Reviews - Page 28 of 126 - CNX Software

November 10, 2022November 10, 2022 by Ian W MORRISON (Linuxium) - 2 Comments

Weibu N10 Review – An OEM Mini PC tested with Ubuntu 22.04, Windows 11

Weibu is a B2B company offering total solutions and OEM/ODM services. Their target clients are computer manufacturers like Acer and Hisense as they don’t sell directly to end users. With their products both the specifications and accessories can be customized according to their customer’s requirements. One of their product lines is mini PCs and they have sent a pre-production sample of their N10 design to showcase their capabilities. In this review, I will look at the various options available for the N10 and briefly look at performance running both Windows and Ubuntu. Weibu N10 hardware overview The key selling feature of this mini PC is the wide range of ports suitable for commercial/industrial usage together with various options for the processor. The N10 is an actively cooled mini PC and the device is 145 x 128 x 54mm (5.71 x 5.04 x 2.13 inches) large with a metal top that […]

November 9, 2022April 15, 2023 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 10 Comments

GL.iNet GL-MT2500A security gateway review – Part 1: Unboxing and teardown

The Brume 2 security gateway/router is powered by a MediaTek MT7981B (Filogic 820) dual-core processor @ 1.3 GHz and is available as the GL-MT2500A with a metal enclosure or the GL-MT2500 with a plastic case. GL.iNet sent me the GL-MT2500A for review. In the first of the review, we’ll have a look at the device and accessories, and tear it down to check out the hardware design and main components. I’ll then need some time to test OpenWrt 21.02 and features such as WireGuard and OpenVPN, AdGuard Home, Tor Anonymity, and soon. GL.iNet GL-MT2500A (Brume 2) unboxing The router ships with a short Ethernet cable, a 5V/2A USB Type-C power supply with EU, US, and UK plug adapters, and some minimal documentation that points to the users to more detailed online documentation and support on the company’s Facebook page. There’s not much too see on the front panel and right […]

November 5, 2022November 5, 2022 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 3 Comments

Getting started with e-CAM20_CURB camera for Raspberry Pi 4

e-con Systems e-CAM20_CURB is a 2.3 MP fixed focus global shutter color camera designed for the Raspberry Pi 4, and the company has sent us a sample for evaluation and review. We’ll start by providing specifications, before checking out the package content, connecting the camera to the Raspberry Pi 4 with a DIY LEGO mount, showing how to access the resources for the camera, and trying tools provided in the Raspberry Pi OS or Yocto Linux image. e-CAM20_CURB specifications The camera is comprised of two boards with the following specifications: eCAM217_CUMI0234_MOD full HD color camera with 4-lane MIPI CSI-2 interface ON Semiconductor AR0234CS CMOS sensor with 1/2.6″ optical form-factor Global Shutter Onboard ISPimage sensor from ON Semiconductor Uncompressed UYVY streaming HD (1280 x 720) up to 120 fps Full HD (1920 x 1080) up to 65 fps 2.3 MP (1920 x 1200) up to 60 fps External Hardware Trigger Input […]

November 1, 2022January 17, 2023 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment

Review of myCobot 280 Pi robotic arm with Python and visual programming

myCobot 280 Pi is a versatile robotic arm with a 6 degree of freedom design. It was developed by Elephant Robotics using the Raspberry Pi 4 board as the main controller. The robot is compact and delivers stable operation making it ideal for confined spaces. It can also be programmed in a variety of languages, is easy to use, and offers a lot of features. It is suitable for those who are interested in learning how to program a robotic arm controller and for engineering projects. Unboxing myCobot 280 Pi The myCobot 280 Pi arm has a working range of 280 mm, weighs 850 grams, and can handle a payload of up to 250 grams. It is powered by 6 servo motors, one for each degree of freedom, and comes with a 5×5 matrix LED display, and supports LEGO parts as well. Controlled by a Raspberry Pi 4 single board […]

October 30, 2022October 30, 2022 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 2 Comments

SONOFF NSPanel Pro control panel review with Zigbee modules, CAM Slim WiFi camera

ITEAD has sent us a Smart Home kit for review including the SONOFF NSPanel Pro Android control panel and Zigbee gateway, an enclosure stand, the CAM Slim WiFi camera, and four Zigbee modules, namely the SNZB-01 wireless switch, the SNZB-02 temperature & humidity sensor, the SNZB-03 motion sensor, and the SNZB-04 door/window sensor. In this review, we’ll configure the NSPanel Pro controller with the eWelink app in Android, show how to add the WiFi camera and Zigbee devices directly to NSPanel Pro, and go back to the eWelink app for more advanced features such as scenes with triggers and actions. Sonoff NSPanel Pro kit unboxing Let’s get started by having a closer look at the SONOFF NSPanel Pro controller. As previously noted, the device is based on Rockchip PX30 quad-core Cortex-A35 processor and runs Android 8.1. It acts both as a control panel and a WiFi to Zigbee 3.0 gateway. The […]

October 18, 2022December 9, 2023 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 6 Comments

UP 4000 x86 SBC review with Ubuntu 22.04

The UP 4000 is a credit-card / Raspberry Pi-sized single board computer based on an Intel Apollo Lake processor. AAEON sent me the model with an Intel Atom x7-E3950 quad-core processor, 4GB RAM, and a 64GB eMMC flash, and in the first part of the review, I installed Ubuntu 22.04 since the board would initially only boot to the UEFI shell out of the box. I’ve now spent more time with the board, and in this article, I will report my experience with the UP 4000 SBC running Ubuntu 22.04 checking out features, performance, video playback, power consumption, and so on. Ubuntu 22.04 System info Let’s check out some information after I’ve upgraded the system to the latest packages:

jaufranc@UP-4000-CNX:~$ lsb_release -a
No LSB modules are available.
Distributor ID:	Ubuntu
Description:	Ubuntu 22.04.1 LTS
Release:	22.04
Codename:	jammy
jaufranc@UP-4000-CNX:~$ uname -a
Linux UP-4000-CNX 5.15.0-48-generic #54-Ubuntu SMP Fri Aug 26 13:26:29 UTC 2022 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux
jaufranc@UP-4000-CNX:~$ inxi -Fc0
System:
  Host: UP-4000-CNX Kernel: 5.15.0-48-generic x86_64 bits: 64
    Console: pty pts/1 Distro: Ubuntu 22.04.1 LTS (Jammy Jellyfish)
Machine:
  Type: Desktop Mobo: AAEON model: UP-APL03 v: V1.0
    serial: <superuser required> UEFI: American Megatrends v: UPAPBM11
    date: 07/01/2022
CPU:
  Info: quad core model: Intel Atom E3950 bits: 64 type: MCP cache: L2: 2 MiB
  Speed (MHz): avg: 1099 min/max: 800/2000 cores: 1: 1109 2: 1009 3: 1114
    4: 1165
Graphics:
  Device-1: Intel Celeron N3350/Pentium N4200/Atom E3900 Series Integrated
  Graphics
    driver: i915 v: kernel
  Display: server: X.org v: 1.21.1.3 with: Xwayland v: 22.1.1 driver: X:
    loaded: modesetting unloaded: fbdev,vesa gpu: i915 tty: 80x24
    resolution: 1280x800
  Message: GL data unavailable in console. Try -G --display
Audio:
  Device-1: Intel Celeron N3350/Pentium N4200/Atom E3900 Series Audio Cluster
    driver: snd_hda_intel
  Sound Server-1: ALSA v: k5.15.0-48-generic running: yes
  Sound Server-2: PulseAudio v: 15.99.1 running: yes
  Sound Server-3: PipeWire v: 0.3.48 running: yes
Network:
  Device-1: Realtek RTL8111/8168/8411 PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet
    driver: r8169
  IF: enp2s0 state: up speed: 1000 Mbps duplex: full mac: 00:07:32:a2:cd:17
Drives:
  Local Storage: total: 58.24 GiB used: 12.69 GiB (21.8%)
  ID-1: /dev/mmcblk0 vendor: SanDisk model: DA4064 size: 58.24 GiB
Partition:
  ID-1: / size: 56.53 GiB used: 12.68 GiB (22.4%) fs: ext4
    dev: /dev/mmcblk0p2
  ID-2: /boot/efi size: 511 MiB used: 5.2 MiB (1.0%) fs: vfat
    dev: /dev/mmcblk0p1
Swap:
  ID-1: swap-1 type: file size: 3.96 GiB used: 0 KiB (0.0%) file: /swapfile
Sensors:
  System Temperatures: cpu: 6280.4 C mobo: N/A
  Fan Speeds (RPM): cpu: 6553500
Info:
  Processes: 215 Uptime: 2h 20m Memory: 3.68 GiB used: 1.09 GiB (29.5%)
  Init: systemd runlevel: 5 Shell: Bash inxi: 3.3.13

jaufranc@UP-4000-CNX:~$ lsb_release -a

No LSB modules are available.

Distributor ID: Ubuntu

Description: Ubuntu 22.04.1 LTS

Release: 22.04

Codename: jammy

jaufranc@UP-4000-CNX:~$ uname -a

Linux UP-4000-CNX 5.15.0-48-generic #54-Ubuntu SMP Fri Aug 26 13:26:29 UTC 2022 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux

jaufranc@UP-4000-CNX:~$ inxi -Fc0

System:

Host: UP-4000-CNX Kernel: 5.15.0-48-generic x86_64 bits: 64

Console: pty pts/1 Distro: Ubuntu 22.04.1 LTS (Jammy Jellyfish)

Machine:

Type: Desktop Mobo: AAEON model: UP-APL03 v: V1.0

serial: <superuser required> UEFI: American Megatrends v: UPAPBM11

date: 07/01/2022

CPU:

Info: quad core model: Intel Atom E3950 bits: 64 type: MCP cache: L2: 2 MiB

Speed (MHz): avg: 1099 min/max: 800/2000 cores: 1: 1109 2: 1009 3: 1114

4: 1165

Graphics:

Device-1: Intel Celeron N3350/Pentium N4200/Atom E3900 Series Integrated

Graphics

driver: i915 v: kernel

Display: server: X.org v: 1.21.1.3 with: Xwayland v: 22.1.1 driver: X:

loaded: modesetting unloaded: fbdev,vesa gpu: i915 tty: 80x24

resolution: 1280x800

Message: GL data unavailable in console. Try -G --display

Audio:

Device-1: Intel Celeron N3350/Pentium N4200/Atom E3900 Series Audio Cluster

driver: snd_hda_intel

Sound Server-1: ALSA v: k5.15.0-48-generic running: yes

Sound Server-2: PulseAudio v: 15.99.1 running: yes

Sound Server-3: PipeWire v: 0.3.48 running: yes

Network:

Device-1: Realtek RTL8111/8168/8411 PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet

driver: r8169

IF: enp2s0 state: up speed: 1000 Mbps duplex: full mac: 00:07:32:a2:cd:17

Drives:

Local Storage: total: 58.24 GiB used: 12.69 GiB (21.8%)

ID-1: /dev/mmcblk0 vendor: SanDisk model: DA4064 size: 58.24 GiB

Partition:

ID-1: / size: 56.53 GiB used: 12.68 GiB (22.4%) fs: ext4

dev: /dev/mmcblk0p2

ID-2: /boot/efi size: 511 MiB used: 5.2 MiB (1.0%) fs: vfat

dev: /dev/mmcblk0p1

Swap:

ID-1: swap-1 type: file size: 3.96 GiB used: 0 KiB (0.0%) file: /swapfile

Sensors:

System Temperatures: cpu: 6280.4 C mobo: N/A

Fan Speeds (RPM): cpu: 6553500

Info:

Processes: 215 Uptime: 2h 20m Memory: 3.68 GiB used: 1.09 GiB (29.5%)

Init: systemd runlevel: 5 Shell: Bash inxi: 3.3.13

Everything looks good with an Intel Atom E3950 processor detected together with 3.68GB RAM and a 56.53GB rootfs EXT-4 partition. UP 4000 features testing There may also be some issues […]

October 15, 2022October 15, 2022 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 13 Comments

Reolink TrackMix PoE review – A smart 4K PTZ security camera with two lenses, auto-tracking

Reolink has launched another 4K PTZ smart security with human and vehicle detection, plus pet detection (Beta). The Reolink TrackMix PoE comes with two lenses, one with a wide-angle, and the other telephoto lens to zoom on a specific zone, and supports auto-tracking. I’ve had the camera for a few months so I’ll report on my experience with the device. Reolink TrackMix PoE specifications Storage – MicroSD card slot Camera Image sensors – 1/3″ CMOS sensor + 1/2.8″ CMOS Sensor Video Resolution – Up to: 3840 x 2160 (8.0 megapixels) at 25 frames/sec Lenses – f=2.8mm@F=1.6 and f=8mm@F=1.6 Video Format – H.264, H.265 Field of View – Horizontal: 104°-38°; vertical: 60°-21° Zoom Mode – 6x hybrid zoom Day & Night – IR-cut filter with auto-switching Infrared Night Vision – Up to 15 via 2x 850nm LEDs Color Night Vision – 2x spolights at 6500K/450 lumens Pan &Tilt Range – Pan: […]

October 4, 2022October 11, 2022 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 4 Comments

Khadas Edge2 review with Android 12

We’ve already reviewed Khadas Edge2 Pro with Ubuntu 22.04, and I’ve now had time to test the ultra-thin Rockchip RK3588S SBC with Android 12, so I’ll report my experience checking out the features, running some benchmarks, playing videos and games, etc… Flashing Android 12 to Khadas Edge2 board Our board was running Ubuntu 22.04, so in order to enter OOWOW firmware system, I had to keep pressing the function key (middle), then shortly press the reset button, before releasing the function key and entering the OOWOW interface. We can see the Android 11 image from the list we saw last month is gone for good, and a new Android 12 image dated September 20, 2022 is available. I selected that one, and OOWOW downloaded the files and flashed it to the board. Within five minutes, Android 12 was up and running on the board. As somebody who had spent several […]