Hardware Archive

The Commodore 64DX/Commodore 65

Thom Holwerda 2015-02-16 Hardware 33 Comments

In 1989, Commodore began an endeavor which was way overdue. The creation of a near Amiga-quality computer that is 8-bit in spirit, compatible with the popular Commodore 64 (through an emulation mode), and containing a built in disk drive. Assuming that the price range could have been set below $499, and assuming that this project had been done back in 1985 instead of 1989-1991, I believe this would have been an big seller for Commodore, and would have breathed life into them which would have extended CBM beyond 1994.

I never knew they tried to create the Commodore 65. Fascinating. There's even an emulator for it.

Submitted by Kroc 2015-02-02 Hardware 51 Comments

The new Pi sounds like a beast.

Let's get the good stuff out of the way above the fold. Raspberry Pi 2 is now on sale for $35 (the same price as the existing Model B+), featuring:

A 900MHz quad-core ARM Cortex-A7 CPU (~6x performance)
1GB LPDDR2 SDRAM (2x memory)
Complete compatibility with Raspberry Pi 1

Because it has an ARMv7 processor, it can run the full range of ARM GNU/Linux distributions, including Snappy Ubuntu Core, as well as Microsoft Windows 10.

That's not all. Microsoft has announced a free version of Windows 10 for IoT for the new Pi.

Submitted by krakal 2015-01-29 Hardware 11 Comments

Working one day in August of 2007, I couldn't help but realize that my regular PC keyboard didn't serve me as much as possible. I had to move my hands between the various blocks of my keyboard excessively, hundreds if not thousands of times per day, and my hands were uncomfortably close to each other. There must be a better way, I thought.

This realization was followed by an overwhelming feeling of excitement as I thought about creating the perfect hacker keyboard 0 and later, the realization that, as a software developer, I was hopelessly clueless about hardware.

PaperLike: 13.3

Thom Holwerda 2015-01-26 Hardware 21 Comments

The PaperLike uses a 13.3-inch E Ink Fina screen that has a resolution of 1600 x 1200 (150 ppi). Fina is E Ink's glass-based display and is different from what's on the 13.3" Sony DPT-S1 PDF Reader, which has a flexible plastic-based screen.

The interesting thing about the PaperLike is that it uses so little energy that it doesn't even need to be plugged into its own power source. It connects to a laptop or desktop computer simply with a USB cable, and it gets enough power through the USB to refresh the screen.

This looks quite interesting in a cool-to-have sort of way. Too bad the price isn't exactly in the cool-to-have category.

Teensy Z80, part 1: intro, memory, serial I/O, and display

Thom Holwerda 2015-01-11 Hardware 5 Comments

So my project over the holiday season was decided: TeensyZ80. I wanted to have a usable Z80 running its own code, with the teensy supporting it providing the RAM, I/O peripherals, and clock.

Very interesting. It's only the first part; the second part is available too!

Dell’s new XPS 13 has a stunning edge-to-edge display

Thom Holwerda 2015-01-06 Hardware 30 Comments

Dell is back with a brand new XPS 13 this year at the Consumer Electronics Show, and it looks like the best one yet. After gradually improving the screen with a new model last year, 2015's XPS 13 will ship with an even better and truly beautiful 13.3-inch "infinity" display. It has an incredibly tiny 5.2mm bezel on the top and sides. While previous models of the XPS 13 have always had an impressively small bezel, the latest feels truly edge-to-edge, and it's dazzling to look at. Dell hasn't just stopped at thin bezels, though, and the 2015 model now has an optional 3200 x 1800 high-resolution touchscreen display. That’s a massive improvement over the 1366 x 768 resolution we disliked on the original.

Like so many other Windows laptops over the past few years, this one looks amazing, and can easily hold its own versus a MacBook Air. However, this paragraph doesn't do it for me. You can now imagine me furiously scrolling down and skimming the article, hoping to...

Ah, there it is!

Alongside that, Dell has vastly improved the trackpad. I usually hate most Windows laptop trackpads, but I was very surprised with the new XPS 13. It’s using a glass button and a precision trackpad, which is something Microsoft has been encouraging OEMs to implement. Precision trackpads allow Windows 8.1 to directly control the pointer, multi-touch, and gesture support in trackpads, making them feel more like a mini touch-screen with smoother scrolling and better zooming and panning support. Gliding around with the Dell XPS 13 felt very smooth, although we’ll need to review it fully to test exactly how good it is. Either way, you’ll want a precision trackpad on your next laptop.

Now I'm truly intrigued. Touchpads are the last bastion where Apple's laptops truly outshine the competition by a huge margin, and despite years of tiny improvements, Windows laptops rarely even got close. The first laptop that does... Oh boy.

NVIDIA Tegra X1 preview & architecture analysis

Thom Holwerda 2015-01-05 Hardware 3 Comments

Now in 2015 and with the launch of the Tegra X1, we can finally begin putting the picture together. Erista as it turns out is something of a rapid release product for NVIDIA; what had been plans to produce a 16nm FF part in 2015 became plans to produce a 20nm part, with Erista to be that part. To pull together Erista NVIDIA would go for a quick time-to-market approach in SoC design, pairing up a Maxwell GPU with ARM Cortex A57 & A53 GPUs, to be produced on TSMC's 20nm SoC process.

Home computers behind the Iron Curtain

Submitted by twogunmickey 2015-01-04 Hardware 13 Comments

I was born in 1973 in Czechoslovakia. It was a small country in the middle of Europe, unfortunately on the dark side of the Iron Curtain. We had never been a part of Soviet Union (as many think), but we were so-called "Soviet Satellite", side by side with Poland, Hungary, and East Germany.

My hobbies were electronics and - in the middle of 80s - computers. The history of computers behind the Iron Curtain is very interesting, with a lot of unusual moments. For example - communists at first called cybernetics as "bourgeois' pseudoscience" (as well as sociology or semiotics), "used to enslave a mankind by machines". But later on they understood the importance of computers, primarily for science and army. So in 50s the Eastern Bloc started to build its own computers, separately and "in its own way".

Absolutely, positively, fascinating. History is written by the winners, so I'm very happy we're still getting the other side of the story, too.

Submitted by twitterfire 2014-12-12 Hardware 19 Comments

The Hardkernel ODROID-C1 features an Amlogic S805 SoC that features a 1.5GHz quad-core ARM Cortex-A5 processor and Mali 450MP2 graphics. This board also has 1GB of DDDR3 memory, Gigabit Ethernet, 40 GPIO pins, eMMC / microSD storage, four USB 2.0 ports, and one USB OTG port. While coming in close to the size and price, the specs of the ODROID-C1 are far superior to the Raspberry Pi with a better SoC, double the RAM, Gigabit Ethernet, and an extra USB port.

I've always wanted something like this to run Android with a mouse and keyboard. Why? Well, why not? Seems like it could be fun.

Raspberry Pi Model A+ now available

Thom Holwerda 2014-11-10 Hardware 5 Comments

When we announced the Model B+ back in July, we said that we'd also be producing a lower-cost variant, analogous to the original Model A. Since then, James has been beavering away, and today we're pleased to announce the release of the Raspberry Pi Model A+ at a new low price of $20.

If you were doubting getting a Pi, now is the time to take the plunge.

Submitted by Alfman 2014-10-29 Hardware 31 Comments

The FTDI FT232 chip is found in thousands of electronic baubles, from Arduinos to test equipment, and more than a few bits of consumer electronics. It’s a simple chip, converting USB to a serial port, but very useful and probably one of the most cloned pieces of silicon on Earth. Thanks to a recent Windows update, all those fake FTDI chips are at risk of being bricked. This isn’t a case where fake FTDI chips won’t work if plugged into a machine running the newest FTDI driver; the latest driver bricks the fake chips, rendering them inoperable with any computer.

Fire TV Stick vs Chromecast vs Roku Stick: Streaming Dongle Showdown

Eugenia Loli 2014-10-28 Hardware 3 Comments

Amazon just announced the Fire TV stick, a cheap streaming media dongle, which looks a lot like Google's Chromecast, and the Roku streaming stick. But there some important differences that might make each device slightly better suited to different people. More at Gizmodo.

Guest post by Morgan 2014-09-04 Hardware 44 Comments

VIA is working on a new x86 compatible CPU codenamed Isaiah II, the first in years from the company. Its low power, highly efficient design compares favorably to offerings from AMD and Intel in the same market. It was tested on a VIA branded motherboard with a VIA chipset, giving hope to Free Software users who currently struggle with locked down or unsupported boards from the major manufacturers.

How to boot a PDP-11

Thom Holwerda 2014-08-18 Hardware 26 Comments

Via TechCrunch:

You want to play Adventure, but don't know how to turn on the PDP-11? These instructions are for booting our dual rack machine from its RL01 drives, although booting the single cabinet machine from the RK05 is very similar.

How to boot a PDP-11. Yes.

Submitted by Norman Feske 2014-04-10 Hardware 16 Comments

Behind the term TrustZone lies a security technology that is almost omnipresent in ARM-based devices, ranging from low-cost development boards to most mobile phones. Yet, there hardly exists a public body of knowledge around it. This prompted the Genode developers to investigate. Today, they published their findings in the form of a comprehensive article and an demonstration video.

In contrast to TPMs, which were designed as fixed-function devices with a predefined feature set, TrustZone represented a much more flexible approach by leveraging the CPU as a freely programmable trusted platform module. To do that, ARM introduced a special CPU mode called "secure mode" in addition to the regular normal mode, thereby establishing the notions of a "secure world" and a "normal world". The distinction between both worlds is completely orthogonal to the normal ring protection between user-level and kernel-level code and hidden from the operating system running in the normal world. Furthermore, it is not limited to the CPU but propagated over the system bus to peripheral devices and memory controllers. This way, ARM-based platforms become effectively kind of a split personality. When secure mode is active, the software running on the CPU has a different view on the whole system than software running in non-secure mode.

The Genode team is nothing short of amazing. Not only are they developing unique software, they're also doing stuff like this. Much respect for these women and men.

Samsung’s thing for (faux) leather continues

Thom Holwerda 2014-03-08 Hardware 40 Comments

Out of the millions of things Samsung throws at a wall each year to see what sticks, they seem to have picked the fake leather on devices. The most recent victim? A Windows 8 laptop - the ATIV Book 9 'Style'. This thing joins the phones, tablets, and ChromeBooks Samsung has already tacked the fake leather onto.

Genuine question: is there anyone in the audience here who likes this look? If so, why?

Dell charges $27 to install Firefox on its new PCs

Thom Holwerda 2014-03-05 Hardware 105 Comments

The Mozilla Foundation has begun an investigation after tech juggernaut Dell appeared to be asking customers to pay GBP 16.25 ($27) to install its free web browser Firefox on newly purchased Dell kit.

What.

Convertibles: Android or Windows 8?

Thom Holwerda 2014-02-18 Hardware 34 Comments

So, convertibles. Laptop/tablet hybrids. I think their popularity started with early Asus Transformers, but since then, they've become a pretty big staple in the device landscape. Since I'm in the market for a replacement for my dreadful ARM Surface RT, I've been looking at this market segment again, and have noted that there's a lot of choice out there.

After the dreadful experience with the Surface RT, I'm steering clear of anything Windows RT-related. An x86-based convertible Windows 8.1 machine, however, still has some major appeal due to its excellent desktop application support that fits in nicely with my existing workstation. The tablet side of Windows 8.1, however, is still woefully underserved, with very few applications, and even those that do exist are of abysmal quality.

As far as hardware goes, the Lenovo Miix 2 10" (not to be confused with the older Miix 2!) has really grabbed by attention. It's supposed to end up at around EUR 400-500, which is acceptable. The Surface 2 Pro is also interesting, but quite expensive - although it does have a far better processor than the 10" Miix 2. There's also an 11" Miix 2 which sports the same processor as the Surface 2 Pro, but 11" seems a bit large in my view.

I've also been looking at Android convertibles, and here I run into a bit of trouble - most of them tend to run outdated versions of Android, and I'm really not looking forward to figuring out which of them have the best AOSP support. Do any of you have any suggestions here? Any models to look for? Experiences with custom, AOSP-like ROMs?

An even bigger question regarding Android on convertibles is just how well Android handles laptop-like computing. Does it do a good job of it, considering where Android comes from? It seems like to me that where Windows has the upper hand on the laptop side of the convertible, Android rules on the tablet side of it. Am I right in thinking this is so?

Submitted by MOS6510 2014-01-16 Hardware 7 Comments

Tantos took over working with the disk. He rewrote the recovery tools, plus a simulator for the software and supporting equipment like printers, monitors, keyboards and more. For the greater part of the last year, he arduously reverse engineered the OS from the image. Despite a few remaining bugs, the Cray OS now works.

This is quite, quite an amazing journey.

Building an open source laptop

Thom Holwerda 2014-01-08 Hardware 23 Comments

About a year and a half ago, I engaged on an admittedly quixotic project to build my own laptop. By I, I mean we, namely Sean "xobs" Cross and me, bunnie. Building your own laptop makes about as much sense as retrofitting a Honda Civic with a 1000hp motor, but the lack of practicality never stopped the latter activity, nor ours.

Quite, quite amazing.

Hardware Archive

The Commodore 64DX/Commodore 65

Raspberry Pi 2: 900 MHz quad core Cortez-A7, 1GB

How I built the developer’s dream keyboard