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<ullbeking>
KotCzarny: I think we got things back to front... iiuc, that document describes how to flash the SPI flash chip on the Allwinner board itself. I'm intending to use the OPi as a platform to flash the BIOS of another computer, e.g., to install coreboot.
<KotCzarny>
see fel mode
<KotCzarny>
ahm, that way
<KotCzarny>
see the part where it says about flashing spi frm the device (same page)
<KotCzarny>
also, it doesnt matter if its spi on device or connected via wires, you just have to select proper spi
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<KotCzarny>
but for details of using different flashchips you will have to wait for someone more in the topic
<smaeul>
ullbeking: which Orange Pi do you have? I used the OPi PC2 to write a couple of DIP8 SPI flash chips, as well as a Thinkpad X220 using a clip
<smaeul>
if you're using armbian, all you have to do is enable a device tree overlay. with a custom kernel, you'd need to add the device tree node manually
<smaeul>
on the OPi PC2, there are two SPI controllers. the first is hooked up to the on-board flash chip. you can use the second with the 40-pin header
<smaeul>
(the pins are the same layout as the Raspberry Pi -- it's about the middle of the connector)
<ullbeking>
smaeul: thanks for your reply! what a helpful and nice surprise
<ullbeking>
i haven't bought my OPi yet
<ullbeking>
I'm also new to SBC computing
<ullbeking>
Are you able to help me with a recommendation?
<ullbeking>
I'll be using it to flash an Intel D510MO motherboard first. I also have an X200, X220, and T400 I want to flash later on.
<smaeul>
another thing, people often complain about the power output of the RPi or BBB when doing in-system programming -- the lights on an RPi get visibly brighter when you unplug the SPI -- but the OPi PC2 I have can handle it no problem
<smaeul>
ullbeking: for 3.3V flash you can just plug the chip in directly
<KotCzarny>
most of them are very similar, only differing on having one connector more or less, or different board layout/size
<KotCzarny>
if you plan to use them for anything else than programming chips then make a list of features you need
<smaeul>
I'd also recommend an Aarch64/ARMv8 board for various reasons (compatibility, simplicity, performance), so that would be one with either an A64 or H5 SoC
<KotCzarny>
h5 is quite far from good mainline support
<smaeul>
4.12-rc works for me :) just need patches for emac and framebuffer
<KotCzarny>
and thermal+cpufreq
<KotCzarny>
and yeah, looks like 4.12 is very good for H5
<KotCzarny>
haven't checked the status for a while
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<smaeul>
ullbeking: anyway, for SPI, they all should work. Prime/Win/Zero+ are the newest, PC2 is still new-ish and has onboard flash you can boot from, etc.
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<ullbeking>
smaeul: this is all great advice, thank you
<ullbeking>
looking at the table of variants
<ullbeking>
so the A64 or H5 would be useful for other scenarios? or are you saying they might work better than the OPi?
<smaeul>
ullbeking: when you say "the OPi", which OPi are you referring to? there are several of them
<ullbeking>
any one with the H3
<ullbeking>
one of them has an H5
<smaeul>
the only difference between the H3 and the H5 is that the H5 has faster, 64-bit ARMv8 cores, while the H3 has slower, 32-bit ARMv7 cores
<smaeul>
the other features are the same
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<ullbeking>
ohhhh now i see
<ullbeking>
i had previously understood that all OPi boards were H3
<ullbeking>
now i see they have different processors too
<ullbeking>
so i should lean towards getting one with an H5 or A64?
<ullbeking>
upstream support in linux kernel will be looking pretty good around 4.13-rc1
<ullbeking>
smaeul: I can't see much difference between H5 and A64 except the GPU..?
<BenG83>
H series is for set top boxes, A series is for mobile devices
<BenG83>
generally
<BenG83>
A series usually comes with support for a PMIC with battery charger
<BenG83>
the H5 has three USB host controllers and the A64 two
<BenG83>
those two points are the biggest difference iirc
<BenG83>
so A64 boards mostly come with a battery connector
<BenG83>
for a single LiPo cell
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<ullbeking>
BenG83: thank you!!
<ullbeking>
You have all been so helpful. I don't feel so lost now.
<BenG83>
the world of SBC outside the RPi bubble can be confusing at first
<BenG83>
there are so many ;)
<ullbeking>
I've had a lot of good advice in these channels :-)
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<ullbeking>
Ok, so I'm going through the table looking for the most recent H5 OPi with nicest specs. E.g. Ethernet would be nice.
<ullbeking>
How do I determine compatibility and upstream support?
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<willmore>
BenG83, is there some difference in the ethernet between the H5 and A64 because of the LCD pinout or something?
<willmore>
Does the Pine64 battery connector work, yet?
<willmore>
I haven't checked in a while and it was a WIP back then.
<BenG83>
AXP battery supports works fine otherwise we would have no working Pinebooks ;)
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<willmore>
BenG83_, I was hoping the Pinebook work would feed back into that. Anything I need to be aware of?
<BenG83>
regarding?
<BenG83>
it is important to set correct battery parameters in the dts
<willmore>
I.E. is there a page somewhere talking about the software side of things like setting charging limits, etc.?
<willmore>
Ahh, see. ;)
<BenG83>
but we are talking BSP kernel only here
<BenG83>
there is nothing so far for mainline afaik
<willmore>
Oh, I'm not really a BSP kind of person. Okay, bummer about mainline, then. :(
<BenG83>
but since the AXP does that all in hardware more or less the battery stuff should work the same
<willmore>
Okay.
<BenG83>
there is just no driver yet that sets the parameters
<BenG83>
you could just set them in u-boot or sth
<BenG83>
MoeIcenowy started a basic AXP driver
<willmore>
Nothing needs to be done other than that? Just set the values and let the chip do the work?
<BenG83>
yes
<willmore>
Okay.
<BenG83>
we dont do anything dynamic on the PB atm
<willmore>
Maybe MoeIcenowy will have something to say later. Thanks for the education.
<BenG83>
you just have to keep in mind that the AXP keeps track of battery state
<willmore>
Gotta run, dinner time. :)
<BenG83>
so if you disconnect it from all power sources that process has to start over