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Recently, ARM single-board systems like the BeagleBoard has been made available on the market. Unlike phones or tablets, these systems can be run as regular PC. But with the varieties of ARM processors around, it's not clear which devices that can run Ubuntu ARM.

Please create one answer, per model and make of the device, supported by Ubuntu ARM.


Old Q Are the official ARM images compatible with Raspberry Pi?

After scouring their website, I've gathered that Raspberry Pi is based on Broadcom BCM2835 SoC and ARM11 processor. Does the official ARM images, starting with Oneiric, support those?

6 Answers 6

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The little MK802 devices have an ARM-cored Allwinner A10 which runs Ubuntu/Lubuntu absolutely fine. Google MK802 Lubuntu to find OS images for it: google MK802 Mini PC to find the devices (~ $75). These are more powerful than the Raspberry- approx 1.5GHz CPU and 1GB of RAM.

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Looks like the answer is no. Look at this entry in the Raspberry Pi FAQ:

What Linux distros will be supported at launch? Debian, Fedora and ArchLinux will be supported from the start. We hope to see support from other distros later. We will be selling SD cards with the distros preloaded. (Sept 4 2011 – originally, this FAQ suggested that Ubuntu would be supported. Because of issues with newer releases of Ubuntu and the ARM processor we are using, Ubuntu can’t commit to support Raspberry Pi at the moment.)

Debian will be supported, though, so it will look familiar :)

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  • I did read that, and wanted to know about Ubuntu side of things. Who knows, the info might be outdated, pre-11.10 - that's what I'm hoping for anyway. :)
    – Oxwivi
    Oct 25, 2011 at 12:17
  • I changed the question drastically.
    – Oxwivi
    Nov 2, 2011 at 9:35
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BeagleBoard

The BeagleBoard measures approximately 75 by 75 mm and has all the functionality of a basic computer. The OMAP3530 includes an ARM Cortex-A8 CPU, a TMS320C64x+ DSP for accelerated video and audio decoding, and an Imagination Technologies PowerVR SGX530 GPU to provide accelerated 2D and 3D rendering that supports OpenGL ES 2.0. Video out is provided through separate S-Video and HDMI connections. A single SD/MMC card slot supporting SDIO, a USB On-The-Go port, an RS-232 serial connection, a JTAG connection, and two stereo 3.5 mm jacks for audio in/out are provided.

Built-in storage and memory are provided through a PoP chip that includes 256 MB of NAND flash memory and 256 MB of RAM (128 MB on earlier models).

The board uses up to 2 W of power and can be powered from the USB connector, or a separate 5 V power supply. Because of the low power consumption, no additional cooling or heat sinks are required.

Specifications (rev C4)

  • Package on Package POP CPU/Memory chip
    • Processor TI OMAP3530 Processor - 720 MHz ARM Cortex-A8 core
    • 'HD capable' TMS320C64x+ core (520 MHz up to 720p @30 fps)
    • Imagination Technologies PowerVR SGX 2D/3D graphics processor supporting dual independent displays
    • 256 MB LPDDR RAM
    • 256 MB NAND Flash memory
  • Peripheral connections
    • DVI-D (HDMI connector chosen for size - maximum resolution is 1280×1024)
    • S-Video
    • USB OTG (mini AB)
    • 1 USB port
    • SD/MMC card slot
    • Stereo in and out jacks
    • RS-232 port
    • JTAG connector
    • Power socket (5 V barrel connector type)

Texas Instruments OMAP SoC, used in the BeagleBoard, are supported and available for download on this Ubuntu Wiki page.

BeagleBoard has been demonstrated using Android, Angstrom Linux, Fedora, Ubuntu, Gentoo and Maemo Linux distributions as well.


References and more information

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Ubuntu currently has no plans to support older ARM architectures than ARMv7. Limited support for earlier instruction sets (ARMv5t, ARMv6) was available in early releases of the Ubuntu ARM port (jaunty, karmic).

RaspberryPI is ARMv6-based. For support on older ARM architectures, I suggest you use Debian.

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My impression is that most OMAP4 boards should be supported, and at least a few OMAP3-boards. Someone told me the other day that using the PandaBoard was very easy. I haven't tried that myself.

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I have written a list of ARM based devices which can run Debian or Ubuntu: http://www.bitkistl.com/p/linux-on-arm-powered-devices.html Some of them like the MiQi SBC based on RK3288 ARM SOC offer 2D Desktop acceleration and 3D graphic acceleration, others offer only 3D graphic acceleration or just nothing but slow framebuffer. Only boards based on Nvidia Tegra chips offer full Desktop OpenGL 2D/3D Desktop acceleration, but the support of Nvidia for Linux is a bit limited. Mate Desktop on MiQi SBC

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