Debian Category - Page 65 of 104 - CNX Software

May 14, 2018May 14, 2018 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 43 Comments

Running out of RAM in Ubuntu? Enable ZRAM

Whenever I ran out of RAM on a Linux system, I used to enable swap memory using the storage device to provide an extra bit of memory. The main advantage is that it’s does not require extra hardware, but come at the cost of much slower access, and potential issues or wear and tear, unless you only use it temporary. This week-end, I compiled Arm Compute Library on ODROID-XU4Q board, and the first time it crashed because the system ran out of memory, so I enable swap on the eMMC flash module to restart and complete the build successfully. However, I was told it would have been better to enable ZRAM instead. So what is ZRAM? Wikipedia explains: zram, formerly called compcache, is a Linux kernel module for creating a compressed block device in RAM, i.e. a RAM disk, but with on-the-fly “disk” compression. So it’s similar to swap, expect […]

May 10, 2018May 10, 2018 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

CrowPi is a Portable Learning Kit for Raspberry Pi 3 B+ / Zero Boards (Crowdfunding)

We have an embarrassment of choices for Raspberry Pi accessories from touchscreen displays, HAT add-ons boards, sensors, breadboard, and so on, as well as good software and support from Raspberry Pi forums. This is all good, but it can be messy with all those jumper cables, and not really portable. Elecrow has a neat solution with the CrowPi learning kit for Raspberry Pi 3 and Raspberry Pi Zero that come with a 7″ display, several sensors, buttons, a breadboard, and more all packed in a small suitcase. Main parts of the kit: 7″ touchscreen display Breadboard with GPIOs status LEDs Input modules – Light sensor, IR receiver, PIR motion sensor, sound sensor, temperature & humidity sensor, touch sensor, ultrasonic sensor, NFC reader, and tilt sensor Output modules – 8×8 LED matrix, 4-digit LED display, I2C LCD1602 display, buzzer, vibration motor, relay module, 9G servo, and stepper motor. Control modules – […]

May 8, 2018 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

A 6-Part BeagleBone Webinar for Users, Developers and Education Starts on May 10

The BeagleBone Black and derivatives like PocketBeagle or BeagleBone Green Wireless are still popular development boards, and if you are interested in the platform as a developer, user, or educator, you may learn more about the boards and how to use them in an upcoming BeagleBone webinar series presented by Jason Kridner, the co-founder and board member at BeagleBoard.org Foundation, and element14. The webinar series will start in about 2 weeks with the following schedule: Introduction to BeagleBone – 10th May 2018 @ 11:00 AM (CDT)/17:00 (GMT) BeagleBone for Linux Users – 24th May 2018 @ 11:00 AM (CDT)/17:00 (GMT) BeagleBone for Embedded Developers – 6th June 2018 @ 11:00 AM (CDT)/17:00 (GMT) BeagleBone for Web Developers – 21th June 2018 @ 11:00 AM (CDT)/17:00 (GMT) BeagleBone Blue for Robotics – 12th July 2018 @ 11:00 AM (CDT)/17:00 (GMT) BeagleBone in the Classroom – 26th July 2018 @ 11:00 AM […]

May 8, 2018May 8, 2018 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 16 Comments

Armbian History, Infrastructure, and Progress Report

Many of us rely on Armbian Debian and Ubuntu images for our cheap Arm development boards since they usually offer better support than vendor supplied firmware images. The community has just updated Armbian website, but the thing that caught my eye in the announcement was a link to a 45-minute presentation by Igor Pečovnik, working full-time on the project, that details the history about Armbian, and provides a relatively recent progress update as it was made at BalCCon – Balkan Computer Congress in November 2017. I’ve embedded the video further below, but first I’ll provide summary of the key point made during the presentation. It all started with Cubieboard (A20) as Igor was trying to fix some issues, and learn how to improve software support on the board. Several people joined his efforts on Cubieboard forums, and eventually Armbian website launched in mid 2014 running on the Cubieboard then ODROID-XU4 […]

May 7, 2018May 7, 2018 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 16 Comments

Ubiquiti EdgeRouter X is a $60 Gigabit Ethernet PoE Router Supported by OpenWrt

Stanislav needed a Gigabit Ethernet router to run OpenVPN, and after some research he settled on Ubiquiti EdgeRouter X router with 5 Gigabit Ethernet ports, PoE in and pass-through, with a decent 256 MB RAM and 256MB flash, and a $49 MSRP, although I’ve only seen it for $60 and up. The router is not a new product, as it has been out for a few years (since 2015), and it’s also officially supported by OpenWrt, which makes it even more interesting. Ubiquiti EdgeRouter X (ER-X model) specifications: Processor – Mediatek MT7621AT dual core MIPS1004Kc processor @ 880 MHz System Memory – 256MB RAM Storage – 256 MB NAND flash for firmware 5x Gigabit RJ45 ports Ports configurable for line-rate, Layer-2 switching 260 kpps for 64-byte packets 1 Gbps for 1518-byte packets Passive PoE passthrough option Power – 24V via passive PoE or power adapter There’s also a ER-X-SFP model […]

May 4, 2018 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

Acme Systems CM3-PANEL Panel PC based on Raspberry Pi Compute Module 3 Sells for 99 Euros and Up

After their first Raspberry Pi Compute Module 3 based board called CM3-Home designed for home automation, Acme Systems has designed a new RPi CM3 carrier board called CM3-PANEL for panel PCs / tablets. They sell four variants of their panel PC built around the board with or without WiFi module and/or 868MHz RF module, and offer customization services for people willing to purchase at least 100 pieces. CM3-PANEL based Panel PC specifications: Socket for Raspberry Pi Compute Module 3 Display – 7″ (800×480 resolution) with 10-point capacitive touch Camera – MIPI connector for Raspberry Pi Camera Up to 24 GPIO lines available for extensions or LCD backlight control Camera led and camera shutdown control SPI bus (5 GPIOs) Hardware PWM lines (2 GPIOs) Serial line PCM line (4 GPIOs) I2C bus Model specific features: CM3-PANEL-W – 802.11 b/g/n WiFi @ 2.4GHz (RaLink RT5370N USB module) CM3-PANEL-U – 1x USB host […]

April 28, 2018August 31, 2018 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 37 Comments

RockPro64 Board is Now Available for $59.99 and Up for Early Adopters & Developers

Several Rockchip RK3399 development boards and SBCs were announced or launched in Q4 2017 / Q1 2018, including Orange Pi RK3399, ODROID-N1, Rock960, etc… RockPro64 was the most aggressively priced of the lot as it was expected to launch for about $60. The good news is that Pine 64 is now selling the first production batch for $59.99 (2GB RAM) or $79.99 (4GB RAM). The less good news is that software is still being worked on so the company only recommends it for early adapters and developers. RockPro64 specifications have changed a bit since the board now comes with LPDDR4 memory instead of LPDDR3: SoC – Rockchip RK3399 hexa-core processor with 2x ARM Cortex A72 cores up to 2.0 GHz, 4x Cortex A53 cores, and an Arm Mali-T860 MP4 GPU System Memory – 2 or 4 GB LPDDR4, dual channel Storage – eMMC flash module (up to 128 GB), micro […]

April 23, 2018 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 9 Comments

24 Orange Pi Zero Boards Cluster and ArmWizard’s Debian Image

ArmWizard forum member “-W.-” needed a cluster to test his firmware build and deployment solution for Orange Pi Zero boards which can deploy the firmware to multiple boards from one single board. So he procured 24 Orange Pi Zero boards, a 24-port switch, some USB hubs and debug board, as well as some other accessories, power supplies, and two wooden planks. That’s the results after assembly. So we have 4 tower of six Orange Pi Zero boards fairly neatly connected to the 24-port Ethernet switch with 30 cm Ethernet cables, and four black USB hubs for the USB to TTL debug boards. The side view below shows the boards are powered by micro USB cables connected to three different power supplies, cooling achieved via four fans, and the power extension is hidden right underneath close to the Ethernet switch. The cluster will also be used for machine learning latter on, […]