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Target Hardware

Small, cheap boxes. Ok if e.g. box is missing (can be added later), but not if way off our ?HardwareRequirements, or if design goals are clearly different (e.g. price tag above $200).

ARM based devices

Some work may have been done during an ARM Sprint.

Cortex A8, A9, A15 devices (armhf)

• Arndale board

• ?PandaBoard

• EfikaMX Smarttop (Discontinued)

• CompuLab Trim-Slice see also YouTube video about the Trim-Slice

  • CPU: NVIDIA Tegra 2 Dual Core ARM Cortex A9 1GHz with integrated ultra-low power ?GeForce GPU

  • Memory: 1 GB DDR2-800
  • Storage:
    • - Full size SD (SDHC)
    • - Micro SD (SDHC)
    • - SATA SSD (up to 64GB)
  • Networking:
    • - 1 GbE

    • - WiFi 802.11n + BT

  • Display: HDMI 1.3 full-HD + DVI (dual head)
  • Audio: Stereo line-out, line-in, 5.1 digital S/PDIF
  • Video in: PAL/NTSC
  • I/O:
    • - USB2 ports (480 MBps)
    • - USB device
    • - RS232 Serial port
  • Extension: JTAG, 2 UARTs, SPI
  • Housing: Fanless all-metal nickel-plated die-cast
  • Dimensions: 130mm x 95mm x 15mm – 5.1” x 3.7” x 0.6”
  • Power: 8-16V DC, 3W average
• OLinuxIno A13
  • CPU: A13 Cortex A8 processor at 1GHz, 3D Mali400 GPU
  • 512 MB RAM
  • 3 + 1 USB Host, 3 available for users 1 for (optional) WIFI RTL8188CU 802.11n 150Mbit module on board
  • 1 USB OTG which can power the board
  • SD-card connector for booting the Linux image
  • (optional) 4GB NAND flash
  • Display: VGA + independent LCD
  • Audio: stereo line out, microphone in
  • RTC PCF8536 on board for real time clock and alarms
  • UEXT connector for connecting addtional UEXT modules like Zigbee, Bluetooth, Relays, etc

ARMv4t, ARMv5 and ARMv6 devices (armel)

• Plug Computer 3.0
  • 2.0 Ghz ARMv5 CPU (Marvell Kirkwood 88F6281)
  • 512 MB Nand Flash

  • Integrated Marvell WiFi and Bluetooth, both work in accesspoint mode or client mode.

  • Replaceable 120 GB Internal 1.8 esata drive or 160 GB, 2.5 esata drive (depending on the Vendor). The 2.5 drive is most economical and replaceable without any additional tools.
  • Gigabit Ethernet and USB 2.0

• SheevaPlug/GuruPlug (See GuruPlugTesting for installation instructions.)

  • 1.2 Ghz ARMv5 CPU (Marvell Kirkwood 88F6281)
  • 512 MB Nand Flash

  • Integrated Marvell WiFi and Bluetooth, both work in accesspoint mode or client mode.

  • Gigabit Ethernet and USB 2.0

  • Issues: hardware revisions of the Guruplug had heat issues, power supply burn out for ?SheevaPlug

• DreamPlug (See ?FreedomBox/DreamPlug for actual use experimentation.) Bdale Garbee disclosed "... the foundation has ordered a number of these to use for development and to meet the commitments made to our Kickstarter donor group. More on this later."

  • 1.2 Ghz ARMv5 CPU (Marvell Kirkwood 88F6281)
  • 512MB 16bit DDR2 @800 MHz
  • internal 2gb microSDHC card for OS and storage
  • Full size SDHC card slot
  • eSATA port
  • JTAG/UART ports for external board

  • Integrated Marvell WiFi b/g and Bluetooth, both work in accesspoint mode or client mode.

  • dual Gigabit Ethernet and 2x USB 2.0
  • Audio: Stereo line-out, line-in, 5.1 digital S/PDIF

• D2Plug

  • 800MHz Marvell PXA510 (ARM v6/v7 compliant superscalar processor)
  • 1GB DDR3-800 x32 bus
  • Boot from SPI NOR Flash
  • Linux OS and Ubuntu rootfs in 8GB eMMC
  • 1 x Ethernet 10/100/1000 Mbps
  • 2 x USB 2.0 Host port

  • 1 x eSATAp – Powered eSATA & USB 2.0 Host combo port

  • 1 x USB 2.0 Device port
  • 1 x SD card slot
  • 1 x HDMI 1080p Output port with CEC
  • 1 x VGA Output port
  • 1 x Audio Line Out
  • 1 x MIC IN
  • 1 x S/PDIF optical out
  • 1 x Console port (USB)
  • 1 x JTAG connector

  • Integrated 802.11 b/g/n Wi-Fi & BT 3.0 + HS

• TonidoPlug

  • Similar specs to SheevaPlug

  • 1.2 Ghz ARMv5 CPU (Marvell Kirkwood 88F6281)
  • 512 MB Nand Flash
  • Gigabit Ethernet and USB 2.0
  • Can easily boot from USB drive (making dev efforts easier; just plug in filesystem)

• Open-RD

• NSLU2 (Discontinued)

• Fonera 2.0n

  • Slow and very limited memory (64MB)

• QNAP TS 119 NAS (FreedomBox edition)

  • Marvell 6281 1.2GHz (Kirkwood)
  • 512MB DDRII RAM
  • 16MB Flash
  • 1 x Gigabit RJ-45 Ethernet port
  • 3 x USB 2.0 port (Front: 1; Back: 2)
  • Fanless, heat dissipation by aluminum case
  • 11 watt idle power with 1 TB HD
  • NAS = built to run 24/7 for years
  • Warranty 1 year.
  • Officially supported by Debian GNU/Linux

• Raspberry PI

  • 700MHz ARM11
  • 128MB of SDRAM
  • OpenGL ES 2.0
  • 1080p30 H.264 high-profile decode
  • Composite and HDMI video output
  • USB 2.0
  • SD/MMC/SDIO memory card slot
  • General-purpose I/O
  • Target price : $25

x86 based devices

• FitPC

• ALIX and Soekris boards

• MicroClient (VESA mounting format case) and derivatives (German only page for now, sorry)

• Foxconn Electronics Inc. nT- 535

  • Intel D525 Dual core 1.8GHz
  • 1x SO-DIMM Socket Supports DDR3 800 up to 4GB
  • Intel®Graphics Media Accelerator 3150
  • 1x 2.5" SATA II 3Gb/s
  • 1x SD/SDHC/MS/MS Pro/MMC 5 in 1 Card Reader
  • 2x USB 2.0
  • 1x Mic in (support S/PDIF-IN)
  • 1x Headphone
  • 1x RJ-45 (10Base-T/100Base-T/1000Base-T)
  • 4x USB 2.0
  • 1x Line-out jack.(support S/PDIF-OUT)
  • 1x HDMI
  • 1x VGA
  • 1x DC in
  • IEEE 802.11b/g/n up to 300Mbps (Dual Antenna)
  • Bluetooth 2.1+EDR (Optional)
• Generic i386/amd64 PCs or any general purpose computer should also be to run the Freedombox OS, but they are not the primary targets

MIPS based devices

• Fulong Mini-PC (Wikipedia entry)

Related resources

See libreplanet processor review for list of processors, pricing (where found), features including Treacherous-capability, FSF Hardware Endorsement Criteria capability etc.

Some benchmark comparison between different processor famillies, which might help in deciding which platform would best fit the requirements can be found here

Hardware list from the PlugApps project here. Good overview of differences in SheevaPlug-class devices.

CategoryFreedomBox CategoryFrHardware