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Light Biz OS Firmware, Android and Ubuntu Image, and Android SDK Released for GeekBox (RK3368)

GeekBox is an upcoming Android TV box based on Rockchip RK3368 octa-core processor that doubles as a system-on-module and development board. The company has now uploaded the Android 5.1 SDK, including Linux 3.10.79 kernel, on github. It’s not for the Android SDK for RK3368, but at least it’s not just an outdated tarball, and will hopefully be regularly updated directly on github. Beside the source code, the company also released three firmware image including Rockchip’s Light Biz OS desktop operating system based on Lollipop: Biz OS for GeekBox – V151208 (8th of December 2015) Android and Lubuntu dual boot image  – V151129 (29th of November 2015) Android 5.1 image – V151129 (29th of November 2015) It’s quite possible those images will also work on other Rockchip RK3368 platform with some modifications, e.g. an updated device tree file for a given hardware. I’ve downloaded Biz OS adn the dual boot image, […]

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Allwinner A64 Android 5.1 SDK and Linux Source Code

Allwinner A64 is likely to become quite popular as it will be used in PINE A64 board, Olimex open source hardware laptop featuring A64-OLinuXino board, and some low cost tablets. We’ve already got some documentation such as Allwinner A64 datasheet and user’s manual, but AFAIK, there was no source code released for the board. The good news is that you can now download Android 5.1 SDK and Linux source code on Baidu with four files available: lichee_A64_A5.1_V1.0.tar.gz – Linux source code android_A64_A5.1_V1.0.tar.gz– Android 5.1 SDK android_prebuilts_A64_A5.1_V1.0.tar.gz – Some pre-built binaries for Android A64硬件资料.zip – Documentation including the datasheet, product brief, and user’s manual which we’ve already got, but also some hardware with reference schematics, PCB layout files, and BoM for an Allwinner A64 tablet. That’s about 7.4GB to download, and apart from the documentation, the download is not quite complete yet, so I could not look into the details of […]

ArmSoM RK3588 AIModule7 NVIDIA Jetson Nano-compatible SOM
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MINIX NEO U1 Android Media Hub and NEO A2 Lite Air Mouse Unboxing and Teardown

MINIX NEO U1 Android TV box, which the company prefers to call “media hub for Android”, has been announced last week, and has started shipping. The company sent me one sample of the Amlogic S905 device, as well as MINIX NEO A2 Lite air mouse which can be included with the box as part as some bundle. I’ll check out the media hub and air mouse today, as well as get a close look at the internals, before testing the device, and published a full review of MINIX NEO U1 lateron. MINIX NEO U1 Unboxing MINIX sent me the packages via Fedex and I received it within 2 or 3 days. The devices comes with a simple infrared remote control, a micro USB to USB cable, a USB OTG adapter, an HDMI cable, a WiFi antenna, a 5V/3A power supply, a setup guide in English, German, Chinese and Russian, and […]

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MXQ S905 / G9C 4K Android Media Player Unboxing and Teardown

Beside Tronsmart Vega S95 Telos, I’ve received another Amlogic S905 device with MXQ G9C, which was the first Amlogic S905 TV box to have surfaces in the news back in June, and a sample has been sent to me by Shenzhen Tomato. Since the company provides ODM/OEM services instead of catering to end users, the specs are flexible, but the device I received is with the default configuration namely 1GB RAM and 8GB flash, and with similar specs to Beelink MINI MX or KI Plus for example. Today, I’ll start by checking out the hardware, before reviewing the full package a little later. MXQ S905 / G9C TV Box Unboxing I received the parcel via DHL, with the device in a retail white brand package reading “MXQ”, “S905”, and “IPTV box”, with some features on the back such as Airplay, DLNA, Miracast, or Widewine, Playready, and Verimatrix. But I’m pretty […]

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Tronsmart Vega S95 Telos TV Box Unboxing and Teardown

Tronsmart Vega S95 Telos is an Android mini PC powered by Amlogic S905 quad core Cortex A53 processor, but contrary to the two other S905 device I previously reviewed, namely K1 Plus and MINI MX, it’s not been designed for the ultra low end, as it comes with 2GB RAM, 16 GB eMMC flash, 802.11ac WiFi, Gigabit Ethernet, and a SATA port. GeekBuying sent me one sample for review, and I’ll start with some pictures of the package, device, and board, before running it through a full test procedure. Tronsmart Vega S95 Telos Unboxing I got the box via DHL in the following package with makes it clear it’s a 4K media player. The box comes with a simple IR remote control requiring two AAA batteries, an HDMI cable, a SATA cable for laptop drives, a 12V/2A power supply, and a user’s manual in English. The device looks somewhat like […]

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Fleye is a Safe, Robust and Developer Friendly Drone Powered by NXP i.MX6 Processor (Crowdfunding)

In most cases, it’s a pretty bad idea to touch a drone while it’s flying, as you could potentially hurt yourself and others with the blades, so a startup based in Belgium has decided to design a safe drone with the blades hidden under a shell surrounded by protective grids, and with features such as obstacles avoidance. The design also makes the drone sturdier, and less prone to breakage should it fall or hit obstacles. The drone, dubbed Fleye, is based on NXP i.MX6 dual core processor, runs a Linux OS built with the Yocto Project, and the company also plans to provide APIs, and mobile SDKs to allow the developer community to experiment with the drone, and/or create mobile apps. Main hardware features of Fleye drone: SoC – Freescale NXP i.MX6 dual or quad core ARM Cortex A9 processor @ 800 MHz with Vivante GPU System Memory – 512 […]

Rockchip RK3568, RK3588 and Intel x86 SBCs and SoMs in 2025
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Renesas R-Car H3 Deca-Core Processor and Driverless Car Roadmap

Renesas has recently unveiled R-Car H3 deca-core processor for automotive applications with four Cortex A57 cores, four Cortex A5 cores, and two Cortex-R7 “dual-lock step” cores for real-time processor, and has part the releases showed the expected roadmap for the implementation of driverless / autonomous cars. Let’s start with the processor (R8A77950) and SiP module (R8J77950) specifications: CPU cores –  quad core  ARM Cortex-A57, quad core ARM Cortex-A53, and dual lock-step ARM Cortex-R7 cores with respectively 48KB/32KB, 32KB/32KB, and 32KB/32KB L1 instructions/operand cache. GPU – IMG PowerVR Series6XT GX6650 External memory – LPDDR4-SDRAM up to 1600 MHz, data bus width: 32 bits x 4 ch (12.8GB/s x 4) Expansion bus – 2 ch PCI Express2.0 (1 lane) Video Out – 3x display output Input / camera – 8x video inputs Video codec module (H.265, H.264/AVC, MPEG-4, VC-1, etc.) IP conversion module 2x TS Interfaces Stream and Security Processor Video image […]

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How to extract kernel.img with mkboot script

As I tried instructions to install Linux on Amlogic S905 Android TV boxes yesterday, I wanted to extract kernel.img file found in Android firmware, but Google did not help that much until I found mkboot part of mkbootimg_tools scripts. But first let’s see how kernel.img is created… Google provide a Python script called mkbootimg that combine the kernel image (e,.g. zImage), a rootfs/ramdisk and the device tree (DTB) file with a command line that looks like:

However, AFAIK the company does not provide a “unmkbootimg” script, and mkbootimg can only be used to create kernel.img, not decompile it. But that’s what mkboot does, and it works for kernel.img and recovery.img. Let’s retrieve the necessary files first:

mkboot is a bash script so we can use it right away:

So it can be used both for unpacking and repacking kernel.img to/from the output directory. Let’s run the command […]

Boardcon CM3588 Rockchip RK3588 System-on-Module designed for AI and IoT applications