arm-netbook June 2018

arm-netbook@lists.phcomp.co.uk

7 participants
9 discussions

Laptop LCD Touch Pad: Display KB Layout Idea
by Alexander Ross 25 Mar '19

25 Mar '19

On the laptops lcd touch pad. Here’s a idea for a feature. When leaning new keyboard layout. Say dovrak for example. The trouble is learning where the new keys are. For me at least, one could do with a constant reminder. What if the lcd touch pad displayed the current pressed keys? Maybe on a image of the keyboard, meaning some way of representing where the key you pressed is relative to other keys. So if its the wrong one you can see where the right one is. This info is only displayed while the keyboard is in use. When the touch pad is in use it switches to a relevant display for touch pad use. As for when the user is using not the touch pad nor the keyboard? What then? display keymap? If playing video display: video controls, time left, is internet speed fast enough for this stream? etc.

5 12

Re: [Arm-netbook] Logos
by John Luke Gibson 22 Sep '18

22 Sep '18

I would highly recommend avoiding any logos, without proper historical reference. One of the problems with traditional Linux icons, are that they are very un-iconic. It's better to be textually based, in my opinion, than to use disorienting imagery. At this point, most of the clay has already set so referencing/alluding-to other gnu projects [such as blender] wouldn't be detrimental, however ascii has a very richer history of use by "hacktivists". Referencing some historically relevant (to "hacktivism") ascii iconography either overtly or subtly, kindof more or less as a hat tip to communities which support said historical events will cause the logo a greater likelihood of being regarded as iconic. I wish I had specific examples, but possibly using cloister black font would be a subtle hat tip to anonymous for some individuals use of various letters in that font as copy-cat of L from Death Note. Another thing of note, would be that we need to be careful who we tip our hats to, to be careful of who in the future people might assume us to endorse. A font is innocuous enough, that it can be adapted later due to circumstance (should a need arise to disassociate) without damaging the recognize-ability of any logo. The universal and modular style of blender, is a good point to mimic. A solid dot in the center of the "O" would probably be a subtle enough correlation to the blender logo. This is the pattern of thinking we need in developing logos and "slogans". Thinking about what sounds catchy only correlates us with random corporate culture. We don't need to be entirely original as we have a history to fall back on. However originality might also help distinguish us from our predecessors, the last thing we want is to fail to distinguish ourselves from your neighborhood corporation. I would recommend Luke to contact Wenqing Yang a.k.a. "Yummei", using the notability of the project to attract their attention. I would like to point out that despite being a cultural figure (famous artist) in the hacktivist community they previously lauched a multi-million dollar successful indiegogo which caused them much heart ache (per their blog) over legal controversy with so-called partners and their personal admonishment that they failed to do enough. >From: Alexander Ross <maillist_arm-netbook(a)aross.me> >To: Linux on small ARM machines <arm-netbook(a)lists.phcomp.co.uk> >Cc: >Date: Wed, 25 Jan 2017 16:07:15 +0000 >Subject: Re: [Arm-netbook] Logos >this all these efforts, got me to have a play around too. :) > > i was started having a go at one idea of letters inserting into each > other kinda like a module. > > I had put E and O in side the M. it then kinda looked like/spelled Meoo > like a cat. > So what about a darn cat logo? maybe a cat playing with a eoma68 card in > its paws? > > sry for the yet another internet cat image type of suggestion, never > thought id be making one heh.

9 18

Re: [Arm-netbook] Logos
by John Luke Gibson 21 Sep '18

21 Sep '18

> The idea about a dot in the "O" of EOMA made me think of fonts where the > dot is in the 0 (zero) to distinguish it from O (capital letter O) As we > all are somehow computer related I would find such a design confusing. If it was really to be in honor of the modularity and progress of blender, one would want to make the "O" not really in any particular font, but to look exactly the shape blender logo, except without the flay or the color scheme: a perfect solid-color circle within another perfect circle. It wouldn't theoretically be confusing because the mark you are thinking of is a hollow circle in an oval. Letter-o'es and zeroes can only sometimes be confusing because in some fonts they are both written as vertical ovals, not just the zero. I'm not sure on the required dimensions of a certification mark, however, the solid-shape flag-esque convention I've noticed among popular one's, often seems to detract from the continuity of the design on the objects that bear them, making them seem particularly foreign and like they don't belong. The vaporwave-esque color palate which most of them choose only add to this affect, as if they themselves are trying to distance themselves on some subconscious level from their endorsements. As a side effect to this, it makes them harder to trust. Any symbolism of any significant body, displays historical awareness.. It's what tells people whether they can trust it, before reading or attempting to judge it. Therein lies the axiom, there is no such thing as an original thought, so, if by means of arbitrary work dedicated to make more concise and thoroughly plastered an announcement of what historical or cultural event may have inspired such thoughts and such work, people will then engage in the arbitrarily difficult work of judging whether the project is sincere or not. In other words, if we don't display more than necessary effort in our symbol that can be recognized with several magnitudes less effort than it took to generate, then no highly-self-valuing person will have any sane reason to take us seriously, because if they took every slightly promising project, which failed to create a Sybil-certificate reputation in this manner, then they would never find a single valuable project in their lifetime (obviously this is an exaggeration).

3 2

Campaign Schedule and Future Sales/Products
by Paul Boddie 18 Jul '18

18 Jul '18

I saw the recent response to my enquiry ("EOMA68-A20 Prototype Status") which was augmented by a campaign update: "It’s going to take about a month to have the 8 Gbit 1600 MHz DDR3 x8 RAM ICs manufactured: we’re on the way. [...] All in all, it will likely take three months after getting the cards back from assembly before shipping begins. That puts actual delivery of the first units in late October." https://www.crowdsupply.com/eoma68/micro-desktop/updates/2-7-5-samples- received-dram-is-ok-micro-hdmi-to-confirm This new information is much appreciated, and I hope that everything continues going to plan. Meanwhile, I noticed that the matter of future sales and products arose in another thread, with the intention being expressed that others will be producing and selling boards in future. Now, there may have been some confusion in that other thread because I seem to recall talk of follow-up campaigns (although these may have been related to other hardware projects, not computer cards). Indeed, the August 2016 campaign update about the product roadmap had the following to say: "We need your backing for this project and the current Computer Card before we can be in an established financial position to properly evaluate and bring you these faster Computer Cards." https://www.crowdsupply.com/eoma68/micro-desktop/updates/product-roadmap The crucial question in the context of the above is therefore the following: who exactly is "we"? If not any of the parties behind the current campaign, who might it be? Here, I can understand some confusion or a mismatch in expectations. But in any case, this discussion of future sales and products reminded me of a number of things, the first of which being the board designs: "The only exception to this rule to release everything in advance is the PCB CAD files for the Computer Card. We’re planning to release the PCB CAD files for the Computer card once sufficient units are hit that ensures any third party manufacturing runs will not undermine the project’s development or stability." https://www.crowdsupply.com/eoma68/micro-desktop/crowdfunding Although "the point about the A20 running out of time" [1] has been made repeatedly since the start of the campaign (this quote being from March 2017 in the context of suitable NAND ICs), might it be envisaged that the design files be released for the A20 card to perhaps *stimulate* the project's development and stability after this campaign concludes? Has there been any constructive interest from anyone to produce more boards using this design? I see that Olimex have recently introduced a variant of one of their A20-based products using the compatible T2 SoC [2]. So, the A20 still has an audience and a commercial life, apparently. Another thing I found myself considering is the matter of the other cards mentioned during the course of the campaign. If they are not going to be offered via future campaigns, will they be offered by existing partners or collaborators? For instance: http://rhombus-tech.net/ingenic/jz4775/ http://rhombus-tech.net/rock_chips/rk3288/ http://rhombus-tech.net/nexell/s5p6818/ The first two of these had been prototyped, as I recall (and has been documented), and so I imagine that there is some value in seeing them become products, subject to economic and technical viability, the latter of which reminding me of the following remarks: "The rk3288 is not a low-power chip, and the heat sink supplied (pictured above), is not adequate for any CPU-intensive activity, quickly throttling performance when it gets too hot." https://forum.armbian.com/topic/4614-asus-tinker-board/ (The above is just an acknowledgement of the difficulties of selecting products, not an invitation to discuss the details.) Finally, I realised that the current campaign began almost two years ago. I think the second anniversary of its launch will be on Friday this coming week. It would be interesting to hear any reflections on the position of this initiative two years on, whether (and how) the roadmap might change, and what still needs to be done to bring this modular computing vision to fruition. Apologies if I missed various updates or announcements that happen to answer some of my questions! Paul [1] https://www.crowdsupply.com/eoma68/micro-desktop/updates/complexities-of- hardware-progress-and-travel [2] https://olimex.wordpress.com/2018/06/20/a20-olinuxino-lime-revision-h-is- now-in-stock-the-oshw-linux-computer-now-support-emmc-and-can-be-produced- with-industrial-grade-temperature-4085c/

3 5

EOMA68-A20 Prototype Status
by Paul Boddie 02 Jul '18

02 Jul '18

Hello, I don't want to intrude with questions whose answers are already known, but back in January there were estimates of "five to seven months" with regard to "shipping", by which I presume that the final hardware was meant: https://www.crowdsupply.com/eoma68/micro-desktop/updates/eoma68-a20-2-7-5- gerbers-off-to-factory-thank-you-to-everyone-for-the-sponsorship However, there was also the matter of prototypes being made. This was covered in the February update: "We might get lucky and have the PCBs back, if so I will post photographs." https://www.crowdsupply.com/eoma68/micro-desktop/updates/fosdem-2018-shakti- project-tape-out-nearly-done-2-7-5-eoma68-a20-pcbs The March update suggests that the prototypes were still waiting for RAM: "Mike is following up on pricing for Samsung DDR3 RAM, which appears to be available. I want one other guaranteed supply of a completely different RAM IC and I will tell him to go ahead with the 10 samples… but not until we have an absolute guarantee of availability. Then once the samples are done we have a clear and extremely simple and straightforward production schedule to follow." https://www.crowdsupply.com/eoma68/micro-desktop/updates/fosdem-recap-risc-… update-and-certification-marks The April update made a mention of another source of RAM, but nothing new about the prototype schedule: https://www.crowdsupply.com/eoma68/micro-desktop/updates/ddr3-ram-and-a-lib… risc-v-soc Are there any further updates on this situation? I imagine that the production schedule is more or less "when it is ready", as I have always understood it, but I did wonder whether there had been further progress with the prototypes. Paul

5 8

Re: [Arm-netbook] [Campaign Question] The project page (crowdsupp...
by lkcl 02 Jul '18

02 Jul '18

thanks for this - it's really appreciated, i'm going to cc the mailing list, bcc'ing you, and taking out your email address. there is something which i've not put on the page (however it has been discussed many times over the years on the mailing list). right now the last thing that's needed is for a huge number of non-technical individuals to come online at once and overwhelm the *volunteer* technical members of the mailing list. you may not be aware of this but the total number of people working full-time paid-up to work on this project is presently ZERO. as in: the total number of people with full-time funding to work on this project is: ZERO. as this was an anticipated possibility as far back as 3+ years ago the page was *deliberately* designed to attract TECHNICALLY aware individuals and to DISCOURAGE non-technically-aware users: people who are self-starters, "tinkerers" and electronics experts. from that base of people, when they receive their pledged items, a small community will grow at a pace that they can cope with, who will then be able to create the documentation, wiki pages, update the source code and so on. by *that* time, *THEN* and ***ONLY*** then will the project be in a state where it can accommodate non-technical end-users. at that point people who can do "sales", companies that can take "orders" will be needed (because i cannot do that, due to being the Certification Mark holder). at *that* point, the advice that you've given below will become relevant. hope that helps clarify. l. On Thu, Jun 21, 2018 at 4:04 PM, Crowd Supply <orders(a)crowdsupply.com> wrote: > submitted a question about your project, "Earth-friendly > EOMA68 Computing Devices": > > The project page (crowdsupply.com/eoma68/micro-desktop) can be difficult to > read through & understand because of the heavy use of acronyms without > accompanying long-names/full-names and ELI5 definitions. I have a general > background in development & admin and I had to look up the long name and > definition for a number of the acronyms used. This approach, while more > concise, is going to be very off-putting to many people who are more used to > buying pre-built computers than building their own. I love the idea of this > project and want to see it succeed, but the harder the content is to read for > non-hardware geeks, the harder it will be to convince non-hardware geeks to > spend their money on it. > Please consider reserving some of those terms for tech specs, white papers, > etc., and replace them with descriptions &/or more generic terms that your > neighbors, friends, or relatives who ask you to help them fix their computers > or connect their new printers, etc., will understand. Better yet, ask some of > those people to read through your copy and give feedback on comprehension and > overall impression by non-computer geeks. If you don't want to reach that > audience, then please pick the lowest technical knowledge customer group you do > want to reach and get their feedback. Maybe it's the type of person who has > never worked in IT, but can attach plug & play devices, set up Wi-Fi on their > own, etc. > Again, I really do want to see projects like this succeed. Best of luck and > I've already bookmarked this for future reference. > > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Crowd Supply > https://www.crowdsupply.com > 811 SE Stark St, #300 > Portland, OR 97214-1241 > 800-554-2014

4 8

Qualcomm is using Cortex A76 to beat Intel Skylake U and Y series 2017 in Snapdragon 1000
by Wean Irdeh 23 Jun '18

23 Jun '18

https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2018/06/more-details-leak-on-snapdragon-100… Qualcomm is starting to pick up, I hope other fabless chipmaker will start to do so soon On Sun, Jun 10, 2018 at 9:41 PM, Bill Kontos <vkontogpls(a)gmail.com> wrote: > Lead time from an ARM IP announcement to new products tend to be > approximately 1 year. Also the high end cores usually only appear on > high end SoCs first( e.g. snapdragon 800 series). > > On Sat, Jun 2, 2018 at 6:26 PM, Wean Irdeh <wean.irdeh(a)gmail.com> wrote: >> https://community.arm.com/processors/b/blog/posts/cortex-a76-laptop-class-p… >> >> I hope next rockchip processor in chromebook will use these cores >> >> _______________________________________________ >> arm-netbook mailing list arm-netbook(a)lists.phcomp.co.uk >> http://lists.phcomp.co.uk/mailman/listinfo/arm-netbook >> Send large attachments to arm-netbook(a)files.phcomp.co.uk > > _______________________________________________ > arm-netbook mailing list arm-netbook(a)lists.phcomp.co.uk > http://lists.phcomp.co.uk/mailman/listinfo/arm-netbook > Send large attachments to arm-netbook(a)files.phcomp.co.uk

1 0

Re: [Arm-netbook] Open source Allwinner R40 circuit diagrams
by joem 12 Jun '18

12 Jun '18

7th page uploaded in KiCAD https://hellosemi.com/KiCAD_Linux_Boards.html (Still only find the BPi version so far) Thinking first board will be a minimalist square board with SoC 2GB DRAM serial uSD HDMI PMIC SATA USB flash just to get it to boot.

2 17

Cortex-A76: Laptop class performance with mobile power efficiency
by Wean Irdeh 10 Jun '18

10 Jun '18

https://community.arm.com/processors/b/blog/posts/cortex-a76-laptop-class-p… I hope next rockchip processor in chromebook will use these cores

2 1

2024

2023

2022

2021

2020

2019

2018

2017

2016

2015

2014

2013

arm-netbook June 2018