Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments on Fingerprint Identification with STM32 MCU and Serial TFT LCD Module

Fingerprint Identification with STM32 MCU and Serial TFT LCD Module

STM32 Fingerprint TFT LCD

CNXSoft: This is a guest post by Amy working for STONE Technology, a company specializing in industrial liquid crystal display modules This month, I planned to develop a fingerprint door lock project. When I selected the fingerprint identification module, the project was suspended. However, I thought that since the fingerprint identification module had been purchased, I would simply test it. This fingerprint module can be easily purchased online, connected over UART to an MCU  board. It supports fingerprint scanning, fingerprint entry, fingerprint comparison, and fingerprint deletion. Since the fingerprint module manufacturer provides a demo program for STM32F103 series microcontrollers, I bought a small development board based on STM32F103C8T6. The demo program of the fingerprint module uses LED lights to prompt the user to enter the fingerprint and compare the status (success or failure). But I want to use an LCD display, so I chose a 480×272 resolution serial LCD display. The specific model of this display is STONE STVC050WT-01-01, which …

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Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments on Linux Capable Smarphones Database Launched with over 200 Models

Linux Capable Smarphones Database Launched with over 200 Models

Can my Phone run Linux database

Recently there have been companies working on smartphones that ship with Linux with Purism Librem 5 and Pine64 PinePhone being the most popular. But it has been possible to install Linux on various other (Android) phones thanks to projects like PostMarketOS or UBports’ Ubuntu Touch. But to make it easier to find out whether your phone is supported, the guy(s) at Tuxphones have created a database of phones that can run Linux. There are currently over 200 devices listed. The database is not updated manually, and scripts are used to scrape websites and wikis of open source projects such as PostMarketOS, UBports, Asteroid OS, or Maemo Leste. Some Linux operating systems such as Tizen or Sailfish OS are not included because they are not fully open-source nor independent. The use of scripts means the database does not only contain phones, but all some SBC’s, smartwatches, and TV boxes.  If you click on the More Information button, you’ll get a list …

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Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 19 Comments on Firewalla Gold Intel-based Ubuntu Router Enables Multi-Gigabit Cyber Security (Crowdfunding)

Firewalla Gold Intel-based Ubuntu Router Enables Multi-Gigabit Cyber Security (Crowdfunding)

Firewalla Gold vs Blue Red

We covered Firewalla based on NanoPi NEO board in mid-2018. The device is a tiny firewall, parental control, ad-blocker, and VPN appliance for end-users. Since then they’ve launched Firewalla Blue based on NanoPi NEO2 SBC with Gigabit Ethernet and a faster processor, and now the company has just introduced the even more powerful Intel-based Firewalla Gold. Firewalla Gold specifications: Processor – Unnamed intel 64-bit quad-core processor System Memory – 4GB RAM Storage – 32GB flash Connectivity 4x Gigabit Ethernet ports supporting over 3 Gbps in total, and up to 10 VPN connection at up to 120 Mbps aggregated bandwidth. WiFi 6 module (not sure optional or included) Misc – RTC Power Supply – DC barrel jack They may have designed a custom board this time, as I’m not sure which off-the-shelf SBC they may have used in their new product. The device runs Ubuntu Linux so the users will have full access to the operating system with SSH, and will …

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Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 2 Comments on NVIDIA Jetson Nano Review with 52Pi ICE Tower Cooling Fan – Part 1: Unboxing

NVIDIA Jetson Nano Review with 52Pi ICE Tower Cooling Fan – Part 1: Unboxing

Jetson Nano Review with ICE Tower Cooling Fan

If you remember soon after Raspberry Pi 4 launch, there were talks about the SBC overheating under load, and depending on room temperature and workload a heatsink may be needed for the board to perform optimally at all times. This gave birth to “interesting” solutions such as 52Pi ICE Tower Cooling Fan, an oversized cooling solution for Raspberry Pi 4. It does the job however, and it allows me to overclock Raspberry Pi 4 to 2.0 GHz while keeping the CPU temperature under 55°C in a room at 28°C. But the latest Raspberry Pi Foundation board is not the only SBC to suffer from overheating, as at least one user noticed the board would just shutdown under load. The solution was to switch from 10W mode to 5W mode, not an ideal solution since it’s also lowering performance. But 52Pi is coming to the rescue again, as they adapted their ICE tower cooling fan to Jetson Nano SBC. Seeed Studio …

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Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 14 Comments on NanoPi R1S Dual Gigabit Ethernet Router Comes with 32-bit or 64-bit Arm Processor

NanoPi R1S Dual Gigabit Ethernet Router Comes with 32-bit or 64-bit Arm Processor

NanoPi R1S Router

FriendlyELEC launched NanoPi R1 SBC & Gateway earlier this year with Allwinner H3 processor, two Ethernet ports, as well as WiFi and Bluetooth connectivity. The design makes use of both Ethernet on the processor, but that also means on Gigabit Ethernet port had to be combined with a Fast Ethernet processor. The company has now added a USB to Gigabit Ethernet bridge to their latest NanoPi R1S board meaning it’s now a dual Gigabit Ethernet SBC, but with the caveat that the port behind the USB bridge is limited to USB 2.0 speed (480 Mbps), and with overhead the USB Ethernet bandwidth is around 330 Mbps. There are two versions of the board, namely NanoPi R1S-H3 and R1S-H5 with respectively Allwinner H3 32-bit processor, and Allwinner H5 64-bit processor. Apart from the different processors, both boards share the same PCBA and specifications: SoC NanoPi R1S-H3 – Allwinner H3 quad-core Arm Cortex-A7 processor @ up to 1.2GHz with Mali-400MP2 GPU NanoPi …

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Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 283 Comments on Giveaway Week – NanoPi M4V2 SBC & Metal Case Kit

Giveaway Week – NanoPi M4V2 SBC & Metal Case Kit

NanoPi M4 Metal Case GbE & USB

Let’s finish giveaway week 2019 on a high with FriendlyELEC NanoPi M4V2 single board computer, and its metal case kit. The board features a Rockchip RK3399 processor with 4GB LPDDR4 RAM, and the metal case kit allows the addition of an NVMe M.2 SSD as well. I tested the mini PC with FriendlyCore Desktop based on Ubuntu 18.04, since at the time, Armbian was still not working with the updated board equipped with LPDDR4 memory, and Android requires an eMMC flash module which was not part of the kits I received. NanoPi M4V2 performed fairly well in the case, but the fan is quite noisy, and somehow the RAM bandwidth was almost half of the one in the earlier NanoPi M4 board with DDR3 memory, which is the opposite one would expect. Probably related to some software tweaks as explained in the comments section of the review. I received two kits, so I’ll keep one for me in case I …

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Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 135 Comments on Giveaway Week – Particle Mesh IoT Development Kit

Giveaway Week – Particle Mesh IoT Development Kit

Particle Mesh IoT Developer Kit

In early 2018, Particle introduced three nRF52840 Bluetooth 5 boards, also supporting the company’s Particle Mesh technology, and selling for as low as $9. Later that year, the company send me what they call Particle Mesh IoT development kit with several of those boards to get started with their mesh networking solution. That’s what I’m offering as the 6th prize of this giveaway week. With this kit on hand, I wrote a Particle Mesh networking getting started guide showing how to configure the board in Particle.io dashboard, and easily push a new program to multiple Xenon Bluetooth 5 + Mesh boards using an Argon WiFi & Bluetooth 5 + Mesh as the gateway. I’ll give away the full kit shown in the top picture which includes: The Argon kit (ESP32 WiFi + Bluetooth + Mesh) A Grove and Particle Sensor Kit with various modules and a shield An Adafruit Featherwing OLED display and headers Three Xenon (Bluetooth + Mesh) nodes …

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Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 4 Comments on Single’s Day 2019 Coupon Codes and Promotions

Single’s Day 2019 Coupon Codes and Promotions

Aliexpress Global Shopping Festival 2019

Singles’ Day, taking place on November 11 (11.11) every year, is the Chinese equivalent of Black Friday with shops in China offering deep discounts on their products. Popular Chinese online shopping websites catering to oversea markets also take advantage of the event to organize events and promotions for their customers. So just like I did in 2017 and 2018, I posted a list of Singles’ Day 2019 promotions in shops such as Banggood, GeekBuying, Aliexpress, GearBest, and others. Aliexpress Aliexpress Global Shopping Festival 2019 is already started in the sense you can browse products on the website, add them to your cart, and pay a lower price if you check out on November 11. Most shops will have discounts, but some of the most relevant to this site include Shenzhen Xunlong Software which will offer discounts of up to $8 for their Orange Pi Boards, Rak Wireless lowered the price of some of their LPWAN boards for 11.11, and for …

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