armbian News - Page 7 of 13 - CNX Software

January 3, 2020 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 26 Comments

Kobol Helios64 RK3399K SBC & 5-Bay NAS Pre-Orders to Start Next Week

We covered Rockchip RK3399K processor a few months ago, as a version of RK3399 processor qualified to run at 2.0 GHz, or supporting a wider-temperature range (-20 to +85°C) at 1.8 GHz. We found out about the new processor, as Kobol was working on a Helios64 SBC designed for NAS that featured RK3399K SoC. At the time, we just had a drawing of the board and some specifications, but now the company has announced pre-orders for the board and a complete 5-bay NAS kit will start next week and the actual shipping start in March. Kobol Helios64 SBC Specifications: SoC – Rockchip RK3399K hexa-core processor with 2x Arm Cortex-A72 cores @ 2.0 GHz, 4x Cortex-A53 cores @ 1.6 GHz System Memory – 4GB LPDDR4 Storage – 16GB eMMC 5.1 flash, 5x SATA 3.0, 1x M.2 SATA slot shared with one SATA 3.0 port, MicroSD port Connectivity – 1x 2.5GbE port, […]

November 27, 2019November 27, 2019 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 17 Comments

NanoPi NEO2 Black Arm Linux SBC for Headless Applications Launched for $20 and Up

NanoPi NEO2 Black is an Allwinner H5 SBC designed for headless applications that improves on the existing NanoPi NEO2 board by adding an eMMC flash module support, and higher memory capacity (up to 1GB RAM). The board was announced last month, but it’s now available for purchase for $19.99 plus shipping on FriendlyElec website. Here’s a reminder of the specifications: SoC – Allwinner H5 quad-core Cortex A53 processor with an ARM Mali-450MP GPU System Memory – 1GB DDR3 Storage – MicroSD card slot, eMMC flash module connector Connectivity – Gigabit Ethernet (via RTL8211E-VB-CG chip) USB – 1x USB 2.0 host port, 1x micro USB OTG port, 1x USB via headers Expansion headers 10-pin header with I2C, UART, GPIOs, and power signals (5V in/out + GND) 6-pin header with 1x USB, Line Out (stereo), 1x GPIO Debugging – 2-pin unpopulated header for serial console / debugging Misc – Power and system […]

October 8, 2019 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 30 Comments

NanoPI NEO2 Black Allwinner H5 SBC Adds an eMMC flash Module, Up to 1GB RAM

NanoPi NEO2, now called NanoPi NEO2 LTS, is a great little Allwinner H5 SBC designed for server/headless applications with Ethernet & USB ports, as well as I/O headers. FriendlyELEC is now about to launch a new variant called NanoPi NEO2 Black with the same form factor and Allwinenr H5 64-bit Arm SoC, but adding an eMMC flash module, supporting up to 1GB RAM, modifications to the I/O headers, and featuring a black PCB instead of the blue PCB found in NEO2-LTS. NanoPi NEO2 Black SBC specifications with changes in bold or stricken-through: SoC – Allwinner H5 quad-core Cortex A53 processor with an ARM Mali-450MP GPU System Memory – 512 MB or 1GB DDR3 Storage – MicroSD card slot, eMMC flash module connector Connectivity – Gigabit Ethernet (via RTL8211E-VB-CG chip) USB – 1x USB 2.0 host port, 1x micro USB OTG port, 2x 1x USB via headers Expansion headers 10-pin header […]

October 8, 2019October 9, 2019 by Karl Johnson - 29 Comments

Ugoos AM6 Review – An Android 9.0 TV Box with Plenty of Options

Karl here….With another review. Today we look at the AM6 from Ugoos. Ugoos has been around for quite some time. I recently did a review of the Beelink GT-King with the same S922X processor and I will do some comparisons with that. I have to say with everything except the UI, I like this box much better (You can read my rant in the Beelink article about Android on the TV). The AM6 is built well. It is solid with a metal enclosure and just feels good when you pick it up. I know weight doesn’t really matter but it feels substantial. Like I stated I don’t really like UI but Ugoos ticks quite a few boxes that appeal to my nerdiness. I will go more into that later. Below are the specs per Ugoos Website. I highlighted the interesting ones. Hardware Specs: Operation System – Android 9.0 Language – […]

September 5, 2019September 7, 2019 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 54 Comments

FriendlyELEC ZeroPi is a Tiny Allwinner H3 SBC with Gigabit Ethernet & USB, an Optional SPI Flash

Several years ago, FriendlyELEC launched NanoPi NEO board with Allwinner H3 quad-core Cortex-A7 processor followed by NanoPi NEO2 upgrading to the Allwinner H5 64-bit Arm Cortex-A53 processor. Both boards target low-cost headless applications with I/O headers, USB and Ethernet, but while the NEO2 comes with Gigabit Ethernet, NEO SBC only features 10/100M Ethernet. The company has now been working on a new family of boards called ZeroPi that’s very similar to NanoPi NEO boards, but they do not come with any I/O headers, and the first ZeroPi board features Allwinner H3 processor, and Gigabit Ethernet. ZeroPi specifications with highlights in bold or stricken-through showing differences against NanoPi NEO: SoC – Allwinner H3 quad-core Cortex A7 @ 1.2 GHz with an Arm Mali-400MP2 GPU System Memory – 256 or 512 MB DDR3 Storage – MicroSD card slot, unmounted SPI flash Connectivity – Gigabit Ethernet via Realtek RTL8211E PHY USB – 1x […]

August 21, 2019August 21, 2019 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 35 Comments

Khadas VIM3L Amlogic S905D3 SBC Targets HTPC Enthusiasts

Khadas recently launched VIM3 single board computer powered by Amlogic A311D that delivers the best performance among Arm-based SBC’s I have tested myself, and for instance, Amlogic A311D is significantly faster than Rockchip RK3399, and the platform is quite suitable for Android gaming. All that power comes at a price however, as Khadas VIM3 starts at $99.99 with 2GB RAM and 16GB storage. That’s fine if you’re going to leverage the features and power of the board, but for some applications, it’s quite expensive. One of those applications is HTPC, as in a world of sub-$50 TV boxes, $100 is a bit too much for watching video content. So the Khadas team is currently developing Khadas VIM3L based on Amlogic S905D3 processor that should provide an excellent platform for HTPC. Khadas VIM3L specifications known so far: SoC – Amlogic S905D3-N0N quad-core Cortex-A55 processor @ 1.9GHz with Arm Mali-G31MP2 GPU up […]

July 31, 2019 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 24 Comments

Orange Pi Zero LTS SBC Launched for $8.49 and Up

Orange Pi Zero LTS is an update to Orange Pi Zero Allwinner H2+ board with the same specifications, but tweaks to the hardware that Shenzhen Xunlong Software claims lower power consumption and reduce heat. The SBC supports Armbian’s Debian and Ubuntu images, and best suited for headless applications that require network connectivity via Ethernet and/or WiFi such as smart speakers. The board also features one USB port, and two I/O headers for expansion. The good news is that you can now buy Orange Pi Zero LTS for the same price as the original model, namely $8.49 for the 256MB RAM version, and $10.49 for the 512MB model$10.49 for the 512MB model, excluding shipping costs ($4.73 to my location). Here’s a reminder of Orange Pi Zero LTS (v1.5) specifications: SoC – Allwinner H2+ quad-core Cortex A7 processor @ 1.2 GHz with Mali-400MP2 GPU @ 600 MHz System Memory – 256 to […]

July 20, 2019July 22, 2019 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 47 Comments

Orange Pi Zero LTS Allwinner H2+ SBC Gets More Efficient and Cooler

Orange Pi Zero is a cool little Arm Linux board based on Allwinner H2+ processor for headless applications requiring WiFi and/or Ethernet that was first launched in November 2016 for $7 and up. It was not launched without controversy, as first users had various issues with the Allwinner XR819 WiFi module, but I had no such problem when I made an Orange Pi Zero Google Assistant smart speaker. Nevertheless, Shenzhen Xunlong Software is about to launch a newer version of the board – Orange Pi Zero LTS -, with the same specifications, but improvements in the design in order to reduce power consumption, and lower the board’s temperature. As the name implies, the company will commit to long term support (i.e. long term availability) for the board, but they did not tell me for how many years. Orange Pi Zero LTS v1.5 specifications: SoC – Allwinner H2+ quad-core Cortex A7 […]