CNX Software - Embedded Systems News

March 23, 2016 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment

WeKast is a HDMI & VGA Wireless Display Dongle for Business Presentations (Crowdfunding)

You have already many options to mirror your mobile device’s screen to a big TV or projector with Chromecast, Miracast adapters, or EZCast dongles. However, if you want to connect it to a projector with a VGA connect you’ll need a separate HDMI to VGA adapter, and some devices may require Internet access, which you may or may not have during your presentations. WeKast dongle have been designed to simplify the process of setting up your presentation on any premises with HDMI and VGA output, and no requirement for WiFi connectivity. Simply copy your presentation on your smartphone, connect the dongle, and you’re ready to get started using WeKast app on your Android or iOS smartphone. WeKast hardware specifications: CPU – 1.6GHz processor System Memory – 1GB RAM Connectivity – 802.11 b/f/n with WPA2 enterprise security Video Output – Female HDMI and female VGA ports USB – 1x micro USB […]

March 22, 2016March 1, 2017 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 36 Comments

NanoPi M1 Allwinner H3 Development Board with HDMI, CVBS, Ethernet and 3 USB Ports Sells for $11 (Sort of)

FriendlyARM has been very busy since the beginning of the year, as they’ve already released NanoPi 2 Fire, NanoPC-T2, and NanoPi-M2 boards, all based on Samsung S5P4418 processor so far in 2016. But they’ve not stopped, as the company has now launched NanoPi M1 board powered by Allwinner H3 processor with a similar form factor as NanoPi-M2, similar features as Orange Pi One, except they added two extra USB ports, an AV port with composite video and stereo audio, an on-board microphone, and an IR receiver. NanoPi-M2 board specifications (highlights show improvements or differences over Orange Pi One): SoC – Allwinner H3 quad core Cortex A7 @ 1.2 GHz with an ARM Mali-400MP2 GPU up to 600 MHz System Memory – 512 MB DDR3 (1GB as option) Storage – micro SD card slot Video & Audio Output – HDMI and 3.5mm jack for CVBS (composite + stereo audio) Connectivity -10/100M […]

March 22, 2016August 7, 2016 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 12 Comments

Getting Started with Wemos D1 mini ESP8266 Board, DHT & Relay Shields

Wemos D1 mini is an ESP8266 board that’s interesting thanks to its size, its low price ($4), micro USB power, its shields, and a documentation that looks fairly good. The board can be programmed with Arduino or Lua, and supports both serial and OTA programming. I’ve decided to give it a try and bought the board together with two temperature shields, a relay shield, and micro SD shield. I got all for $ 14.00 from Wemos Aliexpress shop, and it took about one month for delivery. I can also see they’ve recently released a new OLED shield selling for about $5. All shields were shipped inside their own anti-static bags. The pins are clearly marked on both side of the board and the shields. One side of the board features ESP8266 module. and the other side has CH340 serial to USB chip, and the reset button. The provided headers make […]

March 22, 2016July 11, 2017 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 23 Comments

Rockchip RK3229 based MXQ 4K System Info and Antutu Benchmark

Since MXQ-4K TV box is not working well enough, even after a firmware update, I’ve decided not to do a full review. But since this is the first Rockchip RK3229 device I’ve received, I’ll still share some system information (CPU-Z) and Antutu benchmark results. Rorkchip RK3229 is detected as a quad core Cortex A7 processor between 408 MHz and 1.46 GHz with a Mali-400MP GPU. CPU-Z does not know about it, so it only detect RK3066, meaning the manufacturing process (40 nm) is wrongly reported, and RK3229 is manufactured using a 28nm process. The model us MXQ-4K (rk322x) with the board simply called rk30sdk. They’ve also set the framebuffer resolution to 1280×720 probably due to the limited performance of Mali-400MP GPU. Internal storage is shown to be 3.81GB large, but that’s because I modified the firmware, and it’s now 1.44GB with the latest firmware. Rockchip RK3229 does not support Android […]

March 21, 2016March 21, 2016 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 3 Comments

Decode or Generate QR Codes in Ubuntu with QtQR and zbar-tools

Sometimes I’ve found myself having to decode a QR code on my computer, and usually I’d just get my Android smartphone, use a QR code app to decode it, and send the results to my computer by email. It works, but wouldn’t it be better to simply do this straight from my computer instead? After a few minutes searching, I eventually found out QtQR graphical utility that can both generate and decode QR codes. In Ubuntu and Debian, you can install it as follows:

sudo apt-get install qtqr

1	sudo apt-get install qtqr

You can create a QR code with a given pixel size and level of error correction for text, URL, bookmark, email, phone number, SMS/MMS, WiFi network, and so on, and then use the Save QRCode button to save the resulting picture. If instead you simply want to decode a QR code from an image or your webcam use the Decode button, and the tool will […]

March 21, 2016March 22, 2016 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 14 Comments

GearBest 2nd Anniversary Promo Offers Cheap TV Boxes and Routers

GearBest has become fairly popular since it launched two years ago, mostly thanks to aggressive pricing, promotions, and coupons, and the company is celebrating its anniversary with some more discounts with recent TV boxes as low as $23, routers for $12 and up, and other accessories. Some potentially interesting deals include: Chiptrip MXV S805 TV box with Amlogic S805 and Android 4.4 for $29.99 Beelink X2 TV box with Allwinner H3 and Android 4.4 for $26.89 MX4 TV box running Android 4.4 on Rockchip RK3229 for $22.99 Xiaomi Mi WiFi mini 802.11ac router for $28.49 (Update: also found on eBay for $21.70 shipped) oops that’s the Youth Edition, only 802.11n) EasyCast WiFi Display Dongle for $11.99 NEXX WT3020F OpenWrt compatible router for $12.74 Please note that some are flash sales with 100 to 300 pieces, and discounted prices may not be active right now. [Update: Finally, only the flash sales […]

March 21, 2016August 7, 2016 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 30 Comments

MXQ-4K RK3229 TV Box Firmware Update – March 8, 2016

MXQ-4K is one of the first TV boxes based on Rockchip RK3229 processor, and while it promised a lot with regards to high bitrate 4K H.265, H.264 and VP9 videos, it failed it deliver when I tested some videos from a USB hard drive, and its Antutu score varies from 12,000 to 19,000 depending on the ambient temperature… The company has now released a new firmware, albeit without any changelog. The build number is rk322x-eng 4.4.4 KTU84Q eng.hotack.2016.03.08.102208 test-keys meaning it was build on March 8, 2016. There are about three apps for OTA firmware update in the January firmware, but none of them worked, so I had to update firmware using the “USB OTG” method, meaning all your settings and apps will be wiped out, so if you don’t have a backup, be prepare to re-install everything. So first, you’ll need to download the firmware (MXQ-4K_ota_20160308.zip), and extract it. […]

March 21, 2016March 21, 2016 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

Avnet Introduces Zynq Based MicroZed Industry 4.0 / IIoT Ethernet Kit

There’s a lot of buzz around IoT, and the industrial sector is also trying to build smarter factories using protocols or standards part of Industry 4.0 or Industrial IoT (IIoT) depending on the country or group you belong too. Avnet has just launched MicroZed Industry 4.0 Ethernet Kit (I4EK) based on Xilinx Zynq-7000 ARM & FPGA SoC to address this market with support for the most common industrial protocols such as EtherCAT, Powerlink, PROFINET RT/IRT, EtherNet/IP, and Modbus-TCP. The “brain” of the development board is MicroZed module powered by Zilinx Zynq-7020 dual core Cortex A9 processor with FPGA fabric, and coupled with 1GB RAM, 128 MB SQPI flash, a Gigabit Ethernet port, and various I/Os. The module is connected to MicroZed FMC Carrier board with the following features: 2x 100-pin board-to-board MicroHeaders Xilinx PC4 header for download/debug – Accesses PL JTAG 5x Digilent Pmod compatible interfaces 39 user I/O 1x […]