4 ms·

I want to be able to buy ARM boards like I'm buying ITX PC boards. I don't want a special build of Linux from the SBC OEM, I don't want weird bootloaders, firmw

I want to be able to buy ARM boards like I'm buying ITX PC boards. I don't want a special build of Linux from the SBC OEM, I don't want weird bootloaders, firmware and other embedded-like stuff. I just want an ARM-based PC board for my desktop and server closet (so Ampere stuff is out of the picture unfortunately).

modeless 4mo ago
Qualcomm has been upstreaming kernel support for their chips recently, so I'm hopeful.
- cogman10 4mo ago
  It seems they've been stopping short of completion. Once the next gen chip is released, they are done and stop working on fixing issues. Hopefully, with some time this gets better as it's not like they have to start from scratch with each generation. But it does leave a sour taste in my mouth that they quit so early before finishing.
preisschild 4mo ago
Yeah, I want edk2 uefi and mainline linux support at least for most functions (dont care about npu for example)
- fragmede 4mo ago
  Why would you ask for a pony and then only want half? Let's get mainline support for all functions, like the NPU.
  - preisschild 4mo ago
    Having a (somewhat) usable mainline linux sbc would already be a big improvement over the status quo
nubinetwork 4mo ago
The O6 runs mainline pretty good, only hiccups I know of are gpu acceleration and the npu.
woodrowbarlow 4mo ago
preach. and i want this to extend to phones too.
tclancy 4mo ago
I bought a Radxa Cubie A7A over the weekend because my homelab machine of 5 months threw an SSD and I wanted something to limp along with while I wait for a replacement. I was a bit nervous about the special builds, driver issues, etc but didn't really run into any significant issues (or if I did, Claude took them in stride). And it was a very good test of the Ansible Playbook I'd thrown together over time to rebuild the system from scratch. Was missing a number of small things, but it should be rock solid by the time (if) the other company gets a new drive to me.
bahador 4mo ago
asrockrack has some ampere boards, in CEB and MicroATX iirc
- pta2002 4mo ago
  Well, just the motherboard seems to be over 1200€ so it’s not really in the same league… https://smicro.eu/asrock-altrad8ud-1l2t-1?srsltid=AfmBOoqWFeBjnKLe6UluKvP2XB2hviNTL4EymfdxObOnJtECdO0NckqU https://smicro.eu/asrock-altrad8ud-1l2t-1?srsltid=AfmBOoqWFe...
jrmg 4mo ago
I’m baffled by the current state of Linux for ARM where every board needs a special .dtb/.dts to describe its hardware and, often, peripherals, rather than there being some kind of self-describing plug-and-play-ish system like has been standard on other mainstream architectures since the ’90s.
- AlotOfReading 4mo ago
  That's what the Arm SystemReady certification is for. Blame manufacturers for ignoring it. Let's be honest, fixing device trees is usually lot easier than patching an ACPI table. Though, one manufacturer I know ships a DT with nearly 500k lines of if-def'd nodes.

modeless 4mo ago

Qualcomm has been upstreaming kernel support for their chips recently, so I'm hopeful.

cogman10 4mo ago
It seems they've been stopping short of completion. Once the next gen chip is released, they are done and stop working on fixing issues. Hopefully, with some time this gets better as it's not like they have to start from scratch with each generation. But it does leave a sour taste in my mouth that they quit so early before finishing.

preisschild 4mo ago

Yeah, I want edk2 uefi and mainline linux support at least for most functions (dont care about npu for example)

fragmede 4mo ago
Why would you ask for a pony and then only want half? Let's get mainline support for all functions, like the NPU.
- preisschild 4mo ago
  Having a (somewhat) usable mainline linux sbc would already be a big improvement over the status quo

nubinetwork 4mo ago

The O6 runs mainline pretty good, only hiccups I know of are gpu acceleration and the npu.

woodrowbarlow 4mo ago

preach. and i want this to extend to phones too.

tclancy 4mo ago

I bought a Radxa Cubie A7A over the weekend because my homelab machine of 5 months threw an SSD and I wanted something to limp along with while I wait for a replacement. I was a bit nervous about the special builds, driver issues, etc but didn't really run into any significant issues (or if I did, Claude took them in stride). And it was a very good test of the Ansible Playbook I'd thrown together over time to rebuild the system from scratch. Was missing a number of small things, but it should be rock solid by the time (if) the other company gets a new drive to me.

bahador 4mo ago

asrockrack has some ampere boards, in CEB and MicroATX iirc

pta2002 4mo ago
Well, just the motherboard seems to be over 1200€ so it’s not really in the same league… https://smicro.eu/asrock-altrad8ud-1l2t-1?srsltid=AfmBOoqWFeBjnKLe6UluKvP2XB2hviNTL4EymfdxObOnJtECdO0NckqU https://smicro.eu/asrock-altrad8ud-1l2t-1?srsltid=AfmBOoqWFe...

jrmg 4mo ago

I’m baffled by the current state of Linux for ARM where every board needs a special .dtb/.dts to describe its hardware and, often, peripherals, rather than there being some kind of self-describing plug-and-play-ish system like has been standard on other mainstream architectures since the ’90s.

AlotOfReading 4mo ago
That's what the Arm SystemReady certification is for. Blame manufacturers for ignoring it. Let's be honest, fixing device trees is usually lot easier than patching an ACPI table. Though, one manufacturer I know ships a DT with nearly 500k lines of if-def'd nodes.