Rock64

[xxvolwarexx]

Does anyone know if the Rock64 is also "Open Source Hardware" like the Pine64 board was? In other words, will all of the hardware documentation be available in the event that developers and hardware hackers want to take the existing design and modify it to their specifications for commercial use (while still operating under the Open Source licensing)?


Thank you!

[stephen fleming]

Does anyone know if the Rock64 is also "Open Source Hardware" like the Pine64 board was? In other words, will all of the hardware documentation be available in the event that developers and hardware hackers want to take the existing design and modify it to their specifications for commercial use (while still operating under the Open Source licensing)?


Thank you!

It should be. There is already a ROCK64 page on the PINE64 Wiki with schematics, diagrams and data sheets:
http://wiki.pine64.org/index.php/ROCK64_Main_Page

[pfeerick]

There is also the Rockchip's own Open Souce wiki and their linux github repos. And then there's the rock64 repo by pine64. Between them, and other stuff you can find on the wiki page Stephen linked above, there's plenty of places to get info from, and lots of information is being made available by Rockchip.

[xxvolwarexx]

There is also the Rockchip's own Open Souce wiki and their linux github repos. And then there's the rock64 repo by pine64. Between them, and other stuff you can find on the wiki page Stephen linked above, there's plenty of places to get info from, and lots of information is being made available by Rockchip.

Just found an old post regarding the nature of the Pine64 board. It appears that it is NOT open-source (as the Gerber file is not available) https://forum.pine64.org/archive/index.p...d-117.html

[MarkHaysHarris777]

There is also the Rockchip's own Open Souce wiki and their linux github repos. And then there's the rock64 repo by pine64. Between them, and other stuff you can find on the wiki page Stephen linked above, there's plenty of places to get info from, and lots of information is being made available by Rockchip.

Yes, though nothing explicitly stating the "open-source" license requirements or anything even noting an "open-source" treatment for the hardware.

I'll keep asking around!

hi, the answer is actually no.  

... while much of what the system is, and how it works, is "open" it would be inaccurate to call it open source hardware in the sense that the Arduino is 'actually' open source hardware;  you can actually make an arduino board as good or better than the original, yourself,  and I've done just that !  But, that is NOT going to happen with the Rock64;  no way. Depending on version this is a seven or eight layer board with specific components that are hard to secure and which require very expensive hardware to assemble;  I believe there are only two site in China (for instance) capable commercially of building this board at all !

[xxvolwarexx]

There is also the Rockchip's own Open Souce wiki and their linux github repos. And then there's the rock64 repo by pine64. Between them, and other stuff you can find on the wiki page Stephen linked above, there's plenty of places to get info from, and lots of information is being made available by Rockchip.

Yes, though nothing explicitly stating the "open-source" license requirements or anything even noting an "open-source" treatment for the hardware.

I'll keep asking around!

hi, the answer is actually no.  

... while much of what the system is, and how it works, is "open" it would be inaccurate to call it open source hardware in the sense that the Arduino is 'actually' open source hardware;  you can actually make an arduino board as good or better than the original, yourself,  and I've done just that !  But, that is NOT going to happen with the Rock64;  no way. Depending on version this is a seven or eight layer board with specific components that are hard to secure and which require very expensive hardware to assemble;  I believe there are only two site in China (for instance) capable commercially of building this board at all !

Thank you for the information! That is a big help. In regards to commercial use, there should not be a problem in using the Rock or Pine64 boards, given that my team and I acknowledge the appropriate copyrights, correct?

[MarkHaysHarris777]

There is also the Rockchip's own Open Souce wiki and their linux github repos. And then there's the rock64 repo by pine64. Between them, and other stuff you can find on the wiki page Stephen linked above, there's plenty of places to get info from, and lots of information is being made available by Rockchip.

Yes, though nothing explicitly stating the "open-source" license requirements or anything even noting an "open-source" treatment for the hardware.

I'll keep asking around!

hi, the answer is actually no.  

... while much of what the system is, and how it works, is "open" it would be inaccurate to call it open source hardware in the sense that the Arduino is 'actually' open source hardware;  you can actually make an arduino board as good or better than the original, yourself,  and I've done just that !  But, that is NOT going to happen with the Rock64;  no way. Depending on version this is a seven or eight layer board with specific components that are hard to secure and which require very expensive hardware to assemble;  I believe there are only two site in China (for instance) capable commercially of building this board at all !

Thank you for the information! That is a big help. In regards to commercial use, there should not be a problem in using the Rock or Pine64 boards, given that my team and I acknowledge the appropriate copyrights, correct?

I am quite certain that TLLim and Pine team are interested that you and others will use these boards commercially;  you should check into the sopine module, and the upcoming sopine cluster board!  You will have to negotiate with Pine Inc and TLLim in that regard;  their commercial interests are as keen as their maker efforts; maybe more so.

Having said that, I'm not a Pine Inc spokes person;  I'm just a Pine Inc groupie who helps out here a lot and has a personal interest in the pine products as superior low cost SBC(s) !

Typically when someone promotes open source hardware they are making the pcb layouts available, and they are expecting that the typical maker community will be able to produce the hardware;  it seems to me that while this is technically possible, except for very rare commercial ventures it is a project that would not be worth the R&D to make happen locally;  having said that, we do have a couple of commercial ventures that are producing their own product using the sopine module!  --one of them has a very sophisticated back plane with sodimm module;  so, it is possible and practical to some extent.

I think the Rock64 board is going to be a game changer for the maker and commercial interests !  ... just my gut feel.

[zer0sig]

With twice the RAM of most competitor boards this should make a great embedded server for most purposes a small business might need as well as a solid tiny workstation or media center device for many folks. add the right network connectivity and it would make a great sall to medium size firewall/router with something like pfSense or OpenWRT.