Attn RDs: Win a CuBox from Solid-Run

Aww.. I'm selecting? I was going to enter and offer to develop a way to brick one seeing as how their website says they're Unbrickable for developers.. Sounds like a challenge. Someone else do this for me

I would consider toying with XBMC, linux, android or whatever i can toy with on it and look at trying to do an AOSP/Cyanogenmod build on it if its possible. Its very low powered, but appears to have some kernel source available. Is it feasible to be done? no idea. Would have to take a shot at it to find out.

Thanks,
-h8rift

EDIT: Just re-read Adam's note...yeah i'm sure i'll brick it along the way and let you know how it goes, hehe.

I just got the acceptance letter for RD a couple days ago (proof, I'm also sure a member of the developer committee could confirm this), but it's not set on my profile yet.

What I'd like to try with the box is getting an interface set up on it to use it as a car stereo with a touchscreen mounted in the dashboard. I've set up a similar system with an old netbook I have, but power requirements for the netbook raise some issues, mainly with draining my car battery. A lightweight ARM system could largely mitigate, if not completely solve this issue.
There are also space issues. I would like something that I can mount to the back of an LCD and have in a contained easy-to-remove unit, instead of having to run power and VGA cords through my dash.

I also would like to use it as a system for managing my door locks, with a USB keypad possibly stuck in the back of my truck bed, where I can enter a pin and have it lock/unlock my doors. I would also like to try to use a fingerprint scanner to unlock the doors.

Here's some pictures of what I have now:
Picture 1
Picture 2
Picture 3
Picture 4 Don't worry, I've cleaned the wiring since then
Picture 5 XBMC with a modified Xeebo skin. This is the best media player I've found for the job. I was using Winamp at first, but XBMC has cool visualizations and whatnot.
Picture 6 Closer up, I've since filled in that top metal bar with a sharpie
Picture 7 Cleaner wiring, though still a bit messy. Note that my truck is old enough that I don't have a passenger airbag.

Not shown: I've got an acutator in the driver-side door, and a circuit that I built to accept TTL-level voltages and trigger it (essentially two relays making an H bridge, powered by two transistors that get set high by the TTL input. Both relays are ground open and charged closed, so I can set either one high and control the actuator)

Edit: Just to note, I had previously designed this to work with a RPi, but I found it a bit lackluster and not fast enough for what I wanted. Not to mention it inexplicably died one day.

Hello everybody!

First I need to say, that I'm from Hungary, not from US or UK, but I'm really interested in this, so I give it a try. (I can pay for shipping if required.)
Android is my favourite OS, so I would like to make CyanogenMod configuration for this device first. When it's ready I would like to play with linux too and developing ROM's with ubuntu. I have access to the xda build server, so it will be a good pair for the developing.
I wanted to buy an RPi a long time ago, but I didn't have enough money to buy it. If I get one of three CuBox now, i won't betray XDA. All my development for/with this device will be public here.

Thank you for your attention!
atis112

PS: Unbrickable? As Adam said it's a challenge.

Very nice! Looking forward to see what the devs can do with this baby

For all you that didn't read the Portal Post/OP: It's for Recognized Devs only!

Well, if I had one of these devices I'd work on Linux integration into Android.

So what does this mean:
Most developers have a separate machine for doing particular work on their devices, or even any kind of developing in general aside from their Android devices. With Android devices starting to become more powerful than my laptop (and cheaper than when I bought my laptop), we SHOULD be able to harness Android's underbelly to do more things like developing and compiling directly on them, on the fly, and on the go.

Some people suggest using Ubuntu or some other Linux distro for ARM, but that isn't always the most user friendly thing on a smaller screen. Unlike Android which we already know is pretty user friendly.

Now there are some applications that exist that create development type environments for Android but why not just create a toolchain to compile Linux applications for the Android OS so that they're compatible with the Bionic C library?

So in it's most basic form, I'd be making use of this box to test, create and integrate Linux programs into binaries that Android users can use to their hearts content

As for the technicalities, I have a US shipping address, so that won't be a problem.

and @Adam: you can be sure I'll check to see if it's really unbrickable. I have a thing for bricks.. I'm curious to see how unbrickable their "unbrickable" is. If there's a method, I'll publish it :silly:

Please abstent to post no RD members. Thanks

Just a quick question: Will this contest be ending at midnight tonight (and if so, what timezone)?

willverduzco said:

That's the plan. However, I am tempted to suggest that we extend the contest by another week to allow for a greater number of responses. What are everyone's thoughts on the matter?

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What more could be done to get more entries? It already had a news article posted.

That being said, I'd find it unfair towards myself and the other entrants if it was extended, since we entered during the timeframe it was initially supposed to last for.

Below are a few (of many) ideas I have had for the CuBox

• A small headless server for my command center... err.. I mean house.
  • central file server, VPN server, webserver
  • Not sure if there is a stable xbmc distro, and if not, work on that.
  • Update server for my desktop/mobile applications

More on the development side of things, I'd like to turn it into somewhat of an all-purpose toolkit for Android devices and write a corresponding mobile application using the AOA protocol. I'm thinking somewhat along the lines of Adam's rooting box meets mskip's Samsung/Nexus toolkits. Also, working on bringing CyanogenMOD to it would be another priority.

So, the contest is over now, right? Know when the winners will be announced?

willverduzco said:

Yes. The contest is over. I will announce the winners in the next few days, after Adam and I take a look at the entries together.

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I think I speak for all of us when I say thank you, Adam, and CuBox for this contest. Development toys/kits are always appreciated in contest form. We're all here because we love to tinker with things, understand how they work, and give that knowledge back to the community so others benefits from our experience.

Thanks again,
h8rift

Any news about this?

Sent from my HTC Desire X using xda premium

Was this just abandoned or what?

netham45 said:

Was this just abandoned or what?

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When they get the time to go through this and decide who gets them, they'll post it here. And if they did abandon it, Will will let us know. Don't worry guys, just be patient.

Thanks to everyone who submitted.

I just wanted to thank everyone personally. Will is deciding who the winners are and hopefully will give you guys a response soon.

Some of your ideas are really interesting and I would like to see them come to life. I hope the winners will kickstart CuBox development and make the system open to everyone. I, also, hope no-one manages to brick the system otherwise we'll have to change our marketing!

I look forward to seeing the results and wish everyone good luck!


Regards,

Scott
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