| 15:04 | edbk | gday |
| 15:28 | rabeeh_ | ebdk: welcome |
| 15:32 | edbk | hi thanks |
| 15:32 | edbk | rabeeh, read about you somehwre :) |
| 15:33 | edbk | just a simple question really, do you or anyone else have an idea if its safe to order a cubox? I noticed a lot of complaints on the boards, no manufacturer reply, a presale of cuboxes, and now they seem up for regular sale, but it sorta feels unsafe to order |
| 15:34 | edbk | although id really like one since its one of the few, if not only one with GB ethernet on chip (as in not provided by the usb 2.0 hub) ;) |
| 15:39 | rmull | edbk: Are you asking if ordering a cubox means throwing your money away, or are you asking if the cubox hardware is fully supported? |
| 15:39 | rmull | or both? :P |
| 15:39 | edbk | first lol |
| 15:39 | rmull | I guess I can't comment on that |
| 15:40 | edbk | I am aware its a development kit, but it seems the company is behaving like they're gonna be out of business soon if they arent already |
| 15:41 | rmull | Yes, they're behaving erratically |
| 15:41 | rmull | If you need support you must rely on the existing community, but I don't know how safe it would be to purchase a new cubox at this time |
| 15:42 | rabeeh_ | rmull and ebdk: i'm a founder at SolidRun :) |
| 15:42 | rmull | rabeeh_: I know, I haven't heard much from you in a while |
| 15:42 | rmull | But it's good to finally do so |
| 15:42 | rmull | There's a lot of worrying going on in the forums at the moment... |
| 15:42 | rabeeh_ | there are lots of complaints on the forums since our hands are full |
| 15:42 | rmull | full with what, if you don't mind me asking? |
| 15:43 | rabeeh_ | i know; we are getting really bad reputation about this. |
| 15:43 | rabeeh_ | lately we have been working on releasing rev2 of the board |
| 15:43 | edbk | ah rabeeh hi |
| 15:43 | rmull | Is that what is being sold now, hence the price increase? |
| 15:43 | rabeeh_ | it's some restructuring if issues we had on EMI testing. debugging those takes inifinte time of work |
| 15:44 | edbk | you should then atleast make an announcement or something, I'm a new customer and have just started readin a few hours ago |
| 15:45 | rmull | I agree. |
| 15:45 | rabeeh_ | there is also minor change that we need to mention is we changed from Prolific pl2303 chip (on the upper board) to FTDI 230x chip on the lower board. |
| 15:45 | rabeeh_ | we are not so good on public relations. |
| 15:45 | rabeeh_ | i already know that. |
| 15:45 | edbk | then on your forum there are complaints and no reply, had me looking for alternatives and I wouldve ordered something else already if it werent for the cubox having GB non shared ethernet ;) |
| 15:46 | rabeeh_ | right. |
| 15:46 | edbk | hehe ok so anyway, if I roder one know what is the delay before its shipped ? |
| 15:46 | rmull | rabeeh_: Thirsty_away is maintaining some kernel sources on github that are in much better shape than yours. Do you have a comment on that? |
| 15:46 | edbk | *order |
| 15:46 | edbk | *and now |
| 15:46 | edbk | :) |
| 15:46 | rabeeh_ | we are selling now out of stock (thus the change in the product status) |
| 15:46 | edbk | ah cool |
| 15:46 | rabeeh_ | ebdk: where do you live? |
| 15:47 | edbk | Netherlands |
| 15:47 | rabeeh_ | as I recall, there are no delivery delays in Netherlands. I recall there are lots of issues in Germany, so that's why we recommend EMS |
| 15:47 | edbk | ok, so your not going bankrupt or anything, just very very busy :) |
| 15:48 | rabeeh_ | hehe. no we wont |
| 15:48 | edbk | cool, I'll order one then :) |
| 15:48 | rabeeh_ | actually the opposite is true. |
| 15:49 | rabeeh_ | whatever we manufactured was sold before shipping |
| 15:49 | rabeeh_ | thus the pre-orders and delays on that. |
| 15:51 | rabeeh_ | communication with our customers is one big issue we are trying to resolve. we have hired Markeeting Communication person (Francine); but still no progress, yet |
| 15:56 | rmull | rabeeh_: It might be in your best interest to post this information you shared just now in that "Total Disappointment" thread in the forum |
| 15:57 | rmull | I think a lot of people would feel a little better if they knew that solidrun isn't just out to lunch |
| 15:57 | rabeeh_ | one of the issues we are facing with the forums is that if it works for you; and you are happy with it then typically you do nothing; if it doesn't and you really need help then you complaint on the forums. |
| 15:57 | rabeeh_ | i'm not saying that the complaints are not justified, but i'm saying that we are seeing unbalanced feedback on the forums. |
| 15:58 | rabeeh_ | rmull: i can share the information. i'm not bringing new news and that's why i'm afraid that it won't be that usefull |
| 15:59 | rabeeh_ | rmull: but i will try anyhow. |
| 15:59 | rabeeh_ | rmull: for the kernel stuff; Thirsty_away sent me pull request for the kernel; and he IS doing really great job. |
| 15:59 | rabeeh_ | one of good patches i'v got is the vfp one that solved all the crashes we had on that new kernel. |
| 15:59 | rmull | That's great |
| 16:01 | rmull | Your point about negative feedback is true, but a lot of people on the forums are just bothered because they're not getting any response from solidrun. It's an easy problem to fix. People were excited when the CEO or whoever it was made a post, but then it was followed up with just silence |
| 16:01 | edbk | rabeeh how big is your stock? If you can share that information that is? |
| 16:02 | edbk | general indication is fine, 10s, 100s, 1000s :) |
| 16:02 | rabeeh_ | ebdk: i don't have the exact numbers; but i don't think this information can be shared |
| 16:02 | rabeeh_ | oh; i think beyond that |
| 16:02 | rabeeh_ | but i really don't know. |
| 16:02 | rabeeh_ | i try to focus more on the engineering stuff. that's my better side. |
| 16:03 | rabeeh_ | ebdk: do you think inventory counter would be helpful? |
| 16:03 | rabeeh_ | i can ask about that; my most probably it won't happen. but still i can ask |
| 16:05 | rabeeh_ | oh - i had one question to all; how would a 2GB DDR system look? do you think there is a place for it? |
| 16:05 | edbk | Yeah rabeeh I think it would help |
| 16:05 | Kiranos | rabeeh_: do you know where I can see EMS tracking in sweden? |
| 16:06 | rabeeh_ | this is one of the enhancements we can add to the rev2 board. |
| 16:06 | Kiranos | my package only says: The item was sent to Sweden by airmail on 21/08/2012 |
| 16:06 | edbk | when do you intend to launch it? |
| 16:06 | Kiranos | but I havent heard more and its been a few days.. |
| 16:06 | edbk | Dont think 2GB would mean that much tbh |
| 16:06 | rmull | rabeeh_: 2GB would be a nice luxury, but there are enough support issues with the currently deployed stock I think |
| 16:06 | rabeeh_ | Kiranos: i think EMS typically takes 5 days. |
| 16:07 | rabeeh_ | Kiranos: do you have the tracking number with you? |
| 16:07 | Kiranos | I pmed you |
| 16:07 | Kiranos | cant find anywhere to track it from a swedish site once its in sweden |
| 16:07 | edbk | Thank you for your purchase. |
| 16:07 | edbk | \o/ |
| 16:08 | edbk | shipping is sick isnt it |
| 16:08 | edbk | Sub total 111,99 € |
| 16:08 | edbk | Shipping 30,40 € |
| 16:08 | edbk | Total 142,39 € |
| 16:08 | edbk | :P |
| 16:08 | Kiranos | its abroad? |
| 16:09 | edbk | isreal - the netherlands |
| 16:09 | edbk | so anyway ill let my friends know it seems safe to order ;-) |
| 16:11 | rabeeh_ | ebdk: you choose EMS? |
| 16:11 | rabeeh_ | shipping isn't that high if it's not EMS |
| 16:11 | edbk | yeah I know but I choose EMS |
| 16:11 | edbk | :) |
| 16:12 | edbk | EUR 14.49 otherwise |
| 16:12 | rabeeh_ | that's better |
| 16:12 | rabeeh_ | EMS is door to door service. that means someone will be coming and knocking on your door :) |
| 16:12 | edbk | are you staying with the armada 510 for the new release? |
| 16:13 | edbk | I think 1GB ram is enough tbh, if you want to change anything how about the armada 610 or 618? |
| 16:13 | rabeeh_ | ebdk: for now Armada 510 |
| 16:14 | rabeeh_ | still we haven't got all the potential of that device. |
| 16:14 | rabeeh_ | btw - notice that sometimes the Marvell numbers doesn't make sense. for instance higher number doesn't mean higher end device :) |
| 16:16 | edbk | hehe yeah, nah the armada 618 or something would only be necessary if you wanted to compete with something like the Ouya I guess |
| 16:16 | edbk | or get real good driver support for the 510 so it runs xbmc flawlessly? ;) |
| 16:18 | rollin_rob | hello everybody! Is anyone running OwnCloud on his Cubox? |
| 16:22 | Kiranos | rabeeh_: R2 will you stop supporting rev1 or will software support be compatible with both or how does it work |
| 16:30 | edbk | Kiranos: ebdk: for now Armada 510 |
| 16:30 | edbk | so would be backwards compatible I guess? :) |
| 16:52 | rabeeh_ | Kiranos: the rev2 board is almost identical to rev1, except changed some circuitry for better EMI, FTDI instead of Prolofic usb to serial |
| 16:53 | rabeeh_ | there is newer features and fixes like SD card-detect, capability of detecting if there is power through the usb to serial, reset functionality and boot select from xmodem also through the FTDI |
| 16:53 | rabeeh_ | will post on that on the forums and update the wiki accordingly. |
| 16:54 | rabeeh_ | besides that everything is 100% compatible with REV1. |
| 17:09 | edbk | nice |
| 17:09 | edbk | when do you plan to release it? |
| 17:13 | rabeeh_ | released. |
| 17:13 | cmair | rabeeh_: may I express wishes for future revisions? I'd like to have the PCIe pins routed to some testpoints :) |
| 17:14 | rabeeh_ | cmair: hmm... i wonder why you want to do that |
| 17:15 | rabeeh_ | connecting anything to that hi-speed interface with test points is a tough job to do. |
| 17:15 | cmair | connect additional hardware, like an fpga which gives me lots of expansion possibilities.. |
| 17:16 | cmair | yes, I know its hard to get it right. But I would try :) |
| 17:16 | rabeeh_ | right. we wanted to have mini PCI-E on that; but we can't be sure about the power of the device that can be connect; and where afraid that it would go beyond the power envelope of CuBox |
| 17:17 | rabeeh_ | the chip actually has much more functions that we don't use; like 2xPCI-E, VGA, another SD-IO and other audio interface |
| 17:17 | rabeeh_ | but you can't really shove anything more in that small form factor. |
| 17:18 | cmair | SDIO would also be nice to have on some testpoints. |
| 17:19 | cmair | You don't need to squeeze all this into the small case, just provide the interface pins somewhere so my solder iron can access them. |
| 17:19 | rabeeh_ | cmair: i'm we don't have plans for changing that board anymore. there is really almost no place on it. if we want to shove more stuff then we need to change PCB technology which makes it much more higher price wise. |
| 17:19 | rmull | rabeeh_: How come you're not using your rabeeh nick? |
| 17:20 | rabeeh_ | rabeeh --> rabeeh@home |
| 17:20 | rabeeh_ | rabeeh_ --> rabeeh@work |
| 17:20 | rabeeh_ | i'm looking for a project we must have for CuBox; a new installer (THE installer) |
| 17:21 | cmair | Of course. Just a wish for future devices. I know about the density problems on these PCBs. |
| 17:21 | rabeeh_ | THE installer in my mind should be a framework that any distro developer can provide a link for kernel, rootfs, and a .jpg file; the installer would automatically grab those and provide the user multiple choices of installation. |
| 17:22 | rabeeh_ | for instance you can install raw distros (Debian, Arch and others); Xilka with XBMC / GeexBox or Android |
| 17:22 | edbk | l8r was nice talking to you |
| 17:22 | rabeeh_ | anyone can suggest a framework to develop this? |
| 17:23 | rabeeh_ | kernel + busybox initrd + bash scripting? |
| 17:23 | rabeeh_ | or something with Python and directfb? |
| 17:23 | rabeeh_ | or maybe someone familiar with a similar project used for embedded system (no grub and friends) |
| 17:25 | rabeeh_ | ok. let's take a step back; do you guys think such an installer is necessary? |
| 17:25 | cmair | rabeeh_: qtmoko for the phone uses a initramfs as "bootloader" which presents a simple screen where the user can select which OS to boot (SD, multiple partitions, NAND, ..) Its quite simple and was done using bash scripting, IIRC. |
| 17:25 | cmair | *the gta04 phone |
| 17:26 | cmair | you might want to ask radekp on #gta04 as he's the developer of this. |
| 17:27 | Thirsty_away | Hi guys, great to see the Solid-run progress. |
| 17:27 | rabeeh_ | welcome back Thirsty. |
| 17:27 | Thirsty_away | I think 2GB of ram is cool but not really needed. |
| 17:28 | rabeeh_ | Thirsty: somehow we got few dozens of request email with 2GB. |
| 17:28 | rabeeh_ | we haven't got a real use case why they need it. |
| 17:29 | rmull | rabeeh_: I don't know if a cubox-specific installer should be more important than using distro's existing installation procedures |
| 17:29 | rabeeh_ | cmair: any idea if qtmoko will also download images fron the net? |
| 17:30 | rmull | Maybe an installer to support a solidrun "official" distro |
| 17:30 | rabeeh_ | rmull: the existing installation procedures today is quite complicated. lots of instructions to get something done. |
| 17:31 | rabeeh_ | in my mind i really want it to be as easy as installing any distro today on a PC. you download an image; burn it on a CD and shove on the CD-ROM |
| 17:31 | rmull | Yes, tehre should be a straightforward reference installer for the solidrun official distro (ubuntu, or whatever is chosen) |
| 17:31 | rabeeh_ | in our case, you download the micro installer (5MB images); you copy to a USB stick and shove it to CuBox |
| 17:31 | cmair | rabeeh_: No, because the user would need to set up either WiFi, USB or a WWan network. But it in case of cubox it might be easier to just use dhcp. |
| 17:32 | cmair | +bash scripting to wget the desired firmware. |
| 17:32 | rabeeh_ | cmair: my initial thoughts where straight through the wired network. wireless lan is more complicated since we don't provde a stick with CuBox that we know the firmware and stuff |
| 17:33 | cmair | Yes, that makes it easier. |
| 17:33 | rabeeh_ | or maybe Yocto has an easy way to setup a base rootfs with wireless lan support |
| 17:33 | cmair | but gta04 is a mobile phone. There is no ethernet jack ;) |
| 17:33 | rabeeh_ | but has a built-in wireless. |
| 17:33 | cmair | yes |
| 17:34 | rabeeh_ | so you know exactly which wireless chip you have and you can set the rootfs to support that chip |
| 17:34 | rabeeh_ | in our case you would need to setup Atheros, Marvell, Broadcom and lots other vendors |
| 17:35 | cmair | true. And you still need to setup encryption.. |
| 17:35 | cmair | I would go the easy way and just use wired ethernet. |
| 17:37 | Thirsty_away | back to home! |
| 17:42 | Kiranos | rabeeh_: got mine from the mail now! thanks |
| 17:44 | cmair | rabeeh_: Source code is here: https://github.com/radekp/gta04-init |
| 17:44 | cmair | Seems I was wrong, its written with C |
| 18:18 | dung | I'm the marketing guy and the new Cubox has Xilka onboard |
| 18:30 | dung | it seems that at the moment hw decoding on hardfp is only possible with xbmc, since the ipp libraries are softfp. i don't see a way to use them on hardfp |
| 18:30 | dung | *hd hw decoding |
| 18:31 | dung | and we need coders that look into the gst-plugins |
| 18:40 | dung | there're also libraries included in ipp for encoding. i can't imagine that the Cubox encodes blu-ray |
| 18:41 | dung | this is more a job for a server cluster |
| 19:10 | dung | shall i call my bot ? |
| 19:11 | dung | kiddish |
| 19:12 | dung | i meant kiddy |
| 20:33 | Thirsty | dung, encoding can be usefull, for like webcam applications. |
| 22:32 | davidu | Thirsty: yes, i've seen nice examples combining several cams on a screen with gstreamer |
| 22:33 | davidu | rabeeh: do we get ipp hardfp from marvell, or did i miss a point in porting them? |
| 22:36 | davidu | i'm planing a initrd rebuild. i also could need some help in gst-bmmxv dependencies |
| 22:37 | davidu | i remember you said something about clutter, will have to investigate |
| 22:48 | rabeeh | davidu: still not. i'v requested it few weeks ago and yesterday another time. |
| 22:48 | rabeeh | davidu: hopefully will get it soon. |
| 22:50 | davidu | a big plus for CuBox is that VFP is compatible with armhf |
| 22:50 | rabeeh | tomlohave: hey; i just sent a msg to davidu |
| 22:51 | rabeeh | i requested vmeta armhf back again from Marvell; hopefully will be resolved soon. |
| 22:51 | tomlohave | cool |
| 22:51 | tomlohave | any news for ipp ? |
| 22:53 | davidu | rasperypis can't simply install armhf (debian/ubuntu) |
| 22:54 | davidu | instead of install say use |
| 22:54 | davidu | eg chroot |
| 22:55 | davidu | tomlohave: news is requested two times |
| 23:00 | davidu | tomlohave: do you install deb packages with opkg on geexbox? |
| 23:04 | davidu | else call it softfp / hardfp |
| 23:04 | rabeeh | ipp includes the vmeta drivers |
| 23:05 | davidu | and bmmxv the imagesink |
| 23:06 | rabeeh | davidu: those are already provided at source level |
| 23:07 | davidu | source from canonical |
| 23:08 | davidu | it stands still over years in armel |
| 23:08 | davidu | and drops buffers |
| 23:09 | davidu | don't know if it's the bmmxv plugin |
| 23:10 | davidu | search google for the plugin and you get to the "web service log" |
| 23:12 | davidu | i meen the irc web log |
| 23:18 | davidu | for faster dev-to-dev-com |
| 23:19 | davidu | it's incredible to read |
| 23:20 | davidu | sed 's@irclog@@g' -i web |
| 23:22 | davidu | nice to find together |
| 23:29 | davidu | i prefer background, each client likes to log automatically |
| 23:30 | davidu | the web service attracts non-devs |
| 23:31 | davidu | and searchable too \ |
| 23:31 | davidu | go for mailing-list |
| 23:32 | davidu | i would say it's enough to tell "Join #cubox on freenode." |
| 23:36 | davidu | looks very cool too |
| 23:57 | davidu | and keep the forum Q&A for everybody |