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The EOMA68 Upgradeable ARM Board Faces Another Setback: HDMI Connectors Don't Fit

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  • The EOMA68 Upgradeable ARM Board Faces Another Setback: HDMI Connectors Don't Fit

    Phoronix: The EOMA68 Upgradeable ARM Board Faces Another Setback: HDMI Connectors Don't Fit

    The EOMA68 computer card design was novel when first talked about for integerchangeable Arm-based computer cards that could also be installed within laptops and other devices. But even after being worked on for years and raising more than $234k USD, it's still not ready yet to see the light of day...

    Phoronix, Linux Hardware Reviews, Linux hardware benchmarks, Linux server benchmarks, Linux benchmarking, Desktop Linux, Linux performance, Open Source graphics, Linux How To, Ubuntu benchmarks, Ubuntu hardware, Phoronix Test Suite

  • #2
    What's wrong with using a module standard like SMARC? Nih, or afraid of creating something of relevance?

    The big thing about open-source is code reuse and testing. When it to hardware it seems that's the first thing dumped into a deep sea

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    • #3
      A lot of challenges, some of them shouldn't even be there..
      I am not blaming them for it, has they rely in outsourcing to do the job..
      Its difficult to get something like we wanted too, a lot of times..

      In my country that are a old proverbial rule, that says.."If you want something well done, ..you need to do it yourself..!!"
      But here, without the mass production capabilities for that, this proverbial part, seems to be holding them back..

      I regret that, but I acknowledge,
      That "resilience, could limit the amount of failure.."..
      Increasing the amount of work, will help, even if sometimes they need to do "silly things"( that were supposed to be done by the manufacturer.. ).
      They have my respect for been resilient, with the project, and it will Succeed.
      Probably later versions( with lower node fabrication processes ), I hope they could revamp the specs to another level..

      The vulkan project, its something that I don't really understand..
      There are out there already great performance/Watt mobile graphics.. PowerVr,ARM mali, Vivante, ThinkSilicon Nema( which for me, they are simply, the best option.. and they do sell their ip to any riscv that wants it, Risc-v SiFive is one of their consumers.. ).

      I think, before "embarking in a Alien ship to Alpha Centaurus"( with the vulkan project.. ), take the suit out, and put both boots on the Planet Hearth ground, solve the challenges you have right now..
      After, ..if you want to dream with it, go ahead..

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      • #4
        Originally posted by discordian View Post
        What's wrong with using a module standard like SMARC? Nih, or afraid of creating something of relevance?
        The big thing about open-source is code reuse and testing. When it to hardware it seems that's the first thing dumped into a deep sea
        The problem with this Modules, is that you need always, or almost always a base carrier board, that has the same complexity has the module, majority of times even more..

        They wanted to do all( or almost all) in the PCMCIA card sized board..
        Also if you go for launch, you can simply get the card out, and be with it in your pocket, preventing theft for example..
        You can switch between computers easily also..

        SMARC doesn't give you the flexibility PCMCIA cards give..

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        • #5
          Originally posted by tuxd3v View Post

          SMARC doesn't give you the flexibility PCMCIA cards give..
          What about that one that Google/Motorola ditched but the driver code still exists for in the kernel as Greybus? That was all about modular interchangeable parts.

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          • #6
            I backed the original crowdfunding project. After a few of the delays I contacted the maintainer Luke Kenneth Casson Leighton and offered to donate my pledge to the project without getting anything, since they were cash-strapped.

            I love the idea, but I think even if he ships the completed project it's effectively a dead end. I hope I'm wrong.

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            • #7
              Originally posted by phoronix View Post
              about for integerchangeable Arm-based
              What in the world is "integerchangeable"?

              Comment


              • #8
                Originally posted by tuxd3v View Post

                The problem with this Modules, is that you need always, or almost always a base carrier board, that has the same complexity has the module, majority of times even more..
                Which is exactly why this project is beyond stupid. It effectively is 1980’s thinking and dismisses the reality of SoC technology.

                The fact of the matter is that any viable solution like this needs to have the majority majority of the ports the user might want on the module. Frankly you would want the common ports coming out of the SoC available to power the device and support connecting to a user.
                They wanted to do all( or almost all) in the PCMCIA card sized board..
                Yep and again it doesn’t address current realities. It is far cheaper to take the common ports from the SoC and apply them to some edge connectors. So at a minimal a couple of USB ports, and HDMI port, a power port (maybe a USB-C port) and maybe a network port. In other words enough basic I/O to be functional standalone.
                Also if you go for launch, you can simply get the card out, and be with it in your pocket, preventing theft for example..
                It doesn’t prevent theft. You might get lucky and have your data with you (assuming on card storage) but the rest of the device is gone.
                You can switch between computers easily also..

                SMARC doesn't give you the flexibility PCMCIA cards give..
                I really don’t see PCMCIA giving you flexibility here. It actually reduces flexibility, forces the production of an expensive mother board and physically constrains I/O to the wrong edge of the card. Consider how flexibly ATX was, the well defined panel layouts allowed that standard to adapt for years as mother boards became higher in component density and function. PCMCIA puts a box around the high density chip that ends up making the platform inflexible and expensive.

                Now I don’t want to dismiss the importance of user expansion, but here they would have been better off using PCMCIA as the expansion slot especially if they could have emulated the original pin outs. Even as an expansion solution PCMCIA is a bit dated so this is only an alternate way to look at the use of the standard. A new technology expansion solution would have made more sense.

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                • #9
                  Originally posted by tildearrow View Post

                  What in the world is "integerchangeable"?
                  ARM works with all integers! 😂😂😂😂😂

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Originally posted by tildearrow View Post

                    What in the world is "integerchangeable"?
                    That's what happens when your integers turn into floats and back again without effort.

                    A lot of challenges, some of them shouldn't even be there..
                    I am not blaming them for it, has they rely in outsourcing to do the job..
                    I would absolutely blame the management team. A recurring refrain on hardware startups is how naive they all are in regards to actually getting their boards manufactured to proper specifications with functional parts, especially if manufacturing is being outsourced to China. Many, if not most, startups never make it to delivering their first product because they run out of money before they even get a functional product, let alone one that will bring in enough revenue to continue operating till delivery on the next iteration.

                    The hardware incumbents have all that expertise, and they know product delays happen. They've budgeted for it in both development costs and the price of the final product(s). They also know just how precise you have to be to successfully deal with the overseas manufacturers, especially where there are language and cultural barriers.

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