Ubuntu Linaro 12.11 with 2D/3D Mali-400 GPU Acceleration on ODROID-X Development Board

A few days ago, Hardkernel released the first version of Ubuntu 12.11 (Linaro) with Mali-400 GPU support for their ODROID boards (ODROID-X/X2, ODROID-U/U2). This is still WIP (Work in Progress), but this is one of the few boards together with Pandaboard, Origen and Snowball that can support 2D/3D GPU acceleration in Ubuntu Quantal. Since I have an ODROID-X development board, I decided to give it a try. There are different ways to install it. I chose the way that is most convenient for me (LCD display instead of HDMI), and likely to yield more performance (eMMC instead of SD Card). The current installation instructions to eMMC are extremely cumbersome and you have to go through 5 main steps: Install Android (yes, seriously) in the eMMC Install Ubuntu in the SD Card Install Ubuntu to the eMMC Upgrade Ubuntu to the latest version Install the Mali drivers In this post I’m […]

$69 ODROID-U & $89 ODROID-U2 Exynos 4412 Development Boards

Hardkernel has just announced 2 tiny quad core development boards based on Exynos 4412 @ 1.4 GHz (as used in Samsung Galaxy S3) and Exynos 4412 Prime @ 1.7 GHz (as used in Samsung Galaxy Note 2) called respectively ODROID-U and ODROID-U2. The other difference is the U version comes with 1 GB RAM, and the U2 version with 2 GB RAM. Here are the specification the ODROID-U and ODROID-U2 boards: Processor – Samsung Exynos4412 @ 1.4 GHz (ODROID-U) or Exynos 4412 Prime @ 1.7 Ghz (ODROID-U2), which can be overclocked respectively to 1.8 GHz and 2 GHz. GPU – Mali-400 clocked at 400MHz (ODROID-U) or 440MHz (ODROID-U2), which can be overclocked respectively to 533 and 633 MHz. System Memory – 1GB LPDDR2 DRAM @ 800MHz (ODROID-U) or  2GB @ 880MHz (ODROID-U2) Storage – microSD socket, eMMC connector USB – 2x USB 2.0 Host ports, 1x USB 2.0 device for ADB/mass […]

$149 Hardkernel ODroid-X2 Development Board with Exynos 4412 @ 1.7 GHz and 2 GB RAM

You’ve probably heard about the ODROID-X development board announced in July by Hardkernel. They now have an updated version called ODroid-X2 with Samsung Exynos 4412 clocked at 1.7 GHz (vs 1.4 GHz) and 2 GB RAM (vs 1 GB RAM for the first version). They also boosted the Mali 400 clock speed from 400 MHz to 533 MHz. Apart from being a good mobile development platform, the 2 GB RAM could make the board a pretty good native ARM build machine under Ubuntu, as I’ve read 1 GB RAM is not always enough at link stage (e.g. for Debian packages, sorry I can’t find the link), unless you use swap which tremendously slows things down. The rest of the board seems identical and it just looks the same as the first version. Charbax shot a video of Hardkernel ODroid-X2 development board at ARM Techcon 2012: ODroid-X2 will cost $149 (ODroid-X […]

HardKernel ODroid-X Review with Android 4.0.4

Following my ODroid-X unboxing and first boot post, I planned to review ODroid-X board with both Android and Ubuntu. However, I found out that an Ubuntu image will only be released later this week, so I’ll focus on Android review for today, and try Ubuntu once it becomes available. The default firmware come with a few standards applications, and an ODROID app that: Provide links to developer resources Features a file explorer Has a WiFi section that show WiFi information such as signal strength and let you test the network performance Has a GPS section (useless for this board) Has a Sensor section, but there are none in ODROID-X. Has a camera section that let you show the camera input. It works with the module provided Has a others section with 3D compass test (not used for ODROID-X) The Dev Tools application is also installed. But there was not really […]

HardKernel ODroid-X Development Board Unboxing and First Boot to Android

I’ve just received the ODroid-X development board based on Samsung Exynos 4412 quad-core processor together with lots of accessories: WiFi-Modules Kit USB-UART Module Kit 16 GB eMMC Module 5V/2A Adaptor 10.1″ LCD Module (1366×768) BlueTooth Dongle Camera Module HDMI Cable Since there is quite a lot of things to cover, today I’ll just show some unboxing pictures, how to connect all those modules to the board and run Android pre-loaded in the eMMC module, and I’ll do a more detailed review with Android and Ubuntu in another post. I received the kit in a large box sent via EMS. Here’s a picture with  the board and all accessories present in the Box. From top left to bottom right: 10.1″ LCD Modules, ODroid-X development board, HDMI to mini HDMI cable, micro USB to USB cable (for debugging), 5V/2A power supply for the board, 9V/1.5A power supply for the LCD module, WiFi […]

HardKernel ODroid-X: Low Cost Exynos 4412 Quad Core Cortex A9 Development Board

HardKernel unveiled the ODROID-X development board based on Samsung Exynos 4412 quad-core ARM Cortex-A9 with quad core Mali-400 GPU, 1 GB Low Power DDR2 and storage is done via SD card and/or eMMC flash. Here are ODROID-X development board specifications: Processor Samsung Exynos4412 Cortex-A9 Quad Core 1.4Ghz with 1MB L2 cache Memory 1024MB(1GB) LP-DDR2 800MB/s data rate GPU Quad Core Mali-400 Video supports 1080p via HDMI cable (H.264+AAC based MP4 container format) Video Out micro HDMI connector / RGB-24bit LCD interface port Audio Standard 3.5mm headphone jack and microphone jack HDMI SPDIF LAN 10/100Mbps Ethernet with RJ-45 Jack (Auto-MDIX support) USB2.0 Host High speed standard A type connector x 6 ports USB2.0 Device ADB/Mass storage(Micro USB) UART System console monitoring for development (1.8volt interface) IO PORTs 50pin IO expansion port for LCD/I2C/UART/SPI/ADC/GPIO interfaces Display (Option) HDMI monitor / LCD panel with RGB or LVDS interface Storage (Option) Full size SDHC […]