Greetings All,

if you have a wishlist and/or things you wanted changed on the next
generation OMAP5 community development board, now is the time to provide
them!

Dave

Of course, if the DRAM prices have fallen enough, 2GB of ram would be
nice too. ;)

Regards,

--
Robert Nelson
http://www.rcn-ee.com/

MicroSD or at least the SD more contained within the board

Instead of a switch for the boot order, a switch to select the
external wifi antenna (or another switch if the one for the boot order
is really used)

Remove the DB-9 serial port and instead put just a 10 pin header (that
will make it easier to place the debugger serial port in enclosures,
with a ribbon cable)

All of this is from a hobby perspective of course, so probably is not
in line with what you need. Anyway I was thinking on something as the
direction of the Exynos4412 Quad-core board (for $129) is heading to
(form-wise)

Lioric

On Aug 3, 9:25 am, Robert Nelson <robertcnel...@gmail.com> wrote:

Switching to a low profile usb-serial would be a better option, and
wouldn't take up as much room...

Regards,

--
Robert Nelson
http://www.rcn-ee.com/

Am 03.08.2012 um 17:46 schrieb Lioric:

What I would heavily suggest is to make it as flat as possible. I.e.
don't use vertically stacked 3.5mm and USB/RJ45 combination sockets.

On Friday, August 3, 2012 10:11:12 AM UTC-6, Dr. H. Nikolaus Schaller wrote:

... Adam

PS: You already know my stance on RAM, but please, more, more, more.  Either
hardwire as much as you can to the board, or try to sort out a fancy
expansion
option.

--
Måns Rullgård
m...@mansr.com

shorter and smaller, more easily embedded.

If you could include a camera expansion connector with support for dual
camera sensors similarly to blaze systems will be also great.   In that
case we could try some 3D image processing.

Best regards
Joaquin

On Tue, Aug 7, 2012 at 3:29 PM, Victor Yankee <

I wish a board that is either 100% open (hard and soft) or fully supported.
Can't stand each time I read "that is not available or won't be released
due to license restrictions". Many IC's/hardware brands (such as the two
main GPU brands) don't open their hardware but they provide full support
under most OS from the first moment.

Isn't there any alternative to PowerVR ? Is the pandaboard producing so few
benefits to TI that the competence doesn't start a similar project?

sigh

I'll echo the same things that most others are saying - SATA connector either on board or via expansion, lots of ram, please keep either raw rs232 pinouts / connector, and either a jumper or switch for boot select.

In terms of sw arch, it would be nice if the "ducati" firmware side was a little more transparent wrt the kernel interface though... kind of like what was done with the galaxy nexus and openmax... just my 2¢

The muscle in this chip is unreal compared to the omap parts from only 6 years ago ;-)

Speaking of old fashioned, does anyone know why google groups is setup to
encourage top posting, complete with extra blank lines and the cursor
positioned above the quoted text?  Does this mean it's now truly hopeless,
and the forces of good^H^H^H^H interspersed-quote-and-reply have finally
been vanquished? :)

Whew, time to go home and chase the kids off my lawn...

- SATA port

- USB3.0 OTG

- serial debug over FTDI (USB powered) real serial on header if needed
   (and micro USB, not that dreadful mini)

- boot order switch

- more LEDs on board, blinking leds have such high value to show stuff
   to people

Even when the "serial port" does not power the board, it is far more
prone to failure than a raw RS232 port.  When debugging early boot
problems (or any problem for that matter), a flaky console is the last
thing you want.

The FTDI chips popular as onboard converters are extra annoying for a
number of reasons.  For example, they often have customised USB product
IDs, so stock drivers won't recognise them.  The beagleboard list
archives are full of questions from people struggling to even get the
serial port recognised by their system, be it Linux, Mac, or Windows.

For the record, I have more machines with real serial ports than
without.

--
Måns Rullgård
m...@mansr.com

--
Måns Rullgård
m...@mansr.com

USB -- I see one USB3 OTG and three USB2 host links
so there should be no need for hubs.  There is a power
out concern for four devices.

Ethernet....  10/100 is fine but a pair of 10/100/1000 links would be cool.

Power.... I think that power from a micro USB is proving less  than
ideal.  Tablets and friends are driving USB wall warts with enough
power but too many users do not read the fine print and use a 0.small watt
when a +1.0 watt wart is called for (slight exaggeration) but just go for
a 5VDC input or perhaps a 12VDC automotive battery safe power option.
SATA can be powered or not... SATA could decide power input solid state
SATA devices are quick.

SDmemory... switch to microSD and save some edge space.
A removable boot device that is easy to load is a good thing.

Two developer markets.   Phone and tablet.   My preference is
for the bigger hardware that a tablet would represent.   4GB
of RAM is on the horizon so look hard at 4GB of RAM.   It might
be nice to add a logic latch so the phone developer can hard
disable external chips/devices  that clutter his goals.

Video out: HDMI is nice but the chip supports more.
Cameras in golly up to four...   I have no idea how to
expose all these on a small inexpensive card.

WiFi and Bluetooth yes please.   Better documentation
would help folk discover how to connect an antenna.

And full clock speed of 2GHz too.

--
  T o m   M i t c h e l l

I captured the input so far, is it as below. Please keep the top list growing and as is and have your discussions below the list.
Around 15 members gave input, would like input from all. Please give input on all aspects of Panda to help us improve.
I will segregate it into OMAP5 wish-list, wiki wishlist, community wish-list etc etc - have more categories:

-          Upgrade to LSR TiWi5 module

-          Expansion and LCD headers - even if they cost more

-          Instead of or along with switch for boot-loader have a switch to select the external wifi antenna

-          Remove DB-9 serial port and instead just put a 10-pin header (easier in enclosures with ribbon cable)

o   Switch to low profile usb-serial would be better option

o   Make it as flat as possible - don't use vertically stacked 3.5 mm and USB/RJ45 combination sockets

o   Please don't ditch DB9 connector - hate to source extra parts just to get the board running first time

o   Have some _raw_ RS232 available - don't care what connector it has

-          \

-          Include camera expansion connector with support for dual camera sensor - can try some 3D image processing

-          Have the board either 100% open or fully supported, don't give answers like "not available or license restrictions"

-          Would be nice if "ducati" was more transparent wrt kernel interface - like what galaxy nexus and openmax did

-          More LED's - blinking LED have high value to show off!

-          Expose SATA Link

-          1 USB3 OTG and three USB2 host links - so that no need for USB hub

-          Ethernet 10/100 is fine but a pair of 10/100/1000 links desirable

-          12VDC automotive battery safe power option

-          microSD - have ability for removable boot device

-          4GB of RAM if not at least 2GB

-          logic latch so the phone developer can hard disable external chips/devices  that clutter his goals

-          full clock speed of 2GHz

-          HDMI and whatever other display the chip exposes

-          Four camera

-          Wifi and Bluetooth

-          Better documentation

-          Shorter and smaller more easily embedded

-

Concerns

-          Power out concern for four USB devices

From: pandaboard@googlegroups.com [mailto:pandaboard@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of Tom Mitchell
Sent: Wednesday, August 08, 2012 1:32 PM
To: pandaboard@googlegroups.com
Subject: Re: [pandaboard] OMAP5 Community Board Wishlist

On Thu, Aug 2, 2012 at 5:10 PM, David Anders <danders....@gmail.com<mailto:danders....@gmail.com>> wrote:
Greetings All,

if you have a wishlist and/or things you wanted changed on the next generation OMAP5 community development board, now is the time to provide them!

I think the wish list needs to start with the OMAP5 differences.
Two things stand out to me... Memory and the SATA link.
So more memory and expose the SATA link please.

USB -- I see one USB3 OTG and three USB2 host links
so there should be no need for hubs.  There is a power
out concern for four devices.

Ethernet....  10/100 is fine but a pair of 10/100/1000 links would be cool.

Power.... I think that power from a micro USB is proving less  than
ideal.  Tablets and friends are driving USB wall warts with enough
power but too many users do not read the fine print and use a 0.small watt
when a +1.0 watt wart is called for (slight exaggeration) but just go for
a 5VDC input or perhaps a 12VDC automotive battery safe power option.
SATA can be powered or not... SATA could decide power input solid state
SATA devices are quick.

SDmemory... switch to microSD and save some edge space.
A removable boot device that is easy to load is a good thing.

Two developer markets.   Phone and tablet.   My preference is
for the bigger hardware that a tablet would represent.   4GB
of RAM is on the horizon so look hard at 4GB of RAM.   It might
be nice to add a logic latch so the phone developer can hard
disable external chips/devices  that clutter his goals.

Video out: HDMI is nice but the chip supports more.
Cameras in golly up to four...   I have no idea how to
expose all these on a small inexpensive card.

WiFi and Bluetooth yes please.   Better documentation
would help folk discover how to connect an antenna.

And full clock speed of 2GHz too.

--
  T o m   M i t c h e l l

Got few more additions to the list:

Desirable:

-          Upgrade to LSR TiWi5 module

-          Expansion and LCD headers - even if they cost more

-          Instead of or along with switch for boot-loader have a switch to select the external wifi antenna

-          Selectable boot options from Flash or Jumpers

o   Default USB boot instead of MMC boot

-          Remove DB-9 serial port and instead just put a 10-pin header (easier in enclosures with ribbon cable)

o   Switch to low profile usb-serial would be better option

o   Make it as flat as possible - don't use vertically stacked 3.5 mm and USB/RJ45 combination sockets

o   Please don't ditch DB9 connector - hate to source extra parts just to get the board running first time

o   Have some _raw_ RS232 available - don't care what connector it has

-          Flash on Board ( 1 MB , NAND ?? )

o   Boot From flash

-          All Connectors populated  ( either expansion connector / standard connector )

o    JTAG , Camera, LCD ,USB , SATA , PCIe , HDMI , etc or provision for expansion board which has connections for remaining

-          Include camera expansion connector with support for dual camera sensor - can try some 3D image processing

-          Have the board either 100% open or fully supported, don't give answers like "not available or license restrictions"

-          Would be nice if "ducati" was more transparent wrt kernel interface - like what galaxy nexus and openmax did

-          More LED's - blinking LED have high value to show off!

-          Expose SATA Link

-          1 USB3 OTG and three USB2 host links - so that no need for USB hub

-          Ethernet 10/100 is fine but a pair of 10/100/1000 links desirable

-          12VDC automotive battery safe power option

-          microSD - have ability for removable boot device

-          4GB of RAM if not at least 2GB

o   scalable memory if possible

-          logic latch so the phone developer can hard disable external chips/devices  that clutter his goals

-          full clock speed of 2GHz

-          HDMI and whatever other display the chip exposes

-          Four camera

-          Wifi and Bluetooth

-          Better documentation

-          Shorter and smaller more easily embedded

-          Container Box with power supply

o   110/230 V power supply box which can house panda5 board and bring out required connections out.

o   This would reduce ESD mis-handling.

-          ARM-DS5 community edition support continued

-          BIOS Firmware support

o   Something similar to Award BIOS on PC/desktops/laptops

o   Diagnostics/Self Test on Flash instead of using validation image.

o   splash screen

o   Ability to Flash BIOS

-

Concerns

-          Power out concern for four USB devices

I would also like a thinner board if possible. You could do away with the
combo USB/ethernet and put just the ethernet and maybe just some USB
headers. The customer could use USB header adapters to put the ports where
they want, or not wire them up at all. (Assuming that headers would save
board space/cost)
SATA booting would good.
I would like to see some embedded display port and/or regular display port
on the board. (LCDs have been available for a few months now)
Having dual monitor capabilities (or quad) out of the box would be nice
too. (no changing resistors, etc)
I would like to see the other LCD interfaces kept though, even if it means
resistor changing. For instance there are some MIPI WUXGA displays that are
under 10 inches, should be able to plug them right into a Pandaboard. In
fact I like the idea of plugging 2 or 3 into one. Could make for a good
dual screen device.
I also like the option of more RAM.
With dual channel DDR3 support maybe you could even put 2 desktop RAM slots
on the board. 4/8/16GB dual channel kits are cheap now. (16GB for $80 now)
Since the new OMAP5 is gunning for the existing PC/laptop space I think we
should try to support a good size of RAM.
BIOS support and some kind of boot loader would be nice. I don't know if
this is supported already on the Panda but there are going to be people
that want to dual boot on the OMAP5, especially if they are testing Windows
RT and linux.

On Aug 8, 6:39 am, Bill Fleming <billflemin...@gmail.com> wrote:

I think that for this wishlist to be of any sense, first we need to
define what is a PandaBoard intended for, and where is it going
forward

Officially the PandaBoard is:

"PandaBoard is intended to be used as a platform for mobile software
development and OMAP™ 4 processors are intended for manufacturers of
Smartphones and other mobile devices."

Actually that is not really clear on what it is for and where it is
going (what exactly is mobile software?, does it count for the
software that is inside my workstation Core I7 16GB when I travel with
it?)

So what is the PandaBoard (TI) really targeting for? big manufacturers
only, embedded developers, hackers, the next desktop PC based on ARM,
just a marketing tool for the OMAP line, hobby, or what exactly?

Unless that is clearly defined, there will be a lot of contradicting
"wishlists"

Lioric

Lioric,

agreed, TI and PandaBoard.org have failed to clearly state the purpose of
PandaBoard and how it is different from BeagleBoard......

Dave

Speaking as the former LAVA developer I would like to see future boards
lowering the barrier to full-image test automation.

I'd would be nice to have a programmable power controller integrated right
on the board itself, so that automation tools could power it off and on
again. That controller could be exposed over USB as a dedicated USB device
or a simple serial port. It would be excellent if the code associated with
that micro controller was open and user-upgradable in the field with a
dedicated connector. It would be awesome if one could use the same micro
controller for power measurements but that may be prohibitive with the aim
of low cost. Perhaps we can put the equivalent of TI launchpad (MSP430)
somewhere on each panda for that.

Booting over serial or USB should be well documented, ideally there would
be a working sample on day one. This would allow tools like LAVA to
automatically boot real Android and classic Linux images without adding
additional devices or delays.

Default boot order should allow one to push the bootloader over USB or
serial even if there is a bootable payload on the SD card or any on-board
flash. Please keep the boot order configurable as on Panda ES, with the DIP
switches soldered in.

If there is an dedicated 'debug' USB OTG (for serial and micro controller
control) it would be awesome if had some serial number unique to each
device. Imagine ~50 such devices plugged into one control machine. You want
to be able to differentiate those boards reliably even be

Lastly, think about cable management. Some people put lots of those devices
in racks. Please try to keep the essential cables together so that we don't
need to plug something to all the sides of the board. At minimum that is
power and serial (would be good over USB, standalone serial is almost as
good).

Oh and please show some prototypes to the good folks at Linaro that look
after LAVA (just enough to understand if we need to do something new to get
them supported quickly).

Best regards
Zygmunt Krynicki

W dniu środa, 8 sierpnia 2012 20:54:07 UTC+2 użytkownik
zygmunt....@linaro.org napisał:

If there is an dedicated 'debug' USB OTG (for serial and micro controller

Just so it doesn't get lost. As mentioned on IRC.
Print some of the core HFAQ on the board/PCB.

e.g. "Doesn't boot without properly prepared SD card!"
"Don't power over USB"

Bonus points for routing some additional balls out to test points, doesn't
need to be on headers as the PCB will be crammed anyway.

Rather than adding another post to the thread, I'll put my other wishes
here too: SATA please, and an imaging connector that's in some way
compatible with the Leopard Imaging modules (a la BeagleBoard xM).

Cheers!