[U-Boot] Announcing easy Linux installation on Allwinner devices for non-geek users

[Robert Moskowitz <rgm@htt-consult.com>]

On 01/22/2015 07:49 AM, Siarhei Siamashka wrote:
> Hello,
>
> This is a somewhat long e-mail.

Yes it is.  Thank you for this detailed introduction to the problem and 
solutions.  As a semi-skilled user and proponent of armv7, I really 
welcome all the work you and others have done.  Just wish it was done 6 
months ago!  :)

>
> 2. A possible solution
>
> =====================================================================
> == 2. A possible solution
> =====================================================================
>
>
>
> For example, the UART serial console is not really used by BROM, and
> this was a kind of hack in the previous demo. At that time it looked
> like the serial console could be configured correctly according to
> some heuristic rules. However later it turned out that the heuristics
> does not really work on some A13 devices and they may have mutually
> incompatible UART configurations:

...

> Anyway, the really missing part was the user friendly output and user
> friendly input for generic u-boot binaries. HDMI is widely used in
> Allwinner hardware and it supports autoconfiguration. USB host ports
> use dedicated pins and only enabling/disabling power can be device
> specific. The missing USB power can be solved by using a powered USB
> hub, which is not very convenient, but still a workable solution.

...

> It is a demo of a universal SD card image, which should be bootable
> on any Allwinner A10/A10s/A20 device. With an installer of u-boot
> v2015.01-rc3 as the initial demo simple payload. By using a
> HDMI monitor for output and a USB keyboard or FEL button for input,
> it offers a menu based user interface. The menu allows to select
> the exact type of the user's Allwinner device and install the
> right bootloader for it.


This is all great with one possible exception:  server setups with no 
monitor/kybd.

Take a look at:  http://medon.htt-consult.com/~rgm/cubieboard/

You will see 5 cubieboard2 + drives in a nice tower arrangement. These 
are powered by one Anker 40W 5-port USB power supply.  Note that every 
board has a 'dedicated' UART/USB serial console.  These are < $2 each 
compared to the cost of HDMI cables and an HDMI KVM switch (cheapest 4 
porter I have found is $100; no cheap 8 porter). All I need to do is 
connect my USB extension cable to one, connect to a notebook and run 
'screen /dev/ttyUSB0 115200' and I have the console for booting/configs.

So I would want the option of a serial console menu.  I suspect that 
screen supports VT-100 style menu controls, just have not had a 
situation to tried it.

I am excited about the prospect that installing your Linux distro of 
choice on your Allwinner board of choice for a desktop system will soon 
be achievable.  In May I will be visiting my parents for their 70th 
wedding anniversary, and would love to set them up with a system on 
their TV.

But please consider the server use and the serial console.