Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft), Author at CNX Software - Embedded Systems News

March 29, 2015March 30, 2015 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 18 Comments

A5-V11 Mini Router Runs OpenWRT (Linux) For Just $8

In case you you still think OpenWRT capable NEXX WT1520 router is still too expensive at $15, what about an $8 OpenWRT router? That’s what LY mini wireless router costs including shipping, and it’s better known as A5-V11, the name of its PCB. It’s not exactly a 3G/4G router as the casing implied, but it does support external USB 3G/4G dongles like most other routers with USB on the market. A5-V11 specifications: SoC – Mediatek/Ralink) RT5350F MIPS processor @ 360MHz System Memory – 32MB RAM (W9825G6EH-75). Some people reported theirs only have 16MB RAM, so YMMV. Storage – 4MB NAND flash (Pm25LQ032) Connectivity – Wi-Fi 802.11b/g/n up to 150 Mbps; 1x 10/100M Ethernet USB – 1x USB 2.0 host port, 1x micro USB port for power Misc – Power LED, factory reset pinhole Power – 5V via micro USB port Dimensions – 6.1 x 2.3 x 1.4 cm Contrary to […]

March 29, 2015March 29, 2015 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 17 Comments

$15 NEXX WT1520 Wi-Fi Router Supports OpenWRT

TP-Link WR703N is a popular low cost router well supported by OpenWRT that costs about $23 shipped. But there’s now a new cheaper router that’s been mentioned in comments on CNX Software a few times, with a different processor, but otherwise similar specs plus an extra Ethernet port. NEXX WT1520 is powered by Mediatek RT5350F, sells for $15 including shipping from sites like Banggood, Aliexpress and eBay, and can run OpenWRT, although it’s not officially supported yet. NEXX WT1520(F/H) specifications: SoC – Mediatek (previously Ralink) RT5350F MIPS processor @ 360MHz System Memory – 32MB RAM Storage – 4MB NAND flash Connectivity: Wi-Fi 802.11b/g/n up to 150 Mbps with built-in PIFA antenna 2x 10/100M Ethernet (LAN and WAN) USB – 1x USB 2.0 host port, 1x micro USB port for power Misc – Status LED, reset pinhole, power button Power – 5V via micro USB port Dimensions – 63 x 43 […]

March 28, 2015March 31, 2015 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 6 Comments

WordPress Mobile Caching with Zencache PRO Cache Plugin

This post has nothing to do with embedded systems, but I’ll document some of the changes I made to the website in the last few days for better mobile support. Recently Google sent me a message recommending to “Fix mobile usability issues found on http://www.cnx-software.com” via Webmaster Tools, and a user recently complained about readability from his smartphone. So I had to fix this issue. This involves WordPress cache plugins and WPtouch Mobile Plugin, the latter automatically generates a mobile version of the website as shown on the right in the screenshot above. In theory, it’s very easy, you simply install WPtouch Mobile plugin, and mobile user agents get served the mobile page while other get the desktop version. But when you mix it with a cache plugin, it can become more complicated, and desktop user may be served mobile pages, and mobile user may get desktop pages. The easiest […]

March 27, 2015 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 2 Comments

Howchip is Teasing ExSOM-7420SB Development Board Based on Samsung Exynos 7420 Processor

We’ve already seen a few Cortex A53 boards announced in the last few months with Nobel64, as well as Hikey & DragonBoard 410c 96Boards, but none of them are based on the more powerful Cortex A57 cores. Howchip is going to change that with the upcoming ExSOM-7420SB single board computer featuring Samsung Exynos 7420 processor used in Galaxy S6 smartphone. The company has released very few details about the board, except the block diagram above that shows Exynos 7420 with 3GB LPDDR4 PoP memory, and various interfaces such as USB 2.0/3.0, UFS/eMMC, Ethernet, HDMI, MIPI DSI, Camera, as well as Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity. The board will support Android 5.0 Lollipop 64-bit. No word about Linux. That’s the video teaser, but you won’t learn much… More details should eventually be published on ExSOM-7420SB product page. Alternatively, Hardkernel will also probably launch an ODROID-XU4? board based on the latest Exynos 7 […]

March 27, 2015 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 4 Comments

PiJuice Battery HAT Module for the Raspberry Pi Boards Comes with an Optional Solar Panel (Crowdfunding)

The Raspberry Pi is a low power board that can be powered a few hours or a few days with batteries, and the easiest solution is probably to use a USB power bank connected to the micro USB port of the board, but the solution is not really integrated. That’s where PiJuice comes into play. It’s a HAT compatible module that connects nicely to the latest Raspberry Pi boards with 40-pin header (A+, B+ and B2), and include a 1,400 mAh battery that can be used as UPS (Uninterrupted Power Supply), an RTC, and more. Key features of PiJuice HAT: 1400 mAh Lipo battery, good enough to last up to 24 hrs in constant use. 5,000 mAh batteries are also said to be supported. Full UPS (Uninterrupted Power Supply) solution Integrated RTC (Real Time Clock) On board intelligent on/off switch Low power deep-sleep state with wake on interrupt/calendar event On […]

March 27, 2015 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 5 Comments

PiPO X7s mini PC Dual Boots Windows 8.1 and Android 4.4 for $130

Pipo X7 Bay Trail-T mini PC was very popular at the beginning at it sold with an apparently valid Windows 8.1 license for $90, even including one-year subscription for Office 365, which normally sells for $99. Unfortunately, it turned out the Windows license was not so valid, as Pipo used the free Windows 8.1 with Bing for tablets, something that Microsoft did not allow, and mini PCs instead need to use another $25 to $30 license (Windows 8.1 with Bing NTE), which brought Pipo X7 price to around $120, closer to its main competitors. There’s now Pipo X7s, another version based on the same hardware, that can boot both Windows 8.1 (with proper license) and Android 4.4, and can be pre-ordered on GeekBuying for $129.99. The hardware specifications appear to be identical to the Windows only version: SoC – Intel Atom Bay Trail Z3736F @ 1.33 GHz (Burst Freq: 2.16 GHz) […]

March 27, 2015July 26, 2022 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 15 Comments

Gigabyte MP30-AR0 is an ARM Server Motherboard Powered by Applied Micro X-Gene 1 SoC

So far, it’s been pretty hard to buy ARM server motherboards for individuals, as most, if not all, products were reserved to corporate entities, but with Gigabyte MP30-AR0 server motherboard featuring the first generation Applied Micro X-Gene 64-bit ARM processor this might be about to change. [Update: As mentioned in comments I was probably wrong here, since the motherboard is listed on the Gigabyte’s B2B website, and not its B2C website]. MP30-AR0 specifications: Processor – AppliedMicro X-Gene 1 processor with 8 ARMv8 cores up to 2.4GHz (TDP 45W) System Memory – 8 x DIMM slots, Single, dual rank UDIMM modules @ 1333/1600 NHz supported (up to 16GB) Storage – 4x SATA III 6Gb/s ports + 1x SD card slot Connectivity – 2x 10GbE SFP+ LAN ports (integrated), 2x GbE LAN ports (Marvell 88E1512), 1x 10/100/1000 management LAN Graphics – Video Integrated in Aspeed AST2400. 2D Video Graphic Adapter with PCIe […]

March 27, 2015March 28, 2015 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 37 Comments

Amlogic is Working on S905 and S912 64-bit ARM Cortex A53 Processors

The relatively popular Amlogic S805 and S812 Cortex A9 processors are soon going to be joined by Amlogic S905 and S912 processors, both featuring ARM Cortex A53 64-bit cores, with the former destined to entry-level media players, and the latter for higher end devices including 4K60 / HDMI 2.0 support, as well as H.265 and AVS+ hardware video codecs. The company is now showcasing its new processors at China Content Broadcasting Network Exhibition (CCBN) 2015 in Beijing until March 28. Details are sparse, but we still know a few features for the new Amlogic 64-bit ARM processors: CPU – Quad Core ARM Cortex A53 CPU @ 2.0 GHz with 512KB unified cache. GPU – S905: 5 core Mali-450MP to 750MHz with OpenGL ES 11./2.0 and OpenVG 1.1 support, unnamed 2.5D GPU S912: TBD Video – 4K@60 Hz video decoding 10-bit HEVC and AVS+ codec support; H.264 up to 4K 30 […]