ubuntu News - Page 121 of 167 - CNX Software

August 6, 2015 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 8 Comments

How to Install and Run Linux on Zidoo X1 TV Box

Now that I’ve completed Zidoo X1 review, I’ve decided to try out Ubuntu on the mini PC following a tip from one reader that Orange Pi 2 images can run on the platform since it’s based on the same Allwinner H3 processor, but with some limitations such as WiFi not working. There are three Linux firmware images for Orange Pi 2 on the download page: Lubuntu, Raspbian, and Debian server. I decided to go with Lubuntu image. First you need to download Lubuntu_1404_For_OrangePi2-mini2_v0_8_0_.img.xz image from Google Drive or Baidu, uncompress it, and then flash the image to a Class 10 micro SD card in Windows or Linux. I ran the following command line in a computer running Ubuntu 14.04:

sudo dd if=Lubuntu_1404_For_OrangePi2-mini2_v0_8_0_.img | pv | sudo dd of=/dev/sdX bs=16M

1	sudo dd if=Lubuntu_1404_For_OrangePi2-mini2_v0_8_0_.img \| pv \| sudo dd of=/dev/sdX bs=16M

Where X in sdX is the letter of your micro SD card, which you can find with lsblk. In some platforms, it might be /dev/mmcblkX instead of /dev/sdX. Once it’s […]

August 3, 2015December 28, 2015 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 24 Comments

Cubieboard 5 (aka CubieTruck Plus) Development Board is Powered by Allwinner H8 SoC

Merrii unveiled H7 Hummingbird board based on Allwinner H8 octa core Cortex A7 processor a few days ago, but it turns out they’ve not been the only ones working on a board with that processor, as Cubietech also showcased prototypes of Cubieboard 5, which they also call CubieTruck Plus, around mid July. They’ve only shown pictures of the board, without much more information, but we can derive most specifications from the pictures: SoC – AllWinner H8 octa-core ARM Cortex-A7 processor @ up to 2.0GHz with PowerVR SGX544 GPU @ up to 700MHz System Memory – 2GB RAM (4x H5TQ4G63AFR-PCB DDR3 chips) Storage – FORESEE eMMC or NAND flash + micro SD card slot + SATA port (via GL830 USB 2.0 to SATA bridge) Video Output – HDMI and DisplayPort Audio – HDMI, optical S/PDIF, 3.5mm headphone jack, built-in microphone Connectivity – Gigabit Ethernet (RTL8211E), dual band WiFi 802.11 b/g/n and […]

August 1, 2015August 2, 2015 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 2 Comments

Cloudshell for XU4 is a $39 NAS Kit for ODROID-XU4 Board

Hardkernel launched ODROID-XU4 development board a couple of weeks ago. The board is a low cost ($74) update to ODROID-XU3 development board, with an Exynos 5422 octa core processor (4x A15, 4x A7), 2GB RAM, Gigabit Ethernet and USB 3.0, making it a pretty good target for a NAS. It’s easy to connect all requires parts such as hard drive and power supply together, but it would normally be a mess on your desk. So the company create a NAS kit for the board with an enclosure, cables, fans, and even an LCD display with they call Cloudshell for XU4 for sell for $39, so you can get a high relatively high performance NAS for around $113 + shipping, which will vary depending on your distributor, as well as an HDD or SSD drive. Cloudshell kit content: Enclosure with top and bottom covers, rear, front and side panels. Available in […]

July 31, 2015 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

Linaro 15.07 Release with Linux 4.2 and Android 5.1

Linaro 15.07 has been released with Linux 4.2-rc3 (Baseline), Linux 3.10.83, 3.14.45 and 3.18.17 (LSK), and Android 5.1.1_r8. The Linux kernel got various bug fixes, and a power reduction technique has been implemented for Qualcomm processor. Progress has been made to boot Android with UEFI on Hikey board, and work is still on-going on 96boards including Hisilicon Hikey, Qualcomm DragonBoard 410c, and an upcoming and yet-to-be-formally-announced Marvell PXA1928 board called Helium. Highlights of this release: Linux Linaro 4.2-rc3-2015.07 linaro-android topic updated to 4.2-rc3 and recent AOSP/android-3.18 included GATOR version 5.21.1 llct-misc-fixes topic: “HACK: of: Limit FDT size for CRC check on arm64” has been dropped. FVP model was the last target to require this hack, but the new FVP firmware doesn’t need it anymore updated integration-linaro-vexpress64 topic by ARM LT: Versatile Express TC2 support is back, HDLCD display now works on TC2, the topic will be renamed to integration-linaro-vexpress next […]

July 29, 2015 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 10 Comments

Nvidia SHIELD TV Benchmarks in Ubuntu Shows Core i3 Like Performance

Nvidia SHIELD Android TV was announced this March with Nvidia Tegra X1 octa-core Cortex A57 + A53 processor. So far, I had not seen any Ubuntu or other Linux distribution port, but Michael Mirabel of Phoronix got remote access to a Shield TV PRO – model with a 500GB hard drive – running Ubuntu 14.10. It’s not clear who provided access, either Nvidia or third parties, but somebody posted an Ubuntu 14.10 port on XDA Developers Forums recently so it might be that one. He obviously ran Phoronix Test Suite on the device, and compared to it some other ARM devices (Compule Utilite, Jetson TK1), MIPS Creator CI20, low power x86 devices (Compute Stick, Intel NUC with Celeron N2820), and an Intel Core i3-5010u NUC. The Tegra X1 platform easily beats all other low power platforms, and comes close to the Core i3 mini PC in most tests. In the […]

July 16, 2015 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 11 Comments

Kodi 14.2 Linux Ported to Rockchip RK3288 with VPU Hardware Decoding

Rockchip RK3288 is one of the most popular platforms for TV boxes, and while most boxes are sold with Android OS, it can also run various Linux distributions with two main caveats: 2D/3D GPU acceleration, and hardware video decoding by the VPU. It appears the last two have been worked on, as yesterday, I got tipped that Kodi 14.2 Linux was running on Ugoos UT3 and Radxa Rock2 Square. Since both hardware platforms showcased a Kodi port at the about same time, it’s probably safe to assume they use the same implementation (despite slightly different build dates May 29 vs June 6), which has been developed by “Marc” (or is it MAC?) using the Android libraries and libhybris for video decoding, raw2 device driver for 2D HW accelerated blitting and converting frames, and ARM OpenGL library, driver and examples, among other software packages. So let’s check the demos starting with […]

July 14, 2015July 14, 2015 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 26 Comments

ODROID-XU4 Development Board is a Smaller and Cheaper Version of ODROID-XU3 Board

Many people are expecting Hardkernel to launch an Exynos 7 board, but this won’t be with ODROID-XU4, maybe with ODROID-XU5, as the latest development board from Hardkernel is a modified version of ODROID-XU3 with the same Exynos 5422 octa-core processor with four Cortex-A15 cores @ 2GHz and four Cortex-A7 cores. ODROID-XU4 board specifications (differences with ODROID-XU3 highlighted and sometimes crossed out in bold): SoC – Samsung Exynos 5422 quad core ARM Cortex-A15 @ 2.0GHz quad core ARM Cortex-A7 @ 1.4GHz with Mali-T628 MP6 GPU supporting OpenGL ES 3.0 / 2.0 / 1.1 and OpenCL 1.1 Full profile System Memory – 2GB LPDDR3 RAM PoP (750 MHz, 12GB/s memory bandwidth, 2x32bit bus) Storage – Micro SD slot (up to 64GB) + eMMC 5.0 module socket (16, 32, and 64GB modules available) Video Output – micro HDMI (Up to 1080p) and DisplayPort (up to 2160p) Audio Output – HDMI, 3.5mm headphone jack, […]

July 10, 2015 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 3 Comments

96Boards Enterprise Edition Specification Published

When AMD announces its 96Boards Enterprise Edition complaint server board, I could read quite a few complains because the board used a non-standard form-factor such as mini-ITX. The first version 96Boards Enterprise Edition specification has now been published, and the goods news is that there are two versions: the low cost ($199 to $399) “Standard version” with the new proprietary format, and likely more expensive “MicroATX version” that must complies with MicroATX v1.2 specs. The minimum hardware requirements are listed as follows: Small form factor Standard EE version – 160 x 120mm microATX EE version – 244 x 244mm Design is SoC independent (targets 32 or 64 bit SoCs) 1GB RAM (16GB strongly recommended for server software development) Minimum on-board connectors and expansion I/O 1x Serial over USB UART with microUSB interface 2x USB 1x RJ45 Ethernet Standard version board power from low cost 12V DC Jack connector or standard […]