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Pi vs BeagleBone-Black

Former Member

So, just over a year on from the initial availability of the R-Pi and the new BeagleBone Black is upon us.  They've obviously taken a leaf out of the RPF's playbook and produced a cost reduced version at a price only marginally above the Pi.

 

I find it interesting that the compromises are very different, for example there's a proper PMIC and the ethernet is not troubled by being connected to USB, however the on-board HDMI seems less capable.

 

Other differences are in the documentation, I'm currently viewing the pcb gerbers for the beaglebone..  Have yet to see any sign of those for the R-Pi a year later. There's even an up to date devicetree capable kernel too.

 

Technology has also moved on somewhat, we get a 1GHz Cortex A8 which is better than the Pi, along with various other stuff and lots more GPIO's too.

 

Ok, so it's clear that I like the look of the new beaglebone, and given the price I'm likely to put any further R-Pi plans on hold until I have a chance to play with this. It's also making things like the Olinuxino-maxi I bought recently look very slow/expensive while still being cheaper than the similarly specced Olinuxino-A13

 

Some details of the beaglebone-black here http://circuitco.com/support/index.php?title=BeagleBoneBlack

 

What do the rest of you think ?   I don't expect this to displace the Pi anytime soon, but I expect it to be very attractive to those people who don't simply want to put XBMC on it and duct tape it to the back of the TV..

  • Billy Thornton wrote:

     

    I've got some pos samsung phone, some stuff on it doesnt work very well and it should.

     

    If this relates to Raspberry Pi in some way, it's not being very complimentary.  But I agree, it should work to spec, or else it's not of merchantable quality.

     

    Regarding your "0.001%", it seems that the point isn't getting across, namely that USB compliance means automatic support for everything that is class-compliant or has a driver for the architecture.  Partial percentages don't enter into this.  If Pi is USB-compliant as a USB host then it will work with 100% of USB-compliant devices subject to power, bandwidth and driver requirements being met.  No per-device development is required.

     

    I suspect that RPF/Broadcom engineers are continuing to work at the problem because that is exactly what they want to achieve --- correct USB host operation, not partial.

  • Morgaine Dinova wrote:

     

    namely that USB compliance means automatic support for everything that is class-compliant or has a driver for the architecture.  Partial percentages don't enter into this.  If Pi is USB-compliant as a USB host then it will work with 100% of USB-compliant devices subject to power, bandwidth and driver requirements being met.  No per-device development is required.

     

     

    This is a perfect definition of what the USB standard should be.  I've yet to see it be true for any USB host ever.  And it's not always because the the host manufacturer made a mistake, USB devices  don't always follow the rules either.

  • mynameisJim wrote:

    This is a perfect definition of what the USB standard should be.

     

    There is a grey area and fine line when talking about USB as a "standard." when it is not given that it has not been developed and published by any national or international standards body, some more properly call it a "industry standard" which is neither.

     

    USB is a Technical Specification agreed upon a bunch of companies that decided to get together to define a set of specs that if you follow them give you some level of guarantee that you will have devices from different manufacturers able to talk to each other.

     

    To provide a more structured and legal framework this bunch of companies and friends founded the USB Implementers Forum as a non-profit corporation to provide the organization to advance the development of the Universal Serial Bus specification and support for programs such as compliance.

     

    There is no national, nor international mandatory body that can force anybody to follow the spec as a requirement, simply put, if you don't follow the specs, and you don't pass compliance you don't get to use the USB Certified logo and there is a big chance that some USB stuff out there will not interoperate properly with your stuff.

     

    You can see the spec as a large collection of recommendations that you must (but not forcible required to) follow in order to meet compliance and talk with other people.

     

    My .02

    Jorge

  • jamodio wrote:

     

    Billy Thornton wrote:

     

    Anyone know how old this usb hardware design is and what else it is in?

     

    Yes.

    Hmm. Helpful. is it you, or someone else? Like, do you know, or did you just answer for the fun of it. Thats my job.

  • jamodio wrote:

     

    For a school kid learning to program in phyton that won't make a big difference but for an embedded research and development engineer makes a big one.

    The question raised by that is whether a schoolkid learning scratch or python actually needs or wants to be doing it on a Pi.  You can do these things on a windows PC, or if there's some unknown advantage to a credit card sized bare board there are other devices that fit the bill. Mostly these other platforms just work.

  • jamodio wrote:

     

    mynameisJim wrote:

    This is a perfect definition of what the USB standard should be.

     

    There is a grey area and fine line when talking about USB as a "standard." when it is not given that it has not been developed and published by any national or international standards body, some more properly call it a "industry standard" which is neither.

     

    USB is a Technical Specification agreed upon a bunch of companies that decided to get together to define a set of specs that if you follow them give you some level of guarantee that you will have devices from different manufacturers able to talk to each other.

     

    To provide a more structured and legal framework this bunch of companies and friends founded the USB Implementers Forum as a non-profit corporation to provide the organization to advance the development of the Universal Serial Bus specification and support for programs such as compliance.

     

    There is no national, nor international mandatory body that can force anybody to follow the spec as a requirement, simply put, if you don't follow you specs, and you don't pass compliance you don't get to use the USB Certified logo and there is a big chance that some USB stuff out there will not interoperate properly with your stuff.

     

    You can see the spec as a large collection of recommendations that you must (but not forcible required to) follow in order to meet compliance and talk with other people.

     

    My .02

    Jorge

    So bascially, the Rapsi isnt compliant to the USB forum ideals, but doesnt have to be,  but still has usb that works for most people.  Just like most other usb hosts and devices. Cool. Sounds good enough to me and everyone else who uses em with no problem.s

  • selsinork wrote:

     

    jamodio wrote:

     

    For a school kid learning to program in phyton that won't make a big difference but for an embedded research and development engineer makes a big one.

    The question raised by that is whether a schoolkid learning scratch or python actually needs or wants to be doing it on a Pi.  You can do these things on a windows PC, or if there's some unknown advantage to a credit card sized bare board there are other devices that fit the bill. Mostly these other platforms just work.

     

    I think this probalby answers your question http://www.raspberrypi.org/archives/4476

     

    and of course, for most people the raspberry pi just works as well. which has been the point all along. its $35, and its works well for the huge number of people who have them. Since that point seems to pass some people here by, and the suns come up so my shift is nearly over, I bid you farewell.

  • Billy Thornton wrote:

     

    jamodio wrote:

     

    Billy Thornton wrote:

     

    Anyone know how old this usb hardware design is and what else it is in?

     

    Yes.

    Hmm. Helpful. is it you, or someone else? Like, do you know, or did you just answer for the fun of it. Thats my job.

     

    Your job involves this Synopsis usb design?

     

     

    I had some involvement in a project that used the videocore3 years ago.

     

     

    Your job involves videocore and the Synopsis usb design?

     

    If companies were interested in that sort of stuff, every product we have woudl have something proclaiming it. We dont. Nobody gives a damn except a few geeks with a misguided sense of entitlement.
    Comeon, the sense of entitlement wafts over this board like a bad smell. The linux community (most of it) doesnt give a damn about open hardware. Beause the community consists of anyone who uses it and that means phones and tvs and routers and whatever runs linux. Companies have been ignoring this sort of feedback for years, becuse it does them no good or is irrelevent. Just because you want open hardware doesnt mean the majority of users do. Take the raspberry pi - over a million users, and yet you and coder27 plus a few others are the only people who can be bothered enough to post about it. Its just not that important.

     

     

    Your job involves videocore and the Synopsis USB design and the company you work for makes closed source products and nobody gives a damn except for a few misguided geeks with a sense of entitlement like Morgaine and coder27.

     

     

    My reading on the latest stuff on the raspberry pi website seems to show that most of the problems are fixed, at least good enough for most people.

     

    Isn't it a bit circular to be citing what you wrote on that other forum?