FriendlyELEC CM3588 NAS Kit is a new Rockchip RK3588 board with four M.2 Key-M sockets each with a PCIe Gen 3 x1 interface and designed to take 2280 NVMe SSDs or other M.2 PCIe modules.
Equipped with the CM3588 Core system-on-module, the feature-rich CM3588 NAS SDK board also comes with a 2.5GbE RJ45 connector, two HDMI 2.1 video outputs, one HDMI 2.0 video input, MIPI DSI and CSI connectors, several USB 3.0/3.1 ports, and a 40-pin GPIO header for expansion.
FriendlyELEC CM3588 NAS Kit specifications:
- System-on-Module – CM3588 Core board
- SoC – Rockchip RK3588
- System Memory – 4GB, 8GB, or 16GB LPDDR4x @ 2133 MHz
- Storage – Optional 64GB eMMC flash
- Audio – Realtek ALC5616 audio codec
- Networking – Realtek RTL8125BG 2.5GbE controller
- 4x 100-pin high-density board-to-board connectors with USB 3.0/2.0, PCIe Gen 3 x4, 2.5GbE, HDMI Tx/Rx, GPIOs, etc…
- PMIC – Rockchip RK806-1 power management IC
- Dimensions – 65 x 55 mm (8-layer PCB)
- Weight – About 21 grams
- Carrier board – CM3588 NAS SDK
- Storage
- Up to 4x M.2 2280 NVMe SSDs (see Expansion section for details)
- MicroSD card slot
- Footprint for SPI flash
- Video Output
- 2x HDMI 2.1 ports, one up to 8Kp60, the other up to 4Kp60
- 1x DisplayPort via USB-C up to 4Kp60
- 4-lane MIPI DSI connector
- Video Input
- 1x HDMI 2.0 input port up to 4Kp60
- 4-lane MIPI CSI connector
- Audio – 3.5mm audio output jack, 2-pin microphone connector, built-in PWM buzzer
- Networking – 2.5GbE RJ45 port
- USB
- 2x USB 3.0 Type-A ports
- 1x USB 3.0 USB-C DRP (dual-role) port with DisplayPort support up to 4Kp60
- 1x USB 2.0 host port
- Expansion
- 4x M.2 2280 PCIe sockets each with PCIe 3.0 x1
- 40-pin GPIO header with up to 2 x SPI, 6x UART, 1x I2Cs, 8x PWM, 2x I2S, 28x GPIO
- Misc
- 2-pin RTC battery connector
- IR receiver
- Fan connector
- MASK button for eMMC flash update, reset button, power button, recovery mode button, and user button
- 4x LEDs for SSDs
- 3-pin debug UART header
- Power Supply – 12V DC via power barrel jack or 2-pole terminal block
- Dimensions – 160 x 116 mm (4-layer PCB)
- Temperature Range – 0 to 70°C
- Storage
It’s not exactly the first Rockchip RK3588(S) hardware platform from the company with previous products including the NanoPi R6S router and NanoPC-T6 SBC, so the CM3588 Core board, and by extension, the CM3588 NAS Kit, benefit from the software work done on the previous devices, and FriendlyELEC provides Debian 11, Ubuntu 22.04, Android 12 TV, FriendlyWrt 21.02/23.05 (OpenWrt forks), and OpenMediaVault images, all based on a fairly recent Linux 6.1 LTS kernel. You’ll find all those images and various instructions to get started on the wiki for the CM3588 Core board. There’s also a separate wiki for the CM3588 NAS SDK carrier board that mostly lists the specifications and provides links to the schematics, PCB layout, and mechanical files.
Pricing for the CM3588 Core module with heatsink starts at $95 with 4GB RAM and no flash, while the CM3588 NAS Kit with the Core module with heatsink and th CM3588 NAS SDK carrier board starts at $130. You’d still need a 12V/2A power supply and a microSD card to boot the OS, so some people may consider a kit with an 8GB+64GB Core module, the carrier board, and a 12V/2A power supply instead for $154.89 plus shipping. The variant with 16GB RAM adds an extra $15.
Jean-Luc started CNX Software in 2010 as a part-time endeavor, before quitting his job as a software engineering manager, and starting to write daily news, and reviews full time later in 2011.
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