open source

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 4 Comments on Raspberry Pi 3 Repository Has Been Added to Android Open Source Project

Raspberry Pi 3 Repository Has Been Added to Android Open Source Project

Android has been ported to the Raspberry Pi boards in the past, but the images were not really usable because the implementation lacked 2D & 3D graphics support. The good news is that Raspberry Pi 3 is likely to officially support the latest version of Android soon, because rpi3 repository has been created in AOSP about 5 weeks ago. That’s all we know for now. Raspberry Pi 3 could then be part of the second wave of boards officially supported in Android “mainline”, as currently 96Boards Hikey is the only supported board in AOSP. However, If we go down in the git repo to android/device, we can also see MIPS Creator CI40, Aaeon Upboard, i.mx6ul picoimx board, Intel Edison and Minnowboard, and a few others. Some of the boards will run Brillo instead of Android however, or it could be a different project, so we’ll have to see what happens […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 9 Comments on Preliminary Open Source Bootloader for Raspberry Pi Boards Released

Preliminary Open Source Bootloader for Raspberry Pi Boards Released

Raspberry Pi boards require a closed-source binary to boot. I understand it this is handled by VideoCore IV GPU,  and so  far the Raspberry Pi foundation are not release source code for the bootloader, possibly due to legal reason (e.g. NDA to Broadcom). But I noticed people chatting about an open source bootloader for Raspberry Pi on sunxi-linux IRC channel. The bootloaded called rpi-open-firmware has been developed by Kristina Brooks (christinaa), who previously did some work on the VideoCore IV GPU, as you can see on her blog and github account. Kristina describe the project as follows: This is a small firmware for RPi VPU (VideoCore4) versions 1/2/3 that is capable of initializing VPU PLL (PLLC), UART, SDRAM and ARM itself. It’s intended to be used instead of stock bootcode.bin on RPi’s SD card. You need to have UART to see anything meaningful as far as output goes. This has […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 4 Comments on OpenThread is an Open Source Implementation of Thread IoT Networking Protocol

OpenThread is an Open Source Implementation of Thread IoT Networking Protocol

OpenThread

Thread was announced about two years ago, as a new IP-based wireless protocol based on 6LoWPAN and 802.15.4 standards and targeting IoT applications. Nest Labs,  an Alphabet company, has now released OpenThread open-source implementation of the networking protocol under a BSD license. The source code (C++)  for OpenThread includes supports for End Device, Router, Leader & Border Router roles, and  can be found on Github. The implementation is said to be OS and platform agnostic with a radio abstraction layer, have a small footprint, and implement all Thread networking layers, namely IPv6, 6LoWPAN, IEEE 802.15.4 with MAC security, Mesh Link Establishment, and Mesh Routing. To quickly get started, you may want to read the Examples README which explains how to build the code, start two nodes, and ping them. Interestingly, while the code is there for everybody to use, only paid members ($2,500 to $100,00) of the Thread group can […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 6 Comments on Olimex iCE40HX1K-EVB Open Source Hardware Lattice FPGA Development Board To Sell for 22 Euros

Olimex iCE40HX1K-EVB Open Source Hardware Lattice FPGA Development Board To Sell for 22 Euros

Olimex has showcased a prototype of their small (5×5 cm) iCE40HX1K-EVB development board powered by Lattice Semi iCE40 FPGA, programmable with OLinuXino development boards via the UEXT interface, and compatible with Project Icestorm open source toolchain for Lattice iCE40. iCE40HX1K-EVB specifications: FPGA – Lattice Semi iCE40HX1K-VQ100 FPGA @ up to 533 MHz with 1280 gates, 160 Logic Array Blocks, and 64 kbit memory System Memory – 256Kx16 SRAM (Samsung K6R4016V1D-TC10 ) Storage – 2MB serial flash Expansion UEXT connector for programming 34-pin header to access FPGA I/Os Misc – 2x user buttons, reset button, 2x user LEDs Power Supply – 5V via power jack Dimensions – 5×5 cm (4-layer PCB) The company has also made four stackable add-on boards to connect to the 34-pin expansion header: iCE40-ADC fast 100Mhz ADC with BNC input connector for Digital Storage Oscilloscope (DSO) with up to 512 KB buffer iCE40-DAC fast 100Mhz DAC with […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 9 Comments on LEDE (Linux Embedded Development Environment) Project is a Fork of OpenWrt

LEDE (Linux Embedded Development Environment) Project is a Fork of OpenWrt

2016 appears to be the year of splits in open source communities with Kodi losing its main Android developer, LibreELEC being born out of disagreements within OpenELEC community, and now LEDE project, a fork of OpenWrt, has been created because some people are not satisfied with the way the project is managed, and now “includes a significant share of the most active members of the OpenWrt community”. LEDE, which stands for “Linux Embedded Development Environment” , has three stated goals: Building a great embedded Linux distribution with focus on stability and functionality. Having regular, predictable release cycles coupled with community provided device testing feedback. Establishing transparent decision processes with broad community participation and public meetings. You can find more on LEDE Project website, and the source code is available on the project’s git server:

Thanks to Zoobab for the tip. Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft)Jean-Luc started CNX Software in 2010 as […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 26 Comments on Pyra Open Source Debian Handheld Computer & Game Console is Now Available for Pre-order

Pyra Open Source Debian Handheld Computer & Game Console is Now Available for Pre-order

The development of Pyra open source portable gaming console started in 2014, and after over two years of hard work, the developers are now ready to take pre-order of the Texas Instruments OMAP 5 powered device running Debian Linux. Pyra handheld specifications have changed a little bit since the announcement two years ago: SoC – Texas Instruments OMAP 5432 SoC with 2x ARM Cortex-A15 @ 1.7Ghz with NEON SIMD, 2x ARM Cortex-M4, Imagination Technologies PowerVR SGX544-MP2 GPU for 3D graphic, and Vivante GC320 GPU for 2D graphics System Memory – 2GB or 4GB RAM Storage – 32 GB eMMC flash, 2x SDXC card slot, 1x internal micro SDXC card slot Display – 720p 5″ LCD with resistive touchscreen Video Output – micro HDMI Audio I/O – High-quality speakers, analog volume wheel, headset port, built-in Mic Gaming controls – D-Pad, 4x shoulder buttons, 6x face buttons, 2x accurate analog controls with […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment on Wandboard Development Boards Get Android 6.0 Marshmallow Support

Wandboard Development Boards Get Android 6.0 Marshmallow Support

Wandboard development boards powered by Freescale i.MX6 Solo, Dual and Quad Cortex A9 processors were released over 3 years ago with Android 4.1 Jelly Bean. Contrary to many other boards that don’t get an updated version, Wandboard boards got support for Android 4.4 Kitkat, Android 5.x Lollipop, and now the community has recently released Android 6.0 Marshmallow. You can try the Android 6.0 SD card image as follows:

Where /dev/sdX is the device for your SD card. If you can remember the first Jellybean release had separate images for each version of the board, but thanks to device tree implementation, a single image is now released with all three versions. The full source code is also available in a 5.0 GB tarball. Since Freescale, now NXP, i.MX6 processors will be available until November 2022, we can most probably expect a few more Android releases for the board. Jean-Luc Aufranc […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 5 Comments on LibreELEC (OpenELEC Fork) v7.0.0 Released with Kodi 16.1

LibreELEC (OpenELEC Fork) v7.0.0 Released with Kodi 16.1

It’s not always easy to get along in life, and recently this has been true in Kodi developer community and related project, with Koying leaving his role as the main Kodi Android developer, possibly meaning Kodi 17 won’t get an Android port, and more recently several OpenELEC developers, not satisfied with some of the current project developments, decided to fork it, and create LibreELEC. The team of 25 or so members has now released LibreELEC v7.0.0 based on Kodi 16.1 which had also  been released a few days ago. The changelog only reads: The 7.0.0 release contains Kodi Jarvis 16.1 (final) and a fix for Verisign SSL certificate changes that impacted Pandora add-on users. It also addresses a bluez crash, a firmware update for Intel Skylake users, and a fix for an Amlogic CEC issue on WeTek Play/Core. Most importantly it also contains our new logo branding. The images are […]