Cubox? Linux 3.7 released, bringing generic ARM support

[Thomas Milne]

This is what I had in mind, the HFP version:

http://goo.gl/kKOr1
On 2012-12-14 12:52 PM, "William Weaver" <williamdweaver-Re5JQEeQqe8AvxtiuMwx3w at public.gmane.org> wrote:

> With that in mind it looks like SolidRun has a few prebuilts with XBMC
> that you can give a shot.
>
> http://www.solid-run.com/mw/index.php/XBMC_on_CuBox
>
> It may be a good place to get started. You can flash this get it up and
> running and see if it meets your needs, if not can it and reflash.
>
> If flashing is an issue I'm certain someone will be willing to flash the
> card for you. I live in the down town core and if you took the drive/subway
> to grab it I would, though you may be able to find someone closer.
>
> Will
>
>
> On Fri, Dec 14, 2012 at 12:35 PM, Thomas Milne <
> thomas.bruce.milne-Re5JQEeQqe8AvxtiuMwx3w at public.gmane.org> wrote:
>
>>
>> On 2012-12-14 11:56 AM, "D. Hugh Redelmeier" <hugh-pmF8o41NoarQT0dZR+AlfA at public.gmane.org> wrote:
>> >
>> > | From: Thomas Milne <thomas.bruce.milne-Re5JQEeQqe8AvxtiuMwx3w at public.gmane.org>
>> >
>> > | I am currently without a computer since they all died at once and I am
>> > | jobless.
>> > |
>> > | So I am using my Cubox to do basic stuff, but running Ubuntu 10 it is
>> very
>> > | slow.
>> >
>> > If I remember correctly, Lennart is a local expert on the Cubox.
>> >
>> >
>> > There is no "Ubuntu 10".  There is 10.04 LTS and 10.10, but those are
>> > distinct.
>>
>> Sorry, you're right. Just being lazy since I have to type e-mails on my
>> cell phone telephone :-)
>>
>> > What is it slow doing?  Why?
>>
>> The worst part is web browsing. It is unbearable. Now that is likely in
>> large part because of limited memory, but surely it would at least be more
>> useable if I could get better use of the ARM processor with newer Linux
>> version. My understanding is that the Ubuntu on there now does slow
>> software  emulation of hardware operations.
>>
>> > As far as I know, the major thing that *might* get sped up in another
>> > distro is floating point.  Most programs don't care about FP
>> > performance, but a few care a lot -- do you run any of those?
>>
>> Basically I was hoping for a couple of basic functions: web browsing and
>> media player, primarily with XBMC. As it is, the Cubox works very well just
>> moving files around on network and running Transmission.
>>
>> > My perception is that these little devices are sometimes slow because:
>> >
>> > - the memory interface is narrower than a PC's so memory bandwidth is
>> >   bad
>>
>> Ya, not expecting to run Firefox with like 50 tabs open.
>>
>> > - 1 ARM MIP < 1 x86 MIP for modern x86 implementations
>> >
>> > - most I/O is funneled through USB 2.x (example: ethernet on
>> >   RaspberryPI) (example: all disk I/O)
>> >
>> > - I think that SD cards (except perhaps the fastest) are slower than
>> >   hard drives even if USB isn't the bottleneck
>> >
>> > - video drivers are crap since there are no high-performance open source
>> >   video drivers for any ARM display subsystem yet
>> >
>> > - not enough RAM (new desktops start at 4G; most ARM systems stop at
>> >   1G)
>> >
>> > | Will this 3.7 kernel mean that Linux will now run on Cubox with normal
>> > | install? I know Debian won't have the 3.7 kernel for a while.
>> >
>> > Who knows.  It is a future direction so it may not be embraced by old
>> > products.  Too many embedded systems are "fire and forget" by their
>> > producers.  I don't have any knowledge of the Cubox folks intention.
>> > You could ask them.
>> >
>> > | And since I do not have a Linux desktop I can't do any of the tricks
>> > | to get a newer Linux on Cubox.
>> >
>> > Surely we can help there.
>> >
>> > Where are you?  What does it involve/require (time, equipment,
>> > expertise, risks)?
>>
>> Well I'm fairly experienced with Linux in general but not a professional.
>> I can install it myself, but I'm not sure how to go about that as all
>> instructions I read say I need another Linux computer besides Cubox :-/
>>
>> I suppose ideally I would buy a good SD card and some kind soul would
>> help me load some bootable install routine on it.
>>
>> I am in south etobicoke but I have a vehicle.
>>
>> Apologies for terrible line wrap/quoting on my phone.
>>
>> > --
>> > The Toronto Linux Users Group.      Meetings: http://gtalug.org/
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>>
>
>
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