LinuxQuestions.org
Help answer threads with 0 replies.
Go Back   LinuxQuestions.org > Forums > Linux Forums > Linux - Distributions > Slackware > Slackware - ARM
User Name
Password
Slackware - ARM This forum is for the discussion of Slackware ARM.

Notices


Reply
  Search this Thread
Old 11-17-2017, 06:17 PM   #1
ReaperX7
LQ Guru
 
Registered: Jul 2011
Location: California
Distribution: Slackware64-15.0 Multilib
Posts: 6,554
Blog Entries: 15

Rep: Reputation: 2097Reputation: 2097Reputation: 2097Reputation: 2097Reputation: 2097Reputation: 2097Reputation: 2097Reputation: 2097Reputation: 2097Reputation: 2097Reputation: 2097
Question Anyone working with the ASUS Tinker board?


I saw these recently on NewEgg and several other sites and the specs were somewhat better than the Pi3B but I was skeptical as a few bad reports are found when searching Google about it and it's initial offerings.

https://www.asus.com/us/Single-Board.../Tinker-Board/

Has anyone here been working with one of these and Slackware and can give any insight of experience using it, as well as any tips, etc. on it and any issues I might come across during usage, set up, etc.

Many thanks.
 
Old 11-19-2017, 01:46 AM   #2
Exaga
SARPi Maintainer
 
Registered: Nov 2012
Distribution: Slackware AArch64
Posts: 1,043

Rep: Reputation: 665Reputation: 665Reputation: 665Reputation: 665Reputation: 665Reputation: 665
Quote:
Originally Posted by ReaperX7 View Post
I saw these recently on NewEgg and several other sites and the specs were somewhat better than the Pi3B but I was skeptical as a few bad reports are found when searching Google about it and it's initial offerings.

https://www.asus.com/us/Single-Board.../Tinker-Board/

Has anyone here been working with one of these and Slackware and can give any insight of experience using it, as well as any tips, etc. on it and any issues I might come across during usage, set up, etc.

Many thanks.
Hello ReaperX7,

When news of the Asus Tinkerboard first hit the Internet it greatly attracted my interest. Firstly because it was a new single board computer/ARM device and secondly because Asus are my favorite computer hardware manufacturer. I remember being quite excited at the thought of this device being a pretender to the Raspberry Pi's throne. However...

The Tinkerboard features a Rockchip RK3288 which is a quad-core 1.8GHz ARM Cortex-A17 CPU which runs a 32-bit instruction set and not 64-bit. This alone was a major drawback, in my opinion, and the main reason why I have not yet purchased one. Hailed as 'running faster than the RPi3' with a turbo mode of 2.6GHz it reportedly runs MUCH hotter than it's RPi3 counterpart but requires quite a large heatsink - for a 32-bit CPU. If this ARM device had featured a 64-bit CPU then it *might* have truly rocked. Until Asus release a 64-bit version then we'll never know. Although there are a few features which look good (e.g. color-coded GPIO pins, 2GB DDR3 RAM, Bluetooth 4.1, 802.11 b/g/n Wi-Fi, and Gigabit NIC not linked to the USB) it's the 32-bit CPU which kills it for me.

Like you, I have periodically looked into the hardware and user reviews on the Internet. There seems to be some reliability issues with the device. That's another thing which puts me off getting one. The TinkerOS (a Debian derivative - "Oh no! Not another one?") doesn't seem to boast the rock-solid reliability I'd expect to experience with Slackware ARM running on a Raspberry Pi, for example. I would only be interested in running Slackware ARM on a Tinkerboard, but I'd need the hardware to be 100% reliable before I expected the software to run in a stable fashion. At this point in time I'm not convinced that it is.

The Tinkerboard is almost twice the price of a Raspberry Pi 3. In that price bracket there are, in my opinion, better alternatives. Such as a Banana Pi or Orange Pi. The Banana Pi is officially supported under Slackware ARM so no worries there! Although the Tinkerboard is another new single board computer ARM device that's all it is to me. There's nothing outstanding or exceptional about it which motivates me to waste time with it. I hope that changes and Asus release a 64-bit version. That would be cool.
 
1 members found this post helpful.
Old 11-19-2017, 07:35 AM   #3
ReaperX7
LQ Guru
 
Registered: Jul 2011
Location: California
Distribution: Slackware64-15.0 Multilib
Posts: 6,554

Original Poster
Blog Entries: 15

Rep: Reputation: 2097Reputation: 2097Reputation: 2097Reputation: 2097Reputation: 2097Reputation: 2097Reputation: 2097Reputation: 2097Reputation: 2097Reputation: 2097Reputation: 2097
I'm not so much worried about 32-bit versus 64-bit on ARM actually. I know it was a big issue on x86, but ARM?
 
Old 11-19-2017, 12:27 PM   #4
OldHolborn
Member
 
Registered: Jul 2012
Posts: 229

Rep: Reputation: 190Reputation: 190
@ReaperX7, I think I've seen you on the LFS forum so telling you that it will do from start of CLFS to the end of "Constructing a Temporary System" in about 3 hours should give you an idea of performance. Quad core, out-of-order processor and DDR3, it's quite nippy

That's with a SSD connected via USB, but that's also with it de-clocked to 1.6GHz.

Yes, it does have power issues, many run the 5v supply directly onto the pins rather than via the inadequate micro-USB. De-clocking was my "temporary" solution I haven't got round to fixing yet!

Slackwarearm-current and the 4.12.0-rc5 run stable here - and that's with it flat out doing compiles - run headless so I can't speak for the graphics/audio side. The only niggle I can report is that if I try and run distcc for those compiles they stall, I haven't had a chance to look into anything recently - is it again power related? Remove distcc and it works fine.

In terms of support - well, like you I was expecting something really good from Asus, instead, it shipped with a "dirty" kernel, uncommitted changes in release software, really? Sadly Rockchip don't seem to have "got" the Gregg-KH message, so don't expect them to be pushing stuff into mainline.

That said, others have picked up the problems, mainline kernel and uboot work and I believe the not-rebooting (needing a power-down instead) is fixed in 4.14.

Time for me to go find out
Edit - not yet working here

Last edited by OldHolborn; 11-19-2017 at 04:17 PM.
 
Old 11-26-2017, 02:48 AM   #5
Exaga
SARPi Maintainer
 
Registered: Nov 2012
Distribution: Slackware AArch64
Posts: 1,043

Rep: Reputation: 665Reputation: 665Reputation: 665Reputation: 665Reputation: 665Reputation: 665
Quote:
Originally Posted by ReaperX7 View Post
I'm not so much worried about 32-bit versus 64-bit on ARM actually. I know it was a big issue on x86, but ARM?
My eyes are on the future, not on the now.
 
Old 11-27-2017, 07:34 AM   #6
sndwvs
Senior Member
 
Registered: Aug 2014
Posts: 1,879

Rep: Reputation: Disabled
look aside http://fail.pp.ua/board/2, https://www.linuxquestions.org/quest...ckware-arm-108
there are all the same rk3288
 
  


Reply


Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is Off
HTML code is Off



Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
LXer: Asus Tinker Board – TinkerOS_Debian V2.0.1 (Beta version) LXer Syndicated Linux News 0 08-29-2017 01:33 PM
LXer: Running Kodi on the Asus Tinker Board LXer Syndicated Linux News 0 04-25-2017 08:27 PM
LXer: Android 6.0.1 Released for Asus Tinker Board LXer Syndicated Linux News 0 04-22-2017 05:45 AM
LXer: Asus Tinker Board Review: First Impressions LXer Syndicated Linux News 0 03-08-2017 10:09 PM

LinuxQuestions.org > Forums > Linux Forums > Linux - Distributions > Slackware > Slackware - ARM

All times are GMT -5. The time now is 01:38 AM.

Main Menu
Advertisement
My LQ
Write for LQ
LinuxQuestions.org is looking for people interested in writing Editorials, Articles, Reviews, and more. If you'd like to contribute content, let us know.
Main Menu
Syndicate
RSS1  Latest Threads
RSS1  LQ News
Twitter: @linuxquestions
Open Source Consulting | Domain Registration