Reviews - Page 20 of 126 - CNX Software

July 12, 2023July 17, 2023 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 5 Comments

GEEKOM Mini IT11 (Core i7-11390H) mini PC review – Part 1: unboxing, teardown, and first boot

GEEKOM Mini IT11 is a mini PC based on the 11th Gen Intel Core i7-11390H quad-core Tiger Lake processor with up to 64GB RAM, and up to 2TB NVMe SSD storage. It comes with Windows 11 Pro operating system, supports WiFi 6E and Bluetooth 5.2 connectivity, and offers plenty of ports. GEEKOM has sent us a Mini IT11 Mini PC with 32 GB RAM and a 1TB NVMe SSD for review. Today, we will look at the specifications of the mini PC, check out the package content, do a teardown, and boot it up to make sure it works as expected. We will test the performance on Windows 11 and Ubuntu 22.04 in subsequent parts. GEEKOM Mini IT11 (Core i7-11390H) specifications We’ve written about the Mini IT11 a few times already, but for reference, here are the specifications again: SoC – Intel Core i7-11390H quad-core/8-thread Tiger Lake processor @ up […]

July 10, 2023July 10, 2023 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment

UniHiker review – A Linux-based STEM education platform with IoT and AI support, Micro:bit edge connector

DFRobot’s UniHiker is a STEM educational platform that was originally launched in China, but now UniHiker is now available worldwide through the DFRobot shop. The company has sent us a UniHiker sample for review, so let’s unpack the kit and learn how to use the UniHiker platform. The main component of the kit is the Linux-powered UniHiker board which features a 2.8-inch resistive touchscreen display and a BBC Micro:bit edge connector, so we can use expansion boards for the Micro:bit board. Let’s start unboxing it together. UniHiker unboxing DFRobot sent us the UniHiker platform by DHL. The package is a familiar-looking DFRobot box in orange color and comes with a plastic box to safely store the UniHiker board and accessories after use. The plastic box contains another plastic box with the board, some 3-pin and 4-pin cables for Gravity ports, and a USB Type-C cable. The UniHiker is like a […]

June 25, 2023June 25, 2023 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

Using Link.ONE all-in-one LPWAN development kit with ChipStark, Node-Red, InfluxDB, and Grafana

RAKwireless has sent us a review sample of the WisTrio Link.ONE all-in-one LPWAN IoT development kit with support for LTE-M, NB-IoT, and LoRaWAN connectivity and programmable with the Arduino IDE. We’ve tested the kit with its weatherproof WisBlock Unify enclosure using LoRaWAN connectivity and open-source software packages and frameworks such as ChipStark, Node-Red, InfluxDB, and Grafana. Key features of the Link.ONE kit The Link.ONE kit we’ve received comes with a WisBlock Unify Enclosure (100 x 75 x 38 mm) and a 3,200 mAh/3.7V rechargeable lithium battery which is sufficient when the system is mostly in sleep mode and used to receive data, while not sending information too often. “Link.ONE with BOX” unboxing The following items were very tightly packed inside the box: WisTrio LTE-M, NB-IoT, and LoRaWAN development board Rechargeable lithium battery External Antenna for cellular USB Type-C cable Circular M8 female cable The enclosure is strong with the lid […]

June 23, 2023June 26, 2023 by Karl Johnson - 6 Comments

Atezr V35 review – A 35W laser engraver

Karl here. Today let’s look at the Atezr V35 35W diode laser engraver. Atezr is new to the market, at least I am just becoming aware of them, and they asked for a review of one of their machines. This fell in line with the laser power meter project I have been working on, so I accepted, hoping to further along that progress. My goal is to validate the 35W power spec. First, this is 35W optical power….not just the power consumed. You have to be very careful today when shopping for laser engravers. I hate this trend where manufacturers are highlighting total power consumption in marketing materials. This spec is prominently shown in an attempt to trick the consumer into thinking the laser is more powerful than they are. Until starting this review I thought the optical power limit for a single diode laser was 5.5W. I asked Atezr […]

June 19, 2023June 22, 2023 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 9 Comments

GEEKOM AS 6 mini PC review – Part 3: Ubuntu 22.04 Linux

We’ve already checked out GEEKOM AS 6 (ASUS PN53) mini PC’s hardware based on AMD Ryzen 9 6900HX CPU, have tested its performance and features in Windows 11 in the second part of the review, and we’ve now taken the time to review GEEKOM AS 6 (Ryzen 9 6900HX) with Ubuntu 22.04 Linux operating system.

We had to disable BitLocker disk encryption in Windows 11, before resizing the partition in the Disk Management program in order to install Ubuntu 22.04 from a USB flash drive. The installation went smoothly once we disable BitLocker.

Ubuntu 22.04 system information

June 17, 2023June 17, 2023 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 9 Comments

i-Pi SMARC 1200 (MediaTek Genio 1200) devkit tested with a Yocto Linux image

i-Pi SMARC 1200 Yocto Linux glmark2 benchmark

Last weekend I received ADLINK’s i-Pi SMARC 1200 development kit powered by MediaTek Genio 1200 Octa-core Cortex-A78/A55 AIoT processor, checked out the hardware and wanted to install the Yocto Linux image but stopped in my tracks because it looked like I had to install Ubuntu 18.04 first in a Virtual Machine or another computer. But finally, the documentation has been updated to clarify “Ubuntu 18.04 or greater” is required, and I had no problem flashing the image from a Ubuntu 22.04 laptop after installing dependencies and tools as follows:

$ sudo apt install android-tools-adb android-tools-fastboot
$ echo 'SUBSYSTEM=="usb", ATTR{idVendor}=="0e8d", ATTR{idProduct}=="201c", MODE="0660", $ GROUP="plugdev"' | sudo tee -a /etc/udev/rules.d/96-rity.rules
$ echo -n 'SUBSYSTEM=="usb", ATTR{idVendor}=="0e8d", ATTR{idProduct}=="201c", MODE="0660", TAG+="uaccess"
SUBSYSTEM=="usb", ATTR{idVendor}=="0e8d", ATTR{idProduct}=="0003", MODE="0660", TAG+="uaccess"
SUBSYSTEM=="usb", ATTR{idVendor}=="0403", MODE="0660", TAG+="uaccess" SUBSYSTEM=="gpio", MODE="0660",
TAG+="uaccess" ' | sudo tee /etc/udev/rules.d/72-aiot.rules
$ sudo udevadm control --reload-rules
$ sudo udevadm trigger
$ sudo usermod -a -G plugdev $USER
$ pip3 install -U -e "git+https://gitlab.com/mediatek/aiot/bsp/aiot-tools.git#egg=aiot-tools"

$ sudo apt install android-tools-adb android-tools-fastboot

$ echo 'SUBSYSTEM=="usb", ATTR{idVendor}=="0e8d", ATTR{idProduct}=="201c", MODE="0660", $ GROUP="plugdev"' | sudo tee -a /etc/udev/rules.d/96-rity.rules

$ echo -n 'SUBSYSTEM=="usb", ATTR{idVendor}=="0e8d", ATTR{idProduct}=="201c", MODE="0660", TAG+="uaccess"

SUBSYSTEM=="usb", ATTR{idVendor}=="0e8d", ATTR{idProduct}=="0003", MODE="0660", TAG+="uaccess"

SUBSYSTEM=="usb", ATTR{idVendor}=="0403", MODE="0660", TAG+="uaccess" SUBSYSTEM=="gpio", MODE="0660",

TAG+="uaccess" ' | sudo tee /etc/udev/rules.d/72-aiot.rules

$ sudo udevadm control --reload-rules

$ sudo udevadm trigger

$ sudo usermod -a -G plugdev $USER

$ pip3 install -U -e "git+https://gitlab.com/mediatek/aiot/bsp/aiot-tools.git#egg=aiot-tools"

That’s it for the tools. Eventually, the development kit will support three images: Yocto Linux, Android 13 (July 2023), and Ubuntu 20.04 (Q3 2023). So that means only the Yocto Linux image is available from the download page at this time, and that’s what I’ll be using today. We’ll need to connect the micro USB to USB cable between the […]

June 16, 2023 by Ian W MORRISON (Linuxium) - 9 Comments

Morefine M600 6900HX review – A Ryzen 9 6900HX mini PC tested with Windows 11 and Ubuntu 23.04

Under review today is Morefine M600 6900HX mini PC which is a generational update to the previously released S500+ (5900HX or 5700U) although it should be noted that Morefine will soon be releasing a newer version of the M600 with either a Ryzen 7 7840HS or Ryzen 9 7940HS. The current M600 (6900HX) brings both processor and iGPU improvements over the S500+ together with a couple of port upgrades and the welcome introduction of USB4, DDR5, PCIe Gen 4.0, and an additional M.2 storage slot. This review will look at Windows 11 performance together with a quick look at running Ubuntu 23.04 and experiences from using the new features. Morefine M600 6900HX product specifications The Morefine M600 6900HX specifications are as follows: Product overview Overview of hardware The M600 physically consists of a 149 x 145 x 40 mm (5.87 x 5.71 x 1.57 inches) square metal case with […]

June 9, 2023July 28, 2023 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 5 Comments

A first look at i-Pi SMARC 1200 (Genio 1200) development kit

ADLINK Technology’s i-PI SMARC 1200 is an industrial prototyping kit for AI IoT and Robotics based on a SMARC 2.1 compliant LEC-MTK-I12000 system-on-module (SoM) powered by the MediaTek Genio 1200 (MT8395) octa-core Cortex-A78/A55 AIoT processor with a 4.8 TOPS AI processor. The company sent me a sample for evaluation and review, and in this first post, I’ll go through an unboxing and how to boot the system with the supported Yocto Linux or Ubuntu. i-Pi SMARC 1200 unboxing The i-Pi SMARC 1200 may be destined for industrial users, but it still comes with a neat retail package. The “i-Pi LEC-MTK-I1200-44-64G/EU” kit features a CPU module with 4GB LPDDR4 memory and 64GB UFS storage. The package includes the board itself preassembled in a desktop frame, a Quick Start Guide, a 19V/2.37A (45W) power adapter with an EU power cord, a micro USB to USB cable for debugging, and two bits for […]