Exploring the Mini2440 Arm kit

The friendly arm board
The friendly arm board

As a part of laboratory experiments  for an embedded system course being held at Model finishing School Trivandrum, 2 nos . of mini2440 arm development kits have been purchased by the them  from e bay .  One  of the  kits  is presently with me . My task is to learn it and teach embedded  Linux ( or what ever I learn 😀  ) to the participants of the above course.  I have been playing around it for the past two days and it looks very interesting. See the pictures.

Layout of of the board
Layout of of the board

The specifications of the board looks like this.

* Processor — Samsung S3C2440 (ARM920T core) clocked at up to 533MHz

* Memory — 64MB SDRAM (up to 100MHz)

* Flash — 64MB NAND flash; 2MB NOR flash

* Flash expansion — 1 x SD card interface

* Display — LCD controller with four-wire resistive touchscreen interface; optional 3.5- or 7-inch LCD displays

* Networking — 1 x 10/100 Ethernet RJ-45 interface (DM9000 chip)

* WiFi — optional WiFi module

* USB — 1 x USB Host; 1 x USB Slave (B-type interface)

* Serial — 3 x serial ports

* Audio — 1 x stereo audio output interface; 1 x mic interface

* Camera — 1 x 20-pin (2.0mm space) camera interface; optional CMOS or USB cameras

* Other I/O:

o 1 x 10-pin (2.0mm space) JTAG interface

o 4 x user LEDs

o 6 x user buttons

o 1 x PWM control buzzer

o 1 x adjustable resistance, for AD conversion test

o 1 x I2C bus AT24C08 chip, for I2C bus test

o 1 x 34-pin 2.0mm GPIO interface

o 1 x 40-pin 2.0mm system bus interface

* Power — RTC battery; power supply interface

* Clock — internal real-time clock and 12Mhz passive crystal system clock source

* Dimensions — 3.9 x 3.9 inches (100 x 100mm)

* Operating system — Linux 2.6.13;

The board comes with a 4 inch detachable LCD screen. The cost of the board is around $ 89 plus shipping and customs duty. The end price was around Rs 7500 in India. The kit  is preloaded with Linux and the accompaining DVD has all the tools needed for development. The board can also run windows CE,

I have not yet done any serious stuff with the kit.  The user interface is based on qtopia, and it provides  basic  GUI features.

The kit booting up
The kit booting up

There is handwriting recognition software and an on screen keyboard for data entry.

Onscreen keyboard
Onscreen keyboard
Hand writing recognition
Hand writing recognition

There are various applications  for common tasks.  I was able to browse Internet and access  the embedded web server  on the board.

Shell on the mini2440 kit
Shell on the mini2440 kit

I plan to rebuild the system and try to make it boot from a usb stick or SD card.  Let me see how much I can hack on this. Stay tuned for furthur updates.

42 comments

  1. Hey I recently bought the same development board also on ebay.
    I’m new to embedded linux programming and I already got a own kernel running.

    For start I would recommend this tutorial to compile an own kernel and install a better (more powerful) bootloader.
    http://wiki.linuxmce.org/index.php/Mini2440

    Please share your progress. I really need some help to compile my own apps for the board

  2. I had some problems with the USB host adapter… I tried connecting the USB host port (that would be the smaller, rounder port on front) to my PC. I keep getting I/O errors when detection occurs. Maybe a bad connector? I get the impression it isn’t needed anyways, but still those I/O errors have me wondering… Maybe the BIOS needs updated?

    The USB slave connector works just fine, as I could connect a USB keyboard/mouse, and it worked fine.

    It would be cool if there were a NetBSD image for this device.

  3. DMM: You need to use (in windows anyway) the utility called DNW. It is on the CD/DVD or on the downloads page at http://www.andahammer.com. You use the serial and USB at the same time. Serial (115K) is used to talk to vivi, the boot loader, and USB is used for fast downloads. For example, select ‘k’ to load a kernel then use the USB menu to select the file to download. And yes, you use the USB device connector, the little square one like a printer. You should have gotten a cable with your kit.

  4. Hi,

    I followed all the indications posted on-line and yet, I couldn’t boot a kernel from an SD card. Do you have any idea how to accomplish this?

  5. Thanks Charles… I did get the USB part working. It’s just that it wouldn’t get “recognized” as a device under FreeBSD. It did work OK under Linux and Windows both. I also got the RS-232 working. I was going to try using tftp to get a kernel loaded, but the USB method looks much easier than trying to set up a dhcp and tftpd server.

    Thanks again.

  6. OK, so I finally have the tftp/dhcp thing figured out. I use setenv to set the server/client IP, and “dhcp” at the uboot prompt (“MINI2440#”). I can then use tftp to load any file.

  8. Hello Sunil.
    Thank you for provided the nice intro about a ARM kit. I was searching such a low cost board for the long time. Now, I am planing to buy this board. The problem is vendors. How can I buy this board from India. You mentioned that, you bought it through ebay. I searched this Mini2440 board in ebay.in. I cant found this item. Please help me to buy this board from India. Are you sure, the board comes up with 3.5” LCD display for 89$ and the total cost of this board is around 7500/- includes board+3.5 LCD+Shipping+customs?. Coz I feared about the cost of this board includes LCD display by some china vendors. They mentioned 275$ includes board+LCD+Shipping+custom.

    -Prakash.

  9. @Prakash
    We bought it from ebay.com and paid via credit card. It was shipped to India from china. I think ebay.in is very limited .

  10. @vu2swx
    Ya. I got the page. Thank you for your quick reply. They did not mentioned anything about the customs charge. When and where I have to pay my custom charge for this product and how much it will be. As of now the product cost is 125$ [board+lcd+shipping].

  11. @Prakash
    The courier company will call you when the package reach India. You can pay the in Indian currency. Talk to a local courier who handle international shipping. ( DHL or BlueDart) . Please post back your experience in importing this stuff as it may benefit others too. In India, the procedures for import of hobby items are too cumbersome and can drive you crazy. Once the customs asked me to pay Rs500 for a few chips I ordered as samples.

  12. Hello frnds im venkat from bangalore . I m planning to purchage the mini arm 9 board. i dont know how to follow can anybody send me the link so that i can process..
    My mail id is venkatjeemail@gmail.com

    Awaiting for some help,

    Cheerssss venkat

  13. @Prakash
    hey guys , since i think most of u have the mini2440 board what do u think of it, as i’m going to buy a one.i’m looking for some learning with that kit.(meant various protocols(I2C,SPI..). just what do u think of this ? and what do u think of LPC series. my main aim is for learning various protocols and rtos,os and develop applications.

  14. @Prakash
    hey prakash what do u really want to do with the board.can u just tell me what all can we do with this board.i’m an intermediate level in emb prog..

  15. Hello guys,
    There is a distributor in india for this board. This company is located in hyderabad. We use to buy gps modules and development kits from this fellow.
    The technical support guys are also nice. We received an demo for this board recently and our company has placed an order for 20 boards. The first batch of 10 boards have been delivered. I did not have the time to play with this board. The board has been shipped with the original chinese version of OS. The price was about Rs12,000 with mini2440+LCD+touchscreen+cables+dvd in chinese packing. They said they cannot do much about the english version as it has been shipped from china.
    But I am sure we can find the english version of software on the internet.
    There was a windows CE 5.0 image on the DVD but I have not tried yet
    If you guys get any more info let me know by mail or on this forum. my mail address id hblkey@gmail.com.

    The name of this company is NGE in hyderabad. I do not have the details of the sales guys, but the techical support guys details are vs@ngesc.com / 9603569121.

  19. Hello Kishore.
    The Linux shipped from China is Chinese/Japanese/English. There is a Qtopia tab that looks like colored balloons. Among the icons is a “red canvas lounge chair”. It is really a PRC flag over a Union Jack horizontal. The Chinese text says “Language”. Tap it and select English. Done!

    Note: The new systems use a 3.5″ from Toppoly and older ones use NEC. They require different kernels. They are called N35 and T35. Same for the expanded NAND memory. Bootloader and file system end in -64M or -128M.

  20. Hi,

    I have recently recieved the board for ebay, it costed me aroud RS7000(with UPS Shipping), this includes shipping + custom + board..
    The board cost was aroud $85, shipping was ($21+ $19 UPS ) and custom was around RS 700.
    please follow the link
    http://cgi.ebay.com/Arm-Arm9-S3C2440-Dev-Board-with-NEC-3-5-touch-screen_W0QQitemZ220309326869QQcmdZViewItemQQptZBI_Electrical_Equipment_Tools?hash=item334b758c15&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14

    Items i recieved as described

  21. One more thing , you don have to waste 12000 for that board purchase directly from ebay..

    And for your kind infprmation there is noe English manual availabe in the internet.. you can visit andahammer.com or friendlyarm.net, you can find some documentation, full user manual is not present there. You need to translate it manually, through somr tool or by using google translate.

  22. I have the unit with me. I am not able to lay my hands on a copy of english version of OS. Can any one provide me a link. The unit with mini2440+LCD+touchscreen are avaliable for sale according to the vendor, but he is unable to help with english os software.
    My company has placed this responsibility and it seems my time is running out.
    Can someone help me in bringing a english version of Windows/Linux on this unit. You can mail me on hblkey@gmail.com.

  26. Thanks ajit.

    I can connect the board to my pc and leave it on the internet. So any one can connect to my pc with radmin (www.radmin.com) to check the board. Let me know if anybody can help.

    I have got the exact price our company has paid for this device, The first sample was billed at Rs 12,000 and the subsequent purchase was done at Rs 9620 (9250+370 @ 4%vat). I think it may be worth for an early purchase. The price may also come down in near future ( I hope this happen soon ).
    Pl mail me for any other info hblkey@gmail.com

  28. Ok, so I have the mini2440 hooked up to my PC via USB Slave cable and Serial cable hooked to a Serial-to-USB cable. I have the switch switched to NOR FLASH, and setup DNW with 115200, COM3 (for my serial-to-usb cable), and click CONNECT under serial. I then power on the device, and immediately get the FriendlyARM menu (vivi menu), but I cannot enter any text! No keys work. I’ve tried both PS/2 and USB keyboards, including Windows On-Screen keyboard, and NOTHING! Now, I’m very familiar with Linux, and somewhat familiar with hyperterminal connections, etc, but cannot for the life of me figure out why my keyboard will not input into the screen. Please advise.

    Thanks.

  29. Did anybody got succeeded in rebuilding entire Linux system?..

    I am planning to buy this board.? anybody interested plz replay we will buy in bulk,we may get cheaper what do you say?.

  31. @Prakash

    Hi Prakash!

    Did you finally manage to get someone to develop a custom android app for mini2440?

    I am also looking for someone who can do that..

    @Vinayak, how can I contact you?

  33. @Parth
    Yes. I completed the Android stuffs.
    We are now offering Android software/Hardware solutions as per the requirements.
    Visit our site, http://ethicstech.in You can reach me by asprakash_AT_ethicstech_DOT_in

  34. hey Guys,
    Please find some info regarding the s3c2440 board here
    http://www.friendlyarm.net/downloads

    there are many s3c2440 development board implementations available online, many of them share almost the same specs/schematics.in case you are not able to find the english documentation of the exact same board you bought, compare the schematics with those of the boards with english documentation available.

    you can brigup your chineese boards with little or no change in the low leval code.

  39. hi all,
    As i wanted to learn linux And ARM so i searched for ARM board on ebay.in and i found board it says mini6410 ARM 11 with 4.3″ lcd touch screen priced Rs 15800.00 and mini2440 ARM 9 with 3.5″ lcd Rs 7500.00 here is the link.

    http://shop.ebay.in/i.html?_nkw=mini6410&_sacat=0&_stpos=560056&gbr=1&_odkw=mini2440&_osacat=0&_trksid=p3286.c0.m270.l1313

    http://shop.ebay.in/i.html?_nkw=mini2440&_sacat=0&_stpos=560056&gbr=1&_odkw=mini6410&_osacat=0&_trksid=p3286.c0.m270.l1313

    I need some help which one would be the right thing to start with.

  40. @Prakash

    Hi, I have mini2440 kit without LCD display. Now I want to connect LCD screen as I want develp some andriod applications. Please tell me how I get started, like what LCD screenI should purchase, andriod image?? I gone through so links, I find them confusing. I’m beginner in embedded development

  41. @Kishore
    @Kishore–There are language settings in the ported linux for Chinese, English and Japaneese.. Have a look at it. I have changed it for myself.

  42. Guys I have a small problem.. When I key in my configurations for the LAN to get onto the Internet, it says etc/pmcica/network.opts file not found. restore the file. I tried to make a new network.opts file in the notepad on my computer and then load it there via the USB drive but I cant copy that file.

    Please help

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