NextThingCo C.H.I.P. Yocto meta layer.
This layer contains kernel, u-boot and image recipes to flash the NextThingCo C.H.I.P. boards.
This layer depends on the additional mandatory layers:
- TDA7492P Pro Chip Bluetooth Audio Amplifier Board Digital Modified Receiver Part. 433Mhz HC-12 SI4463 Wireless Serial Port Module 1000m Replace Bluetooth Chip Kit. From Hong Kong. Free shipping. Or Best Offer. TI CC2640R2F Chip Bluetooth Low Energy BLE 5.0 Module with 6 Pin Dev Board. Free shipping.
- Apr 18, 2017 Two boards that deserve honorable mention in our list of Raspberry Pi and Pi 2 alternatives are the C.H.I.P., a $9 computer that runs LibreOffice and lets you surf the web over wifi, and the Onion Omega, a single-board computer that’s only 25% of the size of a Raspberry Pi. It’s tiny, it’s connected to the cloud, and it lets you use high.
Is a computer for students, teachers, grandparents, children, artists, makers, hackers, and inventors. Everyone really. Is a great way to add a computer to your life and the perfect way to power your computer based projects. Has built in WiFi + Bluetooth. Connect to the internet and attach a keyboard and mouse WIRELESSLY!
- meta-yocto
- meta-yocto-bsp
- meta-openembedded/meta-oe
- meta-openembedded/meta-python
- meta-openembedded/meta-networking
Optionally, the following layers will be required:
- meta-java (from http://git.yoctoproject.org/cgit/cgit.cgi/meta-java - only if building openjdk)
Examples to use this layer are available in my Github at https://github.com/myfreescalewebpage/meta-chip-examples.
Philosophy of this meta layer
The main positions of this meta layer are the following:
- A single meta layer for all NextThingCo C.H.I.P. boards. Today, C.H.I.P. and C.H.I.P. PRO are both supported.
- The same baseline for all boards: same u-boot version (2016.01), the same kernel version (4.4), the same default kernel configuration. Only the specificities of the hardware differ (device tree and WiFi driver module).
- A step by step tutorial to help you building and flashing your first C.H.I.P. board (see chapter Using just below).
- Some simple tools to flash the boards (a single script to launch).
The whishes of the meta layer is to provide the most important abstraction to the hardware. Following the design rules described above, many applications can be executed on C.H.I.P. or C.H.I.P. PRO without to worry about the hardware version used in you final design.
Moreover, the meta layer is improved thinking to the impacts on your own meta layer and trying to reduce them to the minimum.
Images
The following images are available:
- chip-image-minimal: the minimal image which is used to get the hardware running. Images all require this image.
The wanted image is chosen during the build with bitbake command.
New images created in other layers should at least require chip-image-minimal.
Package groups
The following package groups are available:
- chip-packagegroup-wifi: to build images with WiFi tools to connect to an external network.
- chip-packagegroup-wifi-hotspot: to build images with WiFi tools to create an hotspot.
- chip-packagegroup-java: to build images with OpenJdk to execute Java applications.
- chip-packagegroup-java-dio: to build images with OpenJdk and OpenJdk-DIO project used to access hardware from Java applications.
Package groups are included in wanted images.
Using
The following tutorial is useful to start building your own Yocto project and loading C.H.I.P. or C.H.I.P. PRO board. The development machine is running Ubuntu 16.04.
1- Install System Dependencies (once)
2- Get sources and flashing tools (once)
Clone sources:
Get and build sunxi tools:
Get C.H.I.P. tools:
Update udev rules:
Create images directory:
3- Configure build (once)
Setup environnement:
Add layers to the configuration file ~/yocto/build/conf/bblayers.conf:
Set machine in the configuration file ~/yocto/build/conf/local.conf:
Or:
Depending of the expected target.
4- Restore environnement (when restarting the development machine)
Restore environnement:
5- Build
Build minimal image:
6- Flash target
C.H.I.P.
Copy files in the images directory (replace chip-image-minimal-chip.ubi by the wanted rootfs if you have build another image):
Then start the target in FEL mode (put a jumper between the FEL pin and GND and then power ON) as shown on the following image.
Flash the target:
Logs are displayed on the serial console interface (UART1) of the target to check the progression and the verification of the flashing procedure.
At the end of the flashing procedure, the target is running your image. Disconnect the power supply and remove the FEL jumper. Restart the target. The console is available on UART1 pins of the board and another one is also available throw the USB OTG cable (you should see a new tty device when connecting C.H.I.P. to your computer). Speed is 115200 for both consoles. Login is 'root' with no password.
Dev Kit Xbox 360
C.H.I.P. PRO
Copy files in the images directory (replace chip-image-minimal-chip-pro.ubi by the wanted rootfs if you have build another image):
Then start the target in FEL mode (press FEL button while power ON) as shown on the following image.
Flash the target:
Logs are displayed on the serial console interface (UART1) of the target to check the progression and the verification of the flashing procedure. Using the dev kit, UART1 console interface is available on the host throw an USB to Serial converter.
At the end of the flashing procedure, the target is running your image. The console is available on UART1 pins of the board and another one is also available throw the USB OTG cable (you should see a new tty device when connecting C.H.I.P. PRO to your computer). Speed is 115200 for both consoles. Login is 'root' with no password.
Contributing
All contributions are welcome :-)
Use Github Issues to report anomalies or to propose enhancements (labels are available to clearly identify what you are writing) and Pull Requests to submit modifications.
References
Special thanks to Rikard Soderstrom who integrated C.H.I.P. in the meta-sunxi layer in the past.
Remember the C.H.I.P? The little ARM-based and Linux-capable single board computer that was launched in 2015 at what was then a seemingly impossibly cheap price of $9, then took ages to arrive before fading away and the company behind it going under? Like a zombie, it has returned from the dead!
So, should we be reaching for the staples of zombie movies, and breaking out the long-playing records? Or should we be cautiously welcoming it back into the fold, a prodigal son to the wider family of boards? Before continuing, it’s best to take a closer look.
The C.H.I.P that has returned is a C.H.I.P Pro, the slightly more powerful upgraded model, and it has done so because unlike its sibling it was released under an open-source licence. Therefore this is a clone of the original, and it comes from an outfit called Source Parts, who have put their board up for sale via Amazon, but with what looks suspiciously like a photo of an original Next Thing Co board. We can’t raise Source Parts’ website as this is being written so we can’t tell you much about its originator and whether this is likely to be a reliable supplier that can provide continuity, so maybe we’d suggest a little caution until more information has emerged. We’re sure that community members will share their experiences.
C.h.i.p Pro Dev Kit For Sale By Owner
C.h.i.p Pro Dev Kit For Sale Near Me
It’s encouraging to see the C.H.I.P Pro return, but on balance we’d say that its price is not the most attractive given that the same money can buy you powerful boards that come with much better support. The SBC market has moved on since the original was a thing, and to make a splash this one will have to have some special sauce that we’re just not seeing. If they cloned the Pocket C.H.I.P all-in-one computer with keyboard and display, now that would catch our attention!
Xbox 360 Dev Kit For Sale
It all seemed so rosy for the C.H.I.P at launch, but even then its competitors doubted the $9 BoM, and boards such as the Raspberry Pi Zero took its market. The end came in March this year, but perhaps there might be more life in it yet.
Thanks [SlowBro] for the tip.