Linux

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 18 Comments on $59 RetroEngine Sigma Retro Game Console is Based on Orange Pi Lite Board (Crowdfunding)

$59 RetroEngine Sigma Retro Game Console is Based on Orange Pi Lite Board (Crowdfunding)

2016 has been the year of retrogaming comeback with products like PocketCHIP, Nintendo NES Classic, GPD Win and quite a few other projects. There will soon be a new option with RetroEngine Sigma, an inexpensive Linux based retro-gaming console based on Allwinner H3 processor. RetroEngine Sigma fanless game console hardware specifications: SoC – Allwinner H3 quad core Cortex A7 @ 1.2 GHz with an ARM Mali-400MP2 GPU up to 600 MHz System Memory – 512 MB DDR3 Storage – 16 or 32GB micro SD card Video & Audio Output – HDMI port Connectivity – 802.11 b/g/n WiFi USB – 2x USB 2.0 host ports, 1x micro USB OTG port Misc – Programmable status LED, 2 user configurable buttons P1 & P2 Power Supply – 5V/2A via power barrel Dimensions – 110 x 85 x 33.5 mm The specifications look similar, so I went to my little list of Allwinner H3 […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 4 Comments on Qualcomm Starts Sampling of Qualcomm Centriq 2400 ARM Server SoC with Up to 48 ARMv8 Cores

Qualcomm Starts Sampling of Qualcomm Centriq 2400 ARM Server SoC with Up to 48 ARMv8 Cores

Qualcomm has announced commercial sampling of Qualcomm Centriq 2400 series server SoC built with 10nm FinFET process technology and featuring up to 48 Qualcomm Falkor custom ARMv8 CPU cores “highly optimized to both high performance and power efficiency, and designed to tackle the most common datacenter workloads”. Qualcomm Datacenter Technologies demonstrated the new processor in a Live demo showing Apache, Spark, Java, and Hadoop on Linux running on a SBSA compliant server powered by Qualcomm Centriq 2400 processor, but the company did not provide any further technical details or preliminary benchmark results for the solution. The Qualcomm Centriq 2400 processor series is now sampling to select customers and is expected to be commercially available in H2 2017. That’s about all we know from the press release. However, Linaro have been working on Qualcomm Technologies QDF2432 based board for several months with support for Debian 8.x ‘Jessie’ and CentOS 7 operating […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 11 Comments on How to Install ThingSpeak in Ubuntu 16.04

How to Install ThingSpeak in Ubuntu 16.04

Last week-end I installed ESPurna open source firmware with MQTT server on Sonoff POW WiFi switch, and the next step is find a way to draw power consumption charts in some web based interface. We could do this in the IoT cloud with services like Xively or ThingSpeak, but since one of the goals of replacing the default firmware was not to rely on a proprietary cloud based solution, I decided to find a way to draw those chart in a local server, and it so happens that ThingSpeak is also open source with the code available on Github. Hardware platforms like NanoPi NEO / NEO Air, or Orange Pi Zero boards appear to be particularly well suited for the task of running an MQTT broker and Thingspeak, but at first I wanted to install ThingSpeak in my own Ubuntu 16.04 computer to have a try. As you can see […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 8 Comments on Hardkernel ODROID-VU8C is 8″ LCD Display and Case Kit for ODROID C1+ and C2 Boards

Hardkernel ODROID-VU8C is 8″ LCD Display and Case Kit for ODROID C1+ and C2 Boards

While it’s quite easy to find displays for development boards, they do not always come with a case, so you’d have to make your own. One easier option for the Raspberry Pi boards is the official Raspberry Pi 7″ LCD touch screen Display, plus RS Premium touchscreen case that selling for $132 in total including Raspberry Pi 3 board. But Hardkernel has now launched their own ODROID-VU8C 8″ Touch Display Shell Kit compatible with ODROID-C1+ and ODROID-C2 boards. Specifications and Kit Contents: 8-inch TFT-LCD with 1024×768 resolution (4:3 ratio) 10 finger capacitive touch input Back-light brightness control with ODROID GPIO PWM Viewing angle : Left 75, Right 75, Up 75, Down 75 degree Screen Dimensions : 189 x 149 x 29 mm Viewable screen size : 162 x121.5 mm (active area) Power Supply – 5V/4A DC to power barrel (powering both the LCD and ODROID ARM Linux board) Power consumption […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 6 Comments on Full Specifications for Intel Apollo Lake NUC Mini PC’s NUC6CAYB Board Released

Full Specifications for Intel Apollo Lake NUC Mini PC’s NUC6CAYB Board Released

Intel unveiled Intel NUC6CAYS & NUC6CAYH NUCs to be powered by Intel Celeron “Apollo Lake” Jxxx processors, but at the time we did not have the full technical specifications. The company has now published a 66-page technical product specification for NUC6CAYB board used in both mini PCs. Intel NUC Board NUC6CAYB specifications: SoC – Intel Celeron J3455 quad core processor @ 1.5 GHz to 2.3 GHz (burst) with 12EU Intel HD graphics 500 @ 250 to 700 MHz supporting DirectX 9.3/10/11.1/12, OpenCL 1.2, OGLES 3.0, OpenGL 4.3 (10W TDP) System Memory – 2x DDR3L-1600/1833 SO-DIMM supporting up to 8GB DDR3L-1866 in total Storage – 32GB eMMC flash (Sandisk, Hynix or Samsung depending on your luck), 2.5″ SATA3 bay for hard drives up to 9.5mm thick, SDXC slot with UHS-I support Video Output – HDMI 2.0 (4K @ 60 Hz) with HDMI CEC via MegaChips MCDP2800-BCT DisplayPort 1.2a to HDMI 2.0 […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 35 Comments on Firefly-RK3399 Rockchip RK3399 Development Board Launched on Kickstarter for $139 and Up

Firefly-RK3399 Rockchip RK3399 Development Board Launched on Kickstarter for $139 and Up

Firefly-RK3399 is the first, and for now the only one, development board equipped with the latest Rockchip RK3399 hexa-core Cortex A72 & A53 processor. It’s just not available yet, but the board has now been launched on Kickstarter where it is offered for $139 to $199 depending on options. Firefly-RK3399 board specifications: SoC – Rockchip RK3399 hexa-core big.LITTLE processor with dual core ARM Cortex A72 up to 2.0 GHz and quad core Cortex A53 processor with ARM Mali-T860 MP4 GPU with OpenGL 1.1 to 3.1 support, OpenVG1.1, OpenCL and DX 11 support System Memory Standard – 2 GB DDR3 Plus devkit – 4 GB DDR3 Storage Standard – 16 GB eMMC flash, micro SD card, M.2 socket Plus devkit – 32 GB eMMC flash, micro SD card, M.2 socket Video Output & Display Interfaces 1x HDMI 2.0 up to 4K @ 60 Hz 1x DisplayPort (DP) 1.2 interface up to […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 3 Comments on NXP Modular IoT Gateway Supports Thread, Zigbee, NFC, Bluetooth and WiFi Connectivity

NXP Modular IoT Gateway Supports Thread, Zigbee, NFC, Bluetooth and WiFi Connectivity

NXP has just announced a modular IoT gateway solution for large node networks (>= 250 nodes) based on Volansys i.MX6UL system-on-module, supporting wireless communications protocols such as Thread, ZigBee, NFC through add-on modules, on top of Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 4.1. NXP Modular IoT Gateway specifications: SoM – Volansys i.MX6UL 200-pin SO-DIMM module with: SoC – NXP i.MX 6UL ARM Cortex A7 processor @ 528 MHz System Memory – 256MB to 1GB DDR3L  RAM Storage – 1GB to 4GB NAND flash, optional 4GB to 16GB eMMC flash, EEPROM for device info PMIC, Mbit Ethernet PHY Wireless Connectivity Expansion Modules: PN7120 explorer board for NFC Kinetis KW41 module for Thread support JN5169 module for Zigbee support 2x MikroBUS headers Baseboard connectors / features: Storage – 1x micro SD slot Connectivity – 1x 10/100M Ethernet port, Murata WiFi 802.11 b/g/n & Bluetooth 4.1 + EDR module with external antenna connector USB – 2x […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 17 Comments on LeMaker HiKey 96Boards Board Sells for $29.70 (Promo)

LeMaker HiKey 96Boards Board Sells for $29.70 (Promo)

[Update: The promo is over back!] You’d think Cyber Monday should be over by now, but ITEAD Studio still has a clearance with real 70% discount, as 96Boards hardware compliant LeMaker Hikey board is now sold for just $29.70 instead of the usual $99 price. A quick reminder of the specifications: SoC – HiSilicon Kirin 620 octa core Cortex A53 processor @ 1.2 GHz with ARM Mali-450MP4 GPU System Memory – 2 GB LPDDR3 @ 800 MHz Storage – 8GB eMMC + micro SD slot Video Output / Display – HDMI up to 1080p, MIPI-DSI interface Connectivity – 802.11 a/b/g/n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.1 LE (WL1835MOD module) USB – 2x USB 2.0 host ports, 1x micro USB OTG Camera – MIPI CSI interface Debugging – UART header), unpopulated 10-pin JTAG header (back) Expansion headers 40-pin LS (Low Speed) Expansion connector – UART, I2C, 12x GPIOs, SPI, PCM, PWM, SYS_DCIN, 1.8V, 5V, […]