Arcom is shipping an embedded Linux development kit targeting deeply embedded, remote, or unattended installations demanding “reasonable” processing power. The SBC-GX533 Kit includes an AMD Geode-based EBX SBC (single-board computer), along with a minimalist 13MB Linux image said to support all hardware… features.

The SBC-GX533 Dev Kit
(Click to enlarge)

The Development Kit includes an RoHS-compliant SBC-GX533 EBX SBC based on a 400 MHz AMD Geode [email protected] processor. The SBC comes standard with 512 MB of DDR DRAM, and 32 MB of flash.

Additional SBC features touted by Arcom include TFT or CRT support, an analog touchscreen interface, dual 10/100BaseT Ethernet ports, CompactFlash (CF+), 4 x serial, and 4 x USB ports. Industrial expansion is provided through an 8-bit TTL I/O port, and PC/104 and PC/104+ sites. All “usual PC interfaces are also included,” Arcom says.

In addition to the EBX SBC, the Kit includes a 2-foot crossover cable, PS/2 to AT-style keyboard adapter, 5V power supply module, floppy interface cable, VGA cable, RS-232 serial cable, 2 x pin-header to DB-9 RS232 cables, floppy and hard drive cables, USB cables, GPIO cables, flat-panel adapter board, drive power cables, and reset switch.

SBC-GX533's Linux image

The Kit comes with a 13 MB Linux image based on a 2.6-series Linux kernel. The image includes drivers for onboard I/O, network, and audio, along with the GNU C library, JFFS2 filesystem, OpenSSH, a static/dynamic web server, and a system installation, recovery, and update facility.

The image leaves 19MB of the SBC-GX533's 32MB physical flash memory free for Linux application and storage data. This 19MB translates to about 38MB of usable space, Arcom says, presumably due to JFFS2 compression. JFFS2 is highly reliable, and can recover from power interruptions, the company notes.

Additionally, the Dev Kit comes with standard Linux GNU C/C++ software tools, and a resource CD with tutorials, hardware documentation, and an Arcom Embedded Linux source code listing. Support for Java is optional.

Additional Linux kernel and filesystem customizations are available through Arcom's embedded Linux development team, based in Kansas City, Mo. and Cambridge, England.

Availability

The SBC-GX533 Linux Development Kit is available now. Pricing was not disclosed.

 
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