Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft), Author at CNX Software

December 24, 2024December 24, 2024 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

MECOOL KM9PRO MAX 4K Streaming Box runs Google TV 12.0 on Realtek RTD1325 SoC

MECOOL KM9PRO MAX 4K is a Google TV 12.0 streaming box based on the Realtek RTD1325 quad-core Cortex-A55 SoC which we initially found in the Formuler Z Mini 4K Android 12 dongle. Since it’s a more traditional TV box as opposed to an HDMI dongle, it adds features like 10/100Mbps Ethernet, optical S/PDIF output, an AV composite and audio jack, two USB 2.0 ports, while keeping the 4K-capable HDMI 2.1 port and WiFi 5 and Bluetooth 5.0 connectivity. The KM9PRO Max 4K also comes with a larger 32GB eMMC flash. MECOOL KM9PRO MAX 4K specifications: SoC – Realtek RTD1325 CPU – Quad-core Arm Cortex-A55 @ 1.7GHz with 512KB L3 cache; 20,000 DMIPS GPU – Arm Mali-G57 MC1 with OpenGL ES 3.2 VPU – 4Kp60 10-bit AV1, VP9, H.265 video decoder System Memory – 2GB LPDDR4 Storage – 32GB eMMC flash Video & Audio Output HDMI 2.1 up to 4K resolution […]

December 24, 2024December 23, 2024 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 3 Comments

Sipeed NanoKVM-PCIe is an inexpensive KVM over IP solution with optional WiFi 6 and PoE support

Sipeed NanoKVM-PCIe is a variation of the NanoKVM KVM-over-IP solution introduced last summer, but instead of being a tiny Cube with USB-C power, the new model can be powered through the PCIe slot from the host (as well as USB-C) and adds optional WiFi 6 and PoE functionality. While it’s not based on the LicheePi Nano SBC like the NanoKVM, it relies on the same SOPHGO SG2002 RISC-V/Arm/8051 SoC and offers many of the same ports in a different form factor including 10/100Mbps Ethernet, two USB-C ports one for HID, the other for power, a small OLED information display, and an HDMI input port supporting up to 1080p60. NanoKVM-PCIe specifications: SoC – SOPHGO SG2002 Main core – 1GHz 64-bit RISC-V C906 or Arm Cortex-A53 core (the latter is likely not used here) Minor core – 700MHz 64-bit RISC-V C906 core Low-power core – 25 to 300MHz 8051 MCU core VPU […]

December 23, 2024 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

Sanwa Supply unveils a mouse with receiver acting as a USB/HDMI dock, and a 360-degree USB-C cable

Sanwa Supply wireless mouse USB dock HDMI

Japanese company Sanwa Supply has introduced two unusual devices to the market. First, a wireless mouse with an RF receiver that also acts as a USB dock with HDMI output, followed by a 360-degree USB-C cable to facilitate cable management. Sanwa Supply RF mouse with USB/HDMI dock Sanwa Supply 400-MAWBT209BK (black and silver) and 400-MAWBT209BK2 (black and blue) wireless mice come with a rather large USB Type-C 2.4GHz RF and Bluetooth receiver that not only allows the user to connect the mouse to a computer but also acts as a USB dock with an HDMI output port supporting up to 4Ko60 resolutions for monitors or projectors. The dock also exposes a 5 Gbps USB 3.2 Gen 3 USB Type-C port with PD support up to 100W (90W available to peripherals) which allows the users to connect peripherals such as USB SSD enclosures, memory sticks, and keyboards. Tom’s Hardware reports the […]

December 22, 2024December 24, 2024 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

Raspberry Pi CM5 review with different cooling solutions (and camera tribulations)

Raspberry Pi CM5 IO board cooling heatsink active cooler

The day of Raspberry Pi CM5 release, I published a mini review of the Raspberry Pi Development Kit for CM5 showing how to assemble the kit and boot Raspberry Pi OS, and I also ran sbc-bench benchmark to evaluate the performance. Sadly, the Broadcom BCM2712 CPU did throttle during the test meaning cooling was not optimal when the CM5 IO board was inside the IO Case and the Compute Module 5 was only cooled by the fan. So today, I’ll repeat the same test with other cooling solutions namely the official Raspberry Pi Cooler for CM5 (that’s a heatsink only), and EDATEC’s CM5 active cooler similar to the active cooler for the Raspberry Pi 5, but designed for the CPU module. But before that, I’ll do some house cleaning so to speak since last time, I booted Raspberry Pi OS from an NVMe SSD and I noticed the camera did […]

December 21, 2024December 24, 2024 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 21 Comments

Rockchip RK3588 mainline Linux support – Current status and future work for 2025

The Rockchip RK3588 is one of the most popular Arm SoCs for single board computers, and while good progress has been made with regards to mainline u-boot and Linux support, the SoC is quite complex and it takes time to port all its features even though it was first teased in 2020 and the first Rockchip RK3588 SBCs were introduced in 2022. While the simpler Rockchip RK3566 and RK3568 SoCs are already fairly well supported in mainline Linux, more work is needed to upstream code, and as noted before in posts and comments here, Collabora keeps track of the status on Gitlab, and the company recently posted an article about the progress and future plans related to upstream Linux support for Rockchip RK3588. Rockchip RK3588 mainline Linux progress in 2024 Linux 6.7 kernel – Network support on the Radxa ROCK 5B using a 2.5GbE PCIe controller. Linux 6.8 kernel – […]

December 20, 2024December 20, 2024 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 2 Comments

STM32MP135 Pico-ITX SBC features 38x32mm EBYTE CPU module with 512MB RAM, 512MB NAND flash

EBYTE STM32MP135 Cortex-A7 Pico-ITX single board computer

EBYTE ECB10-135A5M5M-I is a pico-ITX single board computer (SBC) equipped with a small STM32MP135 Arm Cortex-A7 CPU module from the company equipped with 512MB DDR3L, 512MB NAND flash, a Gigabit Ethernet PHY, and power circuitry. The industrial-grade SBC itself features RGB and HDMI 2.0 connectors supporting up to 1366×768 resolution, 3.5mm Line in and out jacks, several USB connectors, and two “UIO” expansion ports with RS485, RS485, CAN Bus, GPIO, and other I/Os. These features make the board suitable for industrial automation, smart cities, display and control terminals, and other industrial applications. EBYTE ECB10-135A5M5M-I specifications: EBYTE ECK10-135A5M5M-I core board SoC – STMicro STM32MP135AAF3 single-core Arm Cortex-A7 core clocked at 650MHz System Memory – 512MB DDR3L Storage – 512MB SLC NAND flash Networking – Gigabit Ethernet PHY Host interface – 128-pin stamp holes Power Management 3.3V/1A power input PMIC – STPMIC1APQR 2x 1.7-3.0V LDO with 350mA max current Dimensions – 38 […]

December 20, 2024December 20, 2024 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 2 Comments

WeAct RP2350A_V20 is a cheap Raspberry Pi RP2350 board with up to 16MB flash

WeAct RP2350A_V20 may be the world’s cheapest Raspberry Pi RP2350 board around with a design similar to the official Raspberry Pi Pico 2, but featuring a black PCB, a Reset button, a USB-C port and offered with either 4MB or 16MB flash. WeAct is selling its RP2350 board for $3.47 (4MB) and $4.46 (16MB) respectively before shipping and potential taxes are taken into account. WeAct RP2350A_V20 specifications: SoC – Raspberry Pi RP2350A CPU Dual-core Arm Cortex-M33 @ 150 MHz with Arm Trustzone, Secure boot OR Dual-core RISC-V Hazard3 @ 150 MHz Up to two cores can be used in any combination Memory – 520 KB on-chip SRAM Package – QFN-60 Storage – 4 MB or 16MB on-board QSPI flash USB – USB Type-C 1.1 host/device connector for power and programming Expansion – 2x 20-pin headers 26x GPIO 2x UART 2x SPI controllers 2x I2C controllers 16x PWM channels 3x ADC […]

December 20, 2024December 19, 2024 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 3 Comments

$59 Voice “Preview Edition” adds an offline smart speaker to your Home Assistant server

Nabu Casa has just launched the Home Assistant Voice Preview Edition, a little ESP32 device with an XMOS XU316 audio processor, a dual-microphone array, an internal speaker, and a 3.5mm audio jack, that adds offline smart speaker functions to your Home Assistant server through WiFi. If your Home Assistant server is powerful enough, voice processing will be done directly on your local hardware using Home Assistant Voice software, but with lower-end hardware like a Raspberry Pi 4, audio processing can be done via a privacy-focused cloud instead. The solution also supports expansion thanks to a Grove connector on the bottom of the device. Voice Preview Edition specifications: SoC – Espressif ESP32-S3 dual-core Xtensa LX7 @ up to 240 MHz with vector extension for ML acceleration, 2.4 GHz WiFi & Bluetooth 5.0 LE connectivity Memory- 8 MB octal PSRAM Storage – 16 MB flash Audio DSP/Processor – XMOS XU316 with 16 […]