4k News - Page 8 of 82 - CNX Software

December 30, 2023January 9, 2024 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment

Mixtile Core 3588E SoM review – Part 2: Ubuntu 22.04, hardware features, RK3588 AI samples, NVIDIA Jetson compatibility

We’ve already had a look at the Mixtile Core 3588E NVIDIA Jetson Nano/TX2 NX/Xavier NX/Orin Nano compatible Rockchip RK3588 SO-DIMM system-on-module in the first part of the review with an unboxing and first boot with an Ubuntu 22.04 OEM installation. I’ve now had more time to play with the devkit comprised of a Core 3588 module in 16GB/128GB configuration and a Leetop A206 carrier board with low-level features testing, some benchmarks, multimedia testing with 3D graphics acceleration and video playback, some AI tests using the built-in 6 TOPS NPU and the RKNPU2 toolkit, and finally I also tried out the system-on-module with the carrier board from an NVIDIA Jetson Nano developer kit. Ubuntu 22.04 System info We had already checked some of the system information in the first part of the Mixtile Core 3588E review, but here’s a reminder:

jaufranc@Mixtile-RK3588E:~$ uname -a
Linux Mixtile-RK3588E 5.10.160-rockchip #18 SMP Wed Dec 6 15:11:42 UTC 2023 aarch64 aarch64 aarch64 GNU/Linux
jaufranc@Mixtile-RK3588E:~$ cat /etc/lsb-release 
DISTRIB_ID=Ubuntu
DISTRIB_RELEASE=22.04
DISTRIB_CODENAME=jammy
DISTRIB_DESCRIPTION="Ubuntu 22.04.3 LTS"
jaufranc@Mixtile-RK3588E:~$ df -h
Filesystem      Size  Used Avail Use% Mounted on
tmpfs           1.6G  2.7M  1.6G   1% /run
/dev/mmcblk0p2  113G  7.5G  101G   7% /
tmpfs           7.7G     0  7.7G   0% /dev/shm
tmpfs           5.0M  8.0K  5.0M   1% /run/lock
tmpfs           4.0M     0  4.0M   0% /sys/fs/cgroup
/dev/mmcblk0p1  512M  101M  411M  20% /boot/firmware
tmpfs           1.6G   60K  1.6G   1% /run/user/0
tmpfs           1.6G   76K  1.6G   1% /run/user/130
tmpfs           1.6G   68K  1.6G   1% /run/user/1000
jaufranc@Mixtile-RK3588E:~$ free -mh
               total        used        free      shared  buff/cache   available
Mem:            15Gi       601Mi        13Gi        47Mi       1.4Gi        14Gi
Swap:          2.0Gi          0B       2.0Gi

jaufranc@Mixtile-RK3588E:~$ uname -a

Linux Mixtile-RK3588E 5.10.160-rockchip #18 SMP Wed Dec 6 15:11:42 UTC 2023 aarch64 aarch64 aarch64 GNU/Linux

jaufranc@Mixtile-RK3588E:~$ cat /etc/lsb-release

DISTRIB_ID=Ubuntu

DISTRIB_RELEASE=22.04

DISTRIB_CODENAME=jammy

DISTRIB_DESCRIPTION="Ubuntu 22.04.3 LTS"

jaufranc@Mixtile-RK3588E:~$ df -h

Filesystem Size Used Avail Use% Mounted on

tmpfs 1.6G 2.7M 1.6G 1% /run

/dev/mmcblk0p2 113G 7.5G 101G 7% /

tmpfs 7.7G 0 7.7G 0% /dev/shm

tmpfs 5.0M 8.0K 5.0M 1% /run/lock

tmpfs 4.0M 0 4.0M 0% /sys/fs/cgroup

/dev/mmcblk0p1 512M 101M 411M 20% /boot/firmware

tmpfs 1.6G 60K 1.6G 1% /run/user/0

tmpfs 1.6G 76K 1.6G 1% /run/user/130

tmpfs 1.6G 68K 1.6G 1% /run/user/1000

jaufranc@Mixtile-RK3588E:~$ free -mh

total used free shared buff/cache available

Mem: 15Gi 601Mi 13Gi 47Mi 1.4Gi 14Gi

Swap: 2.0Gi 0B 2.0Gi

I also ran inxi to check a few more details. […]

December 28, 2023March 8, 2024 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 10 Comments

Review of Blackview MP80 (Processor N97) mini PC with Windows 11 Pro

Blackview MP80 is a tiny pocket-sized mini PC powered by either an Intel Alder Lake-N Processor N95 or Processor N97 CPU with 16GB LPDDR5 RAM and a 512GB M.2 SSD preloaded with Windows 11 Pro. We’ve already reviewed the Blackview MP80 (N95) mini PC a few months ago, but the company has now sent us the Processor N97 model for review. Both models look identical with the same ports including three HDMI 2.0 video outputs, three USB ports, and two gigabit Ethernet ports, plus a Wi-Fi 5 and Bluetooth 4.2 wireless module. The mini PCs are also actively cooled, and the only obvious differences are the processor (Intel N95 vs N97) and the color of the enclosure. We usually do a three-part review with the first one listing the specs, and going through an unboxing and a teardown, but for the Blackview MP80 (N97) review we will do those and […]

December 21, 2023December 22, 2023 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 7 Comments

Youyeetoo R1 – A feature-rich Rockchip RK3588S SBC with M.2 sockets, NFC, etc.. for $99 and up

Youteetoo Cyboboard R1, or just Youyeetoo R1 for shorts, is a Rockchip RK3588S SBC that packs quite a lot of features in a 100×69.3mm form factor with two M.2 sockets for NVME/SSD or 4G LTE, and WiFi and Bluetooth connector, support for NFC, four display interfaces, two MIPI CSI camera interfaces and more. The board is offered with up to 32GB RAM and 256GB eMMC flash, and also comes with a gigabit Ethernet port, five USB interfaces, a built-in microphone, several audio inputs/outputs, a 30-pin header for expansion, and it can support HDMI input via an adapter connected to one of the MIPI CSI ports. Youyeetoo R1 specifications: SoC – Rockchip RK3588S CPU – Octa-core processor with 4x Cortex-A76 cores @ up to 2.2-2.4 GHz, 4x Cortex-A55 cores @ up to 1.8 GHz GPU – Arm Mali-G610 GPU with OpenGL ES 3.2, OpenCL 2.2, and Vulkan 1.2 support VPU – […]

December 19, 2023December 20, 2023 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 4 Comments

iKOOLCORE R2 (Core i3-N300) system review – Part2: Proxmox VE, Ubuntu 22.04, pfSense

iKOOLCORE R2 Ubuntu Promox VE dual display

In the first part of iKOOLCORE R2 mini PC & router review, I had a look at the hardware with an unboxing and a teardown of the Intel Core i3-N300 Alder Lake-N computer and also noticed the device booted to a UEFI shell. So for the second part of the review, I will report my experience installing Proxmox VE on the iKOOLCORE R2 and setting up and using Ubuntu 22.04, pfSense 2.7.2, and OpenWrt 23.05 virtual machines, making sure I can still use a physical display, keyboard, and mouse with Ubuntu while pfSense firewall is running. As a side note, the previous generation iKOOLCORE R1 mini PC that was sent to Ian for review with Proxmox VE and various virtual machines preinstalled OpenWrt, Debian 11, and Windows 10 Enterprise LTSC set to Chinese language by default. As I understand it, iKOOLCORE still does that for the Chinese market, but not […]

December 18, 2023November 17, 2024 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 8 Comments

Review of GEEKOM Mini Air12 mini PC with Windows 11 Pro (Part 2)

We’ve already done an unboxing and teardown of the GEEKOM Mini Air12 mini PC in the first part of the review and we’ve now had time to test Windows 11 Pro on the Intel Processor N100 mini PC equipped with 16GB SO-DIMM DDR5 and a 512GB M.2 SSD. Despite the low-end processor, the mini PC boots quite fast and it’s perfectly usable to browse the web, play YouTube videos, and perform other tasks like office work and photo editing. In part 2 of the review, we’ll test Windows 11 Pro thoroughly with a software overview, features testing, benchmarks, storage and network performance tests, thermal performance, fan noise, and power consumption of GEEKOM Mini Air12. Software overview and features testing Going to System->About in the Windows settings confirms we have a Mini Air12 mini PC powered by an 800 MHz (based frequency) Intel Processor N100 CPU, with 16GB of RAM, and […]

December 12, 2023December 12, 2023 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 2 Comments

Banana Pi BPI-M4 Zero Allwinner H618 SBC follows Raspberry Pi Zero 2 W form factor

Banana Pi BPI-M4 Zero is another Raspberry Pi Zero 2 W alternative with an Allwinner H618 quad-core Arm Cortex-A53 processor, 2GB LPDDR4, 8GB eMMC flash, mini HDMI video output, two USB-C ports, WiFi 5 and Bluetooth 4.2 wireless connectivity and the usual 40-pin GPIO header as well as a 24-pin “Misc” FPC header. It succeeds the Banana Pi BPI-M2 Zero launched in 2017 with an Allwinner H2+ quad-core Cortex A7 processor with basically the same form factor but a more powerful 64-bit Arm processor, more memory (2GB vs 512MB), built-in eMMC flash, dual-band WiFi 5, and the 24-pin MIPI CSI connector is now a “Misc” connector with USB 2.0, Fast Ethernet, and other I/Os. Banana Pi BPI-M4 Zero 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 […]

December 11, 2023December 11, 2023 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 16 Comments

CWWK x86-P5 fanless mini PC with two 2.5GbE ports ships with up to Intel Core i3-N305 CPU

CWWK x86-P5 is a fanless mini PC powered by an Intel Alder Lake N-series N100 (quad-core) or Core i3-N305 (octa-core) and equipped with two 2.5GbE ports using Intel i226V controllers making it suitable for networking applications such as a firewall or a soft router. But it’s also a standard mini PC with two HDMI 2.0 ports, two USB 3.2 ports, and up to four USB 2.0 ports making it a candidate to run Promox with both a desktop OS like Windows 11 or Ubuntu 22.04 and a networking OS such as pfSense or OpenWrt. CWWK x86-P5 specifications: Alder Lake-N SoC(one or the other) Intel Processor N100 quad-core processor @ up to 3.4 GHz (Turbo) with 6MB cache, 24EU Intel UHD graphics; TDP: 6W Intel Core i3-N305 octa-core processor @ up to 3.8 GHz (Turbo) with 6MB cache, 32EU Intel UHD Graphics; TDP: 15W System Memory – Up to 32GB DDR5 […]

December 10, 2023 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

UP 7000 SBC review – Part 2: Ubuntu 22.04 on a fanless Intel N100 single board computer

The UP 7000 is a credit card-sized Alder Lake-N single board computer that can be used as an alternative to the Raspberry Pi 5 for industrial applications. AAEON sent me a model with an Intel Processor N100 CPU, 8GB LPDDR5, and a 64GB eMMC flash, and I went through an unboxing in the first part of the review, compared its mechanical design to the earlier UP 4000 and Raspberry Pi 5 SBC , and also installed Ubuntu 22.04 since the UP 7000 board did not come with any OS and would initially boot to the UEFI shell. I’ve now spent more time with the board and I will report my experience with the UP 7000 SBC running Ubuntu 22.04 in this article checking out features, performance, video playback, power consumption, and so on using the UP 4000 review with Ubuntu 22.04 I did last year as a template plus some […]