Fedora 20 marked ARM’s promotion to a primary Fedora architecture. Its official 32-bit ARM release supplied prebuilt and installer images for several development boards, Calxeda servers and QEMU’s Versatile Express platform, with desktop and minimal variants. ARM guests could also run on an x86_64 computer through libvirt. This is historical guidance: current Fedora no longer supports ARMv7/armhfp and uses aarch64 for supported 64-bit ARM hardware.
What changed for ARM in Fedora 20?
Fedora 20 was the release in which ARM received status as a primary architecture, rather than being treated as a secondary port. Fedora’s release announcement described ARM as receiving treatment closer to the x86 releases, and the ARM team published a final 32-bit ARM release with its own installation media.
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The change affected both distribution engineering and user access: ARM users could download Fedora-produced images, select familiar Fedora desktop environments, install to removable or fixed storage, and emulate an ARM system on an x86_64 desktop.
Which hardware had official Fedora 20 ARM images?
The ARM release announcement listed preinstalled media and installer images for the following platforms:
#1 Best Overall
- High-performance foundation line, ARM Cortex-M4 core with DSP and FPU, 512 Kbytes Flash, 180 MHz CPU, ART Accelerator, Dual QSPI
- On-board ST-LINK/V2-1 debugger/programmer with SWD connector
- Can be powered from USB
- Three LEDs, Two Push-buttons
- Support of wide choice of Integrated Development Environments (IDEs) including IAR, ARM Keil, GCC-based IDEs
| Platform | Processor or system family | Typical use in the Fedora 20 material | Image or boot consideration |
|---|---|---|---|
| Versatile Express under QEMU | ARM reference platform | Emulated ARM environment | Use with QEMU rather than a physical board |
| CompuLab TrimSlice | NVIDIA Tegra2 | Native ARM board | Linux-filesystem images (ext3/4) were suitable for devices that could boot directly from that format |
| BeagleBone Black | Texas Instruments AM335x | Native ARM single-board computer | VFAT image layout for a board requiring a VFAT boot partition |
| Wandboard | Freescale i.MX6 | Native ARM development board | Use the board-specific image and boot procedure |
| Calxeda EnergyCore ECX-1000 HighBank | Calxeda server platform | ARM server system | Use the supplied installer or preinstalled image for the system |
| Calxeda EnergyCore ECX-2000 Midway | Calxeda server platform | ARM server system | Use the supplied installer or preinstalled image for the system |
The list describes what Fedora 20 officially published; it is not a claim that every ARM board of that era was supported. Board boot firmware, storage wiring and console access still determined whether an image would start.
What image types and desktops were available?
Preinstalled and installer media
Fedora supplied both preinstalled images and installer images. The release announcement said images could be written directly to an SD card, USB drive or SATA drive, depending on the board and its boot design. A microSD card was therefore a practical installation accessory for boards that booted from removable storage, but the board’s documentation should be checked first.
Rank #2
- Ultra-low-power with FPU ARM Cortex-M4 MCU 80 MHz with 1 Mbyte Flash, LCD, USB OTG, DFSDM
- On-board ST-LINK/V2-1 debugger/programmer with SWD connector
- Can be powered from USB
- Three LEDs, Two Push-buttons
- Support of wide choice of Integrated Development Environments (IDEs) including IAR, ARM Keil, GCC-based IDEs
VFAT versus ext3/4 layouts
Fedora 20 ARM did not use one universal disk layout. VFAT images were intended for boards such as the BeagleBone Black that needed a VFAT boot partition. Devices such as the TrimSlice could use images based on a standard Linux filesystem, including ext3 or ext4. Choosing the wrong layout could leave a correctly written image unable to boot.
Desktop and minimal choices
Users could choose desktop images featuring MATE, KDE, XFCE, LXDE or SOAS, or select a minimal image for a smaller, command-line-oriented installation. These were image choices within the 32-bit ARM release, not separate ARM processor generations.
Rank #3
Can Fedora 20 ARM run on an x86 computer?
Yes. The installation guidance specifically described using the ARM images with QEMU on an x86_64 desktop to create a functional emulated ARM environment. Fedora 20’s feature announcement also documented ARM guests on x86 hosts through libvirt tools.
Libvirt tools named by Fedora
- virsh for command-line virtual-machine management.
- virt-manager for graphical management of libvirt guests.
- virt-install for creating guests from the command line.
QEMU emulation is useful for testing an image, learning the ARM user space or developing without the physical board. It is not evidence of native-board performance: the supplied Fedora material provides no independent speed benchmark, reliability test or adoption statistic.
Rank #4
- Mainstream Mixed signals MCUs ARM Cortex-M4 core with DSP and FPU, 512 Kbytes Flash, 72 MHz CPU, MPU, CCM, 12-bit ADC 5 MSPS, PGA, comparators
- On-board ST-LINK/V2-1 debugger/programmer with SWD connector
- Can be powered from USB.
- Three LEDs, Two Push-buttons
- Support of wide choice of Integrated Development Environments (IDEs) including IAR, ARM Keil, GCC-based IDEs
How would a board installation work?
- Identify the exact board and boot path. Confirm whether it expects a VFAT boot partition, an ext3/4 filesystem image, SD, USB or SATA storage, and whether a serial console is needed.
- Select the matching Fedora 20 ARM image. Use the image for the named platform, choosing a preinstalled or installer image and, where offered, a desktop or minimal variant.
- Write the image to the required medium. Fedora’s release notes described direct writing to SD cards, USB drives or SATA drives. Writing an image erases the target device, so verify the destination before starting.
- Install the storage and connect a console if required. Many development boards provide first-boot output through a serial console rather than a monitor and keyboard.
- Power on and follow the board-specific first boot. If it does not start, recheck the image layout, boot switches or firmware settings, storage device and console wiring before treating the image as defective.
What Fedora 20 ARM does—and does not—mean today
Fedora 20 ARM is a legacy 32-bit (ARMv7, also called armhfp or AArch32) release. Fedora’s current ARM architecture guidance says ARMv7 support has been withdrawn and that supported hardware capable of 64-bit operation should use aarch64 images. Consequently, Fedora 20 documentation is useful for understanding the historical port, matching old hardware or reproducing an old QEMU environment; it is not a recommendation to download Fedora 20 for a current deployment.
Quick Recap
Best Value
- STM32F103C8T6 ARM STM32 minimum system development module.
- ST-Link V2 support the full range of STM32 SWD interface debugging, simple interface (including power supply), 4 line speed, stable work.
- Use the current smart phones of Mirco USB interface, easy to use, USB communication and power supply can be done.
- The board lead to all the I/O resources.Download with SWD debug interface, which requires a minimum of 3 wires to complete debug a download task
Which option fits your goal?
| Goal | Best fit among the Fedora 20 options | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Experiment without buying a board | Versatile Express under QEMU on an x86_64 desktop | Provides an emulated ARM environment using QEMU |
| Use a small educational board | BeagleBone Black or Wandboard | Both had named official images; verify their board-specific boot media and console requirements |
| Use an NVIDIA Tegra2 board | CompuLab TrimSlice | Its image guidance included ext3/4-style Linux filesystem layouts |
| Reproduce an ARM server setup | Calxeda ECX-1000 HighBank or ECX-2000 Midway | Both were listed as supported Calxeda systems |
| Deploy Fedora on current 64-bit ARM hardware | Use a current aarch64 Fedora release instead | Fedora no longer supports the ARMv7/armhfp architecture used by Fedora 20 |
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