openwrt News - CNX Software - Embedded Systems News

May 2, 2021May 2, 2021 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 17 Comments

Allwinner D1 RISC-V processor SDK & Documentation

We published information about Allwinner D1 SBC and processor a few weeks ago. The news was pretty interesting as it’s the first RISC-V processor from the company, and one of the first affordable RISC-V SBC. But all we had at the time was hardware information from a leak, or rather from China-only Allwinner developer website. But now the company has added more information to its open-source development website with the release of documentation, now only in Chinese, as well as the Allwinner D1 Tina SDK. Eventually, there should be a better SDK via linux-sunxi community and some are already working on the Allwinner D1 SBC, but let’s try to get the SDK from Allwinner and build the code from source using the documentation. First, you’d need to register on Allwinner open-source website and click on signup. You’ll probably want to select Email registration. Now fill your username, select a country, enter a company name, password, and email. For the country, […]

April 21, 2021April 27, 2021 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 13 Comments

Business card-sized dual GbE SBC runs OpenWrt on Rockchip RK3328 SoC

We’ve previously reported about at least two dual GbE router boards based on Rockchip RK3328 quad-core Cortex-A53 processor with namely NanoPi R2S and Orange Pi R1 Plus. But there’s now a third option with SmartHomeBoard Pi-R2S3328-B single board computer offered in a larger business card-sized format, equipped with 1GB DDR4, and booting OpenWrt from a MicroSD card. Debian and Ubuntu are also supported according to the manufacturer. Specifications: SoC – Rockchip RK3328 quad-core Cortex-A53 @ 1.5 GHz with Arm Mali-450MP2 System Memory – 1GB DDR4 RAM (Note some photos how 2x 512MB DDR3 instead) Storage – MicroSD Slot Connectivity -2x Gigabit Ethernet RJ45 ports, one native, one USB 3.0 to GbE USB – 1x USB Type-A host port, 1x micro USB OTG port, 1x USB Type-C port for power Debugging – 3-pin 2.54mm pitch header for serial console Misc – Reset button, Sys,WAN and LAN LED’s, Power Supply – 5V/2A via USB-C port Dimensions – 85 x 56 mm Weight […]

April 6, 2021April 7, 2021 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 9 Comments

Xiaomi Mi AX9000 WiFi 6 Enhanced router supports up to 1000 clients

Xiaomi launched the Mi AX6000 WiFI 6 Enhanced router, not to be confused with WiFI 6E, at the beginning of the year. The router offers up to 4804Mbps link at 5 GHz, and up to 574Mbps with a 6+1 antenna configuration, as well as one 2.5GbE port, and several Gigabit Ethernet ports. But for people requiring even more bandwidth, Xiaomi Mi AX9000 WiFi 6 Enhanced router offers even more wireless throughput using three frequency bands with four antennas each, and up to 1148 Mbps at 2.4 GHz, up to 4804Mbps at 5.2GHz, and up to 2402Mbps at 5.8GHz, which the company refers to as the 5G_Game band. Xiaomi Mi AX9000 WiFI 6 Enhanced Edition router specifications: SoC – Qualcomm IPQ8072 quad-core Cortex-A53 processor @ 2.2 GHz with dual-core 1.7GHz NPU (network acceleration engine / processing unit) System Memory – 1GB RAM Connectivity Wired 1x 2.5GbE LAN/WAN port 1x Gigabit Ethernet LAN/WAN port 3x Gigabit Ethernet LAN ports Wireless 2.4 GHz […]

March 27, 2021March 28, 2021 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 8 Comments

$30 Raspberry Pi CM4 IoT Router Carrier Board Mini offers Dual Gigabit Ethernet

We’ve recently written about Seeed Studio’s “Dual Gigabit Ethernet Carrier Board for Raspberry Pi Compute Module 4” that offers dual Gigabit Ethernet, and two USB 3.0 ports for software router applications, but it can also be used for IoT, Smart Home, and camera projects, as well as HTPC maker thanks to micro HDMI output and MIPI DSI/CSI connector. It is sold for an affordable $45, exceeding the Raspberry Pi CM4 module. But if all you want to do is get a dual Gigabit Ethernet WiFi router or IoT gateway, DFRobot has now introduced a more compact and cheaper carrier board for Raspberry Pi CM4: “Compute Module 4 IoT Router Carrier Board Mini“. CM4 IoT Router Board Mini specifications: Compatible Module – Raspberry Pi Compute Module 4 / 4 Lite with Broadcom BCM2711 quad-core Cortex-A72 processor, up to 8GB RAM, up to 32GB flash, optional 802.11b/g/n/ac WiFi 5 and Bluetooth 5.0 Storage – MicroSD card slot for RPi CM4 modules without […]

January 13, 2021 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

Xiaomi Mi AX6000 WiFI 6 “Enhanced” Router sells for $92 (in China)

Yesterday, I wrote about Linksys AXE8400 WiFi 6E router which the company claimed was the world’s first, but it was pointed out to me that Xiaomi Mi AX6000 router was outed a few days earlier, and is even available right now in China or, while the Linksys router is scheduled to launch in spring or summer. Another big difference is the price with the Xiaomi router offered for 599 CNY (about $92) while the Qualcomm Networking Pro 1210 based Linksys router will sell for $450. That can partially be explained by the speed for WiFi (6000 Mbps vs 8000 Mbps), and Ethernet (2.5 Gbps WAN vs 5 Gbps WAN), but the Xiaomi router should still offer decent performance. Another reason for the cheaper price, as pointed by some smart people on OpenWrt forums is that the Xiaomi router goes not support 6 GHz, so it’s NOT a WiFi 6E router as initially advertised, and the company now refers to it […]

January 6, 2021January 20, 2021 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 19 Comments

Sipeed MAIX-II Dock is an Allwinner V831 powered AIoT vision devkit

Sipeed introduced MAIX development boards powered by Kendryte K210 dual-core RISCV processor with AI accelerators in 2018, and we tested the Maixduino and Grove AI HAT based on the solution using Arduino and Micropython the following year. It works fine for audio and video project requiring AI acceleration at low power, but performance (resolution/fps) is limited. So if you’d like a bit more oomph for your audio & vision AI projects, as well as proper Linux support, Sipeed has just launched MAIX-II Dock powered by Allwinner V831 Cortex-A7 AI camera SoC clocked at up to 800-1000 MHz and 64MB on-chip DDR2 RAM, as well as a Full HD camera and a small display.MAIX-II Dock specifications: MAIX-II core module SoC – Allwinner V831 single-core Cortex-A7 processor clocked at 800-1000 MHz with 0.2TOPS AI accelerator, H.264/H.265/JPEG video encoder up to 1080p30 System Memory – 64MB DDR2 in package (SiP) Storage – Optional 16MB flash M.2 B-Key edge connector with Storage – 2x […]

December 13, 2020December 13, 2020 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 43 Comments

NanoPi R4S SBC preview with OpenWrt and Ubuntu Core

Rockchip RK3399 powered NanoPi R4S router SBC launched at the beginning of the month, and FriendlyELEC kindly sent a review sample to CNX Software. I intended to test thermally performance, Ethernet, and USB like I did for NanoPi R2S and NanoPi NEO3, but Armbian is not available right now, so I could not use some of the tools I normally used right now. So instead, I tested the board/gateway with the image from FriendlyELEC. First FriendlyCore based on Ubuntu Core 20.04, but there some issues which we’ll detail in this preview, so I then switch to FriendlyWrt built upon OpenWrt 19.07 which works better, but I still encountered some problems. That’s just to say it might be better to wait a little longer until Armbian images are released, or until FriendlyELEC fixes some of the shortcomings. NanoPi R4S gateway unboxing Before testing the software, let’s see what I’ve received. NanoPi R4S SBC inside its metal enclosure together with a 16GB […]

December 10, 2020December 11, 2020 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 11 Comments

Orange Pi R1 Plus router SBC features Rockchip RK3328, Dual GbE

FriendlyELEC NanoPi R2S SBC for headless applications with Rockchip RK3328 processor and dual Gigabit Ethernet ports is getting some competition, as with Orange Pi R1 Plus board, Shenzhen Xunlong Software has updated its Orange Pi R1 board powered by an Allwinner H2+ to RK3328 processor coupled with 1GB RAM, and offering dual Gigabit Ethernet ports, plus one USB port for router applications. Orange Pi R1 Plus board specifications with highlights in bold or stricken through showing differences against R1 board: SoC –Rockchip RK3328 quad-core Cortex-A53 @ 1.5 GHz with Arm Mali-450MP2 System Memory – 1GB DDR4 RAM Storage – MicroSD card slot, 16 MB SPI flash Connectivity – 2x Gigabit Ethernet via RTL8211E transceiver and RTL8153B USB 3.0 to Ethernet chip + 802.11 b/g/n WiFi (Realtek RTL8189ETV) with u.FL antenna connector and external antenna USB – 1x USB 2.0 port, 1x USB-C OTG port Expansion headers Unpopulated 26-pin “Raspberry Pi B+” header 13-pin header with earphone, 1x GPIO, TV-out, UART, […]