Linux

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 9 Comments on Lab in a Box Concept Embeds x86 Server and 6 ARM Boards into a PC Case for Automated Software Testing

Lab in a Box Concept Embeds x86 Server and 6 ARM Boards into a PC Case for Automated Software Testing

The Linux kernel now has about 20 millions line of code, Arm has hundreds of licensees making thousands of processors and micro-controllers, which end up in maybe hundreds of thousands of different designs, many of which are not using Linux, but for those that do, Linux must be tested to make sure it works. The same stands true for any large software used on multiple hardware platforms. Manual testing is one way to do it, but it’s time consuming and expensive, so there are software and hardware continuous integration solutions to automate testing such as Linaro LAVA (Linaro Automated Validation Architecture), KernelCI automated Linux kernel testing, and Automotive Grade Linux CIAT that automatically test incoming patch series. Both CIAT and KernelCI focus on Linux, and rely on LAVA, with KernelCI leveraging hardware contributed by the community, and proven to be effective as since it’s been implemented, failed build configs dropped […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 271 Comments on Giveaway Week – NanoPi K2 Development Board

Giveaway Week – NanoPi K2 Development Board

NanoPi K2 development board is powered by Amlogic S905 processor coupled with 2GB RAM, and follows Raspberry Pi 3 form factor, and I’ve got a K2 multimedia kit to give away courtesy of FriendlyELEC who sent me one a few months ago. The kit includes the board, a quick start guide, a fansink, a USB cable for power, an acrylic case (not shown above), and an IR remote control. I got it when I asked for NanoPi NAS Kit, and sadly I did not find the time to test it, but the company provides both Android 5.1 and Ubuntu 16.04.2 images for the board, and Armbian also released an experimental Ubuntu server image with mainline kernel, and an Ubuntu desktop “testing” image with legacy Linux. To enter the draw simply leave a comment below. Other rules are as follows: Only one entry per contest. I will filter out entries with […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment on Testing Google’s GNSS Analysis Tool for GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, Beidou…

Testing Google’s GNSS Analysis Tool for GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, Beidou…

Google has recently released GNSS Analysis Tool to process and analyze Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) raw measurements from Android devices. This is mostly designed to enable manufacturers to see whether their GNSS receivers are working as expected. The tool can also be used for research and to learn more about GNSS, and there are two components: GNSS Analysis tool itself available for Windows, Linux, or Mac OS X GNSS Data Logger app working with Android 7.0 or greater phones that support raw measurements. You can download both from the release page on Github. I’ve given it a try with a computer running Ubuntu 16.04 and Xiaomi Mi A1 smartphone, but you can the analysis tool even f you don’t have Android 7.0+ smartphone, as sample data is included. I downloaded GnssAnalysisLinuxV2.4.0.0.zip, and extracted the content in ~/Desktop/GnnsAnalysisFiles directory as instructed. Now we can open a terminal window and install […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 6 Comments on SAMA5D2 Based SiPs Combine ARM Cortex-A5 Processor With Up to 128MB DDR2

SAMA5D2 Based SiPs Combine ARM Cortex-A5 Processor With Up to 128MB DDR2

Atmel SAMA5D2 ARM Cortex-A5 processor was released about two years ago with extended temperature range and lower power consumption compared to previous SAMAD5 processors, with the new SoC still targeting industrial Internet of Things (IIoT), wearables and point of sale applications. In recent years, we’ve seen companies packing main components into systems-in-package (SiP) with products such as Octavo Systems OSD3358 and Espressif Systems ESP32-PICO-D4 with integrate an existing processor with memory, storage, and/or PMIC. Microchip (previously Atmel) has now done the same for their SAMA5D2 processors with SiPs combining the Cortex A5 SoC with DDR2 memory. Four SAMA5D2 SiPs have been launched: ATSAMA5D225C-D1M based on ATSAMA5D22C MPU with extra SD/SDIO, QSPI, FLEXCOMs (2x), I2S, and timers (2x) and: 128 Mb (16 MB) DDR2 DRAM 90 Peripheral I/Os 196 BGA Package Designed for RTOS/bare metal development ATSAMA5D27C-D5M based on ATSAMA5D27C MPU with: 512 Mb (64 MB) DDR2 DRAM 128 Peripheral I/Os […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 31 Comments on $15 Banana Pi M2 Zero Board is a Raspberry Pi Zero W Clone with a Quad Core Processor

$15 Banana Pi M2 Zero Board is a Raspberry Pi Zero W Clone with a Quad Core Processor

Many development boards have followed Raspberry Pi 2/3 form factor in recent years, including Hardkernel ODROID-C2 and Pine64 ROCK64, but so far I had not seen any boards leveraging Raspberry Pi Zero (W) form factor. SinoVoIP will change that, as they’ve just launched Banana Pi M2 Zero (aka BPI-Zero) board powered by Allwinner H2+ quad core processor, leveraging Raspberry Pi Zero W form factor, and now selling on Aliexpress for $15 plus shipping. Banana Pi M2 Zero specifications: SoC – Allwinner H2+ quad core Cortex A7 processor @ up to 1 GHz with Mali 400MP2 System Memory – 512 MB DDR3 Storage – micro SD card slot up to 64GB Video/Audio Output – mini HDMI Connectivity – 802.11 b/g/n WiFi and Bluetooth LE (AP6212 module with options for AP6181, AP6335) Camera – 1x MIPI CSI connector supporting 8-bit YUV422 CMOS sensor, CCIR656 protocol for NTSC and PAL, 5MP camera, 1080p […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 13 Comments on NanoPi Duo Quick Start Guide – Ubuntu, Breadboard, Mini Shield & mSATA SSD

NanoPi Duo Quick Start Guide – Ubuntu, Breadboard, Mini Shield & mSATA SSD

As far as I know NanoPi Duo is the only quad core ARM Linux development board that can fit on a breadboard. We’ve already seen it’s much smaller than Raspberry Pi Zero, and the company offer a mini shield exposing USB ports, Ethernet, a few I/Os, and an mSATA slot in in NanoPi Duo Starter Kit Review – Part 1: Unboxing and Assembly. I’ve finally played with it this week-end, and will report what I had to do to blink a LED when connected to breadboard, and my experience using the mini shield with  an mSATA SSD, WiFi connectivity, and cooling under load. Flashing Ubuntu 16.04.2 firmware image to NanoPi Duo As with many other Allwinner development boards, you should first check if Armbian is available for the board. NanoPi Duo is not supported, but it’s said to work with Orange Pi Zero image minus support for WiFi. Since the […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 179 Comments on Giveaway Week – NanoPi NEO NAS Kit with NEO 2 Board

Giveaway Week – NanoPi NEO NAS Kit with NEO 2 Board

Time has come to organize another giveaway week. I used to mainly give away TV boxes, but due to recent regulations that will not be possible anymore, and instead this giveaway week will include Linux and IoT development boards, and other accessories. I’ll start with NanoPi NEO NAS Kit v1.2. NanoPi NEO NAS Kit v1.2 is a low cost kit NanoPi NEO or NEO 2 board that takes a 2.5″ hard drive. I’ve tested it with NanoPi NEO 2 board and OpenMediaVault, and found to perform optimally for this type of device (USB 2.0 to SATA), with SAMBA reads & writes achieving 40 MB/s. The hardware given away includes the NAS Kit v1.2 and a NanoPi NEO 2 board. You’ll just need to add a micro SD card with the OMV image, a hard drive, and a 12V/2A (or greater) power supply. To enter the draw simply leave a comment […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 2 Comments on Emcraft Releases Linux BSP for NXP i.MX RT1050 Cortex M7 Evaluation Board

Emcraft Releases Linux BSP for NXP i.MX RT1050 Cortex M7 Evaluation Board

NXP iMX RT series is a family of ARM Cortex M7 processors clocked at 600 MHz, making the solution a “crossover embedded processor” bridging the gap between real-time capabilities of micro-controllers and the performance of application processors. This week, NXP provided some benchmark numbers for i.MX RT1050 processor, which delivers a CoreMark score of 3020, DMIPS of 1284, and 20ns interrupt latency at 600 MHz, which means it could be a good candidate for embedded Linux, and Emcraft Systems has just released a uCLinux BSP for the NXP i.MX RT1050 EVK board. The BSP features U-Boot v2017.09-rc1, Linux Kernel 4.5 with relevant device drivers such as key I/O interfaces, Wi-Fi, SD card, LCD, etc…, and GNU development tools such as a GCC 4.7 toolchain, GDB, and so on. The company has made a demo with a GUI application designed with Crank Software’s Storyboard Suite, and running in Linux on the […]

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