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January 30, 2026January 30, 2026 by Debashis Das - No Comments

Forlinx OK153-S12 Mini – A low-cost Allwinner T153 SBC with Raspberry Pi GPIO header and long-term availability

Forlinx has introduced the OK153-S12 Mini, an Allwinner T153 SBC/development board, which looks to be a low-cost version of the OK153-S SBC that we previously covered. It keeps the same FET153-S SoM, but swaps the industrial terminal blocks, mini PCIe, and some other interfaces for a more compact footprint and a Raspberry Pi-compatible 40-pin header. The SBC supports up to 1 GB of DDR3 memory, up to 512 MB of NAND flash or 8 GB eMMC flash, and also features a microSD card slot for storage. Other interfaces include two Gigabit Ethernet ports, two USB Type-C ports for power, data, and debugging, and a USB 2.0 host port. Display is supported via an RGB LCD interface with backlight control via PWM. Other features include mono audio line-out via a 3.5mm headphone jack, multiple GPIOs, and buttons for reset, download, and user input, along with various status LEDs, and a 40-pin […]

January 27, 2026 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 6 Comments

SONOFF Dongle Max (Dongle-M) Review – A Zigbee/Thread PoE, USB, and WiFi adapter tested with Home Assistant

SONOFF Dongle Max Dongle-M review with Home Assistant Zigbee2MQTT ZHA

SONOFF sent us a sample of the SONOFF Dongle Max (also known as Dongle-M) Zigbee/Thread adapter with PoE support for review. It is based on Espressif ESP32-D0WDR2-V3 and Silicon Labs EFR32MG24 SoCs, and can serve as both a Zigbee coordinator and Thread Border Router, with connectivity options including Ethernet, Wi-Fi, and USB. The dongle is specifically designed for popular smart home platforms like Home Assistant, Zigbee2MQTT, ioBroker, and OpenHAB. Key advantages of the Dongle Max over the recently reviewed Dongle Plus MG24 include built-in Wi-Fi and Ethernet support (in addition to USB), Power over Ethernet (PoE), and a convenient Web Console for easier device configuration. It basically provides more flexibility thanks to a wider range of connection options, and it’s easier to place it in strategic locations since it doesn’t need to be connected directly to your Home Assistant server. In this review, we’ll go through the unboxing, initial setup, […]

January 22, 2026 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment

Raspberry Pi OS adds easier USB gadget mode support

Raspberry Pi OS Trixie now supports USB gadget mode out of the box, allowing users to connect to their Raspberry Pi boards over IP through USB without the need for a router. My first experience with USB gadget functionality was when I reviewed the Beaglebone Green Wireless SBC in 2016, but for some reason, official support for the Raspberry Pi ecosystem took a lot longer, and it was only officially implemented in Raspberry Pi OS Trixie images dated 20.10.2025 and later through the rpi-usb-gadget package. It’s been possible to use the USB gadget mode on Raspberry Pi OS for a while, but it was rather convoluted with outdated scripts, manual configuration steps, and platform-specific instructions. The new rpi-usb-gadget package streamlines the process and makes things much easier: The Raspberry Pi SBC will present itself as a USB Ethernet device when connected to a PC Users can SSH directly using the […]

January 16, 2026January 15, 2026 by Debashis Das - 7 Comments

ESP32-S3 multi-radio Smart Home gateway features Ethernet, Zigbee, Thread, Z-Wave, Wi-Fi, BLE, and optional 4G LTE connectivity

SLZB Ultima multi radio smart home gateway with ESP32 S3 Zigbee Z Wave, Matter or Thread

SMLIGHT SLZB-Ultima is an ESP32-S3-based, multi-radio smart-home gateway with dual Zigbee/Thread radios, optional Z-Wave 800, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth LE, Ethernet with PoE, USB host expansion, and optional 4G LTE connectivity designed for advanced Home Assistant and DIY applications. The device also integrates an IR receiver and transmitter for controlling legacy appliances, GPIO and I²C for hardware expansion, a buzzer, physical buttons, service LEDs, and 12 on-board WS2812B RGB LEDs on the front for status indication. These features make it suitable for an all-in-one smart-home and IoT gateway rather than a simple coordinator. SMLIGHT SLZB-Ultima specifications: Main SoC – ESP32-S3 CPU – Dual-core LX7 microprocessor @ up to 240 MHz with Vector extension for machine learning Wireless – WiFi 4 and Bluetooth 5 with LE/Mesh Audio – Built-in buzzer and optional microphone for ESPHome Voice Assist Networking Wireless Dual Zigbee / Thread radios (Texas Instruments CC2674P10 + Silicon Labs EFR32MG24) Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n […]

January 5, 2026 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

GL.iNet Comet 5G – A KVM over IP solution with 5G RedCap Cellular connectivity, 3.69-inch touchscreen display

GL.inet Comet 5G (GL-RM10RC) is an upcoming KVM over IP solution with a 3.69-inch touchscreen display and 5G RedCap (Reduced Capacity) IoT cellular connectivity, enabling remote access even when your regular Internet connection is down. The design builds upon the GL.iNet Comet Pro introduced last year, featuring a larger design and display, and adding 5G cellular connectivity on top of WiFi 6 and Gigabit Ethernet. It still features HDMI input and output (loop) ports, two USB Type-C ports for power and keyboard/mouse emulation, and a USB 2.0 port for accessories like ATX power control or fingerbot for the control of physical buttons on the target. GL.iNet Comet 5G specifications: SoC – Quad-core Cortex-A53 CPU @ 1.5 GHz; potentially a Rockchip RV1126B SoC System Memory – 1GB DDR3L Storage – 64 GB eMMC flash Video & Audio Input – HDMI port up to 4K @ 30 FPS Output – HDMI loop/passthrough […]

January 3, 2026 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 7 Comments

WCH CH32H417 dual-core RISC-V MCU offers USB 3.0, 500MB/s UHSIF, and Fast Ethernet interfaces

WCH CH32H417 is a high-performance dual-core RISC-V microcontroller clocked at up to 400 MHz with up to 960 KB flash, 896KB SRAM, and a range of interfaces, including a 5 Gbps USB 3.0 Host/Device SuperSpeed interface. Other notable features include a 500MB/s UHSIF (Universal High Speed Interface), 10/100Mbps Ethernet MAC and PHY, a SerDes high-speed isolated transceiver, a USB 2.0 High-Speed Host/Device, a USB 2.0 OTG Full Speed, USB PD support, and Display and Camera interfaces. The CH32H417 also offers the usual low-speed I/Os (95x GPIO, SPI…) and analog inputs and outputs (ADC/DAC). WCH CH32H417 CH32H417 specifications: Cores (Coremark: 5.73/MHz) QingKe RISC-V5F up to 400 MHz QinKe RISC-V3F up to 144 MHz GPU – Graphics Processing Hardware Accelerator GPHA Memory – 896KB SRAM Storage 960KB Flash 200MHz dual-edge SD/EMMC controller (SDMMC) SDIO master/slave interface with support for SD/SDIO/MMC Flexible Storage Controller FMC Display – DCT-TFT Display Controller LTDC Camera I/F […]

December 30, 2025December 30, 2025 by Debashis Das - 5 Comments

Add four Gigabit or 2.5Gbps Ethernet ports to the Raspberry Pi 5 with this expansion board

Waveshare PCIe TO 4 Ch Gigabit for Raspberry Pi 5

Waveshare PCIE TO 4-CH Gigabit/2.5G ETH Board (B) is a 4-port Gigabit or 2.5 Gbps Ethernet board designed for the Raspberry Pi 5. This board connects four RJ45 ports to the Pi’s 16-pin PCIe interface and also includes a mounting option for the Pi5 Connector Adapter (C). The only limiting factor is the Pi’s PCIe Gen2/Gen3 x1 interface, as the 2.5GbE ports share the available bandwidth and cannot operate at full speed simultaneously. The Gigabit Ethernet variant features Realtek RTL8153 USB to Ethernet controllers, while the 2.5GbE variant relies on RTL8156 controllers, and both integrate a VL805 PCIe to USB bridge chip. The board also includes status LEDs for link and activity indication, and draws power directly from the PCIe interface without requiring an external power supply. The device is plug-and-play and supports Raspberry Pi OS out of the box with no additional drivers required. Applications include routers, firewalls, network […]

December 4, 2025December 5, 2025 by Debashis Das - 6 Comments

Olimex LT8912B-based MIPI-HDMI adapter board adds HDMI output to the ESP32-P4-Devkit board

Olimex MIPI-HDMI adapter board is built around Lontium Semiconductors’ LT8912B MIPI DSI to HDMI bridge chip designed to work with their own ESP32-P4-DevKit. The board outputs up to 1080p60 8-bit HDMI via its LT8912B converter and supports 1–4 MIPI DSI data lanes (80 Mbps to 1.5 Gbps per lane) in continuous-clock mode, outputting HDMI 1.4 video in a compact 60 × 24 mm form factor. These features make it suitable for UI rendering, video streaming, media playback, vision workflows, and HMI applications like digital signage, kiosk systems, and portable multimedia devices. Olimex MIPI-HDMI adapter specifications: Mail Chip – LT8912B Single-Channel MIPI DSI Bridge to LVDS/HDMI/MHL converter MIPI Interface 15-pin FPC connector 1 clock lane + 1 to 4 data lanes D-PHY 1.1 and DSI 1.02 compliant 80 Mbps to 1.5 Gbps per lane supported data rate Continuous-clock mode only HDMI output HDMI Type-A connector HDMI 1.4 transmitter Up to 1080p […]