Linux Kernal Development - BETA Boards

[paulieg]

we're looking for 4 to 6gb [...] To clarify, the A64 is able to address upto 1TB of physical memory

Obviously you're looking for 4GB to 6GB. And I spoke about DRAM modules. You might get 4 GB total memory with 4x8Gb modules and you might get 6 GB using 4x12Gb modules. But this doesn't apply to the A64 since there is a 3GB limitation (and its memory bus is 32 bit anyway) regardless whether you accept that or not. 

I'll save my time and won't comment on the other stuff you wrote

I'll point out that a 32bit memory bus would result in a 4gb memory ceiling, not 3gb, which either means the 3GB ceiling is imposed as a software limit or there is a hardware limit not explicitly mentioned in the manual. LPAE on ARM processors results in a 40bit memory address window which does allow for 1TB - I think the only person who can clear this up would be A: Allwinner themselves as they built the damn thing or alternatively jjeng or one of the other team who have been working with the SoC for the last month - any takers?

I also wonder why you're mentioning such large memory modules for relatively small memory allocations - that makes little to no sense - the best analogy would be buying a Bugatti Veyron and Driving it back and forth to the shops at just 30mph.

There are two points of confusion here:
1. confusion between GB (gigabytes) and Gb (gigabits)
2. confusion between addressable virtual memory and accessible physical memory

1 requires no further explanation, only a note that using (k,m,g)bits to denote size of a memory chip is common in the ee world. 2 does, but enough has been written about it elsewhere that it doesn't need rewriting here. Suffice to say that x86-64 for example only uses 48 bits for translation in order to improve performance, therefore maximum theoretical physical memory size is 2^48 rather than 2^64 before we even get to any other limiting factors. You're going to need to know this, so it's worth reading up on.

-p

[tjaekel]

How to contribute?
Dear Pine64 team and community, I want to use this board for Professional Audio Processing (as an "Audio Processing Platform"). Therefore, I want to put my hands on the Linux kernel, to help etc. in order to have I2S Input and Output working asap, to use Nokia Qt as GUI tool or additional libraries (e.g. OpenCV, audio processing, Matlab/Simulink ...).
Will ALSA and I2S In and Out come with the PINE64 release?
Possible to work on OpenSource kernel  (GIT hub) and to add?
Best regards
Torsten

[tllim]

How to contribute?
Dear Pine64 team and community, I want to use this board for Professional Audio Processing (as an "Audio Processing Platform"). Therefore, I want to put my hands on the Linux kernel, to help etc. in order to have I2S Input and Output working asap, to use Nokia Qt as GUI tool or additional libraries (e.g. OpenCV, audio processing, Matlab/Simulink ...).
Will ALSA and I2S In and Out come with the PINE64 release?
Possible to work on OpenSource kernel  (GIT hub) and to add?
Best regards
Torsten

There is I2S connection at euler bus, information located at Pine64 wiki page (http://wiki.pine64.org). Regarding ALSA, this need to wait till Linux actually running on this board.

[PlaneMd]

JJ, I would like to help develop this with everyone. I am looking to use this with a ubuntu based python os, to be used for personal protection and awareness drone.

[Kollihk]

If you are a kernal developer, please post here your interest in working with our team and factory to port Linux OS like CentOS, Ubuntu, etc over to PINE64. Please use this thread to post interest in working with beta boards only and if you are available to help expedite the port process. 



Thank You

Hi,

I'm a linux kernel engineer with experience in working with the mainline community. I'm maintainer of the mediatk SoCs in the Linux kernel and I was the first to bring support for their SoC to the official Linux kernel.

Apart from that I'm working for SUSE and with my colleague we are interested to port openSUSE to the pine64.

please get in contact with me to see how we can collaborate on this.

Matthias

---

If you are a kernal developer, please post here your interest in working with our team and factory to port Linux OS like CentOS, Ubuntu, etc over to PINE64. Please use this thread to post interest in working with beta boards only and if you are available to help expedite the port process. 



Thank You

Hi,

I'm a linux kernel engineer with experience in working with the mainline community. I'm maintainer of the mediatk SoCs in the Linux kernel and I was the first to bring support for their SoC to the official Linux kernel.

Apart from that I'm working for SUSE and with my colleague we are interested to port openSUSE to the pine64.

please get in contact with me to see how we can collaborate on this.

Matthias

Hello, 

I am an experienced Linux system programmer and can offer my help with porti any Linux distribution.

Thanks,
Hari

[KiltedKen]

If you are a kernal developer, please post here your interest in working with our team and factory to port Linux OS like CentOS, Ubuntu, etc over to PINE64. Please use this thread to post interest in working with beta boards only and if you are available to help expedite the port process. 



Thank You

[hlide]

Hi,

@tkeiser, thank you for clarifying the real state of Linux for AArch64 with due facts - especially the ones regarding Allwinner. Don't be concerned with Kommander's reaction: someone calling another one a troll can only be a troll.

@paulieg, thank you for rectifying and reforming Kommander's conduct in a very subtle way.

My other concern is about Mali driver. I'm also an OpenGL developer but I cannot say I like it the way it is. Since Mantle appeared, things seem to move in the right direction with the future Vulkan. But Mali400 would probably not have a Vulkan version. I try to see the situation of Lima - the open source version of kernel driver - but it doesn't look in good shape as hoped as well (gitarious is gone) so it seems we are stuck with proprietary drivers to allow 2D/3D hardware acceleration and with OpenGL ES.

I'm mostly a fluent C/C++ and assembly coder with solid knowledge in both software and hardware sides. I'm also a baker for PINE64+. But I'm not applying here as I think there are much better people dedicated to Linux than I .

[paulieg]

@paulieg, thank you for rectifying and reforming Kommander's conduct in a very subtle way.

I understand Kommander's reaction, it's absolutely natural in the wider US-American cultural context of positivity being valued highly. We're all a product of our environment, no harm done.

My other concern is about Mali driver. I'm also an OpenGL developer but I cannot say I like it the way it is. Since Mantle appeared, things seem to move in the right direction with the future Vulkan. But Mali400 would probably not have a Vulkan version. I try to see the situation of Lima - the open source version of kernel driver - but it doesn't look in good shape as hoped as well (gitarious is gone) so it seems we are stuck with proprietary drivers to allow 2D/3D hardware acceleration and with OpenGL ES.

I'm mostly a fluent C/C++ and assembly coder with solid knowledge in both software and hardware sides. I'm also a baker for PINE64+. But I'm not applying here as I think there are much better people dedicated to Linux than I .

Given some of the posts in this thread and elsewhere, someone who can actually code and is familiar with a part of the problem is well above par, so you might want to reconsider. Perhaps you could start with taking a look at what the linux-sunxi project/others have already done and write a brief overview (in a new thread or on the wiki) of what the current state of affairs is and what might be needed to move it forward for those of us who are less familiar with hw acceleration in general and mali in particular?

-p

[tkaiser]

Regarding Mali: http://irclog.whitequark.org/linux-sunxi/2015-12-29
And please remember, the kernel and userland stuff has to match. Good luck with Aarch64

[tjaekel]

How to contribute?
Dear Pine64 team and community, I want to use this board for Professional Audio Processing (as an "Audio Processing Platform"). Therefore, I want to put my hands on the Linux kernel, to help etc. in order to have I2S Input and Output working asap, to use Nokia Qt as GUI tool or additional libraries (e.g. OpenCV, audio processing, Matlab/Simulink ...).
Will ALSA and I2S In and Out come with the PINE64 release?
Possible to work on OpenSource kernel  (GIT hub) and to add?
Best regards
Torsten

There is I2S connection at euler bus, information located at Pine64 wiki page (http://wiki.pine64.org). Regarding ALSA, this need to wait till Linux actually running on this board.

Thank you. I think, we will need an I2S kernel driver, ALSA is not a problem when Linux is up an running.
I would like to join and start also with kernel development, to add I2S play and capture driver. And I2C (or SPI) would be needed as well but might be there already.
Just to make sure to contribute with driver development so that digital audio, I2S is working with first release (and better compared to Raspberry Pi    ;-)   )