So, Pine64 just dropped a 64MB RAM Linux SBC for just $8, just before Christmas. I just ordered four.
So now we get to talk about a new part!
From the store page:
Properties | Notes |
---|---|
CORE | 64-bit 480MHz RV64 C906 |
32-bit 320MHz RV32 E907 | |
32-bit 150MHz RV32 E902 | |
MEMORY | 728KB internal SRAM |
64MB internal PSRAM | |
128Mb (16MB) XSPI Flash | |
microSD slot | |
I/O INTERFACE | UART |
I2C | |
SPI | |
I2S | |
CAMERA INTERFACE | MIPI-CSI 2 lanes |
COMMUNICATION | 802.11 b/g/n 2.4GHz Wifi |
BLE 5.0 | |
Zigbee | |
USB | |
10/100Mbps Ethernet thru optional add-on board | |
EXPANSION | 40 pins Breadboard friendly form factor |
PACKAGE CONTENTS | 128Mb Ox64 board |
I have some additional notes:
And some additional things that are unclear:
There appears to be a modern 5.10.4 kernel working, but this is pretty much where it ends. I suspect there is zero hope of this ever getting submitted into the mainline kernel. I guess if you are to be stuck on a kernel indefinitely, make it the newest one! It should at least buy it some years.
What is unclear to be is whether the filesystem will be read-only or not. Maybe we could wear out the flash by writing to /var/log/syslog
or such, like Tesla did years ago.
The following are some project ideas…
The idea here would be to have a small, open source Linux-enabled MP3 payer for listening to music. This could open up to a world of opportunities and really make music listening quite interesting.
In theory, this just requires some simple support hardware I already have laying around:
It might be a good idea to pick up a DAC, as bluetooth doesn’t currently have a driver and we don’t want to blow a pin.
I don’t think this would be internet connected at all - in fact it might even be cooler if it isn’t. This would simply be a low-power note-taking device that can be synced with a main computer occasionally.
Hardware wise, I think we would be looking at a custom PCB to host it. I imagine the PCB would have simple buttons that could be used to type, a really modest low-power display, and a battery.
I have some machines that are on an isolated network, that I would like to occasionally bridge to download packages. I’m thinking that it could emulate a keyboard device whilst transmitting data over a WiFi connection - would be a pretty neat hack!
One project I am considering is a vehicle-based Linux system. The idea is that it would be an additional add-on device for a vehicle. Some things I would be interested in are:
It could be funny to host an ultra small server, with something like IRC or some small web pages hosted. I think you would likely want to keep your resources in RAM, otherwise disk access will take far too long.
For this we either need a serial bridge, an Ethernet add-on, or the WiFi driver written.
Now I wait for it to arrive, hopefully some time over Christmas.