Single Board Computer News - CNX Software

September 27, 2022 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment

Banana Pi BPI-M2 Ultra SBC is now offered with Allwinner A40i industrial-grade processor

The Allwinner A40i and A60i industrial-grade quad-core and hexa-core Cortex-A7 processors were first introduced in 2018 with support for the wide -40°C to +85°C industrial temperature range, but so far I had not noticed any hardware making use of either processor. But Banana Pi is now offering the Banana Pi BPI-M2 Ultra SBC, which they launched in 2016 with the Allwinner R40 quad-core Cortex-A7 SoC, with the pin-to-pin and software-compatible Allwinner A40i industrial-grade processor. Banana Pi BPI-M2 Ultra specifications: SoC – Allwinner A40i quad-core Arm Cortex-A7 processor with Arm Mali-400MP2 GPU @ 500 MHz, 1080p60 H.264, MPEG-4, MPEG-1/2 video decoder, H.264 1080p45 video encoder System Memory – 2GB DDR3 SDRAM Storage – 8GB eMMC flash, SATA interface, microSD card slot Video Output HDMI 1.4 port up to 1080p60 4-lane MIPI DSI display connector, or RGB, or LVDS Audio I/O – 3.5mm headphone jack, digital audio output via HDMI, built-in microphone […]

September 24, 2022September 24, 2022 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 17 Comments

UP 4000 x86 SBC review – Part 1: Unboxing and first boot

AAEON UP 4000 is a compact Apollo Lake single board computer that’s about the size of a business card or a Raspberry Pi designed for automation, robotics, digital signage, and other space-constrained applications that may benefit from an x86 processor. The company already published some Phoronix benchmarks comparing the UP 4000 SBC against Raspberry Pi 4, NVIDIA Jetson Nano, and the original UP board, but since nothing beats third-party evaluation, AAEON sent a review sample to CNX Software for additional testing. UP 4000 SBC unboxing There are several variants of the board, and I received the UP-APL03X7F-A10-0464 SKU with 4GB RAM, 64Gb eMMC flash, and an Intel Atom x7-E3950 quad-core processor. The package includes the board together with a multilingual safety manual that explains you should not immerse the board underwater and should avoid walking on it :). A 12V/5A power supply was also included separately. The power cord was […]

September 20, 2022September 20, 2022 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 28 Comments

Khadas Edge2 Pro review – A Rockchip RK3588S SBC tested with Ubuntu 22.04

We’ve had a sample of the Khadas Edge2 single board computer powered by Rockchip RK3588S octa-core Cortex-A76/A55 processor for a couple of weeks, and now that the board is officially launched we can post our review of the board with Ubuntu 22.04, and we’ll check out Android 12 later on. Khadas Edge2 Pro accessories The Khadas Edge2 comes in two variants: Basic and Pro, We received the Edge2 Pro SBC with 16GB RAM and 64GB flash that ships with two WiFi antennas by default, but the company also sent a low-profile fansink and thermal pad for cooling that in theory would be optional, but in practice, it is required as while the board runs fairly cool considering the performance it brings, it still needs a heatsink to prevent overheating and throttling. The fan may not really be necessary though as we’ll see below. I’d recommend installing the antennas before the […]

September 19, 2022 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 3 Comments

Add 18650 batteries underneath Raspberry Pi with the Red Reactor board (Crowdfunding)

Red Reactor 18650 batteries Raspberry Pi

Pascal Herczog’s Red Reactor is a battery power supply project that adds two 18650 batteries to Raspberry Pi 4, Raspberry Pi 3, or Raspberry Pi Zero board using the pogo pins for connection. The pogo pin method means the Red Reactor is attached underneath the board, as such does not prevent the user to add a HAT expansion board on top of the single board computer. There’s also a headerless version for custom setup or compatibility with boards such as Arduino, Banana Pi, Orange Pi, etc… where some soldering is required. Red Reactor’s key features and specifications: Battery holder for up to 2x flat-top 18650 LiPo batteries Battery voltage and current monitoring over I2C (INA219) for software safe shutdown control, system reset, and your own functions Safety Battery protection Resettable fuse protects against discharge between 2 cells Over-Charge, Over-Discharge, and 6A Over-Current protection Host connection Pogo pins for Raspberry Pi […]

September 17, 2022 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 14 Comments

Yuzuki Chameleon – A Raspberry Pi Model A shaped SBC with Allwinner H616 CPU

Yuzuki Chameleon is an open-source hardware single board computer powered by an Allwinner H616 quad-core Cortex-A53 processor that somewhat follows the shape of Raspberry Pi 3 Model A+ SBC with a different port layout that should still keep mechanical and electrical compatibility with some Raspberry Pi HATs. The board supports up to 2GB RAM, up to 128GB eMMC flash, features a MicroSD card slot, one 4K-capable HDMI 2.0 port, an audio jack, four USB Type-C ports to keep the design as slim as possible, as well as a wireless module for WiFi and Bluetooth and a connector to optionally add Fast Ethernet through an external module. Yuzuki Chameleon specifications: SoC – Allwinner H616 quad-core Cortex-A53 processor @ with Arm Mali G31 GPU, 6Kp30/4Kp60 video decoder System Memory – Up to 2GB RAM Storage – Up to 128GB eMMC flash storage, MicroSD card socket Video Output – HDMI 2.0 up to […]

September 13, 2022September 20, 2022 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 39 Comments

Khadas Edge2 ultra thin SBC is powered by Rockchip RK3588S processor

As noted in the Khadas VIM1S announcement, the company is also preparing to launch the Khadas Edge2 single board computer with a Rockchip RK3588S octa-core Cortex-A76/A55 processor and a thickness of just 5.7mm (before a low-profile heatsink is installed). The new board follows a similar form factor as the original Khadas Edge board powered by a Rockchip RK3399 processor, except the edge connector is gone, so it can’t be used as a system-on-module anymore, but remains the thinnest and one of the most powerful Arm SBCs so far. Khadas Edge2 Basic/Pro specifications: SoC – Rockchip RK3588S CPU – Octa-core processor with four Cortex-A76 cores @ 2.25 GHz, four Cortex-A55 cores @ 1.8 GHz GPU – Arm Mali G610MC4 GPU AI accelerator – 6TOPS NPU VPU 8Kp60 10-bit H.265 decoder, 4Kp60 AV1 video decoder 8Kp30 H.264/H.265 video encoder MCU – STMicro STM32G031K6 Arm Cortex-M0+ microcontroller @ 64 Mhz for power management […]

September 9, 2022September 20, 2022 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 9 Comments

Khadas VIM1S low-profile SBC features Amlogic S905Y4 quad-core Cortex-A35 SoC

Khadas VIM1S is an upcoming low-profile single board computer powered by an Amlogic S905Y4 quad-core Cortex-A35 processor that’s meant to provide an upgrade to the Amlogic S905X-powered Khadas VIM SBC introduced in 2016, and since then renamed to Khadas VIM1. Khadas has been teasing two new SBCs: the low-end Khadas VIM1S with S905Y4 SoC, and the most powerful Khadas Edge2 board equipped with a Rockchip RK3588S octa-core Cortex-A76/A55 processor. I have received both as you can clearly see from the photo above :), but I’m only allowed to write about information available publicly at this time, so today I’ll introduce the Khadas VIM1S which looks just like the VIM1 board. Khadas VIM1S specifications with highlights in bold showing the differences against the VIM1 Pro model: SoC – Amlogic S905Y4 quad-core Arm Cortex-A35 @ up to 2.0 GHz (real frequency) with Arm Mali-G31 MP2 GPU @ up to 850 MHz MCU – […]

September 9, 2022September 8, 2022 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment

GENE-ADP6 – An 3.5-inch SBC with Intel 12th Gen Alder Lake-P processor, DDR5 RAM

AAEON GENE-ADP6 is a 3.5-inch SBC equipped with a choice of Intel 12th Gen Alder Lake-P (and Alder Lake-U) processors and the first from the company to support DDR5 memory, of which up to 64GB can be installed through two SO-DIMM sockets. The single board computer also supports SATA and NVMe storage, up to two 8K displays (and up to four independent displays), 2.5GbE networking, USB 3.2 ports, four RS232/RS422/RS485 interfaces, and further expansion through three M.2 sockets for wireless connectivity (WiFi, 5Gm, 4G LTE…) as well as the already mentioned NVMe SSD storage. GENE-ADP6 SBC specifications: Intel Alder Lake-P SoC (one or the other) Core i7-1270PE 12-core/16-thread processor @ 3.30GHz / 4.50GHz (Turbo) with 96EU Intel Xe graphics – PBP: 28W, up to 64W MTP Core i7-1265UE 10-core/12-thread processor @ 3.50GHz / 4.70GHz (Turbo) with 96EU Intel Xe graphics – PBP: 15W, up 55W MTP Core i5-1250PE 12-core/16-thread processor […]