Aug 17 2010

Countryside


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Jul 6 2010

ARM inline asm secrets

Although I generally recommend against using GCC inline assembler, preferring instead pure assembler code in separate files, there are occasions where inline is the appropriate solution. Should one, at a time like this, turn to the GCC documentation for guidance, one must be prepared for a degree of disappointment. As it happens, much of the inline asm syntax is left entirely undocumented. This article attempts to fill in some of the blanks for the ARM target.
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May 3 2010

Hacking the Popcorn Hour C-200

Update: A new firmware version has been released since the publication of this article. I do not know if the procedure described below will work with the new version.

The Popcorn Hour C-200 is a Linux-based media player with impressive specifications. At its heart is a Sigma Designs SMP8643 system on chip with a 667MHz MIPS 74Kf as main CPU, several co-processors, and 512MB of DRAM attached. Gigabit Ethernet, SATA, and USB provide connectivity with the world around it. With a modest $299 on the price tag, the temptation to repurpose the unit as a low-power server or cheap development board is hard to resist. This article shows how such a conversion can be achieved.
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Mar 19 2010

Nexus One

I have had a Nexus One for about a week (thanks Google), and naturally I have an opinion or two about it.
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Mar 3 2010

Ogg objections

The Ogg container format is being promoted by the Xiph Foundation for use with its Vorbis and Theora codecs. Unfortunately, a number of technical shortcomings in the format render it ill-suited to most, if not all, use cases. This article examines the most severe of these flaws.
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