Omega2: the $5 Linux Server with WiFi | Hacker News Reader

Omega2: the $5 Linux Server with WiFi

kickstarter.com

26 pointstbrock10 comments

It looks cool, but the title is misleading. Seems you need a lot of other stuff in order to make the $5 work for you.

Very exciting, however you still need some additional stuff to make it work, other than the Omega2 itself, as others have said. Tho I don't think you'll be running anything modern on 64 MB of RAM... ? Maybe can be used as a Arduino replacement which runs Linux, but it's more looking like a module that you plug into something, than a computer that other things plug into.

What chip do they use for that? I really doubt that they can cram a linux CPU good enough to make video and a wifi controller in such a small cost.

The answer is in the comments on the kickstarter page: [1]

> @dean blackketter The Omega2 uses the MT7688 580MHz MIPS processor.

MediaTek is notoriously hostile to the open source community [2] [3]. The Omega (the previous board by onion.io) uses a Qualcomm Atheros AR9331 [4] which is very well supported by open source, so their decision to ditch that chip and go with MediaTek is questionable in the IoT space.

[1] https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/onion/omega2-5-iot-comp...

[2] http://www.extremetech.com/mobile/209221-next-cyanogen-phone...

[3] http://www.gizchina.com/2014/03/24/mediatek-dont-share-sourc...

[4] Technical Details of the Omega 1: https://wiki.onion.io/Documentation/Hardware/Omega-Hardware#...

Mediatek open many useful documents/software on its official website. try to visit below link.. I think it can change your Stereotype. https://labs.mediatek.com/site/global/developer_tools/mediat...

Yes, I've visited their website frequently.

No, I don't think their stereotype is changed when they push out some documents and software.

It's cultural. Gongkai vs. Open Source.

This source [1] says it's a Qualcomm Atheros AR9331 (ie, MIPS).

[1] http://hackerboards.com/5-dollar-linux-equipped-omega2-iot-m...

Thanks! Indeed this chip sells for little more than 1$ in big volumes but it does not have video output, something I thought was shown in the kickstarter video but they actually demonstrate an access to the board via a browser.

This is more like a plugable system-on-chip than a computer. Can you even use it without one of the expansion dock ?

As long as you can power it with 3.3V you can run it without the docks.

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