[GTALUG] HummingBoard-i2eX First Impressions

[Scott Sullivan]

This Christmas I got myself another ARM dev board. In this case the 
HummingBoard-i2eX from SolidRun.

The Vendor
==========

http://www.solid-run.com/

SolidRun is an Israeli company producing small form factor computers. 
They previously produced the CuBox (know to many on this list). In 
recent history they moved to creating their devices with FreeScale's 
iMX.6 SoCs. They started with a common SoM (System on a Module), and 
developed two complimentary product lines of base boards that the SoMs 
connect to. These are the CuBox-i and the HummingBoard.

The CuBox-i is a continuation of their 2'x2'x'2' cube computer design.
The HummingBoard is a Raspberry Pi-like form factor (more on this later).


The Board
=========

Vendor Product Page:
http://www.solid-run.com/product/hummingboard-i2ex/

Local Distributor Product Page:
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813455003

This is the Hummingboard base board, with the Dual Core + 1GB + Extra 
Features SoM.

This boils down to a system with extra features of a mSATA slot on the 
bottom of the board, a miniPCIe slot on the top, and an extra 2x4 header 
with two USB extra connections on it.

The Board is nearly perfect match for the Raspberry Pi B (not B+) form 
factor. All the connectors (HDMI, USB, Power, etc...) line up where they 
would on a Raspberry Pi B. The only trick bit is the height of the mSATA 
connector on the bottom which will not fit in any of the Raspberry Pi B 
cases I own. This should not be an issue with the Hummingboard-i1 or -i2 
as they don't have mSATA.


First Boot
==========

The board as purchased from NewEgg comes only with the board. You will 
need to provide your own USB supply 5v at 2A. You will also need your own 
microSD card for the OS.

Prep the microSD Card
---------------------

If your familiar with the Raspberry Pi, there is a NOOBs-like OS 
installer called Ignition. You dd this to your microSD card and then on 
the first boot you get a GUI that will then download and install the 
Distro of your choice.

http://www.solid-run.com/wiki/Ignition


Install your OS of Choice
-------------------------

First Note:
There is check box to show all OS options. Check this as it by default 
hides all but four (Android 4.4, and three XBMC variants).

Second Note:
There is a debug window, click it, and then re-arrange the two windows 
so you can see both. Some of the installs are broken, I discovered this 
when trying to install Fedora 20 via Ignition, it never downloaded an 
install image, and some of the partitioning looks to be broken. This is 
not a fault of the Fedora Project, but of the solidRun community member 
that put together the Iginition script. I haven't started debugging it yet.


I ended up choosing Debian Wheezy, and the install took about 10-15 
minutes downloading and installing. Your millage will vary.


Poking Around
=============

The boot loader is on microSD card. You need it to boot. The boot loader 
is uboot.

Kernel lists as a 3.14.14-cubox, so a custom build.

lspci list just a 'bridge' device. I powered down, added a spare mPCIe 
wifi card I had around, and it showed up when I rebooted.

Memory was listed as the full 1GB, so video buffer stealing doesn't seem 
to be happening. But I can't confirm that fully.


That's it so far.

-- 
Scott Sullivan