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

January 30, 2025January 30, 2025 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

ACMER P3 48W laser engraver review with ACMER AP220 Smoke Air Purifier, LightBurn software, MKSLaser app

Today, we’ll review the ACMER P3 48W laser engraver suitable for engraving and cutting various materials such as wood, acrylic, leather, and coated thin metals. It has a fully enclosed design protecting against laser light and reducing smoke in the room for better safety. The laser engraver also supports air filtration through the ACMER AP220 air purifier which we received for review as part of a full kit. Additionally, the P3 48W comes with a built-in camera for precise work positioning and previewing before engraving or cutting begins. Other safety features include automatic operation shutdown when the machine cover is opened. Users can import files through USB, Wi-Fi, or SD card, and the machine is compatible with popular software like LightBurn and LaserGRBL, as well as the ACMER mobile app, making it easier to use with file formats such as PNG, JPG, SVG, and DXF. ACMER P3 48W laser engraver […]

January 30, 2025 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 6 Comments

Kidwants KN1 is a $104 mini PC with a large touchpad on its top cover

Most mini PCs have pretty much the same features these days, but the Kidwants KN1 mini PC has a rather unique feature since it integrates a touchpad in its top cover allowing the user to interact without a mouse. The specifications are low-end with an Intel Celeron N4000 dual-core Gemini Lake processor first introduced in 2017, 8GB LPDDR4 RAM, and 128GB eMMC flash. The mini PC also offers two 4K-capable HDMI video outputs, Ethernet and WiFi 5 connectivity, five USB ports, and an audio jack. Kidwants KN1 specifications: SoC – Intel Celeron N4000 dual-core Gemini Lake processor @ 1.10 GHz / 2.6 GHz (Turbo) with Intel UHD graphics; 6W TDP System Memory – 8GB LPDDR4 RAM Storage 128GB eMMC flash M.2 2280 SATA socket for up to 1TB SSD Video – 2x HDMI ports up to 4Kp60 Audio – 3.5mm audio jack Connectivity Gigabit Ethernet RJ45 port Dual-band Wi-Fi 5 […]

January 29, 2025March 3, 2025 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 36 Comments

Radxa Orion O6 Review – Part 1: Unboxing, Debian 12 installation, and first benchmarks

Radxa sent me a sample of the Orion O6 mini-ITX motherboard for review. The system is powered by an CIX P1 (CD8180) 12-core Armv9 processor, equipped with 16GB RAM, and offers features like 5GbE, HDMI and DisplayPort, a PCIe Gen4 x16 slot, and more. It’s one of the most anticipated boards of the first part of 2025 since it’s powerful, offers a good performance/value ratio, and eventually promises to boot any ISO Arm64 image through an open-source BIOS / EDKII bootloader. I’ll start this review with an unboxing, NVMe SSD and WiFi module installation, and a short tutorial showing how to install Debian 12 operating systems before getting some system information and running a few benchmarks. In a few weeks, I’ll publish a more detailed review with features testing and more benchmarks to see what works and what doesn’t at this very early stage. Radxa Orion O6 unboxing I received […]

January 29, 2025 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 4 Comments

V-Link leverages GMSL2 to extend Raspberry Pi camera with up to 15-meter cable (Crowdfunding)

Videtronic’s V-Link is a compact solution designed to extend the range of Raspberry Pi MIPI DSI cameras using GMSL2 (Gigabit Multimedia Serial Link v2) technology with up to 15-meter cables. We covered this type of solution in several NVIDIA Jetson Nano development kits and embedded computers, but never for the Raspberry Pi SBC. The V-Link relies on a MAX96717-based MIPI CSI-to-GSML2 board that connects to the MIPI CSI connector on the Raspberry Pi and a MAX96714-based GSML2-to-MIPI CSI board connected to the Raspberry Pi Camera Module. The solution provides an alternative to THine THSER101 Raspberry Pi camera extension kit that works with LAN cables up to 20 meters long. V-Link specifications Transmitter board Analog Devices MAX96717 CSI-2 to GMSL2 Serializer MIPI CSI input connector GSLM2 output connector Receiver board Analog Devices MAX96714 Single GMSL2/GMSL1 to CSI-2 Deserializer GSLM2 input connector MIPI CSI output connector to Raspberry Pi Camera Module Compatibility […]

January 28, 2025January 30, 2025 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 2 Comments

Meshtastic Designer helps you build custom Meshtastic solutions with RAKwireless Wisblock components

RAKWireless introduced the Wisblock IoT Modular System in 2020 to let developers easily create LoRaWAN IoT solutions with various core modules, baseboards, and sensor/IO modules. The company kept adding new Wisblock modules year after year, and there are now over 120 modules part of the Wisblock ecosystem. While the large choice of modules makes designing IoT prototypes more flexible, customers often face challenges in checking compatibility and selecting the right modules for the right slots. That’s why RAKWireless has been working on web-based online designer tools for the Wisblock ecosystem. The first release is the Meshtastic Designer used to quickly configure and create their own Meshtastic devices from the module to enclosure, and place an order from there once the design is complete. I’ve given it a quick try myself. I wanted a Meshtastic device with a display, a keyboard, a GNSS module, and an air quality sensor since the […]

January 28, 2025January 27, 2025 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment

anyon_e DIY laptop features Rockchip RK3588 SoC, 13.3-inch 4K AMOLED display, aluminum chassis

We’ve already seen several Rockchip RK3588 laptops with the Cool Pi laptop and GenBook RK3588, as well as the open-source hardware MNT Reform Next. anyon_e is another open-source DIY laptop based on Rockchip RK3588 octa-core Cortex-A76/A55 SoC but with higher-end specifications compared to competitors. The anyon_e features a 13.3-inch 4K AMOLED display, a wireless QWERTY mechanical keyboard, a custom aluminum chassis that keeps the thickness of the laptop to just 18mm, and a battery good for about 7 hours. It’s based on the FriendlyELEC CM3588 core board found in the CM3588 NAS Kit. anyon_e laptop (preliminary) specifications: SoM – FriendlyELEC CM3588 SoC – Rockchip RK3588 CPU – 4x CortexA76 cores @ up to 2.4 GHz, 4x CortexA55 core @ 1.8 GHz GPU – Arm Mali-G610 MP4 GPU Video decoder – 8Kp60 H.265, VP9, AVS2, 8Kp30 H.264 AVC/MVC, 4Kp60 AV1, 1080p60 MPEG-2/-1, VC-1, VP8 Video encoder – 8Kp30 H.265/H.264 video encoder […]

January 27, 2025 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 24 Comments

Importing a single router in Thailand now requires an NBTC license

We’ve been reviewing routers sent to us from China from time to time including Xiaomi Mi AX6000, GL.iNet GL-MT6000, NanoPi R5S, and others. In late 2024, I was offered to review the OpenWrt One and GL.iNet GL-X2000 “Spitz Plus” WiFi 6 and 4G LTE routers, but neither review will happen due to changes in regulations, or rather enforcement, that now makes it more complicated and expensive to import a router in Thailand since an NBTC (National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission) license is now required. The Software Freedom Conservancy sent an OpenWrt One router through UPS at the end of October 2024, and received an email from the courier on November 2 that read in part: Due to your shipment is ROUTER, must use import license from. Therefore, UPS we unable to apply import license for customers. Please find the other agent to clear this shipment form Thai Customs detail below. […]

January 27, 2025February 16, 2025 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

GEEKOM A6 Ryzen 7 6800H mini PC review – Part 1: specifications, unboxing, and teardown

GEEKOM A6 is a mid-range mini PC powered by an AMD Ryzen 7 6800H octa-core/sixteen thread processor with AMD Radeon Graphics 680M, up to 64GB dual-channel DDR5, up to 2TB NVMe (PCIe 4.0 x4) SSD storage, 2.5Gbos Ethernet, Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.2. It also features several USB4, USB 3.2, and USB 2.0 ports, supports up to four separate 4K monitors via HDMI 2.0 ports and USB Type-C ports, and comes with Windows 11 Pro pre-installed. GEEKOM sent us a sample of the A6 mini PC for review, and we’ll start with a look at the specifications, an unboxing, and a teardown in the first part of the review, before testing Windows 11 and Ubuntu 24.04 in more detail in the next parts. As its name implies, it should offer a middle ground between the Ryzen 7 5800H-powered GEEKOM A5 and the AMD Ryzen 9 7940HS-based GEEKOM A7 mini PCs […]