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The $8 Linux Computer

thelittleengineerthatcould.blogspot.com

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Re: The $8 Linux Computer

#42

Post by type0 »

reaperducer wrote: post #27

The form factor is similar to the old Onion SBC, but more expensive and less capable. The Onion was $5, and included a proper serial interface, an SD card slot and wifi. It might have also had Bluetooth, but I'm not sure as this was seven years ago. It was a great little machine. Very promising to have an entire Linux machine the size and shape of a 6502. Alas, the company that made it put out a firmware update that…

> The Onion was $5, ... the company appeared to be in pivot mode.

Oh, I see, they produce satirical news now

Re: The $8 Linux Computer

#43

Post by krm01 »

Does anyone know of cheap touch screens to hook up to this. I feel a lot of cheap computers are available by now but the expensive pieces are displays which would 100X the value of these boards.

Re: The $8 Linux Computer

#45

Post by tyingq »

pantalaimon wrote: post #33
blippage wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Let me see if I have this straight ... it's a device that can run a general OS like Linux, but say, have a core that could be run real-time, with all the goodies like timers and stuff that we expect from microcontrollers? If so, then that would be pretty awesome. I think that people have been trying to get real-time working on Raspberry Pis. It seems that they get kinda close, but never manage to get all the way.

This is actually a common pattern you get from multiple vendors.

The TI AM335x is a good example of that. An ARM core with 2 "PRU" microcontrollers, and they share access to the memory. The BeagleBone Black uses the AM335x, and there's various projects that make use of the PRUs. A list of some of them: https://beagleboard.org/static/prucookbook/

Re: The $8 Linux Computer

#46

Post by magicalhippo »

pantalaimon wrote: post #33
blippage wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Let me see if I have this straight ... it's a device that can run a general OS like Linux, but say, have a core that could be run real-time, with all the goodies like timers and stuff that we expect from microcontrollers? If so, then that would be pretty awesome. I think that people have been trying to get real-time working on Raspberry Pis. It seems that they get kinda close, but never manage to get all the way.

This is actually a common pattern you get from multiple vendors.

Just as a semi-random example, NXP has the i.MX series[1] with one or more application-level cores alongside a microprocessor-level core. You can get something like the i.MX 8M Nano[2] with 4x Cortex-A53 and a single Cortex-M7.

Another "big-player" option is ST which has the STM32MP1[3], which features a single Cortex-A7 alongside a Cortex-M4.

[1]: https://www.nxp.com/products/processors-and-microcontrollers...

[2]: https://www.nxp.com/products/processors-and-microcontrollers...

[3]: https://www.st.com/en/microcontrollers-microprocessors/stm32...

Re: The $8 Linux Computer

#48

Post by wrycoder »

krm01 wrote: post #43

Does anyone know of cheap touch screens to hook up to this. I feel a lot of cheap computers are available by now but the expensive pieces are displays which would 100X the value of these boards.

Yes, for small systems, I think of the processor as free, with the cost and bulk being in the peripherals these days.

As processors become more powerful, voice I/O becomes the cheapest way to interact - microphones and speakers, or even just a Bluetooth link, are much less expensive and less bulky than a screen and keyboard.

Re: The $8 Linux Computer

#50

Post by Klasiaster »

psychphysic wrote: post #26

My VisionFive2 just arrived last weekend and I've got the simple buildroot image running. That was about 10x as expensive but probably more bang per buck.

Does it support UEFI with an updateable open source firmware (e.g. u-boot)? With enough kernel mainlining happening this would allow to use any distro image instead of always having to fiddle with custom images.
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