Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 15 Comments on Review of UyeSee G1H Rockchip RK3288 Android TV Box

Review of UyeSee G1H Rockchip RK3288 Android TV Box

UyeSee G1H is one of the first Android TV boxes powered by Rockchip RK3288 quad core Cortex A17 SoC. I’ve already listed specs, and shown a few pictures of the device and the board in my “UyeSee G1H Unboxing” post, so today I’ll write a full review, checking out the user interface, testing video playback capabilities, network and storage performance, play a few games, check hardware features are working as expected, and runs some benchmarks on the platform. First Boot, Settings and First Impressions There’s an infrared remote control with the device. I’ve inserted a CR2032 battery, and although it works great in the user interface, it becomes useless with Android apps, so instead I’ve opted to use Mele F10 Deluxe air mouse which brings mouse and keyboard support. Before powering up the device, I’ve connected an HDMI cable, the RF dongle for Mele F10 Deluxe, a USB hard drive, […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 18 Comments on AllWinner A80 Linux SDK Released

AllWinner A80 Linux SDK Released

After Android 4.4 SDK for AllWinner A31 last week, another AllWinner software development kit has been seen in the wild, this time for the new AllWinner A80 octa-core processor. A80 SDK includes source code for the Linux Kernel and U-boot, as well as buildroot, and various AllWinner tools. I’ve also noticed AllWinner A80 datasheet is available, but with the strict minimum information (45 pages). Let’s get the code, and extract it:

Now we need to configure the build:

sun9i is the codename for AllWinner A80, not sure what w1p1 means. Dragonboard must be the internal Allwinner development board, but I just selected Linux, since the SDK does not come with Android, and finally I opted for optimus, which could stand for OptimusBoard. You may need to install extra dependencies in your build machine, for example (in Ubuntu 14.04):

Now let’s start buildroot which should retrieve the toolchain, […]

Khadas Edge2 Arm mini PC
Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 4 Comments on $33 Intex Cloud Fx Firefox OS Smartphone Coming to India

$33 Intex Cloud Fx Firefox OS Smartphone Coming to India

Mozilla promised $25 smartphones running Firefox OS based on a Spreadtrum Cortex A5 application processor earlier this year, mostly for emerging markets. Thanks to Intex Cloud Fx smartphone selling for 1,999 Rs ($33) in India, we’re almost there. Intex Cloud Fx specifications: SoC – Spreadtrum SC6821 @ 1.0 GHz System Memory – 128MB RAM Storage – 256MB, expandable up to 4GB via external memory. Display – 3.5” HVGA (480 x 320) touchscreen display Cellular Network – GSM:900/1800MHz. GPRS/EDGE. Dual SIM support. Connectivity – WiFi, Bluetooth, and FM radio Audio – Loudspeaker, 3.5mm headphone jack. Camera – 2MP rear camera USB – Yes (micro SD port?) Battery – 1250mAh lithium-ion battery (4 hours of talk time, 200 hours standby) Dimensions – 115.9 x 62 x 11.8mm Weight – 104 grams The phone is said to come pre-loaded with Facebook and Twitter apps, some games, Whatsapp is supported via third party app/service, and […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 41 Comments on UyeSee SoundMate M2 Wi-Fi Audio Streamer Review

UyeSee SoundMate M2 Wi-Fi Audio Streamer Review

UyeSee SoundMate M2 Wi-Fi music streaming receiver allows you to wirelessly play audio files from your smartphone or computer to speakers connected to a 3.5mm jack or an audio receiver connected to the optical S/PDIF output of the device. The company sent me a sample for review. I’ll first list the key features of the system, show pictures of the device, and test it with an Android smartphone using my TV speakers. SoundMate M2 Features & Specifications Listed hardware specifications and features: Processor – Unnamed router chipset and Audio DAC Memory & Storage – N/A Connectivity – 802.11 b/g/n WiFi up to 150Mbps with antenna. Open (default), WPA, WPA2, WPA2 Mixed Security. Audio Output – 3.5mm audio jack, optical S/PDIF Streaming Standards – AirPlay, DLNA, and QPlay Audio Formats – aac, mp3, wav, flac, and ape USB – 1x USB 2.0 port for mass storage and/or 3G dongle, 1x micro […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment on RPiSoC Development Board Based on Cypress PSoC 5LP Features Pmod, Raspberry Pi, and Arduino Headers (Crowdfunding)

RPiSoC Development Board Based on Cypress PSoC 5LP Features Pmod, Raspberry Pi, and Arduino Headers (Crowdfunding)

Embedit Electronics, a startup founded by two recent graduates of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, USA, has designed a board powered by Cypress Semiconductor PSoC 5LP ARM Cortex M3 system-on-chip with programmable digital and analog I/Os. The board can interface with all Raspberry Pi models, Digilent Pmod peripheral modules, and supports Arduino shields. RPiSoC specifications: SoC – Cypress PSoC 5 with ARM Cortex M3 core at 67MHz , 256 KB Flash Program Memory, with user configurable write protection, and 64KB SRAM Expansions and I/Os: Arduino shield and ICSP compatible headers. 2x Digilent Pmod compatible headers 58 reconfigurable GPIO pins 26-pin ribbon cable connector for use with the Raspberry Pi 8 SIO (Special Input/Output) pins with higher current sink 5-pin MiniProg3 header for programming via MiniProg3 hardware. USB – 1x micro USB port for power, communication and programming. Misc – Reset push button, User accessible LED, Programming switch Power – 5V via micro […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 8 Comments on $25 GL.iNet 6416A is an Hackable OpenWRT Router with Easy UART and GPIO Access

$25 GL.iNet 6416A is an Hackable OpenWRT Router with Easy UART and GPIO Access

There are plenty of low cost routers supporting OpenWRT, but GL.iNet 6416A has several advantages compared to devices like TP-Link WR703N. Both are based on Atheros AR9931, but GL.iNet router has more memory and storage (64MB RAM + 16MB Flash vs 32MB RAM + 4MB Flash), two Ethernet ports instead of just one, and 6 GPIOs, the serial pins, and power signals (5V, 3.3V and GND) are all easily accessible via though holes or headers. Gl.iNet 6416A can be purchased for about $25 on DealExtreme or Amazon US, and it used to be listed on eBay, but is now out of stock. Gl/iNET 6416A specifications: Wi-Fi SoC – Atheros AR9331 MIPS processor @ 400 MHz System Memory – 64MB RAM Storage – 16MB Flash Connectivity – 2x 10/100 Mbit Ethernet ports, 802.11 b/g/n Wi-FI up to 150Mbps USB – 1x USB 2.0 port, 1x micro USB port for power Debugging […]

AAEON Intel Arc
Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 24 Comments on Linux (Enlightenment and Lubuntu) in WeTek Play Amlogic TV Box

Linux (Enlightenment and Lubuntu) in WeTek Play Amlogic TV Box

Last week I reviewed WeTek Play, a TV box with two DVB-S2 tuners, powered by Amlogic AML8726-MX dual core ARM Cortex A9 processor, and running Android 4.2, but the company also released several Linux based images including one with Enlightenment window manager, and another, temporary one, with Ubuntu core which allows you to install Lubuntu or Xubuntu with apt-get. There are also working on OpenELEC, but have not released the binary yet. Today, I’ll try the Enlightenment image because it also supports hardware video decoding via Gplay (gstreamer), and show how to install Lubuntu. The instructions below have been done in a computer running Ubuntu 14.04, but a Windows computer can also be used. Download Wetek-Linux.img.bz2 Connect a micro SD card to your computer, extract and flash Wetek-Linux.img: In Linux using a terminal window:

In Windows, extract the image, and use Win32DiskImager to copy the image to your micro SD […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 44 Comments on How to Build and Run Android L 64-bit ARM in QEMU

How to Build and Run Android L 64-bit ARM in QEMU

[Nov, 2014 Update: The method below does not seem to work anymore, but a 64-bit ARM emulator “emulator64-arm64” has now landed in AOSP, and updated instructions are available here]. Most people can’t afford Juno Cortex A57/A53 development board, and mobile processors based on the latest 64-bit ARM cores are only expected by early 2015. But thanks to a small team at Linaro, you can now build and run Android L 64-bit ARM in the latest version of QEMU that supports Aarch64. Alex Bennée, an engineer working for Linaro, wrote a blog post in Linaro’s Core Dump blog explaining the Android emulator is actually based on QEMU,  the differences compared to mainline QEMU, the work they’ve done on Android L at Linaro, and most importantly, provided the basic steps showing how to build and try Android L 64-bit ARM (ARMv8) in QEMU. I’ve just done that, but unfortunately, albeit the builds […]

Khadas VIM4 SBC