Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 3 Comments on MINIX NEO P1 tiny 66W GaN USB-C power supply can handle up to 3 devices

MINIX NEO P1 tiny 66W GaN USB-C power supply can handle up to 3 devices

I’m now using MINIX NEO P2 GaN USB-C charger for all review using USB powered devices. But with four-ports and up to 100W of power, it’s a bit over-powered for one or two Raspberry Pi 4 or equivalent SBCs, and it also costs around $60. So the Hong Kong company has now introduced a new model with MINIX NEO P1 being a tiny 66W GaAN USB-C power adapter with two USB-C ports and one USB Type-A port and international plug adapters that make ideal to use on the go. MINIX NEO P1 key features and specifications: Power Input – 100-240V AC input with 2-prong US plug and adapters for EU, UK, and AU Power Output Up to 66 W in total 2x USB Type-C ports support up to 65 W with USB PD 3.0 (5-15V/3A, 20V/3.25A) 1x USB Type-A port supports up to 36 W with QC 3.0 (5V/3A, 9V/3A, 12V/3A, 20V/1.8A) Safety (protections) – Overvoltage, input and output overcurrent, […]

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

Giveaway Week 2020 winners announced

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 – Dean, UK Curious minds may also check out the results […]

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Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 2 Comments on Cambrionix SyncPad54 USB Hub Offers 56 USB 2.0 Ports

Cambrionix SyncPad54 USB Hub Offers 56 USB 2.0 Ports

This week-end FanlessTech posted a tweet about Portwell PEB-9783G2AR Intel Xeon board featuring twenty USB 3.0 Type-A ports. After I retweeted it, some smart asses clever people noted it was just not enough: So I took it as a challenge but miserably failed to find another board with more USB ports. But then I wondered… Are there any USB hubs with an insane amount of USB ports? It won’t be as good as the Portwell board which appears to include 5x USB 3.0 USB hub controllers, but it could still be interesting for people who don’t care too much about bandwidth. The winner in terms of the number of USB ports is Cambrionix SyncPad54 with a cool 54 USB ports. There are plenty of caveats though. SyncPad54 is a USB 2.0 hub, so you’d have to share the 480 Mbps bandwidth among all ports, that’s a lucky 8.88 Mbps per port if all ports are accessed at the same time. […]

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Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 2 Comments on Whiskey Lake Thin Mini ITX SBC Features Eight USB Interfaces, Dual SATA, Dual GbE, and More

Whiskey Lake Thin Mini ITX SBC Features Eight USB Interfaces, Dual SATA, Dual GbE, and More

Advantech AIMB-233 thin mini-ITX SBC is equipped with a choice of 15W Intel Whiskey Lake processors, supporting up to 32GB RAM, and offering plenty of high speed I/Os include eight USB interfaces, two SATA III ports, dual Gigabit Ethernet, several PCIe & M.2 expansion slots, as well as triple display support, six COM ports, and more. The motherboard complies with the “thin mini-ITX” requirement of not exceeding 2.5cm in height, and Advantech expects the thin Mini-ITX SBC to be found in nursing carts, patient care systems, Human-Machine Interfaces (HMI), and mobile devices. AIMB-233 thin mini-ITX SBC specifications: SoC (One or the other) Intel Core i7-8665UE quad-core/octa-thread processor @ up to 1.7 / 4.4 GHz with Intel UHD Graphics 620 – 15W TDP Intel Core i5-8365UE quad-core/octa-thread processor @ up to 1.6 / 4.1 GHz with Intel UHD Graphics 620 – 15W TDP Intel Core i3-8145UE dual-core/quad-thread processor @ up to 2.2 / 3.9 GHz with Intel UHD Graphics 620 – […]

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Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 12 Comments on How to Fix Unreliable USB Hard Drives, Stalled Transfers in Linux

How to Fix Unreliable USB Hard Drives, Stalled Transfers in Linux

Last June, I reviewed a Ryzen Embedded SBC with Windows 10, and the USB hard drive I normally use for review had all sorts of problems including very slow speeds and/or stalled transfers but no error messages. Last week, I tried again by installing Ubuntu 20.04 on the same Ryzen Embedded SBC, and the USB hard drive had troubles again, so just assume there were some hardware incompatibility issues between the SBC and the drive, and there may not be a fix or workaround. Sometimes, it’s indeed a hardware issue with the drive getting too many bad blocks, and if that’s the case, and the drive is still under warranty you can return it and get a fresh new (or refurbished) drive for free. But that drive was still working with my laptop getting around 100MB/s. So I ran out of ideas until numero53 commented he had similar problems with many USB-SATA adapters, and the trick was to disable UAS […]

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Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment on MINIX Unveils USB-C Hub with 960GB SSD, 100W USB Charger

MINIX Unveils USB-C Hub with 960GB SSD, 100W USB Charger

MINIX, the Hong Kong company, is well-known for its Android media hubs and Windows 10 mini PC‘s but in recent years they’ve started designing accessories for Windows & Mac computers and laptops. In the past, we’ve checked out MINIX NEO C Plus USB-C Adapter, an M.2 SSD card pre-loaded Windows 10 Pro for N42C-4 Mini PC, and another USB-C hub with integrated 120 or 240GB SSD. The company has now unveiled four new accessories with three USB-C hubs, including one with a 480GB or 960GB SSD, and one compact 100W USB charger using the latest Gallium Nitride (GaN) technology. This morning, I received two pairs of USB-C hubs with different colors and two 100W USB chargers. The model I did not get – MINIX NEO Storage Pro – is specifically made for Apple MacBook Air and MacBook Pro with built-in SSD storage, HDMI 2.0 up to 4K @ 60 Hz, Thunderbolt 3 and USB 3.0 ports. But that’s all good […]

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Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 6 Comments on Intel Introduces Thunderbolt 4, Showcases MultiPort Thunderbolt 4 Docks

Intel Introduces Thunderbolt 4, Showcases MultiPort Thunderbolt 4 Docks

Intel has just introduced Thunderbolt 4 universal cable connectivity solution for data, video, and power with up to 40 Gbps bandwidth, and USB4 specification compliance. The new standard can support up to four Thunderbolt ports in docks and universal cables up to 2 meters in length. Compared to Thunderbolt 3, Thunderbolt 4 doubles the minimum video and data requirements leading to support for two 4K displays or one 8K display, and PCIe storage speeds up to 3,000 Mbps. It also enables PC charging on at least one computer port and allows you to wake your computer from sleep by touching the keyboard or mouse when connected to a Thunderbolt dock. It also adds mandatory Intel VT-d-based direct memory access (DMA) protection to helps prevent physical DMA attacks. The first processors to integrate Thunderbolt 4 will be “Tiger Lake” mobile processors, and the company also announced the Thunderbolt 4 controller 8000 series compatible with existing Thunderbolt 3 PCs and accessories: JHL8540 […]

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Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment on Maia ESP32-S2 Development Board Features Micro USB OTG Port, Prototyping Area

Maia ESP32-S2 Development Board Features Micro USB OTG Port, Prototyping Area

One of the advantages of the new ESP32-S2 processor is that it offers a USB OTG interface. So far few boards took advantage of the extra interface, and one of the rare ones is Cucumber ESP32-S2 board with a USB-C OTG port. There’s another option with a slightly unusual form factor thanks to Stetel Things’ Maia ESP32-S2 development board with the typical USB-C port for power and debugging, plus a micro USB OTG port, and a small prototyping area. Maia ESP32-S2 development board specifications: SoC – Espressif System ESP32-S2 single-core LX7 processor at up to 240 MHz with an ultra-low-power (ULP) RISC-V CPU, 320KB RAM Storage – 4MB flash Connectivity – 802.11b/g/n WiFi 4 with on-board PCB antenna USB 1x Micro USB  OTG port for data and power 1x USB-C port for programming (virtual UART) and power Expansion 24-pin I/O header “Playground” prototyping area with 4x 18 through holes including columns for GND and 3.3V Debugging – Console via USB-C […]

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