Zero W form factor

MangoPi MQ Quad Allwinner H616 SBC

MangoPi MQ Quad is an Allwinner H616 quad-core Arm Cortex-A53 SBC following Raspberry Pi Zero W form factor, and the company’s earlier MangoPi MQ Pro RISC-V SBC featuring the Allwinner D1 processor. The MangoPi MQ Quad also comes with 1GB RAM, a mini HDMI output, two USB Type-C ports, WiFI 4 and Bluetooth connectivity, a microSD card, as well a 40-pin Raspberry Pi-compatible GPIO header and an FPC connector with USB, Ethernet, and more GPIOs for expansion. MangoPi MQ Quad specifications: SoC – Allwinner H616 quad-core Cortex-A53 @ 1.5GHz with Mali-G31 MP2 GPU with OpenGL 3.2, Vulkan 1.1, OpenCL 2.0 API support System Memory – 1GB DDR3L Storage – MicroSD card slot, a footprint for SPI flash (on the bottom of the board) Video Output – Mini HDMI 2.0 port up to 4Kp60 Connectivity – 802.11 b/g/n WiFi 4 and Bluetooth 4.2 via RTL8723DS; ceramic and u.FL antennas included USB […]

$29 Inovato Quadra Arm mini PC runs Armbian on Allwinner H6 processor

Armbian mini PC specifications

Inovato Quadra is an Arm Linux mini PC based on Allwinner H6 quad-core Cortex-A53 processor with 2GB RAM, 16GB flash, and running Armbian-built Debian 11 Bullseye 64-bit. If the device looks like a repurposed Android TV box, it is because it is based on the T95 Mini model with one HDMI 2.0 port, USB 3.0 and 2.0 ports, a microSD card slot, a Fast Ethernet port and WiFi 4 wireless connectivity. Inovato Quadra specifications: SoC – Allwinner H6 quad-core Arm Cortex-A53 processor @ up to 1.7 GHz with Arm Mali-720 MP2 GPU System Memory – 2GB RAM Storage – 16GB eMMC flash, MicroSD card slot Video & Audio Output HDMI 2.0 port up to 4Kp60 3.5mm AV port with video composite and analog audio Networking 10/100M Ethernet port Wireless Quadra – 2.4 GHz 802.11n Wi-Fi 4, no Bluetooth (can be added with a USB dongle) Quadra Plus – Dual-band 802.11ac […]

Transpeed P10 Android 10 Full HD projector features Allwinner H700 SoC

Transpeed P10 Full HD Android 10 projector

Allwinner H700 is a “new” processor that has found its way into Transpeed P10 Full HD “portable” projector running Android 10. It is sold on Aliexpress for $125 including shipping. Allwinner H700 happens to be yet another derivative of Allwinner H616/H618 quad-core Corex-A53 processor, but adds an RGB LCD interface up to 1080p60 and video input interfaces that make it suitable for projector and smart displays. The processor also has two Ethernet interfaces (1x Gigabit and 1x 10/100M) like the H616, but no built-in PHY, so an additional Ethernet transceiver is needed on the board. Let’s first have a look a the Transpeed P10 projector specifications: SoC – Allwinner H700 quad-core Arm Cortex-A53 processor @ 1.5GHz with Arm Mali-G31 mp2, 6K video decoder, and 4Kp25 H.264 video encoder System Memory – 2GB  RAM Storage – 16GB eMMC flash Projector 1920×1080 native resolution LED bulb Brightness – 120 ANSI Lumens Projection […]