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Re: Donation of ARM CubieTruck to anyone interested in developing ARM-Debian-desktop



On Thu, 31 Oct 2013 16:33:04 +0200
Alexey Eromenko <al4321@gmail.com> wrote:

> Hello,
> 
> My name is Alexey, and I'm interested in having ARM CubieTruck
> hardware well supported by Debian for desktop (KDE) use.
> 
> CubieTruck is an ARM mini-PC aka "Liliputer", based on AllWinner A20
> SoC + 2 GB RAM + 8 GB flash + VGA (!) port + SATA + Ethernet + WiFi,
> making it good enough for a real Debian desktop.
> 
> CubieTruck
> http://cubietruck.com/collections/frontpage/products/cubietruck-cubieboard3-cortex-a7-dual-core-2gb-ram-8gb-flash-with-wifi-bt

That looks like a very cute piece of hardware!

> My goal: It should have a working 2D, HD Video and 3D graphics as well
> as audio and networking. (for my purposes even closed-source drivers
> are "OK").

But they're unlikely (the closed ones) to ever get in Debian proper,
maybe in non-free but even that is no guarantee that they will work out
of the box (see fglrx on x86/x86_64 ports to see what I mean!).

> Some open-source drivers exist:
> *2D - xf86-video-fbturbo - link:
> https://github.com/ssvb/xf86-video-fbturbo *Hardware Video Decoder -
> "CedarX" link:
> http://linux-sunxi.org/Reverse_Engineering/Cedar_Status (should play
> H.264 and WebM/VP8 Full HD 1080p video) *3D - open-source Lima or
> closed-source Mali drivers.
> 
> WiFi + Bluetooth - status unknown. (WiFi firmware is probably closed
> source)

you forgot the most important component, the kernel! is the
SoC/platform supported in mainline kernel? I guess not, but is the
vendor provided kernel based off a newer one (like 3.8, 3.10, etc?) or
an ancient 3.0.x? The former obviously makes things easier but the
latter is not a show-stopper in the end. But if kernel is 

> If you can - please help stabilize those experimental drivers, improve
> them, test and integrate them into upcoming Debian 8.0.

I guess you would also like Debian installer support, right? (if the
platform is supported by arm multiplatform (armmp) kernels I guess it
would be easier, but I have no idea about that.

> I will donate few ARM CubieTruck samples to interested people. You'll
> need a proof of past patches to any open-source project or community
> involvement.

I'd be interested to at least look at the hardware and maybe
help in some area of hw enablement but I can only promise to try. I was
already looking for a reasonably spec'ed newer arm board and this one
is quite intriguing.

Regards

Konstantinos

PS. For the record, I'm one of the armhf port maintainers
(in Debian since '99) and did originally bootstrap
armhf when I was working for Genesi and "borrowed" by Linaro. I think
that should suffice as a proof of community involvement.
PS2. If you need more dedicated and regular involvement, I might also
be available for hire.

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