Repurposing WinCE MIPS netbooks?
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From: Paul Gotch on 30 Dec 2009 13:09 Mel <mwilson(a)the-wire.com> wrote: > How did you find out it was a MIPS processor? There are reports of people > running Linux and BSDs on the Loongson Dragon chips, but I can find nothing > about these Anky-7802's. I can't find those specific things but it's more likely to be ARM926 based. There seem to be quite a few very cheap WinCE things around using 926's. I wouldn't bother with them, due to the lack of information about them they may not have a Linux port and even if they do it won't be well maintained. Also if it is ARM 926 based that's two generations old now and you are better of waiting for a Cortex-A8 based design with an supported Linux port. -p -- Paul Gotch --------------------------------------------------------------------
From: larwe on 30 Dec 2009 13:54 On Dec 30, 11:15 am, Mel <mwil...(a)the-wire.com> wrote: > > slot, 2 GB SSD, wired Ethernet and WiFi, and a MIPS processor > > somewhere between 250 and 400MHz depending on the model. > > How did you find out it was a MIPS processor? There are reports of people This particular one is MIPS, from looking at eBay auctions of the same thing. All of the really cheap ones are MIPS, because there are third party (presumably unlicensed) clone cores.
From: larwe on 30 Dec 2009 14:04 On Dec 30, 1:09 pm, Paul Gotch <pa...(a)at-cantab-dot.net> wrote: > I can't find those specific things but it's more likely to be ARM926 > based. There seem to be quite a few very cheap WinCE things around > using 926's. > > I wouldn't bother with them, due to the lack of information about them > they may not have a Linux port and even if they do it won't be well They do have a Linux port, these machines are sold in either configuration. It just happens that the cheapest flavor is the CE one, for some odd reason. I've seen the same machine on eBay with the MIPS Linux load but it's $180 to $250. MIPS Linux has a *big* Chinese push. The Loongson chips (at least earlier iterations; I don't know about the multicore 3rd gen chips) were MIPS. You might recall reading in the news recently that the Chinese government is trying to wean its IT infrastructure off x86 (because Intel and AMD are US-controlled) and Microsoft, and into open- source home-controllable software running on entirely homegrown hardware that pays no royalties to the US. (Much of the early MIPS IP, up to everything in the R3000, is out of patent; I believe the R4000 is either fully out of patent or the last dregs are due for expiry in 2011-ish). This is similar to the CBHD push, the difference being that several pundits say (and I agree) that, unlike CBHD (which will have primarily domestic media of little interest to the outside world), these cheap Chinese architectures have a real chance of success outside their home turf, particularly if the cloud computing fantasy becomes some kind of reality. Anyway, regardless of how old or new or well supported these specific machines might be, as long as availability continues, a terminal program and ability to write my own fbdev or X apps on the thing would make it significantly useful.
From: Paul Gotch on 30 Dec 2009 21:30 larwe <zwsdotcom(a)gmail.com> wrote: > (because Intel and AMD are US-controlled) and Microsoft, and into open- > source home-controllable software running on entirely homegrown > hardware that pays no royalties to the US. Actually MIPS Technologies legitimised the Chinese effort by licensing ST (who actually make the chips) back in 2007. This year ICT licensed the MIPS32 and MIPS64 architectures from MIPS. I can't imagine that these deals don't come with some kind of royalty agreement. The latest designs have hardware support for accelerating x86 emulation via QEMU. It remains to be seen how far Intel will let that go before they start getting sniffy. -p -- Paul Gotch --------------------------------------------------------------------
From: larwe on 30 Dec 2009 22:27
On Dec 30, 9:30 pm, Paul Gotch <pa...(a)at-cantab-dot.net> wrote: > larwe <zwsdot...(a)gmail.com> wrote: > > (because Intel and AMD are US-controlled) and Microsoft, and into open- > > source home-controllable software running on entirely homegrown > > hardware that pays no royalties to the US. > > Actually MIPS Technologies legitimised the Chinese effort by licensing > ST (who actually make the chips) back in 2007. This year ICT licensed > the MIPS32 and MIPS64 architectures from MIPS. I can't imagine that > these deals don't come with some kind of royalty agreement. I had read that, but it doesn't quite gel with the explicit statement from all [Chinese] parties concerned that the goal is to stop paying royalties to the US. They said this, in those words. I would assume that China has a lot of smart VLSI guys who are experts in designing around patents where necessary... > The latest designs have hardware support for accelerating x86 emulation > via QEMU. It remains to be seen how far Intel will let that go before > they start getting sniffy. What sanctions, exactly, would Intel ask the US government to apply? :) |