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-   -   Please suggest completely open source ARM board with A53/A7 (https://www.linuxquestions.org/questions/linux-embedded-and-single-board-computer-78/please-suggest-completely-open-source-arm-board-with-a53-a7-4175647877/)

romankqsok 02-08-2019 06:52 AM

Please suggest completely open source ARM board with A53/A7
 
It should boot into Linux or BSD WITHOUT any single BLOB
and following ports should work: USB, SATA, Ethernet, any display
PCI port if present would be desirable too

I do NOT need multimedia like sound, 3D video, etc.

It is a security console for remote administration of servers via SSH and VNC.

Only for work, not for games.

business_kid 02-08-2019 08:43 AM

You're designing, you should know what you want. Why ask us?
You don't have to go beyond Ebay. What's wrong with the various RasPi models?

romankqsok 02-08-2019 11:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by business_kid (Post 5959389)
You're designing, you should know what you want. Why ask us?
You don't have to go beyond Ebay. What's wrong with the various RasPi models?

Asking because I am a newbie in ARM field.

Raspberry seems requires a blob to boot which is bad from security point of view.

I need a hardware and software 100% free of active BLOBs without source code.

Someone thinks that Allwinner, STM32, LPC and OMAP can boot 100% free of BLOBs, is it correct?

romankqsok 02-09-2019 08:59 AM

Please suggest a netbook (tablet with a keyboard)

Cortex A7 preferably AllWinner A20/A23/A31/A33

Thank you very much for your help!

ondoho 02-09-2019 09:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by romankqsok (Post 5959778)
Please suggest a netbook (tablet with a keyboard)
Cortex A7 preferably AllWinner A20/A23/A31/A33

that's a different question.
don't confuse us!

Quote:

Originally Posted by romankqsok (Post 5959334)
I do NOT need multimedia like sound, 3D video, etc.

this should make it much easier to find something.

Quote:

Originally Posted by romankqsok (Post 5959463)
Raspberry seems requires a blob to boot which is bad from security point of view.

what is this blob you are refering to?

romankqsok 02-09-2019 11:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ondoho (Post 5959787)

what is this blob you are refering to?

https://wiki.debian.org/RaspberryPi

business_kid 02-09-2019 12:40 PM

Code:

Please suggest a netbook (tablet with a keyboard)
Cortex A7 preferably AllWinner A20/A23/A31/A33
Thank you very much for your help!

Why ask for help if you know what you want? The choice is made. Mark this solved.

romankqsok 02-09-2019 01:01 PM

Well, actually I was not able to find any Netbook with integrated keyboard having CortexA7 CPU.

There are a lot of CortexA7 tablets without a keyboard, but I am not sure if it is possible to boot them into general Linux without original Android kernel and without any blobs.

I need just a text mode or a slow X11 without 3D.

But I am not sure even a frame-buffer driver works without blobs with a distro kernel like armbian.

Do you know any manual how to boot Linux or BSD on a popular keyboardless tablet with AllWinner CPU?

ondoho 02-09-2019 02:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by romankqsok (Post 5959831)

i know what a raspberry pi is.
i was asking what blob you were refering to.
nevermind.

romankqsok 02-09-2019 02:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ondoho (Post 5959886)
i know what a raspberry pi is.
i was asking what blob you were refering to.
nevermind.

From my link above:

Quote:

Binary blob needed to boot
The binary blob needed to boot the Raspberry Pi can be downloaded using the rpi-update script available from https://raw.githubusercontent.com/He...ter/rpi-update. It can be used with vmdebootstrap to create a bootable SD card image, according to a recipe from Petter Reinholdtsen.

See more information at this independent documentation project based on a combination of static analysis and trial and error on real hardware: https://github.com/hermanhermitage/videocoreiv/

Broadcom publicly released some code, licensed as 3-Clause BSD, to aid the making of an open source GPU driver. The "rpi-open-firmware" effort to replace the VPU firmware blob started in 2016: https://github.com/christinaa/rpi-open-firmware. See more at https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11703842 Unfortunately development of rpi-open-firmware is currently stalled.

romankqsok 02-09-2019 02:37 PM

Please note a few features of a laptop/tablet I am looking for:

1) Spectre free CPU with "in order" execution and not very modern to avoid backdoors like Cortex A7.
2) Open source drivers in a Linux mainline like for AllWinner A20 realization.
3) Able to boot into FreeBSD/OpenBSD
4) May be it can be a custom made laptop from Olimex Olinuxino A20 like this:
https://wot.lv/my-take-on-a-custom-laptop.html
5) USB port able to connect to USB hub with several devices like external USB keyboard, mouse, HDD, etc.
6) BLOB free boot to avoid hardware trojans managing ARM worlds in TrusZone

romankqsok 02-09-2019 10:14 PM

I think I have to make a custom Laptop based on a CortexA7 AllWinner board compatible with OpenBSD.

You can see an example of such DIY:

https://web.archive.org/web/20190209...om-laptop.html

They use a special adapter to convert a general Thinkpad Keyboard to USB channel.

I think such adapter can be found in different Android ARM based smartbooks (not sure about Windows Atom smartbooks). Does anyone know which smartbook have a USB keyboard which could be reused in a custom made Laptop?

romankqsok 02-10-2019 02:56 AM

More about CPU backdoors:

https://web.archive.org/web/20190210...86-CPUs-wp.pdf

http://www.freezepage.com/1549787796TGNTNZUTHI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_eSAF_qT_FY

onebuck 02-10-2019 08:28 AM

Moderator Response
 
Moved: This thread is more suitable in <Linux - Embedded & Single-board computer> and has been moved accordingly to help your thread/question get the exposure it deserves.

romankqsok 02-11-2019 12:28 PM

What do you think about how secure is MIPS hardware of a router like WNDR3800 with 128Mb RAM?

This router can boot into fully free open source LibreCMC.

It can be managed from text terminal via SSH or serial console.

Can I add SWAP on LibreCMC located on a USB flash by swapon command?

Can I then chroot from LibreCMC into another distro like Debian v8/v9 located on a USB flash drive?
Only text mode is needed, NO graphical desktop is needed.


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