ODROID N2+ Ubuntu 21.10 review
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ODROID-N2+ review with Ubuntu 21.10 using Wayland and Panfrost

ODROID-N2+ was launched in July 2020, but I only got the Amlogic S922X Rev C SBC recently with Hardkernel wanting me to test their latest Ubuntu 21.10 image with the Panfrost open-source GPU driver. ODROID-N2+ Kit Unboxing Let’s start by checking out the kit I received from the Korean SBC manufacturer. The package includes ODROID-N2+ single board computer fitted with a 32GB eMMC flash module, a 12V/2A power supply with an EU plug adapter, an 80mm fan kit, and a USB 3.0 to eMMC reader. ODROID-N2+ is now only available with 4GB RAM, as the old ODROID-N2 with 2GB was deprecated, and we get four USB 3.0 ports, HDMI 2.0 video output,  Gigabit Ethernet networking, and a 40-pin GPIO header with the board cooled by a larger heatsink attached to the bottom of the board. Fan installation, first boot, and system information As we’ll see below the fan is not […]

Libero SoC Windows Silver License ACTEL_BASESOC
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My experience installing Libero SoC in Ubuntu and Windows 10

A few weeks ago, I received Microchip PolarFire SoC FPGA Icicle Kit with FPGA fabric and hard RISC-V cores capable of handling Linux. I wrote “Getting Started with Yocto Linux BSP” tutorial for the board, and I had initially titled the current post “Getting Started with FPGA development using Libero SoC and Polarfire FPGA SoC”. I assumed I would write one or two paragraphs about the installation process, and then show how to work with Libero SoC Design Suite to create an FPGA bitstream. But instead, I spent countless hours trying to install the development tools. So I’ll report my experience to let readers avoid some of the pitfalls, and hopefully save time. (Failing to) Install Libero SoC v2021.v2 on Ubuntu 20.04 If we go to the download page, we’ll see Libero SoC v2021.2 for Windows and Libero SoC v2021.2 for Linux. Since my computer is running Ubuntu 20.04, I decided […]

ArmSoM RK3588 AIModule7 NVIDIA Jetson Nano-compatible SOM
OpenBSD 7.0
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OpenBSD 7.0 adds 64-bit RISC-V, improves Apple Arm silicon support

OpenBSD 7.0, the 51st release of the UNIX-like operating system, was outed on October 14, 2021, with the introduction of 64-bit RISC-V support for HiFive Unmatched and PolarFire SoC Icicle Kit boards, as well as further improvements to ARM64 targets, notably for Apple Silicon Macs, although it’s not quite ready for general use yet. You’ll find the complete list of new features and updates on the OpenBSD website, but here are some of the highlights: New platforms – OpenBSD 7.0 add 64-bit RISC-V support Extended platforms arm64 Improvements to Apple Silicon Macs support USB 3, NVMe storage, GPIO driver, power management, etc… Enabled LEDs for the LAN7800 chip as found on the Raspberry Pi 3 Model B+. Added Type-C PHY controller found on the Rockchip RK3399. Implemented multicast support to Marvell ARMADA chips Various other changes to mips64, amd64, armv7, powerpc64 Kernel improvements Enabled dynamic tracker (dt) for GENERIC kernels […]

Getting Started Guide PolarFire SoC FPGA Icicle Kit
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Getting Started with the Yocto Linux BSP for Polarfire SoC FPGA Icicle Kit

Last month I received Microchip PolarFire SoC FPGA Icicle development kit that features PolarFire SoC FPGA with a Penta–core 64-bit RISC-V CPU subsystem and an FPGA with 254K LE, and booted it into the pre-installed Linux operating systems based on OpenEmbedded. Today, I’ll show how to get started with the Yocto BSP and run the EEMBC CoreMark benchmark, and I’ll check out the FPGA with Libero SoC Design Suite in a couple of weeks. Operating Systems supported by PolarFire SoC FPGA My initial idea was to focus this part of the review on Linux on RISC-V status, checking some system information, running some benchmarks (e.g. SBC-Bench), compiling the Linux kernel, and installing services like a LEMP stack (Linux, Nginx (pronounced Engine-X), MySQL, PHP) which could be used for WordPress hosting for instance. But then I looked at the operating systems supported with Microchip PolarFire SoC FPGA. There’s a Yocto Linux […]

AYN Odin game console
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AYN Odin – A Dockable portable game console offered with Snapdragon 845 or Dimensity 900 (Crowdfunding)

AYN Odin is a 6-inch portable game console powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 or MediaTek Dimensity 900 processor and offered with an optional dock with an HDMI port to connect it to a large screen, various ports for controllers, and even a 2.5-inch SATA bay. It offers a much more powerful experience, a larger display, a more recent Android 10/11 OS, and better multiplayer abilities than the Amlogic S905D3 powered Powkiddy A20 portable game console we have just covered. Three models of the Odin are offered with the Lite, Base, and Pro model differing in terms of processors, and/or storage and memory: SoC Odin Lite – MediaTek Dimensity 900 octa-core processor with 2x Cortex-A78 cores @ 2.4 GHz, 6x Cortex-A55 cores @ 2.0 GHz, Mali-G68 MC4 GPU Odin Base/Pro – Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 octa-core processor with 4x Kryo Gold (Cortex A75) cores @ 2.8 GHz, 4x Kryo Silver (Cortex A55) […]

Arm Linux Computer AIO Russia
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Desktop and All-in-One Arm Linux computers launched with Baikal-M processor

The last time we wrote news about Baikal Electronics, the Russian company was offering MIPS-based processors, but they’ve now announced that several iRU-branded desktops and one all-in-one computer had been introduced with Baikal-M octa-core Cortex-A57 processor with Mali-T628 GPU, and support for up to 32GB DDR4 RAM, up to 3TB HDD. The computers target the Russian market, especially business to business (B2B) and business to government (B2G) customers, with the use of Astra Linux distribution that contains Russian “data protection tools” such as ViPNet SafeBoot, PAK Sobol, and others. iRU Opal Baikal-M Arm Linux SFF & microtower computers We’ve used to find Arm processors into really compact fanless systems, but it’s the case for iRU Opal computers with two form factors offered: SFF (Small Form Factor) and MT (Microtower). The company says the systems are offered with up to 32 GB DDR4 DIMM memory, up to 1TB SSD storage, and […]

Rockchip RK3568, RK3588 and Intel x86 SBCs and SoMs in 2025
50 dollars intel atom sbc
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Intel Atom x5-Z8350 SBC sells for as low as $50 shipped

UP Core is an Intel Atom x5-Z8350 SBC that was introduced in 2017 with 1 to 4GB RAM, 16GB to 64GB eMMC flash storage, and just two ports, namely for HDMI and USB 3.0. The main advantage of the board is its small size (66×56.5 mm). The board is now on backorder for $129 in 2GB/32GB configuration on the official UP Shop, but somehow an Aliexpres store is currently selling 999 pieces of a “Mini Z8350 2G Add 32G Atom Motherboard” that looks exactly like the UP Core board, for $63.99 including shipping (and a heatsink). Note the seller is relatively new, having registered in May 2021 with only 7 followers, so there may be risks involved. Mini Z8350 motherboard specifications (taken from UP Core specs): SoC – Intel Atom x5-Z8350 “Cherry Trail” quad-core processor @ 1.44 GHz / 1.92 GHz (Burst frequency) with Intel HD 400 graphics @ 200 […]

USB LoRaWAN GPS tracker adapter
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TTGO T-Motion USB adapter offers LoRa and GPS for under $30

USB adapters are one of the easiest ways to add new features to existing hardware, and if you’d like to add LoRa connectivity and GPS tracking to any device or board with a USB board TTGO T-Motion USB adapter offers just that. Manufactured by LilyGO, the USB dongle is based on AcSiP S76G system-in-package that integrates an STM32 MCU with a Semtech SX1276 LoRa transceiver and GPS into a single. The GPS antenna is placed on the board inside the enclosure, while the external LoRa antenna is connected through an SMA connector. TTGO T-motion specifications: SiP – AcSiP S76G system-in-package with STMicro STM32L073x Arm Cortex M0+ MCU with up to 192 KB of Flash memory and 20 KB of RAM, Semtech SX1276 supporting global 868 MHz or 915 MHz ISM-Bands, Sony CXD5603GF GNSS receiver. Antenna Internal GPS antenna External LoRa antenna Host interface – USB 2.0 male port Misc – […]

Boardcon CM3588 Rockchip RK3588 System-on-Module designed for AI and IoT applications