Embedded Linux Conference and OpenIoT Summit Europe 2016 Videos are Now Available Online

The Embedded Linux Conference and OpenIoT Summit Europe 2016 conferences took place on October 11 – 13 in Berlin, Germany, with many interesting talks about Linux, development boards, power management, embedded systems, software optimization, tools, and so on, as well as a few keynotes. The Linux Foundation has recorded most talks and keynotes, and made the videos available on their website. A free registration is required, and will redirect you to the full unlisted playlist on YouTube. Tim Bird keynote can be watch directly without registration. You can also download the slides for each presentation. Thanks to Harley for the tip. Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft)Jean-Luc started CNX Software in 2010 as a part-time endeavor, before quitting his job as a software engineering manager, and starting to write daily news, and reviews full time later in 2011. www.cnx-software.com

How to Resolve Slow Boot Times in Ubuntu 16.04

I’ve recently upgraded my machine from Ubuntu 14.04.4 to Ubuntu 16.04.1, but while my computer used to boot in about 40 seconds, after the upgrade boot times increased considerably to 2 to 3 minutes. The first easy check was to look at dmesg:

There’s a bit 87 seconds gap between checking for the floppy, and VirtualBox drivers loading. So there’s definitely an issue here, but the log does not exactly give a clear queue. I’ve read you could use systemd-analyze to find which process(es) may be slowing down your computer at boot time:

Two processes are taking close to 8 seconds, but those 16 seconds still do not explain why it takes 2 minutes more to boot…Eventually, I realized systemd-analyze has a few more tricks up its sleeves:

The first command shows there’s no problem with the kernel itself, and something is slow in user space. The […]

Android N Developer Preview 3 Adds VR Support, Instant Apps, and Sustainable Performance Mode

Google has also unveiled the third Android N Developer Preview at Google I/O 2016, and the first “beta quality” release, available on Nexus 6, 9, 5X, 6P, Nexus Player, Pixel C, and Android One as a “seamless updates” if you opt-in to the Android Beta Program in order to get an over-the-air update with the very latest firmware. Google wants Android N to be faster, safer and more productive. The first two previews addressed performance with a new JIT compiler and Vulkan 3D graphics API support, productivity with multi-window support and direct reply from notifications, as well as security thanks to seamless updates bringing the latest security patchsets to your phones in a timely manner. The third preview brings fixes, and some interesting new features: VR Mode in Android – Google has modified and augmented the Android stack in N to reduce lag between sensor data readings (e.g. head motion) […]

Software Matters, or How SinoVoIP Crippled Banana Pi M2+ Performance.

The most common way to use a development board is to simply go to the manufacturer website, and download the images from there. They are the ones who made the hardware after all, and they should be the most knowledgeable about their platform. But it may not always be true as tkaiser found out when he ran some Phoronix benchmarks on Banana Pi M2+ (aka BPI M2+) board with SinoVoIP (the manufacturer), Armbian, and Raspbian images. The results speak for themselves. The last three columns are what is of interest here, and in some benchmark Banana Pi M2+ is about 3 times slower with SinoVoIP image compared to Armbian, while with others the performance is quite similar. John The Ripper password cracker benchmark shows a massive difference between distributions… … while FLAC audio encoding not so much. So what’s going on here? First Jon the Ripper is a multi-threaded applications, […]

Android N Developer Preview Released with Multi-Window Support, PiP, Background Apps Optimizations…

Google has just released an early developer preview of Android 7.0 N (Nutella?) before the OS officially launched later this summer with new features such s multi-window support, TV recording,  Picture-in-picture, bundled notifications, and efficiency improvements. So let’s have a look at some of improvements: Multi-window – A new manifest attribute called android:resizableActivity is available for apps targeting N and beyond, allowing your activity to be launched in split-screen modes on phones and tablets. In addition, activities can also go into picture-in-picture mode on devices like TVs by setting android:supportsPictureInPicture to true. Direct reply notifications: Initially an Android Wear only features, the RemoteInput notification API has now been added for smartphones and tablets, and allows user to reply directly within the notification shade. Bundled notifications – The Notification.Builder.setGroup() method can be used to bundle notifications from the same app together. Efficiency Improvements – Doze has been further improved to save […]

Embedded Linux Conference 2016 and OpenIoT Summit 2016 Schedule

The Embedded Linux Conference 2016 and the OpenIoT summit 2016 will take place on April 4 – 6, 2016 in San Diego, California, and over 800 attended will meet including kernel & system developers, userspace developers, and product vendors. The Linux Foundation has recently published the schedule, so I’ve had a look at some of the talks, and designed my own virtual schedule to find out more the current development focus although I won’t attend. Monday April 4 10:40am – 11:30am – Linux Connectivity for IoT by Marcel Holtmann, Intel OTC There are many connectivity solutions that available for IoT. For example Bluetooth Low Energy, 802.15.4, Zigbee, OIC, Thread and others. This presentation will provide and overview of the existing technology and upcoming standard and how they tie into the Linux kernel and its ecosystem. 11:40 – 12:30 – BoF: kernelci.org: A Million Kernel Boots and Counting by Kevin Hilman, […]

Linaro Connect 2016 Bangkok Schedule – March 7-11, 2016

Linaro Connect Bangkok (BKK16) will take place on March  7 – 11, 2016, and the schedule is now available for the 5-day event with keynotes and sessions. Whether you’re going to attend or not, it’s always interesting to check the schedule to find out what’s going on in terms of ARM Linux development. The five days will focus on work by different Linaro groups, but really sessions are mixed for any given day, and I’ve created a virtual schedule for each day with available information, as Linaro has become a little more closed to the outside than when it was launched a few years ago. Monday 7 – LITE (Linaro IoT & Embedded Group) 1400 – 14:50 – Evolution of the Reference Software Platform Project The Reference Software Platform lead project was introduced in Linaro Connect San Francisco 2015, and since then it evolved and matured with the completion of […]

Embedded Systems Conference 2016 Schedule – April 13-14

The Embedded Systems Conference 2016 will take place in Boston on April 13-14, and the organizers have now released the schedule, minus some keynotes, which features four main tracks: Embedded Hardware, Embedded Software, Connected Devices and the Internet of Things (IoT), and the ESC Engineering Theatre. As usual, I’ve gone through the list of talks and composed my own little virtual schedule which ended up with sessions focusing on power management, IoT, and security, as well some optimization and drivers development talks among others, such as patents, and the origin of Gerber files. Wednesday 13 8:00 – 9:00 – Power Management in Embedded Systems by Colin Walls, Embedded Software Technologist, Mentor Graphics The importance of power management in today’s embedded designs has been steadily growing as an increasing number of battery powered devices are developed. In this session, we will discuss design considerations that should be made when starting a […]

Memfault IoT and embedded debugging platform