The future of Libre Computing: Crowd Funding Campaign Starts Now

268 réponses [Dernière contribution]
lkcl
Hors ligne
A rejoint: 03/29/2015

the breakout board is there for people to experiment with this kind of concept, but please be under no illusion about the comprehensive nature of the task that you're taking on.

firstly: you are likely to need to do some reverse-engineering of the battery. this is potentially dangerous as a short-circuit could cause a lithium fire. also if you disregard the safety protocols built-in to the battery: again, lithium fire.

secondly: related to the above, you will need to create a battery charging circuit. this will take perhaps around 3-4 months if you are an experienced electronics engineer. you cannot just "drop in any old off-the-shelf circuit" because they're customised to the specific battery. you *might* get lucky with a search and find that someone else has done this, but if you get it wrong: again, lithium fire.

thirdly: the screen requires extremely specific voltages for the backlight and for its input signals. this is something that you are likely to require a custom circuit for. you will be extremely unlikely to obtain an off-the-shelf circuit for it. cost in time: around 2-3 months of electronics engineering expertise.

fourthly: the keyboard will require reverse-engineering. you will likely have to purchase another keyboard in order to dismantle it and trace its circuits. once you have done so, you will then need to create your own keyboard matrix controller circuit, followed by writing the firmware. cost in time: around 2-3 months of electronics engineering expertise *and* software engineering expertise.

fifthly: you will need to reverse-engineer the touchpad. this may be easy (if it's USB-based), if it's I2C it will be harder to do, and will require firmware to be written.

sixthly: you will need an audio circuit, suited to the impedance of the speakers. this may be easy to achieve using an off-the-shelf USB-based audio amplifier.

at the end of all of this you have something that cost a fortune in terms of effort, to make *ONE* device for *ONE* person... yourself!

are you getting the message yet? you're looking at around a *YEAR* of effort here! just to do what... take an *older* design of laptop and "save the environment"?? naah, that's totally naive: the cost alone to the environment of the *food* that you'll be eating over the next year will be far in excess of the value of the laptop.

basically, please don't do it. yes it's fun do consider doing, but in terms of usefulness for effort expended, you would be much better off helping to create an alternate-sized EOMA68 laptop housing.

plase: take the older laptop, find some way that you can continue to put it to good use. if you personally can't use it, give it to someone who can.

tonlee
Hors ligne
A rejoint: 09/08/2014

I misconceived the difficulties. Thank you for the answer.
Reading on http://elinux.org/Embedded_Open_Modular_Architecture/EOMA-68 did not make me recognize how difficult it is. That is why the computer card notebook got its price? You had to do these investigations? I thought if voltage and wires are correct, you can connect the devices. If a list of standardized devices which could be connected should be made, what you wrote has to be done? You cannot buy devices based on specifications and know they will work together?

Chris

I am a member!

Hors ligne
A rejoint: 04/23/2011

The problem is that there is no standard with normal computing devices like laptops, cell phones, and tablets. EOMA68 solves that problem. With EOMA68 we have a standard that'll make creating new devices much much simpler and less expensive [not free, or no cost, but just less expensive]. EOMA68 is actually a standard of standards which is really pretty awesome.

Now you do need to design the housings still and while its cheaper it is still not a trivial project or without significant costs [relative to the resources we reasonably have available]. What it's not is a dead end project. That's the barrier we have overcome. It's simply feasible now to conceive of a world where we can begin to move forward. Before it was simply not conceivable that we'd be able to move forward. The barriers to doing so were great, and still are high, but not as high as they were before. It would be significantly more expensive and time consuming without the EOMA68 standard to do any of the things being proposed. So much so it would not be feasible.

There is a reason nobody has successfully gotten anywhere with regards to free software hardware projects thus far [this is within the context of complex devices like laptops, cell phones, tablets, and similar, not devices like wifi adapters or routers]. We're aiming to change that with the EOMA68 standard. I have to inquire with Luke, but I think we've actually made significant progress in one key area already that hasn't been made public that'll demonstrate that progress and why EOMA68 matters beyond the context of this single laptop/desktop or crowd funding campaign.

In the future you'll be able to get computer cards and computer 'housings' that are more powerful. Previously we were stuck on outdated technology and the non-trivial amount of time it took to free hardware was insurmountable [ie probably impossible with newer technology].

lkcl
Hors ligne
A rejoint: 03/29/2015

the standard helps take away some of the enormous cost (in time and money) so that people can work on things for a long time then upgrade them later... *WITHOUT* needing to throw away absolutely everything they've done because it's now "too slow" if they did it as a Single-Board Computer. you still however need to have some electronics engineering experience :)

tonlee
Hors ligne
A rejoint: 09/08/2014

What I wanted to do, was buying a defective notebook. Fx the 7” asus eee. Then modify it for a computer card. As you clarified, cannot be done.

Your list, maybe not the full list, is about
battery
screen
keyboard
touchpad
audio

On several locations you can buy a notebook 7 inch. https://reseller.alibaba.com/product-detail/7-inch-mini-UMPC-7-inch_60434390797.html?spm=a2700.7782932.1998701000.3.lzmuAA&spm=a2700.7782932.1998701000.3.lzmuAA. It appears to be a common manufactured cabinet. Mainboard may differ.
I do not know if seller has the source software for the hardware devices and will turn it over to buyer. Let us assume he will.

If the cabinet comes with compartment for battery, but no battery. With display. Speakers. Touchpad. Keyboard. Can a computer card notebook then be made with electronics that are on the market and for a small price?

Chris

I am a member!

Hors ligne
A rejoint: 04/23/2011

It's not that simple.

tonlee
Hors ligne
A rejoint: 09/08/2014

On the 3 way usb otg host charger cable.
Which connector is for the power supply?
Can you power the computer card and usb devices with a 5v 2a power supply connected to the 3 way usb otg host charger cable?
Do you have to connect devices and power supply inhttp://www.staples.com/Sabrent-USB-2-0-Network-Adapter-Black/product_IM1GU0032 a specific order?

Lan ethernet on the computer card.
How do you get lan ethernet on the computer card if setup is 3 way usb otg host charger cable?
Do you use an usb eithernet adapter with a build in ethernet device? Then how do you get one that is free software? There is no ethernet device on the computer card? Can you connect an ethernet device to the eoma68 connector? What about power supplying the ethernet device?
http://www.staples.com/Sabrent-USB-2-0-Network-Adapter-Black/product_IM1GU0032
https://www.amazon.com/ENC28J60-Ethernet-Network-Module-Arduino/dp/B00EVO4B7Y

On performance if setup is computer card and 3 way usb otg host charger cable.
If keyboard, pc mouse, ehternet and storage is on an usb hub, how usable will it be?

lkcl
Hors ligne
A rejoint: 03/29/2015

tonlee the answers to these questions are self-evident, so i'm not going to give a detailed reply, particularly as there's just far too many of them and you should be using common sense. cables are cables: you can't plug the wrong thing into the wrong thing. linux is linux regardless of whether it's ARM or x86. usb devices are usb devices: if the drivers are present, the drivers are present and the hardware works.

tonlee
Hors ligne
A rejoint: 09/08/2014

To me it is not trivial questions. https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/31q-FMB0kzL.jpg.
Can I use the cable in combination with 5v pin from this power supply and connect computer card and usb hub? https://www.amazon.com/RocketBus-Supply-Adapter-Connector-Output/dp/B01AVY8R0O/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1475083869&sr=8-2&keywords=12v++5v+2a+molex.
Does it have to be an otg charger?
About https://www.amazon.com/ENC28J60-Ethernet-Network-Module-Arduino/dp/B00EVO4B7Y.
How to verify if it can be connected to the computer card's pin connector?

arielenter

I am a member!

I am a translator!

Hors ligne
A rejoint: 08/25/2010

If cell phones are made from EOMA68, will they be able to support replicant? Thank you.

onpon4
Hors ligne
A rejoint: 05/30/2012

Replicant is designed for ARM systems. So if you used an ARM computer card (like the A20 card) in a phone case, you should be able to use Replicant on that.

mangeur de nuage
Hors ligne
A rejoint: 09/27/2015

Allwiner shits on peoples face again

http://lists.phcomp.co.uk/pipermail/arm-netbook/2016-October/012244.html

>flew 20,000 miles round the world
>was invited here to speak with their engineers
>help them out
>set up a FusionForge for them
>make it possible for them to present the R-Series processors to open hardware and software libre people across the world
>present the idea of using RISC-V and Nyuzi 3D for a future processor

next day

>accused of being here to commit industrial espionage, to steal their proprietary source code

Let me interject for a moment
>their proprietary source code
>proprietary source code
>their source code
https://linux-sunxi.org/GPL_Violations

tonlee
Hors ligne
A rejoint: 09/08/2014

About pocketchip http://docs.getchip.com/pocketchip.html#welcome-to-pocketc-h-i-p data, there is this link https://github.com/NextThingCo/PocketCHIP-PCB. Does it provide required pieces of information to make a computer card pocketchip?
What about pocketchip source code?

Soon.to.be.Free
Hors ligne
A rejoint: 07/03/2016

Firstly, I'm no expert at this sort of stuff. Take this as a guide, but don't quote me.

In terms of making a computer card from the PocketCHIP, I don't think you're going to be able to reach EOMA68 compatibility. The devices use an Allwinner R8 processor (see http://docs.getchip.com/chip.html). The fact that it didn't make the list for the initial EOMA68 card, despite being from the company whose processor was eventually chosen, suggests there was an issue. I can't tell you for certain what it is (likely something to do with video resolution), but the datasheet is linked from the page mentioned above.

As for freedom, the bootloader/initialisation stuff is good. The processor is probably decent, although I'm not sure if the R8 can run fully free, but the wifi card is concerning. I can't find the specs (they're probably nestled somewhere in the GitHub tree), so it's probably proprietary stuff given the severe lack of free cards.

If you really want something free, I'd suggest working with the BeagleBone Black instead. That's known to run fine without proprietary software. You'd have to check that it has the core features to reach EOMA68 compatibility, although the processor is more promising (a Texas Instruments one- I believe the issue with those was related to customs, not specs).

tonlee
Hors ligne
A rejoint: 09/08/2014

Do not want to put the chip into a computer card. Instead I want to modify the pocketchip to accept the a20 computer card.

onpon4
Hors ligne
A rejoint: 05/30/2012

I'm pretty sure any attempt to modify an existing computer to use an EOMA68 computer card is completely pointless. As in, it's easier to just start from scratch. Besides, why go through all that hard work to get one EOMA68-compatible housing when you can do less work to get thousands of EOMA68-compatible housings that are probably better (and made of brand-new components)?

tonlee
Hors ligne
A rejoint: 09/08/2014

In a post lkcl explained the difficulties about making pcbs. About the pocketchip does it not make a difference in costs would you have all schematics and software as open source? Because it is interesting I ask, what are the options? For now there are not many options. No 7", no 10". I do not expect lkcl to answer, because he is busy.
I do not understand the argument you and lkcl say, if you get it to work, you have one working computer. If the electronics and software for a computer is made that it will run the computer card, can't everyone make more of it and safe development costs?

tonlee
Hors ligne
A rejoint: 09/08/2014