Orange Pi 5B SBC adds up to 256GB eMMC flash, built-in WiFi 6 and Bluetooth 5.0 module

Orange Pi 5B

Orange Pi 5B is a variant of the Rockchip RK3588S powered Orange Pi 5 SBC with up to 256GB eMMC flash and a soldered-on wireless module offering WiFi 6 and Bluetooth 5.0 connectivity, at the cost of losing the M.2 2242 socket and 16MB QSPI NOR flash found in the original board. The board still comes with HDMI 2.1, DisplayPort 1.4 (USB-C), and MIPI DSI display connectors, three camera connectors, a Gigabit Ethernet interface, a few USB ports, and a 26-pin GPIO header for expansion. Orange Pi 5B specifications with the new features highlighted in bold, and the missing ones as strikethrough text: SoC – Rockchip RK3588S octa-core processor with 4x Cortex-A76 cores @ up to 2.4 GHz, 4x Cortex-A55 cores @ up to 1.8 GHz, Arm Mali-G610 MP4 GPU, 6 TOPS AI accelerator System Memory – 4GB, 8GB, or 16GB LPDDR4/4x (32GB RAM is also listed, but not for […]

Armbian 23.02 out with Linux 6.1, DietPi 8.14 adds experimental RISC-V support

Armbian 23.02

Two of the most popular projects providing images for Arm and RISC-V single board computers have released new updates with Armbian 23.02 adding Linux 6.1-based Debian and Ubuntu images, and DietPi 8.14 adding experimental RISC-V support for the StarFive VisionFive 2 SBC and new Arm boards. Armbian 23.02 Quoll Linux 6.1 is the latest LTS kernel, so Armbian is now providing Ubuntu 22.04 Jammy and Debian 11 Bullseye images based on Linux 6.1.y for boards that support it, as well as the first development images based on Debian 12 Bookworm and Ubuntu 23.04 Lunar. I could not find any new boards added in the changelog, but the release brings several improvements and bug fixes to some of the already supported SBCs including the Raspberry Pi 3, Orange Pi R1 Plus LTS, ROCK Pi S, ROCK Pi 4,  NanoPi R2S, NanoPi NEO3, and Banana Pi BPI-M2 Pro. The announcement also highlights […]

Year 2022 in review – Top 10 posts and statistics

CNX Software Happy New Year 2023

It’s the last day of the year and the time to look at some of the highlights of 2022, some traffic statistics from CNX Software website, and speculate on what 2023 may bring us. The semiconductors shortage continued in 2022, but things are looking brighter in 2023 with the full reopening of the world mixed with forecasts of difficult economic times that should keep the demand/supply equation in check. On the Arm processor front the biggest news of the year, at least in this corner of the Internet, was the launch of the Rockchip RK3588 octa-core Cortex-A76/A55 processor together with interesting single board computers that we’ll discuss below. Announced last year, the Amlogic A311D2 octa-core Cortex-A73/A53 was finally made available in a few SBC’s, and we finally got some news about the Amlogic S928X Cortex-A76/A55 SoC showcased in 8K TV boxes, but we have yet to see it in action. […]

LapPi 2.0 – A DIY laptop for Raspberry Pi 4 and other single board computers (Crowdfunding)

LapPi 2.0 DIY Raspberry Pi laptop

The LapPi 2.0 is a DIY laptop kit with an acrylic enclosure, a UPS HAT with a 18650 battery holder, and off-the-shelf parts including speakers, a touchscreen display, a Raspberry Pi camera, and a wireless keyboard that’s suitable for the Raspberry Pi 4 and pretty much any other small single board computer from Radxa, Orange Pi, Banana Pi, FriendlyElec, Hardkernel, and others. We’ve seen several Raspberry Pi laptops over the years with the CrowPi L and Pi-Top, and I have to say the LapPi 2.0 is not the most eye-pleasing or sophisticated design, but at least, it’s versatile and not limited to the Raspberry Pi family. LapPi 2.0 kit content and highlights: Display – 7-inch 5-point capacitive touchscreen IPS display with 1024×600 resolution support for audio output via 3.5mm audio jack and 4-pin header Camera – Official 8MP Raspberry Pi Noir camera with night vision support Audio – 2x 5W/8 […]

Orange Pi launches 14-inch portable monitor for $59

Orange Pi 14-inch portable monitor

Shenzhen Xunlong Software, better known under the Orange Pi brand, has launched a 14-inch Full HD portable monitor for $59 plus shipping on Aliexpress, or a little more on Amazon. The company is better known for its low-cost Arm-based single board computers with Rockchip or Allwinner processors, but this time, they launched an accessory with a 14-inch display taking HDMI or USB Type-C input with up to 1920×1080 resolution. Orange Pi portable monitor specifications: Display 14-inch a-Si TFT LCD Resolution – 1920×1080 Refresh rate – 60 Hz Color – 262K, 45% NTSC Contrast – 700:1 Viewing angles – 85°, 85°, 85°, 85° typical Video inputs 1x HDMI port for video and audio 2x USB Type-C ports for power, video, and audio (which standard is used, they don’t say) Audio – Stereo speakers, 3.5mm headphone jack Misc – Iron stand Dimensions – 325 x 204 x 8.5 to 15 mm Weight […]

Orange Pi OS – An Android-based desktop OS with Windows 11’s look and feel

Orange Pi OS Android Windows 11 interface

The manufacturer of Orange Pi boards, Shenzhen Xunlong Software, has formally announced the release of Orange Pi OS based on Android with a Windows 11-styled desktop that we are told can also be switched to macOS look and feel, and offering features typically found in desktop operating systems such as multi-window support. I understand the current release of the operating system works on Orange Pi 800 keyboard PC and the Orange Pi 5 SBC should also be supported once soon. We’re told Orange Pi OS is based on Android 12, but that may be an error since I’m not aware of an Android 12 SDK for the Rockchip RK3399 processor. The company plans to release an Arch Linux Arm version named Orange Pi OS (Arch) as well as an Open Harmony variant called Orange Pi OS (OH) next year. Orange Pi OS highlights: Design similar to Windows 11 with a […]

Orange Pi 5 Rockchip RK3588S SBC launched for $60 and up

Orange Pi 5

Orange Pi 5 (LTS) is a single board computer powered by Rockchip RK3588S cost-down octa-core Cortex-A76/A55 processor that offers one of the best cost/performance ratios on the market with pre-order pricing starting at just $60. The SBC was initially unveiled with up to  32GB RAM and 32GB eMMC flash, but at launch, Shenzhen Xunlong Software offers models with 4GB and 8GB RAM, and no flash storage. The board supports dual 8K display setups thanks to HDMI 2.1 and DisplayPort 1.4 Type-C video outputs and also features up to two MIPI DSI display interfaces, three camera interfaces, Gigabit Ethernet, and WiFi 6 connectivity, and a few USB ports plus a GPIO header. Orange Pi 5 LTS specifications: SoC – Rockchip RK3588S octa-core processor with 4x Cortex-A76 cores @ up to 2.4 GHz, 4x Cortex-A55 cores @ up to 1.8 GHz, Arm Mali-G610 MP4 GPU, 6 TOPS AI accelerator System Memory – […]

SBC Case Builder 2.0 released with GUI

SBC Case Builder 2.0

SBC Case Builder 2.0 tool to create enclosures for single board computers has been released with a customizer graphical user interface, additional cases & SBCs, support for variable height standoffs, and more. We wrote about the SBC Case Builder tool to easily generate various types of 3D printable enclosures using OpenSCAD earlier this year. The SBC Model Framework used in the solution was focused on ODROID boards, and you had to type the parameters in a configuration file.  SBC Case Builder 2.0 software changes that with a convenient-to-use graphical interface allowing for the dynamic adjustment of any of the case attributes. The new version of the software also supports variable height standoffs, multi-associative parametric accessory positioning, and offers 8 “base cases”, namely shell, panel, stacked, tray, round, hex, snap, and fitted. The solution works with 47 SBCs defined in the latest version of the SBC Model Framework. The following SBCs […]

EDATEC Raspberry Pi 5 fanless case