UDOO X86 experience thus far

Just wanted to post my experience and usage notes thus far using UDOO X86 Ultra with the 32gb EMMC upgrade (just stating what exact hardware board I backed) with various operating systems.
Notes about my setup:
Using a MEAN WELL GS90A12-P1M 12V power supply ( Little bit of overkill, but these are really, really, really good power supplies). https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004P9UP6Q
I had a Lenovo external USB CD-ROM to load operating systems from CD and DVD
8gb thumb drive
8gb micro SD card
32gb SATA SSD
128gb Apple SSD with SATA adapter
ICY DOCK external SATA USB and ESATA enclosure

I've installed the following OSs onto the system:
Windows 7- after patching a bootable USB thumb drive with the required drivers. Booting from CD directly cannot install due to missing drivers and cannot get past the first install screen. Once loaded, still required more drivers for all hardware. Basically, Windows7 requires a fair amount of work to install and load all drivers on this newer modern hardware. Also, requires a specific setting in the UEFI to allow mouse and keyboard support. I could not install to EMMC so this was to SATA drive. Probably works with M.2 SSD but did not have mine yet for testing.

Windows10 Pro- installed directly from DVD, works darn near out of the box. Only needed a few updates for everything to be functional. Probably the best matched thus far. Also, currently installed into the EMMC 32GB drive. Not exactly a ton of free space but roughly 10gb free. Again, probably a good choice for those who want/need Windows for their application.

Android- Worked extremely well, installed to EMMC. This is another good and easy to use system. I did not exhaustively test everything under this, but again, install was pretty easy.

Ubuntu- Also was very easy to install, put it onto the EMMC.

Things not yet tested- Intel Curie, IR sensor for remote, micro SD card booting and installing/running OS, wireless card (was using wired network).

Overall, I really like this little board. For everyone worried about thermals- stop worrying. Been running for about 2 days without a fan, not once in all testing has the CPU ever gotten too hot to touch. Barely even warm 99% of the time. Nothing on the board even remotely gets warm.

 

Hmm, I run 60 - 75C on pretty much idle, which is worrying. ( Win 10 ) I don't have a fan though, but seems I should get one.

 

if idling, I would get a fan for the board.

 

You wouldn't want to share your steps, would you?

 

Copied from other posts:
Laura was kind enough to post these specific details to help with getting the drivers embedded into the Win7 boot image. http://www.udoo.org/forum/threads/reset-bios-jumper-or-pins.6674/#post-25285

And this is covered in the manual :
Also, the settings that caused me to not be able to get back into BIOS and the specific USB setting for Windows 7 that does need enabled are here in this post
http://www.udoo.org/forum/threads/reset-bios-jumper-or-pins.6674/#post-25339

And the manual http://download.udoo.org/files/UDOO_X86/Doc/UDOO_X86_MANUAL_Rel.1.0.pdf
On page 25 this note related to the setting mentioned above
Please be aware that Windows®7 OS doesn’t have native support for the xHCI controller. It will be supported only after installing chipset’s driver. This could lead to problems during OS installation, since during this phase USB keyboard and mouse will not work, if connected to any of the USB portsavailable on UDOO x86 board.
It is possible to force the BIOS support for Mouse and Keyboard on USB ports by entering
“InsydeH2O Setup utility”(“Advanced”menu“OtherConfiguration”submenu“Win7 Keyboard/Mouse Support”, see paragraph 4.3.9) before performing Windows®7 and chipset’s driver installation

 

Note, I never got Windows 7 fully 100% all hardware working. It booted up and I had basic functionality, but many device drivers were not installed once in Windows 7.

 

That's perfect. Thanks! I had been searching around, but wanted to make sure I got the right info. We'll have to wait and see how it goes.

 

Honestly, Windows 7 is not a good choice IMO on this hardware. Seriously, buy a license, roll with Windows 10 if going Windows.

 

What do PC's and air conditioner's have in common?


They both work great until windows is opened.

 

I know. I'll mostly be in Ubuntu, but my Adobe software won't run on 10 and wine is too slow.

 

I am considering Win 7 for the sole reason of using navigation software that unfortunately is poorly maintained and does not work on win 10 (originally I hoped to run it on a lattepanda) so I am happy that win7 works on the Udoo,