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I got such an email too. They say if everything progresses as planned the new L138 board will be out sometimes in may.

Hi Huy,

I'm planning to buy the Hawkboard from innovate this weekend, but after reading your anouncement i'm confused now.

Is stable version of Hawkboard released? If not... can you please suggest any other alternative solution for this.

Regards

Balaji Singh

Balaji,

I would not recommend that you purchase the Hawkboard from Innovate Solutions. It has known instability issues that have not been fixed.

I suggest you email special computing () to get information on their new OMAP-L138 board.

Best Regards,

Huy Pham

Hi Huy,

I had the same trouble with hawkboard. After I switch to LogicPD AM1808 evm, everything works fine. However, I have some questions which LogicPD does not answer. So, I was wondering if you may help.

Here are my questions:

1. What is the difference between OMAP-L138 and AM1808 ? I keep seeing theses two terms. Are they referring to the same thing ?

2. LogicPD AM1808 uses DDR and Serial Flash. In our product, we plan to use SDRAM and NAND. Does TI have suggested design for such memory configuration ? Or, could you direct me to proper documents ?

3. Also, we plan to use AM1806 + TI WiFi. Does TI have suggested design for this ? Or, could you direct me to proper documents ?

regards,

winston

Hi Winston,

(1) The AM1808 is ARM9-only and the OMAP-L138 is ARM9 + C674x DSP. They are pin for pin compatible, so they are excellent for scalable designs. Since they share the same peripherials you will see them used interchangeably. 

(2) I'll let one of my apps engineers comment on that. In general, I have seen most of my customers use DDR and flash or NAND.

(3) I assume you are using this: http://focus.ti.com/docs/toolsw/folders/print/tmdxwl1271dc18xl1x.html ? That would be our suggested solution.

I apologize for the late reply - holiday weekend in the states.

Thanks

Huy

Hi Huy,

Thank you for help. I will study this : http://focus.ti.com/docs/toolsw/folders/print/tmdxwl1271dc18xl1x.html.

One more question. Since our product will use WiFi as the method of connecting to internet, we are considering AM1806.

However AM1806 does not have EMAC, the method that uboot downloads uImage and Filesystem to flash is not feasible for AM1806. May I have your suggestion to resolve this ?

regards,

winston

Hi mr. Pham,

I consulted Special Computing website today and they are selling the hawkboards. After reading all these comments about the hawkboard problems, I want to know if it's safe to buy the halkboard now, is it safe?

I've read so many things (most bad things), but I'm still confused about that. In the first paragraph of this site http://elinux.org/Hawkboard_problem it's mentioned that the problem has only ocurred in hawkboards shipped from July through October 2010. So, what about the hawkboards now?

I just want it for learning, so I don't want to pay much money and deal with other problems, like samtec interconnects... I don't have the equipment to work with this at home. I'll apply it on my Master's Degree project, maybe.

Thanks

Janio

Janio,

TI does not recommend the Hawkboard for production. We are working on a board tailored to be used as a DDR2 production reference design, and that should be available in the 4Q timeframe.

That being said, Special Computing is a trusted partner, and I feel comfortable recommending them. If you are using the equipment as a learning tool, others have found the Hawkboard suitable for such a purpose.

Thanks

Huy Pham 

Friends,

I know many of you are still struggling with the Hawk Board. As I have
said in the past, TI does not recommend use of the Hawk Board and have
repeatedly asked Innovate to fix the issues and to pull the product
from the market until it is resolved.

At TI, we are working our hardest to come up with a solution for our
customers. We have been working with Circuit Co, the makers of the
popular Beagle Board, on a new C6748/OMAP-L138 Development Kit that
will retail for about $150, complete with a TI software load. We
anticipate our first boards will come in October, with mass production
to begin in January. The board will be routed in 6 layers and will be
a suggested reference design for our customers.

We will share more details about the board as the mass production date
approaches. Although the Hawk Board was not a TI product, we will do
our best to do something special for disgruntled Hawk Board customers.

Thank you for your patience and understanding. 

best regards,

Huy Pham
C6000 Manager

Hi Huy,

I am an engineer in China. I'm very glad to hear that TI is working on a new L138 Development Kit. Is this project going well? Can I buy it in January?

Thanks

The project has been going very well, although there has been a small delay. I hope to get the boards out still in late January, early February. I will provide more details when I have more concrete dates. 

Glad to know that it has been going very well. I had bought Hawkboard this year but did not do it becos of the problems encountered mentioned in the forums.

I decided not to do it because I would be wasting my precious time and have other better things to do it than troubleshooting and crying over the problems I faced.

Finally  the better OMAP-L138 board is coming next year. I hoped to get my hands on it soon. Hopefully the TI would be in better position to  support us with lots of materials and helps so that we can do better with OMAP-L138 boards.

Clement

Huy Pham

The project has been going very well, although there has been a small delay. I hope to get the boards out still in late January, early February. I will provide more details when I have more concrete dates. 

This is interesting. Is it too early to give a few more details? I've just bought some beaglebones, but I'd also like something with SATA.

Thanks for your efforts!

Rob, I'll try to post a block diagram in the next week.

It has similar connectors to the hawkboard + some. Should take care of your SATA needs. 

Things are going well with the first batch, waiting on some minor tweaks to beta before we release in end of Jan/early Feb as before. 

Any chances of getting a block diagram or some size and interface specs before Christmas? :) It would be a welcome Christmas present.