Single Board Computer

Latest news about single board computers from Raspberry Pi boards to higher-end Intel and AMD SBC’s

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 9 Comments on Giveaway Week 2020 winners announced

Giveaway Week 2020 winners announced

Giveaway Week 2020 Winners

CNX Software’s “Giveaway week 2020” took place last week with 7 different prizes including three MINIX accessories (USB-C hubs and USD PD charger), M5Stack Atom Echo ESP32 based programmable speaker,  Miniware DT71 smart tweezers, and two SBC’s namely RockPi 4C and Ryzen Embedded based DFI GHF51. All people had to enter was to leave a comment with the country to which the parcel would have to be sent. With the help of random.org, we now have selected and confirmed winners which all happen to come from the US or Europe this time around: MINIX NEO Storage Plus USB-C Hub with 480GB SSD – Marc, USA Miniware DT71 Smart Tweezers – xdcc_master, GERMANY MINIX NEO C-G USB-C Multiport Adapter – Barnaby, UK RockPi 4C SBC – Garrett, USA M5Stack Atom Echo ESP32 Speaker – Venet, ITALY MINIX NEO P2 100W USB-C Charger – Michal, SLOVAKIA DFI GHF51 Ryzen Embedded SBC – […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 36 Comments on XuanTie C906 based Allwinner RISC-V processor to power $12+ Linux SBC’s

XuanTie C906 based Allwinner RISC-V processor to power $12+ Linux SBC’s

Allwinner XuanTie C906 RISC-V Processor

Alibaba unveiled Xuantie-910 RISC-V core (aka XT910) in 2019 for powerful SoC with up to 16 cores, but an update in 2020 revealed the company planned to have a complete RISC-V core family for a wide range of application from low-power microcontrollers to server SoCs. At the time, I just assumed the company planned to keep their cores to themselves, but time proved me wrong as T-Head, the Alibaba subsidiary in charge of developing RISC-V cores, started to cooperate with Allwinner to develop open-source processors, which should lead to low-cost Linux capable RISC-V SBC very soon according to a tweet from Sipeed. Good News: We get first chip which based on XuanTie C906 (RV64GCV), it have abundant interface (HDMI/RGB/DVP/MIPI/GMAC/…), and will be able to run Debian system.Last and most important, the basic dev board price is start at 12.5$ (1% of HiFive Unleashed)。 pic.twitter.com/EJbXTJ5eMb — Sipeed (@SipeedIO) November 6, 2020 […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 348 Comments on Giveaway Week – DFI GHF51 Ryzen Embedded SBC

Giveaway Week – DFI GHF51 Ryzen Embedded SBC

DFI GHF51

Let’s end this year’s Giveaway Week with a bang courtesy of DFI GHF51 single board computer, that’s about the size of the Raspberry Pi, but is powered by an AMD Ryzen Embedded R1606G dual-core processor coupled with 4GB RAM and 32GB storage. With Gigabit Ethernet, dual micro HDMI output, and a single USB-C port, the board is clearly designed for industrial machines, digital signage, and robotics, but it can also be used as a standard computer via a USB-C hub. I tested the SBC with WIndows 10 Enterprise LTSC and Ubuntu 20.04, and it worked well in Windows, except for some issue with one of my USB hard drives where transfers would just stall from time to time. I had the same issue in Ubuntu plus some artifacts while running the UNIGINE 3D benchmark. For testing, I set up dual-boot for Windows 10 and Ubuntu 20.04, so considering there’s just […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment on ICOP VEX2-6415 SBC runs DOS, QNX, Linux, Windows on Vortex86EX2 “Dual OS” x86 processor

ICOP VEX2-6415 SBC runs DOS, QNX, Linux, Windows on Vortex86EX2 “Dual OS” x86 processor

ICOP VEX2-6415 SBC

DM&P Vortex86EX2 is a dual-core x86 processor that supports legacy ISA and PCI interfaces, and designed in a way that makes it capable of running two OS independently, easy with its own BIOS, without the need for virtualization, nor a hypervisor. At the time, we also covered the Vortex86EX2 evaluation board from the company, but the first commercial product that has come to my attention is ICOP VEX2-6415 Vortex86EX2 SBC designed for automation and IoT, and which the company says support “Windows Embedded Compact 7, Windows Embedded Compact 6, various of (sic) Linux distribution, QNX, and even the legacy but still popular DOS”. ICOP VEX2-6415 SBC specifications: CPU – DM&P Vortex86EX2 dual-core processor with Master core @ 600MHz max with build-in FPU L1/L2 Cache for user interface Slave core @ 400MHz max with build-in FPU, L1 Cache for real-time control System Memory – 512MB/1GB DDR3 Storage – 4GB eMMC flash […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 321 Comments on Giveaway Week – RockPi 4C SBC

Giveaway Week – RockPi 4C SBC

RockPi 4C vs Raspberry Pi 4

The first, but not last, SBC of Giveaway Week 2020 is RockPi 4C single board computer equipped with a Rockchip RK3399 processor coupled with 4GB RAM, and featuring HDMI and DisplayPort for dual 4K monitor setups, as well as Gigabit Ethernet, WiFI 5, Bluetooth, USB 3.0/2.0 ports, etc… The board closely follows Raspberry Pi 4 form factor, so without thinking too much about it I thought I could just use it with CrowPi2 Raspberry Pi 4 laptop. However due to small mechanical differences, and a different position of the processor impacting cooling, I quickly realized this would not work. Since I did not have time to review yet another RK3399 SBC, I thought I might as well as give it away, as I’m sure somebody will find a good use for it. Note the board does not come with any accessories, so you’ll have to get a MicroSD card, USB-C […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 16 Comments on Orange Pi Zero2 Allwinner H616 SBC runs Android 10 or Linux

Orange Pi Zero2 Allwinner H616 SBC runs Android 10 or Linux

Allwinner H616 SBC

Last year, Shenzhen Xunlong Software unveiled Orange Pi Zero2 SBC as an update to the popular Orange Pi Zero board with a faster Allwinner H6 processor, HDMI 2.0 video output, USB 3.0 port, Gigabit Ethernet, and WiFi. Just one little problem: AFAIK they never sold it. But Orange Pi Zero2 board is now back with another design features instead equipped with a newer Allwinner H616 processor supporting Android 10, and various Linux distributions such as Ubuntu and Debian. Orange Pi Zero2 (2020) specifications: SoC – Allwinner H616 quad-core Arm Cortex-A53 processor @ up to 1.5 GHz with Arm Mali G31 MP2 GPU with support for OpenGL ES 3.2 and OpenCL 2.0 Memory – 512MB or 1GB DDR3 Storage – 2MB SPI flash and MicroSD card slot Video Output Micro HDMI 2.0a port up to 4Kp60 Video composite (CVBS) via 13-pin header (See Expansion section) Video Decoding 10-bit H265/HEVC up tp […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment on Novasom M9 RK3399(K) SBC offers DSI, eDP and HDMI display interfaces, M.2 SSD storage

Novasom M9 RK3399(K) SBC offers DSI, eDP and HDMI display interfaces, M.2 SSD storage

Novasom M9 SBC

We’ve previously seen compact Rockchip RK3399 powered single board computer with support for dual displays with the likes of Rock Pi 4 and NanoPi M4B thanks to HDMI and MIPI DSI interfaces. Novasom M9 is another compact RK3399 SBC with both HDMI and MIPI DSI, as well as DisplayPort or embedded DisplayPort (eDP) for a wider choice of display interfaces, although as I understand it is still limited to dual independent display configurations. Another differentiating feature is the option for a wider -20 to +85°C operating temperature meaning it can be equipped with Rockchip RK3399K processor instead of RK3399, and the board also happens to come with an M.2 socket for NVMe SSDs just like Rock Pi 4 board. SBC-M9 board specifications: SoC – Rockchip RK3399 or RK3399K hexa-core processor with two Cortex A72 cores, four Cortex-A53 core, Arm Mali-T860MP4 GPU System Memory – LPDDR3 up to 4GB @ 64bit […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 9 Comments on PolarBerry is a Compact, Linux-capable RISC-V FPGA SBC and module (Crowdfunding)

PolarBerry is a Compact, Linux-capable RISC-V FPGA SBC and module (Crowdfunding)

PolarBerry RISC-V SBC & Module

SiFive may just have announced a mini-ITX motherboard for RISC-V PCs, but if you’d like a RISC-V Linux platform in a more compact form factor, Sundance PolarBerry may better fit your requirements, albeit the board will target different use cases. Powered by Microchip PolarFire RISC-V SoC FPGA, PolarBerry is both a single board computer with Gigabit Ethernet and 40-pin GPIO header, as well as a system-on-module thanks to three Samtec board-to-board connectors. PolarBerry specifications: SoC – Microsemi PolarFire FPGA MPFS250T-FCVG484 penta-core processor with 1x RV64IMAC monitor core, 4x RV64GC application cores, FPGA fabric with 254K x logic elements (4LUT + DFF), 784 x math blocks (18 x 18 MACC), and 16 x SERDES lanes at 12.5 Gbps; 12 W maximum power consumption System Memory –  4 GB of 32-bit wide DDR4 memory Storage – 4GB eMMC flash, 128 Mbit SPI Serial NOR flash for boot image Networking – Gigabit Ethernet […]