$39 Arduino Compatible Boardset Runs Linux On New x86 SoC

DeviceGuru writes "DM&P Group has begun shipping a $39 Arduino compatible boardset and similar mini-PC equipped with a new computer-on-module based on a new 300MHz x86 compatible Vortex86EX system-on-chip. The $39 86Duino Zero boardset mimics an Arduino Leonardo, in terms of both form-factor and I/O expansion. The tiny $49 86Duino Educake mini-PC incorportates the same functionality, but in a 78 x 70 x 29mm enclosure with an integrated I/O expansion breadboard built into its top surface. The mini-PC's front and back provide 2x USB, audio in/out, Ethernet, and COM interfaces, power input, and an SD card slot. The hardware and software source for all the boards, including the computer-on-module, are available for download under open source licenses at the 86Duino.com website."

Comments

Non-starter for me.

[Capt.DrumkenBum]

More expensive than a Raspberry PI, with a slower processor.
Add in the community that has grown up around the Raspberry and I know where my money will be going.

Re:Non-starter for me.

[Anonymous Coward]

This board has Ethernet, so you should compare it with the $35 Ethernet equipped version of RPI.
  ADC, PWM, CAN, ISA, PCIe are on there too.

Compared to a "Arduino", this is not too bad.
The latest "Arduino" is $90 http://blog.wickeddevice.com/?p=494 and still running a 8-bit CPU.

Re:Non-starter for me.

[Threni]

Slower than a Raspberry Pi? Wow! There must be a reason for making such a device, but I can't for the life of me imagine what it might be.

Re:Non-starter for me.

[Baloroth]

Far more GPIO (the Pi only has 8, which is rather pitiful), compatibility with Ardiuno (so lots of expansion modules readily available), built-in SATA/COM/parallel port support, etc. Not everything is about speed. Also, it's x86, so it's compatible with a totally different set of programs/OSes.

Re:Non-starter for me.

[QuasiSteve]

I know where my money will be going.

To the BeagleBone Black, of course.

No? The pcDuino, then? No? Cubieboard? El cheapo chinese tablet with an I/O expander? Don't leave us hanging!

Re:Non-starter for me.

[JackDW]

I think it sounds quite good, but international shipping is $35.60, nearly doubling the cost.

Re:Non-starter for me.

[MMC Monster]

[...]Also, it's x86, so it's compatible with a totally different set of programs/OSes.

I'm sure someone will manage to compile a Debian based distro that can handle x86.

Re:Non-starter for me.

[hairyfeet]

Well not to mention that unless ALL you care about is getting the teeniest tiniest device with X86 you can possibly get this isn't really a good value because for a few bucks more you can get an AMD Bobcat board which gives you dual cores, an HD6310 GPU capable of 1080P over HDMI and you can use up to 8GB of RAM.

I'd say if you want a dirt cheap X86 board they can't be beat, you can even use something like OpenELEC which has the drivers and XBMC baked in and have a nice media tank/HTPC for less than $200 complete. I've built several as media tanks and even replacements for aging P4s in offices and I have to say everybody just loves the things, quiet as can be, just sips power, great little systems they are.

Re:Non-starter for me.

[Goaway]

That one doesn't have any GPIOs or micocontroller buses. Completely useless for the kinds of things this board is meant for.

Re:Non-starter for me.

[Anomalyst]

le'ts not forget the PI's inability to boot from/use many class10 SD cards (i,e, those that dont obey the magic "degraded access" command.)

Re:Non-starter for me.

[BitZtream]

The latest "Arduino" is $90 http://blog.wickeddevice.com/?p=494 and still running a 8-bit CPU.

The latest Arduino board, the Due can be found here: http://arduino.cc/en/Main/ArduinoBoardDue

And its ARM based, a 32 bit CPU.

There is also the older Yun: http://arduino.cc/en/Main/ArduinoBoardYun

Which has a Atheros AR9331 daughter board as well as an 8bit CPU. It runs Linux out of the box.

The board you linked to is a clone, not an actual arduino, and there are hundreds of different clones that run all sorts of CPUs right down the the Intel Galileo which is an Atom board (x86)

Re:Non-starter for me.

[idunham]

x86 has more OSs available.
The vendor supports DOS, Linux, and purportedly WIndows. From what I understand, "Windows" would be "XP or older", since a Vortex86EX appears to be 586-level or so.
Coincidentally, that's the same ISA as Galileo.

It's an option if you have some 16-bit code that you need to keep going...which is especially likely on any sort of continuation of an older hardware project.

The other aspect is that you can compile on your PC without setting up a cross-compiling environment. On the one hand, that's easier. On the other hand, you don't learn to cross-compile. And on the gripping hand, these processors are the sort where you don't want to compile natively.

Re:Non-starter for me.

[Charliemopps]

I really don't understand why people don't get this. The Arduino is a micro controller, it's NOT a computer. The RPI is a computer, NOT a micro controller. This new thing they are talking about here is a combination of both. It can not be compared to either. I wasn't aware that you could get a RPI shield for a Arduino but I just checked and apparently you can. So add up the price of all 3, then compare them with this.

Re:Other OS'es

[kthreadd]

You should. Most BSDs are compatible with x86 and I don't see anything in the spec list that would be a showstopper.

Re:wow its a vortex board

[makomk]

Probably still better than Intel's Galileo board, which doesn't even have proper native GPIOs (they all go through a slow I2C I/O expander), is more expensive, and has worse power usage.

Re:wow its a vortex board

[tlhIngan]

Probably still better than Intel's Galileo board, which doesn't even have proper native GPIOs (they all go through a slow I2C I/O expander), is more expensive, and has worse power usage.

Compatibility is worse on this board though - it's a 486 core. Most modern Linux is compiled for i586 (Pentium) ISA, so you can't even run a stock Linux distribution (even the "i386" distros usually assume Pentium and up). You'll need to basically recompile everything for i486 instruction set to get it to work.

Last time I dealt with this, Puppy Linux was all that could run by default on it (I think it compiled everything i386 - though Linux needs 486 or better). Everything it didn't come with had to be recompiled from source as practically all binaries available were i586.

Though it can probably run Windows - I think XP should run just fine on it.

And yes, I've tried running i586 binaries on boards with the Vortex processor on them. You usually get a segfault or illegal instruction error sooner or later.

Beaglebone Black

[ArchieBunker]

Get a BeagleBone Black. Tons of GPIO along with ADCs and PWM channels. Of course all the usual SPI and 1Wire stuff as well.

Re:wow its a vortex board

[LinuxIsGarbage]

Probably still better than Intel's Galileo board, which doesn't even have proper native GPIOs (they all go through a slow I2C I/O expander), is more expensive, and has worse power usage.

Compatibility is worse on this board though - it's a 486 core. Most modern Linux is compiled for i586 (Pentium) ISA, so you can't even run a stock Linux distribution (even the "i386" distros usually assume Pentium and up). You'll need to basically recompile everything for i486 instruction set to get it to work.

Last time I dealt with this, Puppy Linux was all that could run by default on it (I think it compiled everything i386 - though Linux needs 486 or better). Everything it didn't come with had to be recompiled from source as practically all binaries available were i586.

Though it can probably run Windows - I think XP should run just fine on it.

And yes, I've tried running i586 binaries on boards with the Vortex processor on them. You usually get a segfault or illegal instruction error sooner or later.

Windows 2000 is the last version you can get to run on a 486. XP requires Pentium/586 or higher, Vista requires some certain level of ACPI, and Windows 8 requires PAE, NX, and SSE2.

Much slower than Beaglebone Black

[billstewart]

The main problem with Raspberry Pi is that it's an earlier ARM spec; the new Beaglebone Black is ~$45 and has a newer ARM version so you get more choice of operating systems (I've read that RPi can't do Ubuntu, but BBB can, though reviewers differ on whether RPi can also.) On the other hand, the RPi has a more powerful graphics chip, so it can do full 1080p, which the BBB can't (which answers the question of which one I'm going to get to put next to my TV.) BBB has a 1 GHz CPU and a lot more I/O pins than RPi, but so far I haven't been doing anything where that matters, and I can use the Arduino to play with sensors.