I would like to confirm whether anybody has tested android 10 on hikey 970 or not?
Actually I am planning to purchase Hikey 960 /Hikey 970 and would like to test some feature of android 10 on hikey.
Would like to confirm if anybody has tested android 10 on hikey 970/960 ?
Thanks in advance
Works on 960, but 960 is, as I hear it, discontinued. 970 probably needs some work.
@doitright
Thank you very much for your quick response.
Yes I checked Hikey 960 is discontinued, however it is still available here in Japan.
As you mention Hikey 970 needs some work, I would like to confirm what kind of changes need to be done and in which layer?
I would like to also confirm which one has more support in terms of android new image/os release compatability.
I understand currently google is providing hikey-960 support for android 10 as this option is visible in the lunch menu. I am not sure why hikey 970 is not included by default in the lunch menu and I dont have any idea whether it will be available in further releases from google or not( Although I understand that the option is available if we follow the procedure provided in link Build AOSP on HiKey970 - 96Boards )
My main focus is to check some of the new added android automotive features(like Multi Zone Audio support, EVS, Vehicle HAL property update via CAN etc)
Can you suggest which is the best option to purchase by looking at the current condition ?
Your suggestion will be very helpful.
Hikey 970 is not included in the upstream AOSP code base and there are no plans to do so. There was an AOSP port by the board vendor but I don’t think it ever updated past 8.0.
In theory it would be possible to update the Hikey970 port but I wouldn’t recommend it. It will be much easier to start from Hikey960 and rely on USB peripherals to cover any additional features that your require (CAN for example). If you are OK with the price then you could also take a look at DB845C (a.k.a. RB3) which has also been recently accepted into upstream AOSP.
The easiest way to get yourself into automotive is actually with a Dragonboard 820c. Its not supported by Google, but rather my myself, based on the Dragonboard 845c that is supported by Google+Linaro (I do NOT have an 845c and I won’t be buying one, because I don’t like it).
The project is designed to work with this mezzanine board;
https://www.aprax.tk/auto/
With a minor change to the dts, it will boot correctly without the mezzanine, but obviously lacking the features supplied by the hardware.
Good point. It was probably a mistake for me not to mention DB820C. It has been awesome to see @doitright get so much up and running on this board.
@doitright and @danielt,
Thank you for your excellent suggestions.
@doitright,
I glad to here that you are providing support for Dragonboard 820c. I am checking availability here but it seems Dragonboard(820c or 845c) are not easily available here. The only option left is to go with Hikey 960.
By the way is there any reason that you don’t like Dragonboard 845c?
Aside from the fact that its manufactured by an entity that I’m not familiar with (the 410 and 820 are manufactured by Arrow electronics), there are a number of elements of it that I don’t like;
The SoC doesn’t have a native HDMI output, but rather uses a DSI-to-HDMI bridge to convert. Note that the Hikey boards and db410c all share this downside, which at least in the case of the hikey boards, causes significant issues for compatibility with monitors. Added complexity without benefit. The 820 has native HDMI output without any converters.
The ethernet port blocks the use of any mezzanine board unless you use their otherwise unnecessary mezzanine as a spacer. More connections means less reliable connections. This also causes the intended mezzanine board to be raised up much higher relative to the SBC.
sd card slot is on the wrong side of the board.
It uses an SoM connected to the bottom, which forces you to mount the board higher up from a surface. Plus the fact that more connectors means less reliable connections.
So all in all… its fragile, inconveniently laid out, and overly complicated.
Just curious, but won’t Arrow ship to you? You said Japan up above. Arrow has JPY in their currency selection dropdown, so I would assume that they would ship there.
Thank you for sharing the information. Yes I understand it is available through arrow.com, however the product is shipping from USA. Currently I am checking with vendor if it locally available here in Japan.
Arrow is the manufacturer and distributor, so no matter what, its going to come from USA first. Overseas shipping isn’t the big deal it used to be. I’m sure you could have it within a couple of days 
Ok thanks I will confirm with vendor tomorrow and get the information if it is available here else I will issue online order. I wanted to also confirm the price as I notice that Hikey 960(4GB) model is available here in 32000 yen and Dragonboard 820 (3GB) from arrow.com showing 45678 yen.
Yeah, the dragonboard is definitely a more expensive board than the hikey. In USD, the hikey960 would run $250, and the db820c $415. The db820c used to be subsidized by qcom down to a selling price of $200. I managed to pick up a couple of them at that price the day before it went up.
Regarding the “at least in the case of the hikey boards” I can confirm that DB410C does not exhibit the same monitor compatiblity problems. Most of the problems with the hikey boards occur because the pixel clock generator on the SoC cannot generate timings that precisely match the HDMI specification. The DB410C pixel clock generator is more flexible meaning the output frames are correctly timed.
Japan is a different regulatory domain w.r.t. radio certification. I’ve no idea of the exact status for the DB820C and DB845C but normally boards get certified against multiple radio standards and handling the regulations is just a paperwork exercise. However if the board OEM did not consider Japan properly during the certification process then the board is uncertified and import to Japan is not permitted.
Fair point. However they are distributed as “evaluation boards” not for commercial purposes, which I think gets them a more lenient treatment with respect to regulatory requirements. Though obviously how far that gets you will vary from country to country.
