The SheevaPlug
What's a SheevaPlug? It's a small 'headless' (no graphics) linux machine made by Marvell to showcase one of their ARM processors. It has a few interesting features that make a cool project:
- The size of a large "wall-wart" power supply
- 1.2 GHz ARM Marvell Kirkwood 88F6281 processor
- 512M RAM, 512M NAND Flash
- Ubuntu 9.04 Linux built-in on the NAND Flash
- Gigabit Ethernet port
- SD Card port
- USB 2.0 port
- JTAG/Serial debug port
- $99
- The best feature: only 5-7 Watts from the wall even when running flat out.
I got one just to play with and learn a bit more about linux. I have ended up using it for a bunch of interesting things. Along the way, I learned about the following topics:
- How to recover the NAND flash if you brick your SheevaPlug
- How to upgrade the kernel
- How to arrange things to boot/run from an SD card instead of the NAND Flash
- How to install Squeezebox Server
- How to install the lighttpd web server
The webserver works pretty well. You can see it in action here.
The new project is to create a larger power supply (big enough to easily handle an external disk drive), with built-in battery backup.
It will be worth it in the end.
Wright Cyclone in full song.