The first, but not last, SBC of Giveaway Week 2020 is RockPi 4C single board computer equipped with a Rockchip RK3399 processor coupled with 4GB RAM, and featuring HDMI and DisplayPort for dual 4K monitor setups, as well as Gigabit Ethernet, WiFI 5, Bluetooth, USB 3.0/2.0 ports, etc… The board closely follows Raspberry Pi 4 form factor, so without thinking too much about it I thought I could just use it with CrowPi2 Raspberry Pi 4 laptop. However due to small mechanical differences, and a different position of the processor impacting cooling, I quickly realized this would not work. Since I did not have time to review yet another RK3399 SBC, I thought I might as well as give it away, as I’m sure somebody will find a good use for it. Note the board does not come with any accessories, so you’ll have to get a MicroSD card, USB-C […]
Orange Pi Zero2 Allwinner H616 SBC runs Android 10 or Linux
Last year, Shenzhen Xunlong Software unveiled Orange Pi Zero2 SBC as an update to the popular Orange Pi Zero board with a faster Allwinner H6 processor, HDMI 2.0 video output, USB 3.0 port, Gigabit Ethernet, and WiFi. Just one little problem: AFAIK they never sold it. But Orange Pi Zero2 board is now back with another design features instead equipped with a newer Allwinner H616 processor supporting Android 10, and various Linux distributions such as Ubuntu and Debian. Orange Pi Zero2 (2020) specifications: SoC – Allwinner H616 quad-core Arm Cortex-A53 processor @ up to 1.5 GHz with Arm Mali G31 MP2 GPU with support for OpenGL ES 3.2 and OpenCL 2.0 Memory – 512MB or 1GB DDR3 Storage – 2MB SPI flash and MicroSD card slot Video Output Micro HDMI 2.0a port up to 4Kp60 Video composite (CVBS) via 13-pin header (See Expansion section) Video Decoding 10-bit H265/HEVC up tp […]
Novasom M9 RK3399(K) SBC offers DSI, eDP and HDMI display interfaces, M.2 SSD storage
We’ve previously seen compact Rockchip RK3399 powered single board computer with support for dual displays with the likes of Rock Pi 4 and NanoPi M4B thanks to HDMI and MIPI DSI interfaces. Novasom M9 is another compact RK3399 SBC with both HDMI and MIPI DSI, as well as DisplayPort or embedded DisplayPort (eDP) for a wider choice of display interfaces, although as I understand it is still limited to dual independent display configurations. Another differentiating feature is the option for a wider -20 to +85°C operating temperature meaning it can be equipped with Rockchip RK3399K processor instead of RK3399, and the board also happens to come with an M.2 socket for NVMe SSDs just like Rock Pi 4 board. SBC-M9 board specifications: SoC – Rockchip RK3399 or RK3399K hexa-core processor with two Cortex A72 cores, four Cortex-A53 core, Arm Mali-T860MP4 GPU System Memory – LPDDR3 up to 4GB @ 64bit […]
PolarBerry is a Compact, Linux-capable RISC-V FPGA SBC and module (Crowdfunding)
SiFive may just have announced a mini-ITX motherboard for RISC-V PCs, but if you’d like a RISC-V Linux platform in a more compact form factor, Sundance PolarBerry may better fit your requirements, albeit the board will target different use cases. Powered by Microchip PolarFire RISC-V SoC FPGA, PolarBerry is both a single board computer with Gigabit Ethernet and 40-pin GPIO header, as well as a system-on-module thanks to three Samtec board-to-board connectors. PolarBerry specifications: SoC – Microsemi PolarFire FPGA MPFS250T-FCVG484 penta-core processor with 1x RV64IMAC monitor core, 4x RV64GC application cores, FPGA fabric with 254K x logic elements (4LUT + DFF), 784 x math blocks (18 x 18 MACC), and 16 x SERDES lanes at 12.5 Gbps; 12 W maximum power consumption System Memory – 4 GB of 32-bit wide DDR4 memory Storage – 4GB eMMC flash, 128 Mbit SPI Serial NOR flash for boot image Networking – Gigabit Ethernet […]
ClearFog CX CN9K Mini-ITX 10GbE/5GbE networking SBC runs Linux or FreeBSD
Last year, SolidRun introduced ClearFog CX LX2X networking single board computer offering up to 100GbE via NXP LX2160A 16-core Cortex-A72 communication processor that followed ClearFog CX 8K ARMADA 8040 networking board launched the year before. The Israeli company is now working on two ClearFog CX CN9K networking SBC’s powered by CEx7 CN913x system-on-module featuring Marvell Octeon TX2 CN913x quad-core Cortex-A72 processor and offering multi-gigabit Ethernet with various 10Gbps, 5Gbps, and Gigabit Ethernet ports. ClearFog CN9132 Pro The higher-end version of the ClearFog CX CN9K boards is ClearFog CN9132 Pro with the following specifications: CEx7 CN9132 COM Express Type 7 module SoC – Marvell OCTEON TX2 CN9132 quad-core Arm Cortex A72 up to 2.2 GHz (Industrial temperature up to 2.0 GHz) System Memory – Up to 16GB SO-DIMM DDR4 up to2400MT/s (not included by default) Storage – Up to 32 GB eMMC flash, SPI NOR flash COM Express Type 7 board-to-board […]
Forlinx OK1028A-C networking SBC supports LVDS displays, 4G/5G modules
Forlinx released two networking SBC’s with 10Gbps Ethernet powered by NXP LS1043A and LS1046A processor nearly exactly one year ago. Like many other networking SBCs they do not come with video output so configuration is done via a computer or laptop either through a UART interface or a web interface. But in some cases, such boards may be integrated into machines that require a display for human-machine interaction. That’s why Forlinx has now released a new networking board – OK1028A-C – powered by NXP QorIQ Layerscape LS1028A dual-core Cortex-A72 processor that natively supports video output up to 4K UHD resolution via an eDP/DisplayPort interface which the company used to provide an LVDS header. The board also offers 5 Gigabit Ethernet ports, as well as optional WiFi, Bluetooth, and 4G or 5G cellular connectivity via M.2 and mPCIe modules. Forlinx OK1028A-C specifications: FET1028A-C system-on-module SoC – NXP LS1028A dual-core Cortex-A72 processor […]
Qualcomm IPQ6000 embedded SBC offers dual Gigabit Ethernet and WiFi 6 connectivity
At the beginning of the month, we covered Mango-DVK development kit based on a Qualcomm IPQ6000/IP6010 powered system-on-module enabling 2.5GbE and WiFi 6 connectivity. Wallys Communications contacted us earlier this week, about one of their new “802.11ax low-end product”, namely DR6000 SBC that happens to be based on Qualcomm IPQ6000 “CP03” reference design, and offers both WiFi 6 and dual Gigabit Ethernet connectivity in a round-shaped board. DR6000 / CP03 specifications: SoC – Qualcomm Atheros IPQ6000 quad-core Arm Cortex-A53 processor @ 1.2GHz processor System Memory – 512MB DDR3L Storage – 128MB Nand Flash, 16MB NOR flash Networking Wired – 2x Gigabit Ethernet RJ45 ports Wireless 2.4GHz 2×2 MU-MIMO OFDMA 802.11b/g/n/ax WiFi 6, up 573 Mbps, up to 20dBm per chain 5GHz 2×2 MU-MIMO OFDMA 802.11a/n/ac/ax WiFi 6, up to 1201 Mbps, up to 20dBm per chain 2x U.FL Connectors, diplexer allows dual band concurrent operation USB – 1x micro USB […]
NanoPi R2S & NanoPi NEO3 tested with Armbian – Thermal test, Ethernet and USB performance
In the first part of the review of NanoPi NEO3 and Nano R2S I checked out the hardware, with both tiny gateways powered by a Rockchip RK3328 processor but a different features as NEO3 includes a Gigabit Ethernet port and a USB 3.0 port, while R2S comes with dual Gigabit Ethernet ports and a USB 2.0 port. I’ve now had time to test both gateways using Armbian 20.08.1 release based on Ubuntu 20.04 Focal. Note that while NanoPi R2S is officially supported by Armbian, NanoPi NEO3 images are currently tagged as “suitable for testing“. Having that said I did not come across any specific issues on NEO3, and it may mostly mean it’s easier to get support on the forums with R2S. I flashed two microSD cards using USBImager with: Armbian_20.08.1_Nanopi-r2s_focal_current_5.8.6_minimal.img.xz Armbian_20.08.1_Nanopineo3_focal_current_5.8.6_minimal.img.xz That means Ubuntu 20.04 with Linux 5.8.6, but since Armbian is always updated, I ended the review with […]