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BeagleBone Black Ships With New Linux 3.8 Kernel

Posted by timothy on from the add-cheap-monitor-wham-computer dept.

DeviceGuru writes "BeagleBoard.org has begun shipping its faster, cheaper BeagleBone Black SBC with a new Linux 3.8 kernel, supporting Device Tree technology for more streamlined ARM development. The $45 BeagleBone Black runs Linux or Android on a 1GHz TI Sitara AM3359 SOC, doubles the RAM to 512MB of its predecessor, and adds a micro-HDMI port. The updated kernel gives the BeagleBone Black access to a new Direct Rendering Manager (DRM) display driver architecture, as well as full support for the Device Tree data structure introduced to streamline ARM development in Linux 3.7. The project was hesitant to move up to such a recent kernel, but decided it was time to bite the bullet and support the Device Tree. By doing the hard work of switching to Device Tree now, BeagleBoard.org and its developer community can save a lot of configuration and maintenance headaches down the line, says BeagleBoard.org co-founder Jason Kridner. Fortunately, a modified 3.2 kernel 'coming soon' should provide the necessary bridge from the old cape driver architecture to the new one."

8 of 64 comments (clear)

  1. PowerVR by Microlith · · Score: 2

    The updated kernel gives the BeagleBone Black access to a new Direct Rendering Manager (DRM) display driver architecture

    Shame about that PowerVR GPU, I don't see it ever actually being able to take advantage of the newer display architecture. I do like the move towards Device Tree. If it gains traction it might actually be possible to treat ARM boards more like x86 boards, rather than needing the board-specific kernels we have to deal with now.

    1. Re:PowerVR by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Shame about that PowerVR GPU, I don't see it ever actually being able to take advantage of the newer display architecture. I do like the move towards Device Tree.

      For $50 Cubieboard has similar specs but comes with a mail400 gpu instead.

      Features
              Allwinner A10 SOC
              96 pin extended interface
              Built-in IR receiver
              SATA supported
              Supports 2.4GHz wireless keyboard and mouse

      Specifications
              CPU: 1G ARM cortex-A8 processor, NEON, VFPv3, 256KB L2 cache
              GPU: Mali400, OpenGL ES GPU
              Memory: 1GB DDR3 @480MHz
              Video output: HDMI 1080p Output
              Network: 10/100M Ethernet
              Internal storage4GB NAND Flash
              IO ports: 2 USB Host, 1 micro SD slot, 1 SATA, 1 ir
              Extended interfaces: 96 extend pin including I2C, SPI, RGB/LVDS, CSI/TS, FM-IN, ADC, CVBS, VGA, SPDIF-OUT, R-TP
              Supports systems: Running Android, Ubuntu and other Linux distributions

  2. MINIX3! by chocolatetrumpet · · Score: 2

    MINIX3 support coming soon, I hope! Minix is booting on the BeagleBoard-xM, so supporting the BeagleBone Black should not be too much of an issue.

    --
    Spoon not. Fork, or fork not. There is no spoon.
  3. I miss Beagle Bros by jfdavis668 · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Every time I see news about this, I keep thinking it says Beagle Bros. I miss their great software and funny documentation.

  4. Solid and Fun Product by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Informative

    I have been playing with the BBB for the last 2 weeks and I must say my first impressions are this is awesome but do be prepared to go through some beginning growing pains with 3.8 kernel. Nevertheless, getting opencv working and tracking is always fun

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=no2l0OuCSIE&list=UUbFdHnmLyG10884-MPgSDoA&index=1

    It is going to be a bit before the community grows but to help you get started we are trying to get tutorials up as fast as possible...
    http://www.phys-x.org/rbots/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&id=46:beaglebone-black&layout=blog&Itemid=81&layout=default

  5. Linux OR Android? by dreamchaser · · Score: 3, Informative

    Android is Linux. I get sick of people writing that they are two different things. Yes, the userspace is different, but it Linux is a kernel and Android uses it. Android is every bit as much Linux as is the more familiar GNU/Linux distros.

    1. Re:Linux OR Android? by CoolGopher · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Yeah if only people would write GNU/Linux... wait, most distros aren't purely made up of a Linux kernel and GNU tools. Um, SomewhatGNU/Linux? NotJustGNU/Linux? OpenAndOrFreeSource/Linux? But what about whichever distro is using the FreeBSD kernel but the same userland as their Linux-based version? FreeBSD isn't just a kernel, it's an entire OS, so what would that be then? NotJustGNU/FreeBSDKernel?

      I don't know about the rest of you, but I think saying "Linux" and "Android" is about as clear as it's going to get. To non-geeks it conveys the necessary distinction, and geeks already know (and debate) the distinction. Context is a wonderful thing after all.

    2. Re:Linux OR Android? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

      Yes, actually they do send patches upstream now.

      Wikipedia says: "The merge will be complete starting with Kernel 3.8, Google has opened a public code repository that contains their experimental work to re-base Android off Kernel 3.8."