SD Card Depot Why Don't You Exist?

Trying to buy SD cards sucks. Newegg is way better than Amazon for finding an SD card that you want, but it still sucks.

I wish there was something like an SD Card Depot that just sold SD cards. They'd only sell high quality parts, test the things they sell, write reviews of them, sell consistent product (SD card quality varies. A lot!), provide guidance on what kind of cards work best for what kind of uses (do I really need a class 10 card for HD camcorder?), and make finding the SD card I want easy. Oh yea, and cheap shipping (hello Amazon sellers with $1 4GB cards and $9.95 shipping!!).

They'd be the (when they were just shoes) Zappos of SD cards. Awesome website, awesome service, dedicated to just one product and killing the act of selling it.

Makes me think there's a market opportunity here...

Read More

TI AM170x Booting Annoyances

Although I haven't spent much time working on the TuxedoBoard in the past few months (newborn daughter in July), I've been thinking about it again recently as my sleep schedule is starting to normalize a bit.

In reading through the info from TI about boot modes on the AM17xx processors, a lot of time is spent describing the AIS (Application Image Script) proprietary boot script system. It's proprietary to TI, the script generator only runs on Windows, and it requires that you pay for and use Code Composer Studio. None of that sounds exciting to someone interested in open platforms.

So, if the AM170x processor is going to go onto the TuxedoBoard, there's going to have to be a custom bootloader.

Ideally, I would want a bootloader that doesn't require an external memory interface (either EMIFA, SPI, or I2C) due to the added cost and complexity. I'm imagining that there will be an MMC/SD card on the TuxedoBoard in order to hold the Linux filesystem, so booting directly off of that would be best. The BeagleBoard-xM boots off the MMC/SD card but its processor has internal firmware (not sure on the details) that is smart enough to find a FAT partition (if its the first one) and grab the MLO (x-loader) file (if its the first file loaded onto the partition).

I'd like it if my bootloader can setup the external SDRAM, set up all registers properly, find the MMC/SD card, transfer uboot (or other second stage bootloader) into RAM and jump to it. Kind of like the BeagleBoard-xM does it. There's 64kB of ROM and 8kB of RAM inside the AM170x ARM core. I'm not sure if that's enough but coming from a 8/16-bit microcontroller perspective, that's decent for doing quite a lot. It seems possible (even if it will be a lot of work).

It'd be awesome if the first partition on the MMC/SD card could be ext2 (or other open and less complex filesystem) and have only the uboot executable. The second partition (in your favorite, supported by uboot, format) would hold the actual Linux filesystem.

UPDATE 1 October 2011: I'm incorrect in some of the things stated in this blog post. I've not changed them but I have written another blog post.

Read More

Some Raspberry Pi

I'm torn about the Raspberry Pi project. On the one hand, it's awesome that the group is developing a very low cost ($25 and $35 goal price points) ARM based computer with some rather nice specifications (clock speed, RAM, USB, Ethernet [on $35 model], 3d accel, etc) but the way they're going about it somewhat rubs me the wrong way.

Broadcom makes the ARM processor (BCM2835) but hasn't released any type of datasheet. It uses package-on-package memory, which is rather difficult for many assembly houses to deal with and requires rather large orders in order to obtain memory from suppliers due to constrained supply lines. The Broadcom GPU that's integrated uses closed source drivers and in order to get legal access to the multimedia hardware IP blocks you are required to buy a license (RasPi says they'll include a few of the most often used codec licenses with purchase, but not all). The boot process is yet another convoluted weird way of doing things: the GPU runs first, executes a first stage bootloader, then dumps you over to the actual ARM core for booting Linux.

In order to manufacture their 6 layer (originally they said 4 but that's not appearing possible) board, RasPi is using blind, buried, or partial vias which raises the cost of the bare board and limits who can manufacture it. They're also not even connecting all pins on the processor, some GPIO won't be connected to anything and thus will be unused. These tiny pitch BGA parts are awesome if you've got constrained spaces to fit in and you have access to seriously advanced manufacturing capability and can use 8+ layer boards. Otherwise, they're a pain!

The RasPi foundation is getting special pricing on almost all of their parts. They're buying in the 10,000 quantity but (at least on some parts) appear to be getting 1,000,000 quantity pricing. They have publicly said they are not getting any sponsorship or free parts, which is good to hear based on their very low price point goals for the finished product.

Although Eben has said (in answers to Slashdot questions) that the layout and schematics would be open with "A qualified yes," that's dependent upon the final board design being able to be exported to something like Eagle. He also throws in some other verbiage that makes me unsure what will really happen. (And yes, I understand I won't be able to build one myself, even if I had mad hot air rework skills, the pitch on some parts are remarkably small and POP is a nightmare even for automated robotic assembly shops.)

But in the end, my biggest concern is that the $25 and $35 prices won't really happen. There's been mention of a "give one get one" program at first (so you have to pay for 2 in order to obtain one) where the one you "give" will be provided to school children. But there's not been mention that I've seen of when the one you "give" will be actually given. Mostly, for $25, leaving the RasPi foundation with no profit, they need (my personal SWAG on cost) about $15 in parts (including circuit board), maybe $8 in labor to assemble (including all tooling costs being rolled into the per unit cost), and that leaves about $2 to cover testing and warranty replacements (2% warranty rate is $0.50, 4% is $1). That's crazy cheap! And it requires a very low failure rate under warranty, let alone the costs associated with fulfilling the warranty replacements (emails, phone calls, shipping, etc aren't included).

I don't think $25 and $35 price points are sustainable in a break-even or profit making enterprise based on the goals and current public information for the Raspberry Pi. I do hope I'm wrong.

Read More

Google Search Results!

Somewhat ironically, if you search Google for: Stanford database class, my blog is showing up (at least some of the time, even when searching when I'm using a different browser and not logged into Google services) in 5th spot, ahead of the actual db-class.com (which redirects to the .org version) website.  I find that intriguing and funny.  It also makes me smile.

Now to get my actual database class notes blog to show up there as well!

Read More

Do What You Love, Good Things Will Come

This morning, I found this article from the Harvard Business Review blog that's mostly about job hunting but also a few other things. Do what you enjoy, build relationships, and stop stressing out about the state of the economy or your life. You'll find what you are looking for faster, or at least enjoy yourself way more while waiting for opportunity to arrive in the same amount of time.

I like the premise. It's part of why I started contributing to the Cross Linux From Scratch project and why I started blogging. My database class notes blog might make me a little money from Google ads but I think the real value is in establishing myself as a resource and opening doors for me. Maybe (but probably not) I'll become a lesser version of Salman Khan and be known for presenting small chunks of learning. Who knows?! Certainly not me, but I am enjoying writing more.

In mostly the same vein, Marco linked to a presentation by John Gruber and Merlin Mann from SXSW 2009 that I really enjoy listening to. The title of their talk is awesome, "HOWTO: 149 Surprising Ways to Turbocharge Your Blog With Credibility!" (note: you will not hear them list 149 things, it's more like 5)

Read More

Database Class Notes

The Stanford online database course's enrollment has opened and I've got my course notes blog started!

I'll be blogging my notes and thoughts on the course in as close to real time as I can. I hope to post up my solutions to assignments once allowed on my Github account.

Read More

Hewlett-Packard, WebOS... RIP

Meg Whitman is the new CEO of HP. Leo Apotheker got to be CEO for less than a year and for most of that time Meg Whitman was on the board of directors. The board seemed to back Apotheker when he made decisions that roiled the web press. He killed almost everything HP got from the purchase of Palm, bought Autonomy, said the company is going to transition into "enterprise" software & services, and started discussions that HP was going to sell off their commodity computer business. The board didn't seem to object, at least not publicly. Apotheker was horrible at communicating with the shareholders but that pales in comparison to the rather large changes being made, it's forgivable.

But now they've fired Apotheker and put Whitman in his place. HP's not going to recover from Apotheker's decisions if Whitman is in charge.

I'm sorry HP shareholders, employees, and customers. You're in for a continued rough ride in the near future.

Why should anyone think that Whitman, who didn't have the best record at eBay (even though the major press seems to think otherwise), who failed at becoming the governor of California, and who was on the board of directors for most of the time Apotheker made such "bad" decisions, will do anything "better" than Apotheker?

HP used to be an engineer's company. Woz worked there and loved it. If Woz thought HP was an engineer's dream company, I bet it was. HP made THE BEST calculators, THE BEST test equipment, THE BEST mid range laser printers, THE BEST low end ink jet printers, and probably tons of other products that were THE BEST of their time. HP isn't an engineer's company any more. Meg Whitman isn't going to make it back into an engineer's company.

Today, what does HP build that's the best?

WebOS had a chance to be THE BEST, even though they stumbled out of the starting blocks and were late to the party. Out of all the things that have changed at HP under Apotheker, the loss of WebOS as even a reasonable contender against iOS and Android, is the worst.

HP's not THE BEST at anything any more. Rest in peace...

Read More

Stanford Database Class and an Experiment

Stanford is running a free online databases course this fall. I've signed up to get more info and once that info comes out, I'll be registering for the course. It runs from October 10 till December 12. I assume there will be two or three video lectures per week along with projects or homework.

If allowed by the course guidelines, I'm going to blog my notes from lectures and post my projects / homework up on GitHub.

I want to become a better writer, learn about databases, and possibly make a little money from Google ads. Taking the database course and blogging my notes and thoughts will help me to accomplish all three.

My background is mostly in electrical engineering but I do write software. Although I've been formally programming since my first year of college (2001), I've never taken a formal algorithms, data structures, or database course. These days I write some C# for Windows and C for microcontrollers but I've also worked with Java and C++ and done a tiny bit of Python and Perl. My background probably matches a lot of people out there who are self taught coders and I think that provides me with a good audience desiring to learn about databases and that I can easily connect with.

I had wanted to try out Tumblr but after opening an account and playing with their interface, I think I'll stick with Blogger. Tumblr wasn't necessarily bad, but I'm used to Blogger (even with the new interface) and writing in the HTML view is pretty unencumbered for me. I'll post up a link to the database class notes blog shortly.

Read More