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Libre Computer ROC-RK3328-CC now supports Ubuntu 22.04 with Linux 5.18.2

Libre Computer’s latest Ubuntu 22.04 desktop and server images for ROC-RK3328-CC board are based on Linux mainline, namely Linux 5.18.2, and other boards from the company, based on Allwinner H2+/H5 processor or Amlogic S905X, have gotten the same treatment. Some companies will churn out boards regularly but provide limited software support. Libre Computer seems to have taken a different approach, as they released most of their board in 2017 and 2018, starting with AML-S905X-CC “Le Potato” board based on the Amlogic S905X processor, followed by ALL-H3-CC “Tritium” SBC with Allwinner H2+, H3, or H5 processor, and finally ROC-RK3328-CC “Renegade” board, but still release updated OS images in 2022. I reviewed ROC-RK3328-CC SBC with Debian 9 and Ubuntu 18.04 using Linux 4.4 in July 2018, and four years later, you might have thought such boards could have become abandonware, but Libre Computer just released Ubuntu 22.04 Desktop and Server image with […]

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Espressif unveils “One-Stop Matter Solution” for ESP32 wireless SoC’s

Espressif Systems have announced their one-stop Matter solution that features their ESP32, ESP32-C, and ESP32-S series wireless microcontrollers with WiFi and/or Bluetooth LE connectivity, as well as the ESP32-H series with an 802.15.4 radio for Thread and Zigbee connectivity. Matter, which was first introduced in 2019 as Project CHIP, aims to improve interoperability among Smart Home products, has a focus on security, and the protocol is supposed to work on top of the most popular communication standards like Ethernet, Thread, 802.15.4, WiFI, Bluetooth, and so on, but more on that later. The first commercial products with support for Matter are scheduled for the end of the year, so all major vendors of wireless chips have already introduced Matter-ready solutions including NXP, Silicon Labs, Nordic Semi, and others. Espressif had actually already talked about Matter support with the announcement of the ESP32-C2 chip. But the recent announcement targets all Espressif’s ESP32 […]

Khadas Edge2 Arm mini PC
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Seeed Studio outs $5 XIAO ESP32C3 board with WiFi and BLE, battery support

Seeed Studio’s XIAO family of tiny MCU boards expands with the XIAO ESP32C3 board equipped with ESP32-C3 WiFi and Bluetooth LE (BLE) microcontroller, support for LiPo batteries, and following the same 21 x 17.5mm form factor. If I’m counting right, this is the fifth member following the original XIAO based on Microchip SAMD21G18 Cortex-M0+ MCU, XIAO RP2040, and the nRF52840-based XIAO BLE and XIAO BLE Sense boards which I tested with Edge Impulse. XIAO ESP32C3 specifications: Wireless MCU –  Espressif Systems ESP32-C3 single-core RISC-V microcontroller @ 160 MHz with 400KB SRAM, 384KB ROM, 4MB flash Wi-Fi 4 & Bluetooth LE 5.0 connectivity Antenna – External u.FL antenna USB – USB Type-C port for power and programming Expansion I/Os 2x 7-pin headers with 1x UART, 1x I2C, 1x SPI, 11x GPIO (PWM), 4x ADC, I2S 3.3V I/O voltage (not 5V tolerant) Debugging – JTAG pads Misc – Reset button, Boot button, […]

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Beelink MINI S Review – A Low-cost mini PC tested with Ubuntu 22.04 and Windows 11

Whilst the first mini PCs were relatively simplistic using low-powered Intel Atom processors with minimal memory, storage, and ports, more recent mini PCs have become so advanced they can challenge SFF builds for both performance and functionality. However, such mini PCs come with prices to match. Beelink has now released the MINI S which is a mini PC that goes back to the basics and is based on a cut-down version of their earlier Beelink U59 mini PC and priced to match. Beelink kindly sent one for review and I’ve looked at performance running both Windows and Ubuntu and compared it directly against the U59. Beelink MINI S hardware overview The Beelink MINI S physically consists of a 115 x 102 x 41mm (4.53 x 4.02 x 1.61 inches) square plastic case. As an actively cooled mini PC, it uses Intel’s new 10 nm Jasper Lake N5095 processor which is […]

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MNT Pocket Reform 7-inch modular mini laptop takes a range of Arm (and FPGA) modules

MNT Pocket Reform is an open-source hardware mini laptop with a 7-inch Full HD display, an ortholinear mechanical keyboard, and trackball, that follows the path of its older and bigger sibling:  the MNT Reform 2 laptop initially launched with an NXP i.MX 8M quad-core Arm Cortex-A53 module. The new laptop will not only support a similar “NXP i.MX 8M Plus” module but also a range of other Arm modules namely an NXP Layerscape LS1028A module with up to 16GB RAM, the Raspberry Pi CM4 module via an adapter, Pine64 SOQuartz (RK3566, up to 8GB RAM), as well as based on AMD Xilinx Kintex-7 FPGA for industrial use. MNT Pocket Reform specifications: Available system-on-modules Standard: NXP i.MX 8M Plus quad-core Arm Cortex-A53 @ 1.8GHz with 4 or 8 GB DDR4, Vivante GC7000UL GPU, 2.3 TOPS NPU NXP Layerscape LS1028A dual-core Arm Cortex-A72 with 8 or 16GB DDR4, Vivante GC7000UL GPU Raspberry […]

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ICE-V Wireless FPGA board combines Lattice Semi iCE40 UltraPlus with WiFi & BLE module

Lattice Semi ICE40 boards are pretty popular notably thanks to the availability of open-source tools. ICE-V Wireless is another ICE40 UltraPlus FPGA board that also adds wireless support through an ESP32-C3-MINI-1 module with WiFi 4 and Bluetooth LE connectivity. Designed by QWERTY Embedded Design, the board also comes with 8MB PSRAM, offers three PMOD expansion connectors, plus a header for GPIOs, and supports power from USB or a LiPo battery (charging circuit included). ICE-V Wireless specifications: FPGA – Lattice Semi ICE40UP5K-SG48 FPGA with 5280 LUTs, 120 Kbits EBR RAM, 1024 Kbits PSRAM External RAM – 8MB PSRAM Wireless – ESP32-C3-MINI-1 module with 2.4 GHz WiFi 4 and Bluetooth LE through ESP32-C3 RISC-V processor, 4MB flash. USB – 1x USB Type-C port for power, programming, and JTAG debugging of the ESP32-C3 module Expansions 3x PMOD connectors connected to the FPGA I/O connector with 7x ESP32-C3 GPIO lines (serial, ADC, I2C) and […]

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DevTerm portable Linux terminal now supports Raspberry Pi CM4 via a $19 adapter

DevTerm modular, portable Linux terminal initially designed for modules based on Raspberry Pi CM3 form factor, can now work with Raspberry Pi CM4 for extra performance and memory thanks to a $19  adapter. The Devterm was initially launched in 2020 with a 6.8-inch IPS screen, a keyboard with 67 keys, and a battery module, all connected through the ClockworkPi v3.14 carrier board taking a choice of core modules based on Allwinner H6 or Rockchip RK3399 (now supported in Armbian), besides the Raspberry Pi Compute Module 3 mentioned above. More recently, it also got an Allwinner D1 RISC-V module. The Raspberry Pi CM4 module should bring performance similar to the Rockchip RK3399 module for most tasks, although it may vary a lot depending on workloads, and for regular Raspberry Pi users, software that will be more familiar, and may be better supported. I’ve just a bit surprised it took so long, […]

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Arm Linux IoT gateway ships with up to 8GB RAM, offers dual GbE, 4G LTE, WiFi 6, BLE 5.3, GNSS connectivity

Compulab IOT-GATE-IMX8PLUS is a new Arm Linux IoT gateway powered by NXP i.MX 8M Plus SoC with up to 8GB RAM, 128GB storage, and plenty of connectivity options with dual Gigabit Ethernet, WiFi 6, Bluetooth 5.3 LE, and 4G LTE connectivity, as well as GNNS support and RS485/RS232 interfaces. The new IoT gateway builds upon theArm SystemReady IR certified IOT-GATE-IMX8 industrial gateway, but offers more RAM and storage, a 2.8 TOPS AI accelerator (in the NXP processor), improved connectivity, as well as a DVI-D port for video output. Compulab IOT-GATE-IMX8PLUS specifications: SoC – NXP i.MX8M Plus Quad or Quad-lite quad-core Arm Cortex-A53 processor @ up to 1.8 GHz with Arm Cortex-M7 real-time core @ 800 MHz, Vivante GC7000UL 3D GPU, Vivante GC520L 2D GPU,  1080p H.265/H.264 video decoder & encoder, HiFi 4 DSP,  2.3 TOPS Neural Processing Unit (NPU) System Memory – 1GB to 8GB LPDDR4 Storage – 16GB to […]

Khadas VIM4 SBC