Debian 12 and Linux upstreaming for the Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite SoC

Debian Snapdragon Elite X SoC

When Qualcomm launched the powerful 4.2 GHz Snapdragon X Elite 12-core Arm SoC for “mobile PCs” (better known as laptops), I was surprised they showed benchmarks for both Windows and Linux as in the past, the company focused on Windows only for this type of processor. But at the time we were only shown Geekbench 6.2 results in Linux, so it was not clear what was supported at the time. But a recent post by Abel Vesa, Linaro engineer, explains a fully working Debian 12 image with GPU rendering and WiFi connectivity was ready right before launch and work is now being done to upstream the code to Linux mainline. In this post, he shares the Linux upstreaming plan and provides instructions to install Debian 12 on an official Snapdragon X Elite reference design. Upstreaming will be done in two parts, starting with support for the following: Qualcomm Oryon CPUs Clocks, […]

How I “fixed” the display on Lichee Console 4A terminal

How to fix Lichee Console 4A display

When I wrote a hands-on post about Lichee Console 4A RISC-V development terminal I noted the display would sometimes have strange effects or simply go black. I’ve now fixed the issue, and I was just probably unlucky since the issue must be rare, but I’ll still document it in case somebody encounters a similar problem and for fun! First, the video below shows what I would see on my terminal after using it for a few minutes. Since then, the display has gone completely dark, and all I see is the backlight, but I can still access the device through an SSH terminal. It looks like a bad connection issue, but I still contacted Sipeed and they told me it must have been the display connector. So I turned off the device and reopened the enclosure to remove and reinsert the cable for the display as shown in the photo […]

Lichee Console 4A portable RISC-V development terminal review – Part 1: Unboxing, teardown, and hands on

RISC-V mini laptop review

Sipeed has just sent me a “Lichee Console 4A portable RISC-V development terminal” for review. It’s a quad-core RISC-V mini laptop based on the Alibaba T-Head TH1520 processor with a 7-inch touchscreen display, and my model is equipped with a Lichee LM4A module fitted with 16GB RAM and 128GB eMMC flash. I’ll start the review of the RISC-V developer kit with an unboxing, a teardown, and a quick try with the preinstalled Debian 12 “Bookworm” image, before testing the latter in the second part of the review. The second part will take some time as we have about twenty reviews planned for now, four of which I’ll be taking care of myself… Lichee Console 4A unboxing I received the device in a package indicating I had been sent the 16GB+128GB model and reading “Lichee Console 4A portable RISC-V developer terminal” which makes it clear it’s based on RISC-V, is portable […]

NanoPC-T6 LTS SBC adds USB ports, 32MB SPI flash, drops 4G LTE support

NanoPC-T6 LTS

NanoPC-T6 LTS is an update to the Rockchip RK3588-powered NanoPC-T6 SBC introduced in May 2023, which removes the mini PCIe socket and SIM card slot for 4G LTE connectivity, but adds two USB 2.0 ports, a USB-C debug port, a 10-pin header with UART and USB 2.0, and comes with 32MB SPI flash by default. The single board computer is offered with up to 16GB RAM and 256GB eMMC flash and also features M.2 sockets for NVMe storage and a wireless module, two 2.5GbE RJ45 ports, two HDMI 2.1 output ports, one HDMI 2.0 input port, MIPI DSI and CSI interfaces, and a 40-pin GPIO header for expansion. NanoPC-T6 LTS specifications with changes in bold or strikethrough: SoC – Rockchip RK3588 CPU – Octa-core processor with 4x Cortex-A76 cores @ up to 2.4 GHz, 4x Cortex-A55 cores @ 1.8 GHz GPU – Arm Mali-G610 MP4 GPU with support for OpenGL […]

NanoPi R2S Plus dual GbE SBC and router gets 32GB flash, USB-C debug port, M.2 socket for WiFi

NanoPi R2 Plus

NanoPi R2S Plus dual GbE SBC and router is an update to the Rockchip RK3328-powered NanoPi R2S SBC that was introduced in 2020 with the new model adding a 32GB eMMC flash, a USB-C debug port for easier debugging without having to open the enclosure, and an M.2 socket for an optional SDIO WiFi module. The NanoPi R2 Plus still comes with 1GB DDR4 memory, a microSD card, two gigabit Ethernet ports implemented through the RK3328’s GMAC and a USB 3.0 controller, adds one extra USB 2.0 port, and ditches the micro USB port used for power with a USB-C port. NanoPi R2S Plus specifications: SoC – Rockchip RK3328 quad-core Cortex-A53 @ 1.5 GHz with Arm Mali-450MP2 System Memory – 1GB DDR4 RAM Storage – 32GB eMMC flash, MicroSD card slot, SPI flash footprint Connectivity 1x Gigabit Ethernet (WAN) up to 941 Mbps (measured) via Realtek RTL8211F gigabit Ethernet controller […]

Radxa X2L Intel Celeron J4125 SBC goes for as low as $39

Radxa X2L

Radxa X2L is an inexpensive Intel Celeron J4125 Gemini Lake Refresh single board computer (SBC) that ships with 2GB to 8GB RAM, an M.2 socket for SSD storage, another M.2 socket for a wireless module, and offers a range of ports such as dual HDMI, gigabit Ethernet, four USB port, and a 40-pin GPIO header. The price starts at $39, a price point that reminds me of the Atomic Pi SBC introduced a few years ago with an Atom X5 Cherry Trail processor, but the Radxa X2L is easier to use, offers better performance and modern features, as well as a low-profile form factor that’s about the size of a smartphone, just a bit thicker. Radxa X2L specifications: SoC – Intel Celeron J4125 quad-core Gemini Lake Refresh processor @ 2.0 / 2.7 GHz (Turbo) with Intel UHD Graphics 600 @ 250/750 MHz; 10W TDP MCU – Raspberry Pi RP2040 microcontroller […]

Sipeed Longan Pi3H – A Raspberry Pi Zero-sized board with gigabit Ethernet, WiFi 6, HDMI, and USB ports

Lichee Longan Pi3H

Sipeed Longan Pi3H is a Raspberry Pi Zero-sized single board computer (SBC) powered by an Allwinner H618 quad-core Cortex-A53 processor and equipped with full-size connectors namely an HDMI 2.0 video output, two USB 2.0 Type-A ports, and a gigabit Ethernet RJ45 jack. It also offers WiFi 6 and Bluetooth 5.4 connectivity, features the usual 40-pin GPIO header found in Pi Zero boards and relies on a USB OTG Type-C port for power. Its design is unusual for a board of that size, not only because of the full-size ports, but also because it’s comprised of a carrier board and a replaceable LM3H CPU module with the Allwinner H618 SoC, RAM, and eMMC flash. Sipeed Longan Pi3H specifications: SoC – Allwinner H618 CPU – Quad-core Arm Cortex-A53 processor @ up to 1.5GHz with 1MB L2 cache GPU – Arm Mali-G31 MP2 GPU with support for OpenGL ES 1.0/2.0/3.2, OpenCL 2.0, Vulkan […]

Radxa CM3S Rockchip RK3566 SODIMM system-on-module supports up to 8GB RAM, 128GB flash, wireless module

Radxa CM3S Compute Module 3 SODIMM

Radxa CM3S (Compute Module 3 SODIMM), also called the ROCK3 Compute Module SODIMM, is a system-on-module with a 200-pin SO-DIMM edge connector powered by a Rockchip RK3566 processor with up to 8GB RAM, 128GB eMMC flash, and an optional wireless module with WiFi 4 and Bluetooth 4.2. It follows the company’s CM3 module with Raspberry Pi CM4 form factor based on the same Rockchip RK3566 SoC, but in a more compact SO-DIMM form factor with a 200-pin edge connector that’s compatible with the Raspberry Pi Compute Module 3/3+, but not compatible with NVIDIA’s Jetson Nano, Xavier NX, and Orin NX 260-pin SO-DIMM modules, and you’d need to wait for the upcoming Radxa NX5 instead… Radxa CM3S specifications can be found below along with the ones for the Radxa CM3 and Rockchip RK3568-based Radxa CM3I system-on-modules. Note that some of the specifications differ depending on where you look on the Radxa […]

EDATEC Raspberry Pi 5 fanless case