What I can tell from Banana Pi Org customer support is…you shouldn’t buy a BPI-M6 if you want to use an OS other than their one and only Android OS. And…you are on your own for example code for anything (i.e. using the Cortex MCU or doing any AI on the NPU if that is even possible using just the Android OS). The customer support responded with ‘we are waiting on Synaptic to provide us with some newer API’ which is a bad way of saying…it isn’t our problem, it is someone else’s and because of that, we have no clue as to if or when we will have an official Linux image available to the public. I requested an ‘unofficial’ version and they refused and said it has problems (even though I said I was ok with any problems which is better than nothing at all). I tried to contact Synaptic for any additional information and they just ignore me (multiple times). Even when explaining to Synaptic that it was a business contacting them and not an individual.
Originally we planned to use this in an AI based robot that could eventually go commercial. The Cortex processor and the NPU were definite selling points (because we have existing Cortex code and needed the NPU for AI processing). But, with the BPI-M6 having been released nearly a year ago (oh wait, make that 13 months ago) and still nothing beyond a glorified Android OS I have flat out given up on this board and it is now shelved probably permanently (since I personally don’t think a Linux image will ever be available - or if/when it is, this board will be outdated by then).
We have switched development to the Orange Pi 5 which has 8 cores (vs this one with only 4) which I think will easily make up for the missing Cortex processor (and yes, it unfortunately means some work porting code which we were trying to avoid but don’t really have a choice now). And, Orange Pi 5 has a full working Linux image and example code (oh, and can be run off of an M.2 drive rather than eMMC).
Too bad Banana Pi Org…you should’ve had your Linux image ready before releasing the BPI-M6 to the public (i.e. a complete package ready to go). You’ve clearly got it backwards in an attempt to get your product to the market as fast as possible (which also means you were not thinking of your customers first). What is the point of an available product that you can’t really do much with (unless you are into overpriced Android tablets). Personally I think this should be clearly stated in their BPI-M6 details page. It should say we don’t have a Linux image available for this board and it is possible one will never be available for it. In addition we have no example code for using the Cortex processor or the NPU if you are using the Android OS. If they had done that, I’d at least have some respect for Banana Pi Org that they were honest and upfront with this problem.
Who paid you to say that?? This is NOT an open source build that I built myself and I’m asking some random company/person to help me with. It is a product paid to a manufacturer that is for profit.
When you buy something, don’t you expect the product to work as intended and if not, have the ability to ask the manufacturer why?? If you are a serious professional, you rely on a manufacturer’s customer support when their product details or support tools are not as specified (that’s why they have support to begin with). And just to be clear about something, free support is when a product is acquired with no profit to the company/individual you are requesting support to. If a company/individual profits from a product that you are requesting support for…it is NOT free support, it is a company/individual supporting the product they just made money selling to you.
That’s your lesson in business when you think a sentence like that was needed…
LOL…I was not trying to get support from the forum (you definitely misinterpreted my posts which is why you didn’t make sense). My post in the first sentence clearly says “Banana Pi Org customer support” which is not forum support (my post wasn’t even asking for help from anyone on the forum and I definitely know a forum is NOT necessarily related to the company’s actual support channel). I was only stating a fact to the forum regarding the state of the BPI-M6 and the Linux image (and what Banana Pi Org customer support had told me). If anyone was aware of a Linux image that someone had got to work they could certainly say so here, but that wasn’t explicitly asked for by me. So how exactly you could construe my post as a request for help from a forum user is beyond me (regardless your response wouldn’t have been helpful for that situation either). Maybe…you didn’t actually fully read my posts and just jumped on your response??
Hey…in the end, whether it was from my badgering Banana Pi Org customer support, posting details to the true state of the BPI-M6 or they just had the Linux image in the works and wasn’t willing to tell me at the time when I directly asked - they at least now have a Linux image available for download. And…I had it downloaded within hours of their announcement, but as of yet (because of Christmas vacation) I haven’t gotten back to the project to see how the new image works out. I do know there is still no example code regarding using their Cortex processor and the NPU…but note that I’m not asking you (or anyone on this forum) for that. If someone is aware of example code and they are willing to share that is great…but as a professional programmer I never expect anything more than what the actual manufacturer is willing to provide. Anything else is just a bonus (or a headache if it is bad examples).
Do you have anything to help visitors of this forum other than senseless statements?? I at least was helping everyone know the true state of this device hopefully before they purchased it which was the entire intent of the original posting (at least up until the Linux image was finally released). This, in my opinion, was helpful for people interested in this particular board.
Nope. You said to everyone that you are not satisfied with Bpi customer support. "What I can tell from Banana Pi Org customer support is … " Which you complain about if you like. And I responded to you and I am sorry that I did.
I skip technical part as I have no interest to dig into your business problems on my expense. I am just a professional, like you, and my free tips is what you can expect to have when you don’t cover my time.
I am not a technical support staff that needs to be sweet and nice to you. WTF? In order to answer your questions, hours are needed.
I am taking my free tips back - anyway you seems to not understand them. Person who knows answers to your problems is probably very hard and expensive to find? What do you think? You offer nothing for their time and even show violence. Not a good tactic (tip).
Then you will understand what I am telling you? You paid for hardware. Software you didn’t pay for and it is on presentation level - to display hardware functions. Some made it to present what you need, some not. In both cases, stock software is not usable for serious production deployments. You need Linux support and this you are looking at a wrong place, talking to wrong people and it seems you are naively expecting people will teach you for free.
