Re: recommend a netbook for Debian deployment?
On Wed, Nov 6, 2013 at 2:01 PM, Wookey <wookey@wookware.org> wrote:
> These people support linux on cheap tablets:
> https://pengpod.com/products
> (dual boot with android - linux on the SD, but a lot more open than most
> random hardware you can buy)
ah that's neal. yeah i'm deeply impressed by neal's entrepreneurial
spirit. the pengpod 700 and the 1000 went down extremely well. he's
now doing a crowdfunding project for the A31-based "uber"-tablet. i
didn't want to alarm/discourage him, the fact that he's trying _at
all_ when so many others are going "yeah it'd be nice IF..." is just
amazing in itself... _but_... the A31 should instantly ring alarm
bells for anyone not just in the free software world but even in the
business world because it has powervr graphics. allwinner have now
learned that lesson because the A31 even 6 months ago was considered
to be a flop... but they've already taken that in their stride and
moved on.
> And the KDE plasma tablet is about to be announced (so I hear). Not sure
> exactly how long before you can buy one. Probably a couple of months or so, so
> definitely not 'available today'.
that'll be me doing the hardware for that. i screwed up the revision
1 _and_ revision 2 so am having to do revision 3 myself. this is
probably a good thing because no matter how good any 3rd party
designers the fact that so much of the design information is in my
head means that bringing anyone else on-board is just... well... we
already screwed up rev1 & rev2 :)
anyway, yes: i can't say "how long" either. i should be done the
rev3 PCB layout within a day or so. if anyone knows anyone who can do
PCB board design reviews i reallly need help here, even just basic
advice (which at this stage is all that i can expect). factory's
already alerted to expect the gerbers. buyers underway for
components. case manufacturer received early prototype, expecting
PCB... so many details.
then after that we need to do the firmware! the design is basically
using an ATSAM4S (not an STM32F as originally planned). that has USB2
(unlike the STM32F103) and it has a dedicated PIO port up to 48mhz
which can be used for anything up to a 720p CMOS camera (woow!). the
ATSAM4S will handle camera, backlight, power management, RTC and so
on.
any spare pins i've brought out to an optional 24-pin header, which
includes one more USB, I2C, 2 DACs, 2 ADCs, 5V and an SPI port.
there's a bit more from the multiplexing of the ATSAM4S but that's
basically it.
anyway anyone who'd like to follow along, it's all here:
http://rhombus-tech.net/community_ideas/kde_tablet/news/
> I'm holding out for one of those as it has been designed to be
> free-software all the way through and (mostly) open hardware.
... and you already have one of the very first EOMA68-A20 CPU Card
samples so you'd only need the chassis, yaay :)
next up will be a laptop, and that's easier than it looks. the
hardest bit - the PCB design - will basically already have been done
by then. i'm already designing the rev.3 PCB so that it can take a
9in (ipad) 1024x768 LCD, and it also has a SATA and an Ethernet
connector on it. but that's a way off.
l.
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