DisplayLink Forum - View Single Post - Seeking advice on Linux/ARM64 and DisplayLink: worth trying?

Kleptoid · 01-06-2018, 12:26 AM

Hello everyone

This Meltdown/Spectre thing has freaked me out a bit and I'm thinking of getting a new machine to cunningly sidestep any associated risks. My criteria are as follows...

It should be low power and have no moving parts (fanless), so probably an ARM, one of the variants that don't do out of order execution, A7 or A53
It should work nicely with ArchLinuxARM running a mainline kernel
It should drive a single monitor at 1080p over HDMI with audio
It should be powerful enough for my modest needs: heavily modded vim, lots of scrolling text in the terminal, web browsing, smooth video

I won't be playing games and I don't need 3D acceleration. I do require a fast 2D desktop and watchable video.

It's surprisingly difficult to find such a machine, mainly because the candidates require a forked kernel for graphics acceleration. For my home server I've decided to get an Espressobin (Cortex A53, USB 3.0 A, headless). I was wondering if the addition of a DisplayLink device may make it worth getting one as a desktop too?

Am I mad? Would it work? I don't mind spending time playing with config files. Would performance be bearable? Do DisplayLink devices include their own video decoder or would that be offloaded onto the (weak) CPU? Do they include their own USB audio adapter or would I have to get one of those too? Assuming it's all possible, what device would you guys recommend?

I expect I am mad and I'll have to make do with a funny kernel, but I thought I'd ask. Thanks in advance for your answers.

01-06-2018, 12:26 AM	#1
Kleptoid Junior Member Join Date: Jan 2018 Posts: 1	Seeking advice on Linux/ARM64 and DisplayLink: worth trying? Hello everyone This Meltdown/Spectre thing has freaked me out a bit and I'm thinking of getting a new machine to cunningly sidestep any associated risks. My criteria are as follows... It should be low power and have no moving parts (fanless), so probably an ARM, one of the variants that don't do out of order execution, A7 or A53 It should work nicely with ArchLinuxARM running a mainline kernel It should drive a single monitor at 1080p over HDMI with audio It should be powerful enough for my modest needs: heavily modded vim, lots of scrolling text in the terminal, web browsing, smooth video I won't be playing games and I don't need 3D acceleration. I do require a fast 2D desktop and watchable video. It's surprisingly difficult to find such a machine, mainly because the candidates require a forked kernel for graphics acceleration. For my home server I've decided to get an Espressobin (Cortex A53, USB 3.0 A, headless). I was wondering if the addition of a DisplayLink device may make it worth getting one as a desktop too? Am I mad? Would it work? I don't mind spending time playing with config files. Would performance be bearable? Do DisplayLink devices include their own video decoder or would that be offloaded onto the (weak) CPU? Do they include their own USB audio adapter or would I have to get one of those too? Assuming it's all possible, what device would you guys recommend? I expect I am mad and I'll have to make do with a funny kernel, but I thought I'd ask. Thanks in advance for your answers.