mikemoy wrote:
I have used 14 other embedded Linux platforms from all over the world. Only 3 surface to the top. ODROID, RPI, & BBB. These 3 shine over all the rest as far as full functionality. The new ODROID C1 kills RPI & BBB in terms of speed with a 1.5Ghz quad core CPU, and price. As for the Kernel, do i want the latest and so called greatest ? Depends. Your Chromebook2 has an issue with HMP & Mail acceleration, but the ODROID does not. So which would you rather have something that works and is stable or something that does not?
I am a hard core ODROID fan, why? Because everything I have tried on it just works and works well. Never had one issue with anything. Cannot say that for the rest.
I think you misunderstood me.
Regarding the kernel, the point is that HardKernel does NOT make their own kernels; they are completely dependent upon the work of Linaro. Linaro has a track record of getting a single kernel working for something, and then abandoning the hardware completely. If what you have now is good enough, then fine. If you feel at all that you might need future support in the case of new hardware or security exploits, well, good luck.
My Chromebook2 is ultimately the same hardware as the ODroid XU3, but with twice the RAM, built in WiFi and Bluetooth, and of course keyboard, trackpad, and display. It should run the Linaro kernel just fine, but the issue is that the device tree sources for the CB2 do not exist in the older kernels, and there is no one working to backport the DT. Ultimately the device tree is the Achilles heel to ARM kernel support.
Two things could resolve my problem... the first and most likely is that a developer in the community will replicate the work that Linaro put into the 3.10 kernels and apply that toward a more modern kernel. The second, and almost assuredly unlikely possibility is that Linaro replicates their work on the 3.18+ kernels in which case I can just use their kernel on my hardware since the DT source files exist for the CB2 in the newer kernels. The first scenario is already happening and there are kernels out there that are real close to working... HMP and Mali are just fine, but audio is still busted due to incomplete DT entries. The second scenario shows no signs of progress, and as far as I know, no one is putting effort into bringing the ODroid boards up to the newer kernel.