Ask Slashdot: Best Dedicated Low Power Embedded Dev System Choice? 183
An anonymous reader writes "I'm a Solaris user which is not well supported by the OSS toolchains. I'd like to have a dedicated Linux based dev system which has good support for ARM, MSP430 and other MCU lines and draws very little (5-10 watts max) power. The Beaglebone Black has been suggested. Is there a better choice? This would only be used for software development and testing for embedded systems."
Intel NUC (Score:4, Insightful)
I would look into an Intel NUC.
Re:Solaris not well supported by OSS toolchain (Score:5, Insightful)
Probably because about 99.99% of questions such as this one play out like this:
"I need a hammer. What is a good hammer?"
"Why do you need a hammer?"
"I need a hammer to chop down trees."
"No, you need an axe."
They don't even allow questions like this on stackexchange because they're so open ended and worthless that they serve no purpose and provide no value (other than to instigate arguments such as this or flameboy arguments such as Home Depot hammers versus Lowe's hammers). I can tell you've never dealt with customers and requirements management, because understanding why customers need something is extremely important: it may lead to a better product for the customer or new products for more/new customers. Lastly, you must be new to the internet if you go around assuming anyone knows shit (especially on Slashdot).
Re:Solaris not well supported by OSS toolchain (Score:5, Insightful)
Why do people always as WHY someone wants something?!
Excellent question, young Padawan.
People often ask for help, assuming an answer and thus embedding it in the question. The experienced helper asks probing questions to see what the asker really wants, and then asks that question. When you're older, you'll understand.
In this case specifically, embedded development typically requires specific "non-consumer" I/O requirements that little hobbyist systems just don't support. Thus, saying BeagleBoard or Udoo or RaspberryPi would steer him wrong.
OTOH, maybe he just doesn't know WTF "embedded" really means and is just tossing out the buzzword du jure, when a used laptop would serve his needs much better.
So, we ask probing questions.
Re:Solaris not well supported by OSS toolchain (Score:5, Insightful)
but when I'm asking about some detail
Can you really not figure out that the solution to such a problem is to add more detail to your question, indicating what you've already researched?
Methinks more people should read "How To Ask Questions The Smart Way".
http://www.catb.org/esr/faqs/smart-questions.html#beprecise [catb.org]
Re:Intel NUC (Score:3, Insightful)
Zotac is currently bringing passively cooled quad core mini Intel boxes to market (the low end NUC has a fan but doesn't really need it under normal load). The Zotac ci320 nano looks particularly nice: Celeron n2930 (quad core, 1.8GHz) with a thermal design power of 7.5W and an even lower scenario design power. It offers a much better interface selection than the NUC: plenty of USB3 ports, display port, HDMI, eSATA, (shared SATA and mSATA inside). Costs about the same as the low end NUC.
The NUC allegedly has some issues with USB that are supposedly fixed by the 2830 CPU revision. This revision also brings QuickSync. The hardware video encoder wasn't available in previous revisions. But Intel decided not to change the SKU, so getting one that has the new CPU is a little difficult right now as they are selling the old stock first.
The Zotac is difficult to find. It's just coming to market.