+bonifartius 𒂼𒄄
@nyanide @p ah, he stepped down as tech lead.
regarding powerpc, it's still listed on the build dashboard, just not as first class port https://build.golang.org/
(Buy yourself an 8 core 32 thread beast from raptor computing today!)
@RedTechEngineer @phnt @p @nyanide the most recent computer i own is a 400€ refurbished thinkpad 
@p @bonifartius @RedTechEngineer @phnt @nyanide What are some good $20 RISC-V hardware to check out. I bought a Milk-V Duo for luls but that's about it.
@p @RedTechEngineer @phnt @nyanide @raphiel_shiraha_ainsworth what i'd really like was something inexpensive with good storage options, like two sata ports for a raid or something. i don't really like to burn through sd cards all the time 
that would really help with hosting stuff at home.
still would leave the problem that my connection has shit upload bandwith. maybe i could get a business account from the cable provider or starlink or whatever to fix that, but it's another topic.
>i don't really like to burn through sd cards all the time
Linux has some answers to that problem with filesystems like F2FS and JFFS2. They aren't that user-friendly as the normal ones, but it's still better than nothing and with some config changes that reduce write cycles, you can get a system that does barely any writes when idle (systemd can log to a ring buffer; same can be achieved with a more normal syslog setup and some ingenuity with logrotate and tmpfs). Some manufacturers even make uSD cards specifically made for these SBCs that have higher write endurance and more importantly aren't as slow.
@phnt @RedTechEngineer @p @nyanide @raphiel_shiraha_ainsworth this still limits their usability imo, because many interesting uses need storage to write to.
i'm not a hardware guy, i just wonder why so few boards include sata or m.2 ports.
i'd really love an inexpensive arm board with many sata ports to build a small nas with. you don't need much cpu power or much ram do do this, only a decent network interface.
> i'd really love an inexpensive arm board with many sata ports to build a small nas with.
They've had kits for this ( https://www.hardkernel.com/shop/cloudshell-2-for-xu4/ ) but it's mostly DIY nowadays unless you spring for one of the boards that does have the m.2 already. Most of the RPi gear has a way to get at the PCIe bus nowadays. so you don't really need to worry about uSD cards much any more, except for portable systems. (Even then, though, like, the DevTerm/uConsole, people have tapped into the pins and shoved a "real" SSD inside. I use them as portable machines to talk to the bigger machines, though, so I don't mind treating the storage as disposable and I don't want to trade the battery life.)
You can sorta see the SATA ports next to the PSU on the TPi2 board; they're next to the power connector. (They're empty on FSE because the NVMe is slotted under the board.)
IMG_9860.jpg
@p @RedTechEngineer @phnt @nyanide @raphiel_shiraha_ainsworth i didn't know about the sata stuff for rpis, for a while i was eyeing rockpro64 because it has two sata ports so it could do a raid.
the turing board looks _really_ nice, thanks for the picture! i don't think i have the funds for the board and more than one compute module right now, but it would likely solve all my server needs i have here :)
i will follow up the rpi-cm-sata lead, a first search seems promising
> i didn't know about the sata stuff for rpis, for a while i was eyeing rockpro64 because it has two sata ports so it could do a raid.
Oh, yeah, there are a lot of options for that kind of thing nowadays.
> the turing board looks _really_ nice, thanks for the picture! i don't think i have the funds for the board and more than one compute module right now,
Yeah, it's cheap for what it is, but not cheap-cheap. But basically, all the stuff I crammed into that case, it was about $900, and the previous refurbished box with all the trouble was $1400. (And now it's all choked by the shitty net connection because of the circumstances surrounding :brucecampbell::callmesnake:, but it's beefy enough at least.)
@p @RedTechEngineer @phnt @nyanide @raphiel_shiraha_ainsworth
the standard rpi cm 4 baseboard has a pcie port (haven't found one for cm5 with pcie port yet) and there are four-port sata boards made for it, guess that should work fine for my purposes.
@p @RedTechEngineer @phnt @nyanide @raphiel_shiraha_ainsworth @bonifartius
I built a NAS, but it's just a four-bay USB JBOD and a pi3.
The pi is fine until a full btrfs fsck is needed; then I had to move it to a full PC. (RAM demands.)
>i'm not a hardware guy, i just wonder why so few boards include sata or m.2 ports.
Using ARM boards as desktops or servers is a relatively new concept and before that you didn't really need either of those. That's why. SATA needs a separate controller (usually on a PCIe bus), M.2 requires both of those and cheap-enough ARM chips with PCIe support came out only in the last few years.
With RISC-V it's the same story, but with even less traction and demand in the market.
>i'd really love an inexpensive arm board with many sata ports to build a small nas with
There are Raspberry Pi hats with ~4 SATA ports on them, if you want. But to me it feels like a hack instead of a proper solution. As p wrote before me, ODROID or TuringPi board are the more proper solution to that.
> Using ARM boards as desktops or servers is a relatively new concept
That was the original use of the Acorn RISC Machine ("ARM") CPU: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acorn_Computers . I had a couple of Genesi Efika MXs. (I have been a fan of ARM since the GBA.)
> With RISC-V it's the same story, but with even less traction and demand in the market.
Yeah. They're pretty fuckin' cool, though.
i'm not a hardware guy, i just wonder why so few boards include sata or m.2 ports.
I'm not a electrical engineer either, @bonifartius, but I'd guess it's summat to do with power delivery. Not that it's impossible, but with lower constraints on total power usage less things can go wrong. An NMVe could easily have higher peak wattage than the rest of the SBC and guess how I learned that!
Cc: @phnt, @RedTechEngineer, @p, @nyanide & @raphiel_shiraha_ainsworth
@phnt @RedTechEngineer @p @nyanide @raphiel_shiraha_ainsworth but i will try out these fs and see if they are any good - i tend to stick to the classic ones as they are so well tested by now.