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Tiny cubieboard ARM Platform - Solid Specs with Android and Ubuntu Support for $49 — Parallax Forums

Tiny cubieboard ARM Platform - Solid Specs with Android and Ubuntu Support for $49

Bob Lawrence (VE1RLL)Bob Lawrence (VE1RLL) Posts: 1,720
edited 2012-12-22 05:03 in General Discussion
[h=1]iny cubieboard ARM Platform Offers Solid Specs with Android and Ubuntu Support for $49[/h] Thursday, September 06, 2012 - by Seth Colaner
Those who like to tinker with and build computers have a new toy to play with in the cubieboard, a $49 self-described “open arm box” that offers intriguing possibilities as an HTPC build.

The cubieboard supports Ubuntu (and other Linux distros), so it can operate as a regular desktop, but it can also run Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich and turn a TV into an “Android TV”.

http://hothardware.com/News/Tiny-cubieboard-ARM-Platform-Offers-Solid-Specs-with-Android-and-Ubuntu-Support-for-49/

Comments

  • Heater.Heater. Posts: 21,230
    edited 2012-09-06 19:31
    Also see the up and comming Olimex ARM A10 board http://olimex.wordpress.com/tag/a10/
  • Dr_AculaDr_Acula Posts: 5,484
    edited 2012-09-06 22:32
    Anyone do one of these sub $50 SBCs with wifi? It has to be coming soon.
  • rwgast_logicdesignrwgast_logicdesign Posts: 1,464
    edited 2012-09-06 22:50
    SOOO #1 And totally irrelevant to the topic, In my quest to some day build my own personal computer Ive seen many boards referred to as SBCs mostly homebrew computers, what the heck does SBC mean???? small business computer lol i hope not that will be a total let down..

    Ok #2 and relevant
    Im a pretty poor bastard at the moment, so I cant afford anything and if I can I get yelled at for not saving while unemployed. This means when I fix a computer make a 150 if I use that money twords buying a nice google nexus 7 tablet, it wouldnt go over to well. I started on this road as an android hacker and really wanted a tablet. I found this awesome product http://www.alwaysinnovating.com/products/touchbook.htm which is alot of money but its what turned me down the electronics path! I took a look to see what the hell a beagle board is and boy I thought thats super cool but kind of pricey!!

    Now im seeing these things like a PI, the mk stick, that other red android board by via i think, and now these!!!

    Ive got to say the A10 board Heater listed above is just awesome, thats the ultimate dev board with the ultimate ARM cpu!! And the price there estimating dang!! All you have to do is add a touch LCD to the thing and you have a super hackable tablet add a keyboard you got a netbook, that can give the asus transformer a run for its money!! Seriously these ARM boards are enpowering us to build are own customized tablets EASILY, and we can hook any chip or breakout board we want to them especially the olminex a10 up there. Find a friend with a makerbot to print you a case and you have a badass tablet for the price of a cheap touch screen and 60 bucks!!

    Seriouslly this a10 board could basically have a BT keyboard 7 to 10 inch screen, and you got a super portable dev system, even more so than the PI. Although im curious exactly what you can plug into the LCD port, these are exciting times guys!! If you got 200 dollars you can build almost any electronic gadget, instead of paying apple 700 for something that isnt expandable and slow
  • kwinnkwinn Posts: 8,697
    edited 2012-09-06 23:25
    SBC stands for Single Board Computer. At one time a complete computer on a single board was rare, now it is the norm.
  • Heater.Heater. Posts: 21,230
    edited 2012-09-07 01:39
    rwgast_logicdesign

    I was recently thinking the same. All we need is to siurce cheap 3G modules and we can start assembling our own mobile phones.
  • TorTor Posts: 2,010
    edited 2012-09-07 01:54
    As for the wi-fi question, I don't know if any devel ARM SBC comes with one built-in yet, but one of the accessories for the Odroid X (which must be one of the most impressive ARM boards out there, even at $129) is a wi-fi stick at $9 (IIRC). Not too pricey, but the important point is that apparently it works too.. :) (which is more than I could say about most cheap wi-fi dongles out there)

    -Tor
  • Heater.Heater. Posts: 21,230
    edited 2012-09-07 02:02
    Dr_A,

    Perhaps they do not need to come with WIFI. On the Pi I use a tiny USB WIFI adapter hat was only 15 Euro here and much cheaper elsewhere:
    http://www.verkkokauppa.com/fi/product/5911/dcqgg/Netwjork-PICO-150Mbps-WLAN-USB-sovitin

    I do have some tiny ARM boards with on board WIFI but they are closer to 200 Euros.
  • Cluso99Cluso99 Posts: 18,069
    edited 2012-09-07 05:37
    The MK802 and MK805 both have wifi. The older MK802 can be had for $56 whereas the MK802 II is about $65.
  • LoopyBytelooseLoopyByteloose Posts: 12,537
    edited 2012-09-07 06:14
    Very attrictive. The fact that it can do Ubuntu as well as Android is very important to me personally. And if Wifi is available, all the better.

    SBC means Single Board Computer for those that have no use for Google.

    Since it includes IR support, it can use Linux's LIRC and once an make it into a solid-state jukebox or a storehouse for a video collection or both.
  • Martin_HMartin_H Posts: 4,051
    edited 2012-09-07 10:18
    I've said it before, but I'll say it again. We are in the golden age of hobby robotics.
  • RobotWorkshopRobotWorkshop Posts: 2,307
    edited 2012-09-07 10:26
    Some of these other boards look cool but I wonder how long they will be around. Do they have enough critical mass in sales and development to keep them going? I think the Raspberry Pi may end up winning in this case since they are being snapped up as fast as they can crank them out.

    WiFi is supposed to be pretty easy to configure and several people have used the small USB WiFi adapters. That is what I am using on my current robot project. Using a Raspberry Pi with wireless network connection. It controls two Propeller based boards which handle all the low level I/O and other tasks. The Raspberry Pi will be doing more high level work.

    Robert
  • rwgast_logicdesignrwgast_logicdesign Posts: 1,464
    edited 2012-09-07 10:46
    i dont think there is a clear winner here. the pi maybe flying off the shelves but it due to price and marketing. the only thing that makes the pi attractive to a hardware dev is the price.

    the beagle bone, this a10 boards and others all have better specs and lots of io not just gpios like the pi but dedicated fast spi, i2c, analog. the pi is gonna win in the cheap i want to make python programs or media server market but boards like the olminex a10 and beagle bone are a much better platform for the hardware developer.
  • JBealeJBeale Posts: 25
    edited 2012-09-07 12:08
    rwgast_logicdesign wrote: »
    The only thing that makes the pi attractive to a hardware dev is the price.

    ...and as a byproduct of price, the number of users and developers. It's got a sizable community around it and things are happening around that platform, in my opinion that's a significant factor.
  • rwgast_logicdesignrwgast_logicdesign Posts: 1,464
    edited 2012-09-07 12:53
    its somewhat signifigant especially for the embedded linux/hardware newb.. but the truth is if you can bit bang CAN on a ras pi you can do it on any linux bored its all the same even with the same code maybe only modifying the way the u access the gpio..

    once you realize that all the boards are fairly compatible your gonna want the one with dedicated io channels that do things alot quicker than bit banging gpio, not only that but ur life is simpler becuase u just compile the i2c driver in your kernel and linux takes care of the bare metal details...

    the community of the pi will forward advance all of these boards. for instance ive taken the pi gcc stuff and compiled it on my xscale based zipit, wich is slower than a pi but has a screen and other goodies i like its portability.
  • LoopyBytelooseLoopyByteloose Posts: 12,537
    edited 2012-09-08 01:27
    Regarding the Raspberry Pi, tiny and cheap are not everything in a good SBC.

    It has significant problems of power distribution to support all the features that it touts. The USB interface is a bottleneck that requires an assist from other add-ons to get power to a mouse and keyboard.

    On the other hand, I suspect that this SBC is a bit more engineered with a balanced idea of interface, power distribution, and compatibility of add-ons. After all, it comes from a rather well-established Single Board Computer community.

    While, the Raspberry Pi originated from a rather noisy crowd of ambitious novices.

    Both have made their contributions - The Raspberry Pi has driven the price down and helped make Linux available on SBCs. But, I would still rather go with a well-engineered board than a novel piece of history that doesn't play well with add-ons.

    Ideals versus pragmatic utility - which do you prefer?
  • RDL2004RDL2004 Posts: 2,554
    edited 2012-09-08 05:29
    The Raspberry Pi seems to do a good job of it's intended purpose. Mine is driving a 1680x1050 display, a Microsoft optical mouse and a Logitech K120 keyboard. Running off a 16GB class 10 Transcend card, response is pretty snappy. The power adapter I'm using is only rated 800 mA, but that hasn't been a problem so far.
  • Heater.Heater. Posts: 21,230
    edited 2012-09-08 06:13
    Very nice and all but I need boards like this with a decent industrial temperature spec. ( -40 to + 85C) then the price jumps back up to 200 odd Euros.

    The Raspberry Pi seems to have issues for some people, for example my nano USB WIFI adapter is unreliable but my friends similar set up is rock solid, hopefully these things are worked out of the later hardware revision and ongoing software development. Don't forget this is still suppose do be an initial "beta" run for devs only.

    Inevitably tech marches on and others will produce faster, more equipped or smaller ARM boards. However for the happy home hacker, who is perhaps starting out, having a million people working on exactly the same hardware and software is a huge advantage when it comes to resolving those endless niggling problems that come up with new platforms all the time.
  • LoopyBytelooseLoopyByteloose Posts: 12,537
    edited 2012-12-17 07:52
    My Cubieboard arrived today, It was a bit of a wait and I suspect they won't create another batch until after Chinese New Years as this batch was hugely successful and they will be deliverying maybe into January.

    1Gbyte RAM and 2.4Ghz clock. I especially like having an IR receiver included as it makes an ideal digital jukebox or computer TV device. The real deal maker was the SATA interface. I am trying for an Ubuntu install.
  • rosco_pcrosco_pc Posts: 468
    edited 2012-12-17 16:49
    For those of you that want something similar you can also buy this box (only thing missing is the expansion port): mele a1000
    link to a random taobao item: http://detail.tmall.com/item.htm?spm=a230r.1.10.17.AUYLE8&id=15150292332&ad_id=&am_id=&cm_id=&pm_id=
    Not sure if they are selling this on ebay.
  • LoopyBytelooseLoopyByteloose Posts: 12,537
    edited 2012-12-17 17:05
    Hmmm $549NTD roughly equals $19USD. It certainly is worth looking into. I just wonder if I could load Ubuntu into it or have to stay with another OS, such as Android... and in Chinese.
  • rosco_pcrosco_pc Posts: 468
    edited 2012-12-17 20:42
    Actually price is in RMB (mainland china, although they do sell to Taiwan now), so is more like $50-$80 depending on config.
    The OS is android and it is possible to change to Ubuntu.
    You can get one in Taiwan as well: http://goods.ruten.com.tw/item/show?21210022267746

    I'll be going to China after Xmas (if we can get the visa at least), so if you like I bring one back for you, I'm thinking of taking one for myself.
  • LoopyBytelooseLoopyByteloose Posts: 12,537
    edited 2012-12-18 21:29
    Thanks for the offer, but I already have my hands full with my Cubieboard.
  • LoopyBytelooseLoopyByteloose Posts: 12,537
    edited 2012-12-21 10:25
    So far I am feeling a bit like the Long Ranger after Tonto died.

    Cubieboard support is rather minimal. I've powered up the board, but have not yet gotten any video output from the HDMI. I try a few things and then think about what I need to do next.

    I suspect there is a real advantage to having a Raspberry Pi as the user community is larger at this point. But what I really fear is that I will have to purchase a new HDMI monitor in order to have video. So far the HDMI to DVI-D doesn't seem aware there is anything connected.
  • icepuckicepuck Posts: 466
    edited 2012-12-21 11:39
    Loopy Byteloose wrote: »
    I suspect there is a real advantage to having a Raspberry Pi as the user community is larger at this point. But what I really fear is that I will have to purchase a new HDMI monitor in order to have video. So far the HDMI to DVI-D doesn't seem aware there is anything connected.

    The problem I have with using an HDMI tv is my pi will not output an HMDI signal until i reboot, after that it displays just fine.
    Could it be the Cubieboard may behave in the same way?
    If that doesn't work then maybe it just don't like your HDMI to DVI-D adapter.
    -dan
  • LoopyBytelooseLoopyByteloose Posts: 12,537
    edited 2012-12-22 04:49
    Well, I have finally verified that there is firmware loaded and it is suppose to display HDMI.

    Also, apparently I can either use Telnet via the LAN port or a serial interface on the UART to reach the OS without a working HDMI monitor.

    Trying to sort this out on the internet is frustrating. One fellow claims I must buy an HDMI monitor, another fellow claims the use of an HDMI to DVI-D will work fine. I have the DVI-D capable monitor. And of course, some argue that I have to reconfigure via the serial port to get the DVI-D to work.

    One gets spoiled with Ubnutu Linux on Intel chips. One has to fall back a bit to what was done in earlier Linux versions to install. I at least hope to have the LAN telnet or the serial port up and running tonight.
  • Heater.Heater. Posts: 21,230
    edited 2012-12-22 05:03
    HDMI can be a pain.
    In theory the display drive can query the monitor on start up to find out what modes/resolutions are available.
    That did not work well with my Raspi and BenQ monitor as the monitor came back with some very low res modes.
    That means I had to configure a mode myself. There I found myself having to try loads of them to find ones that a) worked at all, and b) Gave a decent resolution.
    Then there was an update to the GPU firmware which caused my selected mode to not work at all, blank screen.
    Back to trying out all the modes again....
    Luckily there is a command line tool for Raspi that you can use to query all available modes from the monitor/TV.

    None of this is very helpful to you but it's just an indication of what you might be up against.
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