$6 C-SKY Linux Development Board Features GX6605S Media SoC

C-Sky Linux development board is capable of playing HD video and costs only $6. As said it’s sold for about $6 (39 RMB) on Taobao, and $17.36 shipped on Aliexpress, and features Nationalchip GX6605S processor for DVB-S2 HD set-top boxes using C-SKY architecture, independent from RISC-V, although C-SKY is also a member of the RISV-C foundation.

C-SKY Linux development board key features and specifications:

• SoC – Nationalchip GX6605S C-SKY ISA V1 CK610M 32-bit processor @ 574 MHz with 64MB DDR2 RAM, built-in DVB-S2/S demodulator
• Storage – 4MB SPI flash for bootloader and media player program
• Video Output – HDMI output up to 1080p; framebuffer resolution (for UI): 1280×720
• Video Playback – H.264 up to 1080p
• USB – 2x USB2.0 host ports
• Expansion – 5-pin header with 3x GPIOs, 3.3V, GND
• Debugging
  • JTAG via XX32F103C8T6 USB-JTAG chip (micro USB port)
  • UART console via CH340g USB-UART chip (micro USB port)
• Misc – 5 user buttons, reset button, 4x LEDs
• Power Supply – 5V/1A via micro USB port (JTAG or UART)

There’s no network connectivity nor large storage on the board – everything runs from the 4MB SPI flash, but you can add Ethernet, WiFi, and/or storage via the USB ports.

Documentation – mostly in Chinese – is available on Github.io, and support provided via Github issues tracker. Their Linux 4.16 based firmware is build with buildroot + uClibc-NG, and you can run it in qemu if you don’t have the board.

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