Mark's Blog

Modding the SheevaPlug rev 1.3 by adding an ESATA port is something you won’t do every day. Luckily the device (from Marvell and Globalscale) ships with schematics and Linux, therefore despite the tricky soldering part it is a task you can manage as weekend project. Here is how to do it once and right:

1. Order the ten necessary parts listed below (about 2€ per port).
2. Solder them, cut a hole in the case for the port.
3. Network boot your SheevaPlug and update its bootloader, U-Boot.
4. Update Linux kernel with enabled SATA drivers.

A word of advice: Better print this instruction and the large pictures. On to the details: Read more »

Tags: embedded, kernel, SheevaPlug

	Moved some small but important backups to Amazon’s #S3. Better to have the most important things off-shore.
	Just ordered parts for my #SheevaPlug from US to solder it an #ESATA port (2€ parts cost per port). C78, C79: Ceramic Multilayer Capacitor; Dielectric Characteristic: X7R; Capacitance: 0.1µF; Capacitance Tolerance: ~10%; Voltage Rating: 16V; Temperature Coefficient: ~15%; Capacitor Case Style: 0402; No. of Pins: 2; Mounting Type: SMD C164, C188, C189, C190: Ceramic Multilayer Capacitor; Dielectric Characteristic: X7R; Capacitance: 0.01µF; Capacitance Tolerance: ~10%; Voltage Rating: 16V; Temperature Coefficient: ~15%; Capacitor Case Style: 0402; No. of Pins: 2; Mounting Type: SMD C196, C197: Ceramic Multilayer Capacitor; Dielectric Characteristic: X5R; Capacitance: 1µF; Capacitance Tolerance: ~10%; Voltage Rating: 6.3V; Temperature Coefficient: ~15%; Capacitor Case Style: 0402; No. of Pins: 2; Mounting Type: SMD BIT7: Ferrite Chip Bead; Impedance: 60ohm; DC Resistance Max: 0.045ohm; DC Current Rating: 1.8A; Series: FC FB; Ferrite Case Style: 0603; No. of Pins: 2; Current Rating: 2.5A; eSATA connector: manufacturer FCI, part no. 10067172-70CLF; 7 pins, right angle See this post and this one.
	@gkob do you have any newsletter or announcement list to subscribe for #uberblick?
	@klapproth Masterplan: viele folgen, nämlich dem Plan einiger Macher. Negatives Bild ersterer, positives letzterer.

Tags: embedded, SheevaPlug

Yesterday I have played around with GIT and

• merged the Linux kernel tree from Linus Torvalds
• with the Orion sources from Marvell (i.e. patches for SheevaPlug and OpenRD)
• added the Gentoo patches (distribution independent)
• and those for USB displays and SDHC cards
• and eliminated some harmless, but annoying warnings on ARM.

As I found the configurations of the other kernels for the SheevaPlug on the net a bit unfortunate, you can download my latest kernel flavour here: Read more »

Tags: embedded, Gentoo, GNU/Linux, SCM, SheevaPlug

This is how I installed Gentoo on the SheevaPlug: Read more »

Tags: embedded, Gentoo, GNU/Linux, know-how, SheevaPlug