ubuntu News - Page 75 of 167 - CNX Software

April 11, 2019November 3, 2019 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

Getting Started with balenaFin Developer Kit, balenaOS and balenaCloud

balena Fin is a carrier board for Raspberry Pi Compute Module 3/3+ designed specifically for industrial applications leveraging fleet management services provided by Balena. I received balenaFin developer kit last month, and in the first part of the reviewed shows how to assemble the kit. I’m now had time to spend more time with the kit, as well as BalenaOS Linux based operating system optimized for running Docker containers on embedded devices, and balenaCloud services to manage a fleet of devices from a web dashboard. I’ve mostly followed the instructions in the getting started guides here and there, and will document what I had to do to prepare the image, flash it to the board, and load a sample docker application locally, and through balenaCloud. Downloading and Configuring BalenaOS for balena Fin You’ll find BalenaOS in the download page. While we are using hardware based on a Raspberry Pi Compute […]

April 2, 2019April 2, 2019 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

MINIX NEO Z83-4U Review – Ubuntu 18.04, Kodi 18, and Xibo Digital Signage

MINIX NEO Z83-4U is a Cherry Trail mini PC pre-loaded with Ubuntu 18.04. I received a sample a little while ago, and in the first part of NEO Z83-4U review I checked out the specifications and hardware that appears to be exactly the same a MINIX NEO Z83-4 Pro mini PC, except for the eMMC flash capacity that has increased from 32GB to 64GB. Since the mini PC comes with an older Atom X5-Z8350 processor, and is designed for commercial applications, I’ve decided to make a slightly different review. We already now how the system is supposed to perform thanks to benchmarks with NEO Z83-4 mini PC running Windows 10 Pro, so I’ll just check the main features are working as expected in Ubuntu 18.04, test audio & video support in Kodi 18.1, and try out Xibo Linux open source digital signage CMS and player on the mini PC. MINIX […]

April 1, 2019 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 4 Comments

ARBOR Introduces SOM-RP301 Rockchip PX30 SoM for Retail Kiosks

Rockchip PX30 is a quad core Cortex-A35 processor with a dual VOP (Video Output Processor) in order to drive two independent displays, that has low power consumption, low thermal requirements, and that we previously found in some car infotainment systems. But the processor is also suitable for other applications, and ARBOR Technology recently launched SOM-RP301 system-on-module based on the PX30 processor, and specifically designed for fanless retail kiosks such as electronic restaurant menus, automated currency exchange machines, ticketing kiosks and more. SOM-RP301 system-on-module specifications: SoC – Rockchip PX30 quad core Cortex-A35 processor @ 1.5 GHz with Arm Mali-G31 MP2 GPU System Memory – 1GB LPDDR3 (Up to 4GB as option) Storage – 16 GB eMMC flash Connectivity – Fast Ethernet transceiver, 802.11 b/g/n/ac WiFi 5 + Bluetooth 4.0 module Edge Connector – SO-DIMM connector with Display – LVDS or MIPI DSI Camera – MIPI CSI RX interface with 8MP ISP […]

March 27, 2019 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 20 Comments

ODROID-N2 GPU Drivers, Linux 5.0, and Impressive glmarks-es2 Score

ODROID-N2 was announced last February for $63 (2GB RAM), and $79 (4GB RAM), but Hardkernel was not quite ready to take orders at the time. One of the good news is that the 4GB RAM is now available for pre-order with shipping scheduled to start on April 3. Another good news is on the software side with Hardkernel having released the userland Mali-G52 Wayland driver. It does not work well with Linux 4.9 due to incomplete DRM implementation, but it goes work with Linux 5.0 plus some modifications as further discussed in the aforelinked forum thread. The screenshot above, courtesy of odroid forum member memeka , shows ODROID-N2 running Ubuntu 18.04 + Gnome3 + Linux 5.0 on top of Wayland with GPU drivers providing acceleration as shown by glmark2-es2-wayland test program. The benchmark results are pretty impressive:

=======================================================
    glmark2 2014.03+git20150611.fa71af2d
=======================================================
    OpenGL Information
    GL_VENDOR:     ARM
    GL_RENDERER:   Mali-G52
    GL_VERSION:    OpenGL ES 3.2 v1.r16p0-01rel0.2943fc4ef9657d91ee32c9a58dec6cd2
=======================================================
[build] use-vbo=false: FPS: 961 FrameTime: 1.041 ms
[build] use-vbo=true: FPS: 1592 FrameTime: 0.628 ms
[texture] texture-filter=nearest: FPS: 1491 FrameTime: 0.671 ms
[texture] texture-filter=linear: FPS: 1477 FrameTime: 0.677 ms
[texture] texture-filter=mipmap: FPS: 1524 FrameTime: 0.656 ms
[shading] shading=gouraud: FPS: 1151 FrameTime: 0.869 ms
[shading] shading=blinn-phong-inf: FPS: 1215 FrameTime: 0.823 ms
[shading] shading=phong: FPS: 1043 FrameTime: 0.959 ms
[shading] shading=cel: FPS: 1126 FrameTime: 0.888 ms
[bump] bump-render=high-poly: FPS: 514 FrameTime: 1.946 ms
[bump] bump-render=normals: FPS: 1976 FrameTime: 0.506 ms
[bump] bump-render=height: FPS: 1777 FrameTime: 0.563 ms
[effect2d] kernel=0,1,0;1,-4,1;0,1,0;: FPS: 1139 FrameTime: 0.878 ms
[effect2d] kernel=1,1,1,1,1;1,1,1,1,1;1,1,1,1,1;: FPS: 383 FrameTime: 2.611 ms
[pulsar] light=false:quads=5:texture=false: FPS: 2096 FrameTime: 0.477 ms
[desktop] blur-radius=5:effect=blur:passes=1:separable=true:windows=4: FPS: 389 FrameTime: 2.571 ms
[desktop] effect=shadow:windows=4: FPS: 788 FrameTime: 1.269 ms
[buffer] columns=200:interleave=false:update-dispersion=0.9:update-fraction=0.5:update-method=map: FPS: 103 FrameTime: 9.709 ms
[buffer] columns=200:interleave=false:update-dispersion=0.9:update-fraction=0.5:update-method=subdata: FPS: 129 FrameTime: 7.752 ms
[buffer] columns=200:interleave=true:update-dispersion=0.9:update-fraction=0.5:update-method=map: FPS: 158 FrameTime: 6.329 ms
[ideas] speed=duration: FPS: 356 FrameTime: 2.809 ms
[jellyfish] <default>: FPS: 979 FrameTime: 1.021 ms
[terrain] <default>: FPS: 52 FrameTime: 19.231 ms
[shadow] <default>: FPS: 437 FrameTime: 2.288 ms
[refract] <default>: FPS: 88 FrameTime: 11.364 ms
[conditionals] fragment-steps=0:vertex-steps=0: FPS: 1769 FrameTime: 0.565 ms
[conditionals] fragment-steps=5:vertex-steps=0: FPS: 1769 FrameTime: 0.565 ms
[conditionals] fragment-steps=0:vertex-steps=5: FPS: 1853 FrameTime: 0.540 ms
[function] fragment-complexity=low:fragment-steps=5: FPS: 1783 FrameTime: 0.561 ms
[function] fragment-complexity=medium:fragment-steps=5: FPS: 1726 FrameTime: 0.579 ms
[loop] fragment-loop=false:fragment-steps=5:vertex-steps=5: FPS: 1715 FrameTime: 0.583 ms
[loop] fragment-steps=5:fragment-uniform=false:vertex-steps=5: FPS: 1650 FrameTime: 0.606 ms
[loop] fragment-steps=5:fragment-uniform=true:vertex-steps=5: FPS: 1728 FrameTime: 0.579 ms
=======================================================
                                  glmark2 Score: 1119
=======================================================

=======================================================

glmark2 2014.03+git20150611.fa71af2d

=======================================================

OpenGL Information

GL_VENDOR: ARM

GL_RENDERER: Mali-G52

GL_VERSION: OpenGL ES 3.2 v1.r16p0-01rel0.2943fc4ef9657d91ee32c9a58dec6cd2

=======================================================

[build] use-vbo=false: FPS: 961 FrameTime: 1.041 ms

[build] use-vbo=true: FPS: 1592 FrameTime: 0.628 ms

[texture] texture-filter=nearest: FPS: 1491 FrameTime: 0.671 ms

[texture] texture-filter=linear: FPS: 1477 FrameTime: 0.677 ms

[texture] texture-filter=mipmap: FPS: 1524 FrameTime: 0.656 ms

[shading] shading=gouraud: FPS: 1151 FrameTime: 0.869 ms

[shading] shading=blinn-phong-inf: FPS: 1215 FrameTime: 0.823 ms

[shading] shading=phong: FPS: 1043 FrameTime: 0.959 ms

[shading] shading=cel: FPS: 1126 FrameTime: 0.888 ms

[bump] bump-render=high-poly: FPS: 514 FrameTime: 1.946 ms

[bump] bump-render=normals: FPS: 1976 FrameTime: 0.506 ms

[bump] bump-render=height: FPS: 1777 FrameTime: 0.563 ms

[effect2d] kernel=0,1,0;1,-4,1;0,1,0;: FPS: 1139 FrameTime: 0.878 ms

[effect2d] kernel=1,1,1,1,1;1,1,1,1,1;1,1,1,1,1;: FPS: 383 FrameTime: 2.611 ms

[pulsar] light=false:quads=5:texture=false: FPS: 2096 FrameTime: 0.477 ms

[desktop] blur-radius=5:effect=blur:passes=1:separable=true:windows=4: FPS: 389 FrameTime: 2.571 ms

[desktop] effect=shadow:windows=4: FPS: 788 FrameTime: 1.269 ms

[buffer] columns=200:interleave=false:update-dispersion=0.9:update-fraction=0.5:update-method=map: FPS: 103 FrameTime: 9.709 ms

[buffer] columns=200:interleave=false:update-dispersion=0.9:update-fraction=0.5:update-method=subdata: FPS: 129 FrameTime: 7.752 ms

[buffer] columns=200:interleave=true:update-dispersion=0.9:update-fraction=0.5:update-method=map: FPS: 158 FrameTime: 6.329 ms

[ideas] speed=duration: FPS: 356 FrameTime: 2.809 ms

[jellyfish] <default>: FPS: 979 FrameTime: 1.021 ms

[terrain] <default>: FPS: 52 FrameTime: 19.231 ms

[shadow] <default>: FPS: 437 FrameTime: 2.288 ms

[refract] <default>: FPS: 88 FrameTime: 11.364 ms

[conditionals] fragment-steps=0:vertex-steps=0: FPS: 1769 FrameTime: 0.565 ms

[conditionals] fragment-steps=5:vertex-steps=0: FPS: 1769 FrameTime: 0.565 ms

[conditionals] fragment-steps=0:vertex-steps=5: FPS: 1853 FrameTime: 0.540 ms

[function] fragment-complexity=low:fragment-steps=5: FPS: 1783 FrameTime: 0.561 ms

[function] fragment-complexity=medium:fragment-steps=5: FPS: 1726 FrameTime: 0.579 ms

[loop] fragment-loop=false:fragment-steps=5:vertex-steps=5: FPS: 1715 FrameTime: 0.583 ms

[loop] fragment-steps=5:fragment-uniform=false:vertex-steps=5: FPS: 1650 FrameTime: 0.606 ms

[loop] fragment-steps=5:fragment-uniform=true:vertex-steps=5: FPS: 1728 FrameTime: 0.579 ms

=======================================================

glmark2 Score: 1119

=======================================================

I’ve never seen such as high score (1,119 points) on Arm hardware. […]

March 19, 2019 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 5 Comments

UP Xtreme Board to Feature Intel Whiskey Lake Processor

AAEON launched their UP board family back in 2015 with the original board featuring an Atom X5 Cherry Trail processor. Since then they’ve launched other models all based on processors with 10W or lower TDP (Thermal Design Power) such as UP Squared Apollo Lake development board. But the company has now upped the ante by going with Intel Core-U series Whiskey Lake processors (15W TDP) in their upcoming UP Xtreme single board computer (SBC) that will feature some of those Core i3/i5/i7 processors. UP Xtreme specifications: SoC- Intel Dual/Quad Core “Whiskey Lake” Core i3/i5/i7 processor @ 1.8 GHz (Boost frequnecy up to 3.9GHz for i3/i5, up to 4.6 GHz for i7) with Intel UHD graphics 620; 15W TDP System Memory – Up to 16GB dual-channel DDR4 memory (soldered on-board) Storage – 16GB to 128GB eMMC 5.1 flash, 1x SATA connector with power connector Video Output 1x eDP with backlight control […]

March 13, 2019 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 8 Comments

KODLIX GN41 Gemini Lake Ubuntu Mini PC Sells for $215

Most Intel mini PC ships with Windows 10, so when we see models shipping with a Linux distribution such as Ubuntu we like to point those out. Recently we covered MINIX NEO-Z83-4U Ubuntu 18.04 mini PC that comes in a well designed and passively cooled enclosure, but also a relatively underpowered Intel Atom x5 processor, and geared towards business use cases such as digital signage player or thin client. KODLIX GN41 is another Ubuntu mini PC that would make a decent entry-level desktop thanks to an Intel Celeron N4100 Gemini Lake processor, 8GB RAM, and 64GB eMMC flash that can be complemented with your own 2.5″ hard drive or SSD. KODLIX GN41 specifications: SoC – Intel Celeron N4100 quad core processor @ 1.10/2.40 GHz with Intel UHD Graphics 600; 6W TDP; 4.8W SDP System Memory – 8GB DDR4L RAM Storage – 64 GB eMMC flash flash; 2.5″ SATA slot for […]

March 9, 2019April 13, 2021 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

Nitrogen8M_Mini Single Board Computer Launched for $135 and Up

Last month we write about Nitrogen8M_Mini, the First NXP i.MX8 8M Mini SBC, but at the time, it was not available for purchase just yet. Boundary Devices has now announced the official release of the board and is taking orders / pre-orders for $135 and up. Nitrogen8M_Mini SBC Two versions are being offered either with the board only, or as part of a devkit with a 5V power supply, an 8GB microSD card with Linux OS, a battery, and serial console cable: Nit8MQ_Mini_2r8eWB with WiFi and Bluetooth, currently in stock, and sold for $155 (board only), or $175 (devkit) Nit8MQ_Mini_2r8e without wireless module, to ship in a few weeks, and sold for $135 (board only), or $155 (devkit) Nitrogen8M_Mini specifications: SoC – NXP i.MX 8M Mini with 4x Cortex A53 cores @ 1.5 to 2.0 GHz max, 1x Cortex-M4F real-time core, Vivante GCNanoUltra 3D GPU, Vivante GC320 2D GPU System […]

March 1, 2019March 1, 2019 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment

TechNexion AXON and FLEX SoM Families Feature i.MX 8M Mini SoC, FPGA Fabric

Taiwan based Technexion has introduced several new products at Embedded World 2019 including two new SoM families: AXON and FLEX. AXON is a product family of small form factor (58 x 37 mm) modules designed for specialized embedded applications requiring extra I/O flexibility, while FLEX series is a low-cost family making use of the standard LPDDR4 SO-DIMM connector. Specifically, the company launched new AXON and FLEX modules powered by NXP i.MX 8M Mini processor with AXON-IMX8M-MINI featuring AXON Fabric programmable logic, a specialized IC that provides additional functions including nearly infinite pinmuxing, and FLEX-IMX8M-MINI that offers HD multimedia streaming and integrated 3D graphics for cost sensitive applications. AXON-IMX8M-MINI SoM AXON-IMX8M-MINI SoM specifications: SoC – NXP i.MX 8M Mini Solo, Dual or Quad Arm Cortex-A53+M4 processor FPGA – “Axon Fabric” making use of a Lattice MachXO3LF FPGA with 2100 LUTs (LookUp Tables) System Memory – Up to 4GB LPDDR4 RAM Storage […]