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A $1, Linux-Capable, Hand-Solderable Processor (hackaday.com)

Posted by msmash on from the how-about-that dept.

An anonymous reader shares a report: Over on the EEVblog, someone noticed an interesting chip that's been apparently flying under our radar for a while. This is an ARM processor capable of running Linux. It's hand-solderable in a TQFP package, has a built-in Mali GPU, support for a touch panel, and has support for 512MB of DDR3. If you do it right, this will get you into the territory of a BeagleBone or a Raspberry Pi Zero, on a board that's whatever form factor you can imagine. Here's the best part: you can get this part for $1 USD in large-ish quantities. A cursory glance at the usual online retailers tells me you can get this part in quantity one for under $3. This is interesting, to say the least.

The chip in question, the Allwinner A13, is a 1GHz ARM Cortex-A8 processor. While it's not much, it is a chip that can run Linux in a hand-solderable package. There is no HDMI support, you'll need to add some more chips (that are probably in a BGA package), but, hey, it's only a dollar. If you'd like to prototype with this chip, the best options right now are a few boards from Olimex, and a System on Module from the same company. That SoM is an interesting bit of kit, allowing anyone to connect a power supply, load an SD card, and get this chip doing something. Currently, there aren't really any good solutions for a cheap Linux system you can build at home, with hand-solderable chips.

6 of 114 comments (clear)

  1. Waiting for RISC-V by bluefoxlucid · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I'm waiting for the future of computing: RISC-V.

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  2. This only cheap by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Informative

    Unless you want to do it yourself or you have a project that needs it. 5 dollar will get you a Raspberry Pi Zero with a full system minus storage.

    1. Re:This only cheap by jellomizer · · Score: 4, Insightful

      I can see if you are making something that you plan to semi-mass-produce say with a custom PCB boards. While cheap, is also very under feature, and soldering for your own little project would just take up more then it would be worth getting full computer on a board like the Raspberry Pi or an Arduino. For a single use project the difference between $1.00, $5.00 or $20.00 isn't that big of a deal. Especially if you are going to manually solder it.

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  3. Allwinner is garbage by TheRealMindChild · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Allwinner is garbage. This is the shit you get in those chinese Raspberry Pi clones. The support and documentation are essentially nonexistant. If you even have a reference linux image to work with, it will break all of the time and never be updated

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  4. Can you imagine... by ArhcAngel · · Score: 5, Funny

    a Beowulf cluster of these?

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    "A person is smart. People are dumb, panicky dangerous animals and you know it." - K
  5. It is easily Hand Solderable by Maddog+Batty · · Score: 4, Informative

    Have a look at some youtube videos of hand soldering TQFP, there are loads.
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?... for example

    I'm happy hand soldering 0.65mm devices and I have done 0.5mm. It is easy enough to do if you are careful however my preferred method is to get a £30 stencil and use solder paste together with hand placement. I then chuck it in my £30 oven and get results good enough that my customers assume that it has been made on a pick and place machine.

    Yes it takes a bit of practise and experience but certainly no expensive equipment.

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