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The Cabin >> Raspberry and Other Pies >> The C.H.I.P. Review
http://www.hondosackett.com/yabb/YaBB.pl?num=1469560797

Message started by Fernando on Jul 26^th, 2016, 3:19pm

Title: The C.H.I.P. Review
Post by Fernando on Jul 26^th, 2016, 3:19pm

Just realized that my mini-screen I use on my R-Pi's has Composite Input; so I decided to plug in The C.H.I.P. and run it though its paces while I wait for the VGA Adapter to come in. Under Composite, the C.H.I.P. has a 800X600 screen, which is fine for most applications. The Mini-Screen itself that I use can go to 1250X700 Resolution, which is a bit odd-ball but it works with many apps.

Since there is no SD Card slot, there is 4GB of FlashRAM space to store the OS and files with. It come with Linux; which version I do not know but it looks like Ubuntu or an Ubuntu/Debian Linux Clone. And like Ubuntu, it uses the Gnome Desktop. Of all the Linux Desktops out there, I hate Gnome. To me Gnome is backwards to me. TaskBar is on the top, not the bottom, Windows and icons look funny, and you really have to pay attention to it or you could press the wrong icon and get the wrong program going. Other than that...

As a simple Desktop/laptop ARM-CPU powered PC, despite its limitations, it is complete. It has most of the basic software one would need: Office, Web/Internet, music/entertainment, so on. And like all the other Linux based Small Board Computers (SBCs) out there, you can download what you need with the command 'sudo apt-get'. Issues I find are tiny - The Office is a simple Abi-Word system which only gives simple spread sheets and word processing; they should have put in OpenLibre Office instead for a full Office Software system like MS Office.

Another issue I have is that is it does not tell you how much space you have left on the 4GB FlashRAM. Maybe I'm not looking at the right place but I can not find this information anywhere. This is one of the problems I have with Gnome itself, and not the C.H.I.P.

But in reading the C.H.I.P.'s forum, too many people out there are expecting too much out of their machines. The C.H.I.P. is a single Core Arm CPU, like the Raspberry Pi Model A, A+, B, B+ and Pi:0; with 512MB of RAM and the CPU running at 1GHz. 512MB on a 1GHz CPU is great for many things but it can get easily overloaded. One has to understand that there are limitations as to what it could do. Dual Core CPUs (like on the Orange and Banana Pi's) and Quad Core CPUS (like on most higher systems like the R-Pi:2 & 3) with 1GB of RAM will run great as it does not get overloaded so easily. But what does one expect for a $9 computer?

The C.H.I.P. does have an over extended GPIO (80 pins compared to the 40 or 23 the R-Pi's have), it is similar to Beagle Bone Black/Green systems' expanded GPIO.

And though it has Wifi and BlueTooth, it only has 1 USB Port, which is limiting within itself. Since I do not have a BlueTooth Mouse and/or Keyboard, I had to use the Logitech Wireless Keyboard dongle to use it. So if I needed to plug in a Thumb Drive, I'm out of luck. Another problem I read on the forums is that if you put in certain (power hungry) Mice or keyboards, the video goes black and the C.H.I.P. crashes... crashes hard! The C.H.I.P. is rated for 950mah, and they recommend using a 1amp charger for it. But that is cutting it close - surpass that 1amp on the charger with a power hungry USB device, then there will be problems - like system crashes people are going through. I used a 1.5amp charger with no problems but "THEY' on the forum says that it is too much and I could fry the board. I had no problem with it expect 1 - there was a burning smell coming from the C.H.I.P. for the first 1/2 I used it. I also noticed that it ran hot.

Like I said above, and I will post on THEIR Forum, for the first 1/2 hour, I noticed that the C.H.I.P. smelled funny, as it it was burning something. I kept looking at it again and again to make sure it was not in flames. LOL!

One good thing that I see on the board and read on the forum, is that the C.H.I.P. has a Battery clip and charging circuit so you can add a battery and charger like on a cellphone. This is great for robotics projects with Solar Panels, but you have to put in enough juice to run the C.H.I.P. and charge the batteries at the same time.

But The Documentation SUCKS! There is no paper documentation for this and the website documentation is awful! This leaves an average user high and dry, needing to scour the web for information that is not there. Everyone in the forum is literally running around blind, posting up what work, and what does not work. And though they say you can program it is like the Rapberry Pi, it does not have (or I have not seen) the programming development software on it. The R-Pi's through Raspbian has Scratch, Python, Perl, C/C+, Java and other programming development software! As I saw the OS Load up, I seen Python, PHP, and Perl modules load up, but there is no way to access them unless you do it the old way of using a ext editor, write the program and then run them through the language parser.

I'll post more later...

Title: Re: The C.H.I.P. Review
Post by Fernando on Aug 9^th, 2016, 6:07pm

In reading The C.H.I.P. Forum, a few 'experienced' users stated that there is a fix for the over heating problem, which is to reflash the BIOS and OS on The C.H.I.P.'s 4GB FlashRAM area. After it is reflashed, it will run cool and some claim that it will also run faster.

But in finding this out, another 'experienced' User stated that in using the the VGA or HDMI Module, I would have to reflash The C.H.I.P. anyways, to add the proper video module to the device. This goes against the statement the site made of "...plug in the board to The C.H.I.P. and you will have VGA/HDMI!"

This is also making The C.H.I.P. a monster to use. It is not simple "Plug & Play" as with the Raspberry and other Pi boards out there. It seems that anytime you need to add something to The C.H.I.P., you need to reflash its BIOS. Furthermore, to reflash the BIOS, you need Google Chrome or Chromium on your PC to do it after you download their module. This is total BS!

The PocketC.H.I.P. (which is a C.H.I.P. with an added video and keyboard board) does not have full video on the screen. It only shows a corner of the full screen. I have a R-Pi 2.5in screen that does this.... the full screen is 1200X800 but the tiny screen only shows 320X200 of upper left corner of the screen. The PocketC.H.I.P. is the same way but many swear by it. (*GAG!*)

This is a shame, because the device itself seems like a good little unit for something 1/2 the size of an R-Pi!

Another Problem to note, they hired two companies to make The C.H.I.P. in Hong Kong. One company makes with with a pink letter board, the other makes it with the white letter board. It is the board with the pink letter that has all the problems. Which one I got - The Pink One! So when you order it, its a 50/50 chance that you will get either one, even if you order multiple boards, some will be pink and some will be white lettering. Also note(!!!) that the Pink board was sloppily done, there is a lot of left over flux on the board, as from the pictures I seen comparing the two boards, the white C.H.I.P. is a whole lot cleaner!

I asked about cloning C.H.I.P.s, like one does with SD Cards for the R-Pi's and they stated that there are no possible means to do this - yet. As it is, I would have to reflash each one by hand. Cloning would also be done one at a time but it skips the steps of connecting to their website and using Chrome with their plugin. But at least there are a few people working on that.

All this adds up to a lot of bad for such a good little computer. If I gripe or complain, some idiot comes around stating "What do you expect for a $9 computer?" A lot. for 1/2 the price, the $5 R-Pi:0 gives you just as much without the hassles. For 2X as much (as with the $15 Orange Pi) you get a whole lot more! And for under $40 you get Quad Core Power with a lot more RAM! So its a matter on what one wants vs. what they can afford.

Link: https://bbs.nextthing.co/t/solved-operating-differences-between-white-chips-and-pink-chips/7672

Title: Re: The C.H.I.P. Review
Post by Hondo I. Sackett on Aug 16^th, 2016, 4:32pm

Nice. Might get one.to.play with.