02-28-2016, 01:41 PM
(02-28-2016, 04:42 AM)UnixOutlaw Wrote: Last year in Apri l, I backed the Kickstarter campaign of NextThing's "CHIP" first $9 computer... The promise was a board delivered with Linux running on it in December, so I ordered two and got them in December (these things are also Allwinner ARM [32 bit] single core [Hardware : Allwinner sun4i/sun5i Families]). There were bugs, e.g. the two I got wouldn't boot - but within weeks, NextThing had written a NAND repair tool for their hardware which WORKED (from Ubuntu!, a week later they had a native OS/X repair tool, and now a Windows one)! But they also shipped me another pair just in case! pid='2015' dateline='1455115711']
It took them more than four months just to get beta boards out to early backers (i.e. they were on time - and didn't promise the sky too early) running their own home-brewed variant of Debian Jessie... I'm impressed. Allwinner A10 single core, 512 MB RAM and 4GB NAND - runs nicely with Jessie on kernel 4.3.0, and I can update and install software using my ISP's jessie mirror for ARM. Getting another CHIP in may with the PocketCHIP (looks like a big calculator, the CHIP plugs into it - works as a keyboard + touch display).
The big difference here is that the A64 is very new, and the A10 is very old. The first version of Ubuntu running on the A10 was around June of 2012: http://liliputing.com/2012/06/how-to-run...stick.html (unaccelerated graphics at the time). GPU accelerated versions started appearing in late 2013: https://olimex.wordpress.com/2013/12/18/...eleration/
Also, the mainlining effort on Allwinner chips started with the A10 a long time ago. For the A64, looks like it started a few weeks ago.
(02-28-2016, 04:42 AM)UnixOutlaw Wrote: I also (while waiting for the December delivery) ordered a BananaPI which is ALSO an Allwinner (dual core) 32 bit (Hardware : sun7i)- and the manufacturer had various Linux images and Android images ready to run - desktop and headless images for Linux (arch, debian, ubuntu, lubuntu, xubuntu).
The A20 (sun7i) was the second Allwinner chip to appear around the end of 2012, and GPU accelerated linux desktops started showing up in early-2014: http://www.cubieforums.com/index.php/topic,568.0.html. So it's not surprising there are plenty of products based on it that support various linux images and that mainlining efforts on it are also further along.
(02-28-2016, 04:42 AM)UnixOutlaw Wrote: Are these guys (Pine people) being realistic? Will they be "usable" with Linux when delivered in March? I'm getting a single touch screen with one of them, and probably use it as an android, but long term want 64 bit RISC boxes running some form of *NIX. I've been using docker and skilling up on it - and read an article on Docker's website saying what a brilliant host the PineA64 would be for hosting 64 ARM docker containers - so I backed the campaign! Now I'm feeling a bit pessimistic!
Now these are valid questions. Not sure about the first. My guess is that they went into this more as hardware guys who listened to Allwinner's claims (whatever they are) of android and linux support. Usable is subjective. For headless servers (and basic text console or lightweight desktop on HDMI), they're usable now (I've got one running Arch and Ubuntu) with the 3.10.65 kernel. Others have run docker and KVM, and packages that don't require special kernel features or HW graphics acceleration should work just fine on that kernel. (Note that the 3.10.65 kernel is essentially a fork of the mainline tree with both android-specific patches and allwinner-specific patches; while it works and looks solid, I wouldn't expect any support for it from the linux-sunxi "community" going forward. They're mostly focused on mainline support for all allwinner SoCs, not just this one)
(02-28-2016, 04:42 AM)UnixOutlaw Wrote: I think these PINE people maybe should take a look at what NextThing did in their Kickstarter campaign... PINE SERIOUSLY need to hire some full time low level kernel hackers to get this project off... otherwise it's doomed and I've wasted the price of a box/carton/slab/crate of beer! I really have no use for another Android device...
Like I said, NextThing, had it relatively easy. That's not an excuse for Pine64 to slack off, but if there's a delay on getting a linux kernel running with a 4.x distro, it's understandable.
As for Mali MP2 support... Well, it's supported with X11 on the A20. I believe it's only a matter of time before it's supported on the A64; however, it'll require patches to the mainline kernel (this has been done in the past for other manufacturers' SoCs, and for plenty of android kernels), as Mali contains a huge proprietary blob. This is something that the Pine guys might want to look into supplying and maintaining themselves (the kernel and at least one desktop distro with Mali baked in).