Raspberry Pi

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 19 Comments on ODROID-M1S is a smaller, cheaper, and more efficient Rockchip RK3566 SBC with additional GPIOs

ODROID-M1S is a smaller, cheaper, and more efficient Rockchip RK3566 SBC with additional GPIOs

ODROID M1S RK3566 SBC

Designed for Hardkernle’s 15th anniversary, the ODROID-M1S is a smaller, cheaper ($49 and up), and more efficient single computer board compared to the ODROID-M1 single board computer introduced last year with a Rockchip RK3568 SoC. The new ODROID-M1S SBC features a Rockchip RK3566 SoC which is similar to the RK3568, but with fewer peripheral interfaces, 4GB or 8GB LPDDR4 memory, a 64GB eMMC flash solder on the board (instead of an eMMC flash connector), HDMI 2.0 and MIPI DSI video interfaces, gigabit Ethernet, a few USB ports, and two GPIO headers. It does lose a few features compared to the ODROID-M1, as its memory is clocked at a lower speed, the M.2 socket only supports PCIe 2.1, the SPI flash and SATA port are gone, and so is the MIPI CSI camera connector. The power supply has also changed from a 12V DC jack to a 5V USB-C port. ODROID-M1S […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 26 Comments on Libre Computer AML-A311D-CC “Alta” SBC features Amlogic A311D AI processor

Libre Computer AML-A311D-CC “Alta” SBC features Amlogic A311D AI processor

Libre Computer AML-A311D-CC Alta SBC

Libre Computer has launched the credit card-sized “Alta” SBC, also known as AML-A311D-CC, designed for AI applications with the Amlogic A311D hexa-core Arm Cortex-A73/A53 processor equipped with a 5 TOPS AI accelerator. The board comes with 4GB LPDDR4, a 16MB SPI flash for the bootloader as well as a microSD card slot and eMMC flash module connector for storage, and offers many of the same ports as found on the Raspberry Pi 3 Model B+ with Gigabit Ethernet, four USB 3.0 ports, HDMI output, an AV jack, MIPI CSI and DSI connector, and a 40-pin GPIO header that should work with most Raspberry Pi HATs. AML-A311D-CC “Alta” specifications: SoC – Amlogic A311D CPU Hexa-core processor with 4x Arm Cortex-A73 cores @ up to 2.2 GHz and 2x Cortex A53 cores @ up to 1.8 GHz Built-in Cortex-M4 core for “always-on” processing GPU – Arm Mali-G52 MP4 GPU VPU 4K UHD […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 7 Comments on EDATEC launches two fanless cases for the Raspberry Pi 5 SBC

EDATEC launches two fanless cases for the Raspberry Pi 5 SBC

Raspberry Pi 5 fanless cases

In my review of the Raspberry Pi 5 SBC I noted performance was much improved over the Raspberry Pi 4 but that the board required active cooling with the official solutions (active cooler and case with fan) for optimal performance under load and there weren’t any official fanless cases for the latest Raspberry Pi single board computer. EDATEC aims to fill that gap with two fanless cases for the Raspberry Pi 5 SBC, namely the ED-Pi5Case-B with a low-profile, but closed design, and the ED-Pi5Case-O open case with two heatsinks placed on the top and bottom of the Raspberry Pi 5. Both fanless cases are made of aluminum (CNC milled), available in silver or black, and provide easy access to all ports and most interfaces of the Raspberry Pi 5 including the GPIO header, MIPI connectors, PCIe FPC connector, and PoE header. However, the closed enclosure blocks the battery and […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 43 Comments on Raspberry Pi 5 review – Part 2: Raspberry Pi OS Bookworm, benchmarks, power consumption, and more

Raspberry Pi 5 review – Part 2: Raspberry Pi OS Bookworm, benchmarks, power consumption, and more

Raspberry Pi 5 Review Raspberry Pi OS Bookworm

A few days ago I finally went through the Raspberry Pi 5 kit I received last September going through all the items and booting it with Raspberry Pi OS bookworm. I’ve now had time to perform more tests to check out the performance with benchmarks and test various features on the Raspberry Pi 5. So I’ll report my experience in the second part of the review and compare the Raspberry Pi 5 SBC to the Raspberry Pi 4 and some other Arm Linux SBCs.

System information in Raspberry Pi OS Bookworm

Last time around, I installed the Raspberry Pi 5 in its official case, but for most of the testing, I decided to go back to the bare board fitted with its active cooler since it’s the best cooling option as we’ll see further in the review.

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 13 Comments on Arm makes strategic investment in Raspberry Pi

Arm makes strategic investment in Raspberry Pi

Arm investment Raspberry Pi

Arm has just acquired a minority stake in Raspberry Pi through a strategic investment in order “to deliver critical solutions for the Internet of Things (IoT) developer community.” Paul Williamson, SVP and GM, Internet of Things Line of Business, Arm explains the rationale behind the investment: Arm and Raspberry Pi share a vision to make computing accessible for all, by lowering barriers to innovation so that anyone, anywhere can learn, experience and create new IoT solutions. With the rapid growth of edge and endpoint AI applications, platforms like those from Raspberry Pi, built on Arm, are critical to driving the adoption of high-performance IoT devices globally by enabling developers to innovate faster and more easily. This strategic investment is further proof of our continued commitment to the developer community, and to our partnership with Raspberry Pi. Eben Upton, Raspberry Pi founder and CEO, also provided remarks: Arm technology has always […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 9 Comments on Raspberry Pi 5 Kit Review – Part 1: Unboxing, Assembly and First Boot

Raspberry Pi 5 Kit Review – Part 1: Unboxing, Assembly and First Boot

Raspberry Pi 5 Kit Review Raspberry Pi OS boot

I’m quite late on that one, but after an extended holiday, I’m now ready to review the Raspberry Pi 5 the company sent me last month. I’ll do so with the latest Raspberry Pi OS Bookworm based on Debian 12 and CNX Software’s “tropical reviews” are usually more demanding than most others due to the higher ambient temperature (usually around 28°C in my room) in Thailand. But since Raspberry Pi did not just send the Raspberry Pi 5, but a full kit with keyboard, mouse, enclosure, and more, I’ll start with a post mostly looking at the hardware with an unboxing, assembly, plus a quick try at Debian 12 on the new SBC. Raspberry Pi 5 Kit Unboxing Besides the Raspberry Pi 5 itself, the package included the active cooler (heatsink + fan), a microSD card preloaded with a pre-release Raspberry Pi OS Bookworm image, a USB-PD power supply, a […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment on Linux 6.6 LTS release – Highlights, Arm, RISC-V and MIPS architectures

Linux 6.6 LTS release – Highlights, Arm, RISC-V and MIPS architectures

Linux 6.6 release

The Linux 6.6 release has just been announced by Linus Torvalds on the Linux Kernel Mailing List (LKML): So this last week has been pretty calm, and I have absolutely no excuses to delay the v6.6 release any more, so here it is. There’s a random smattering of fixes all over, and apart from some bigger fixes to the r8152 driver, it’s all fairly small. Below is the shortlog for last week for anybody who really wants to get a flavor of the details. It’s short enough to scroll through. This obviously means that the merge window for 6.7 opens tomorrow, and I appreciate how many early pull requests I have lined up, with 40+ ready to go. That will make it a bit easier for me to deal with it, since I’ll be on the road for the first week of the merge window. Linus About two months ago, […]

Posted on by Paisit Wongsongsarn - 17 Comments on Review of RaZberry 7 Pro Z-Wave Raspberry Pi HAT and Z-Uno2 Z-Wave board

Review of RaZberry 7 Pro Z-Wave Raspberry Pi HAT and Z-Uno2 Z-Wave board

RaZBerry 7 Pro Z-Uno2 Z-Wave Review

Z-Wave.Me has sent us a couple of Smart Home devices based on Z-Wave technology for review, namely the RaZberry 7 Pro Raspberry Pi HAT and the Z-Uno2 board. The Swiss company has primarily developed Z-Wave products for years and is a member of the Z-Wave Alliance. For those who are concerned about the issues of signal interference in the 2.4GHz range (WiFi, Zigbee, Bluetooth, and Thread), Z-Wave technology is an excellent choice because it operates on a less congested frequency range of 800-900MHz and the technology has been around for more than 20 years, resulting in a wide variety of Z-Wave devices available in the market, and they can work well together across different brands due to a proper certification process which is another advantage when compared to other protocols. The two devices we received are RaZberry 7 Pro, which is a shield that plugs into the 40-pin GPIO header […]