Beagleboard On Sale

[daemonaholic]

Just thought I'd point out that they're selling Beagleboards starting today ...I'm planning on getting one just to make my Pandora development that much easier

 

[ish420]

I was just looking at the beagleboards site. Is BB and Pandora compatible? are they the same? If so, will any future BB apps work on Pandora or vice versa? Curious to know.

 

[daemonaholic]

I was just looking at the beagleboards site. Is BB and Pandora compatible? are they the same? If so, will any future BB apps work on Pandora or vice versa? Curious to know.

They use the same SoC, so code compiled for one should theoretically work for the other...there are some differences of course, but they are mostly meaningless to development.

 

[CyruzDraxs]

Everything should run mostly the same, but the Pandora has a few minor differences, like the inclusion of the wifi module. Because of these minor differences, some things like networking features might need some changes to work properly. It's hard to say though; it all depends how abstracted the developers program their applications. I know most of the ready-for-release stuff is probably running on it's own micro-kernel and thus; probably will have it's own drivers self-contained.

 

[Squidge]

We are hoping to have various libraries available to access all the hardware features of the device (created over time, and open source), so hopefully developers will use that library rather than hacking hardware directly in there own apps.

So apps *should* be compatible between BB and P. Might be different kernel versions, but nothing that should stop apps working. Even stuff like Wifi shouldnt' be an issue, as the BB can use alternative methods of networking (and apps will generally not know what kind of networking is installed anyway).

This should also mean that apps will be easier to make, as it'll be a lot easier to get apps working on a PC, and just a recompile to work on the P/BB.

QUOTE
I know most of the ready-for-release stuff is probably running on it's own micro-kernel and thus; probably will have it's own drivers self-contained.


Actually, most of the recently released stuff (FBA, Snes, Picodrive, ...) is all running under Linux.

 

[CyruzDraxs]

That's good to hear. I had the impression that the earlier emulator demos were running on micro-kernels because the main OS wasn't complete enough yet. I guess I was wrong, and in a good way. ^_^

 

[Squidge]

That's good to hear. I had the impression that the earlier emulator demos were running on micro-kernels because the main OS wasn't complete enough yet. I guess I was wrong, and in a good way. ^_^

The very early emus (FBA, nes) were running under micro-kernels, yes, but snes, Picodrive, the newer FBA and the rest are all under Linux.

 

[greendots]

...
Actually, most of the recently released stuff (FBA, Snes, Picodrive, ...) is all running under Linux.

:blink: Thats really great to hear... can't wait

 

[nim]

seems if I were to develop for the pandora at a spa the whole experience would be such maxed out comfort I'd forget to breathe and die

 

[quadomatic]

The $149 price tag makes me cry...because its not the Pandora price tag...

But obviously the Pandora price tag is fair if you think about all the work that goes into it by the developers, and all the extra hardware of course, and all the work that went into designing it.

 

[DDd]

With this news, does this mean that we will have a release date for openpandora since both projects share much of the base code?

Do you (OP developers) think it's possible that we will have OpenPandora console available by mid-september? I ask this because i may purchase the BeagleBoard in the meantime, to test some openGLES 2.x applications. However, if OpenPandora can be delivered by mid-September then i will wait to order it.

Thank you for your attention.

 

[CronoTriggerfan]

With this news, does this mean that we will have a release date for openpandora since both projects share much of the base code?

Do you (OP developers) think it's possible that we will have OpenPandora console available by mid-september? I ask this because i may purchase the BeagleBoard in the meantime, to test some openGLES 2.x applications. However, if OpenPandora can be delivered by mid-September then i will wait to order it.

Thank you for your attention.

I think the general sentiment here is that preorders will be in August with a September release. Unfortunately, that timeline hasn't been spoken of for a while now by the devs, so it's looking more and more (to me, at least) like another delay of some sort. Again, just pure speculation on my part, but I'd say October.

 

[gibberish]

i really want to take this on holiday with me on the 28th :unsure:

edit: pandora that is, wrong thread sorry!

 

[DDd]

Thank you for the information CronoTriggerfan.

In that case i will order a BeagleBoard. As long as i can still order an OpenPandora for Xmas

 

[DJWillis]

With this news, does this mean that we will have a release date for openpandora since both projects share much of the base code?

Do you (OP developers) think it's possible that we will have OpenPandora console available by mid-september? I ask this because i may purchase the BeagleBoard in the meantime, to test some openGLES 2.x applications. However, if OpenPandora can be delivered by mid-September then i will wait to order it.

Thank you for your attention.

DDd,

The Pandora and the Beagle share common OMAP code in as much as they are both OMAP3530 based. There are a large number of differences in the kernels for things such as LCD, audio, SD/MMC and general GPIO to name a few.

The view that feature rich kernels are the same for both systems with only a few lines of changes is a little of a misconception (that seems rather prevalent at the moment), we started with the Beagle kernel (an older 2.6.22 based one) to bring the board up but to be honest we could have just as easily taken the code for the OMAP3 Eval board or some other OMAP3 device as a starting point.

Once you have the board up and running and start to code for the specific hardware on the board your kernel code starts to diverge at an alarming rate . Currently we have a kernel based on 2.6.26 (from the Linux-OMAP GIT) with the Pandora specific patches.

Anyway, as for buying a Beagle, the main snag for you is that the Beagle does not come with drivers for the PowerVR so your not going to be able to use the OpenGL/ES features of the chip. The drivers for the PowerVR on the Beagleboard are going to take a little while to surface.

I can't really say anything about the Pandora release as I have no idea, I am just hacking about with the kernel .

 

[DDd]

Thanks for the clarifications DJWillis.

I totally understand the divergence in terms of code (to be honest i was hoping that both boards shared more hardware, so that development would be mutually beneficial). I am in no rush, this is for a hobby project, porting of Horde3D (shader based engine), that i have been putting on the backburner because i don't have access to openGLES 2.x hardware. My query is not to put pressure on the team, i understand that projects get delayed and that doing this in the open like you guys do is an act of courage, it would be much easier to this under closed doors, but allot less fun

I "know" that TI has working drivers, even though they are not public, i am hoping that they will release them by Q4, but i have no insider information

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=24TXpqa9jG0...feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-UFUbqoNgs8...feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8KcNgeUriqA

The links point to some videos of working OpenGL ES graphics, however i believe these are working on the TI EVM. I am under the impression that i have also seen BB running OpenGL ES apps but i have no links so i am not 100% sure.

Nonetheless, if both platforms come out for Q4 2008 then we can put some "pressure" on TI to release the drivers (under close or open source) form.

AFAIK there is no reference from PowerVR for DDK to do an open source implementation. So this is one of those times we are still "hostage" by the big boys.

 

[DJWillis]

Thanks for the clarifications DJWillis. I totally understand the divergence in terms of code (to be honest i was hoping that both boards shared more hardware, so that development would be mutually beneficial).

I "know" that TI has working drivers, even though they are not public, i am hoping that they will release them by Q4, but i have no insider information

Nonetheless, if both platforms come out for Q4 2008 then we can put some "pressure" on TI to release the drivers (under close or open source) form.

AFAIK there is no reference from PowerVR for DDK to do an open source implementation. So this is one of those times we are still "hostage" by the big boys.

DDd,

Don't get me wrong, all OMAP3 platforms share a lot of code but once you get down to the device level there is a lot of idiosyncrasies with every board. That's the fun bit (so they tell me ).

As it stands we are still stuck waiting for TI/Imagination to sort things out on the driver/shim/legal front. I have seen 3D demos running on the TI OMAP3EVM, Beagle and our Pandora . There is plenty being done behind the scenes but give it time, it's just the way of these things. I know of no open efforts for the PowerVR DDK (well in it's embedded form) but I would love to be proved wrong. I am really keen to see people do cool stuff with this SoC.

J.

 

[quadomatic]

Those videos are pretty cool. I wouldn't be surprised if TI used Pandora to demonstrate the OMAP3's abilities.

How many mobile phones actually use the OMAP3 platform anyways?

 

[ljones]

Not 100% sure, but for anyone who's thinking of getting a beagleboard outside of the USA, you might have to forget it. I couldn't see anything referring to international orders on their site, and a search for 'beagleboard' on their UK site returned nothing.

ljones

 

[DDd]

Not 100% sure, but for anyone who's thinking of getting a beagleboard outside of the USA, you might have to forget it. I couldn't see anything referring to international orders on their site, and a search for 'beagleboard' on their UK site returned nothing.

ljones

There is an issue with international ordering but according to the mailing it is being sorted and by the end of the week hopefully. International orders will be possible.