PicoRio Linux RISC-V SBC is an Open Source Alternative to Raspberry Pi Board

PicoRio Linux RISC-V SBC

There’s a lot of interest/hype around RISC-V, and low-cost boards such as Longan Nano or Maixduino are already available, but those are based on microcontroller-class chips, even though it’s possible to run Linux on Kendryte K210 RISC-V board, it comes without MMU, so it’s not for everyone. Linux capable RISC-V boards do exist but cost several hundred dollars or more with the likes of HiFive Unleashed and PolarFire SoC Icicle development kit. If only there was a RISC-V board similar to the Raspberry Pi board and with a similar price point… The good news is that the RISC-V International Open Source (RIOS) Laboratory is collaborating with Imagination technologies to bring PicoRio RISC-V SBC to market at a price point similar to Raspberry Pi. The PicoRio board was presented at the RISC-V Global Forum on September 3rd. I could not find the full presentation slides yet, but there are some screenshots […]

Winmate IQ30 Snapdragon 660 SBC Runs Android 9.0 for HMI Touch Panels

Winmate IQ30 Snapdragon 660 SBC

Winmate, a company specializing in rugged computing technology headquartered in Taiwan, has recently launched Winmate IQ30 SBC powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 660 octa-core coupled with up to 4GB LPDDR4, and 32GB flash storage. The single board computer also comes with a Fast Ethernet port with optional PoE, WiFI 5, and optional cellular connectivity thanks to an an M.2 card socket and SIM card slot, as two video interfaces for Android-powered touch screen displays. Winmate IQ30 specifications: SoC – Qualcomm Snapdragon 660 octa-core processor with 4x Kryo 260 cores @ 2.2GHz, 4x Kryo 260 cores @ 1.8GHz, Adreno 512 GPU, and Hexagon DSP System Memory – 3GB or 4GB LPDDR4 RAM Storage – 32GB MLC flash, MicroSD card slot Display I/F 1x eDP via MIPI to eDP chip 1x LVDS via MIPI to LVDS chip 2x USB Touch FFC connector 2x backlight headers Audio PM660L audio codec 2x speaker headers, […]

Whiskey Lake Thin Mini ITX SBC Features Eight USB Interfaces, Dual SATA, Dual GbE, and More

Advantech AIMB-233

Advantech AIMB-233 thin mini-ITX SBC is equipped with a choice of 15W Intel Whiskey Lake processors, supporting up to 32GB RAM, and offering plenty of high speed I/Os include eight USB interfaces, two SATA III ports, dual Gigabit Ethernet, several PCIe & M.2 expansion slots, as well as triple display support, six COM ports, and more. The motherboard complies with the “thin mini-ITX” requirement of not exceeding 2.5cm in height, and Advantech expects the thin Mini-ITX SBC to be found in nursing carts, patient care systems, Human-Machine Interfaces (HMI), and mobile devices. AIMB-233 thin mini-ITX SBC specifications: SoC (One or the other) Intel Core i7-8665UE quad-core/octa-thread processor @ up to 1.7 / 4.4 GHz with Intel UHD Graphics 620 – 15W TDP Intel Core i5-8365UE quad-core/octa-thread processor @ up to 1.6 / 4.1 GHz with Intel UHD Graphics 620 – 15W TDP Intel Core i3-8145UE dual-core/quad-thread processor @ up to […]

NanoPi NEO3 and NanoPi R2S Gateways Review – Part 1: Unboxing & Teardown

NanoPi NEO3 & NanoPi R2S Review

This morning I received a message from DHL informing me of an incoming package from Hong Kong and sent by a company (i.e. an agent) I had never heard of. My first reaction was “Ah” shortly followed by “Why?!”. But in any case, I’ve just received the package, and after tearing the plastic out, I found a FriendlyELEC branded package. So I thought to myself it must be a NanoPi board for review. Wrong! I actually got two NanoPi “boards” namely NanoPi NEO3 with 2GB RAM, and NanoPi R2S both of which are Rockchip RK3328 powered SBC’s designed for Linux headless applications. Unboxing After opening both packages, I realized I did not get the SBC versions, but instead the complete gateways with their respective enclosure. NEO3 is really light since the case is in plastic, while R2S is a bit heavier due to the metal case.  NanoPi NEO3 gateway comes […]

ODYSSEY-X86J4105 SBC Review with Ubuntu 20.04 – Raspberry Pi & Arduino Headers Tested

ODYSSEY-X86J4105 Ubuntu 20.04 Review Arduino & Raspberry Pi Headers

We’ve already reviewed ODYSSEY-X86J4105 SBC with Windows 10. When combined with Re_Computer enclosure it’s a typical Intel Gemini Lake mini PC but with a twist: Arduino and Raspberry Pi header. The latter works fine in Windows, but at the time, the Raspberry Pi header does not. So Linux is our only option. I’ve now had time to install and test Ubuntu 20.04 on ODYSSEY-X86J4105 single board computer. I did not install Ubuntu on the internal eMMC flash where Windows 10 resides, but instead on a 128GB M.2 SATA SSD. I’ll first run some usual command to check system information, then run benchmarks, and check whether all features are working before focusing the review on the Arduino and Raspberry Pi headers. ODYSSEY-X86J4105 Ubuntu 20.04 System Info We can check some of the information from the system in the terminal:

An Intel Celeron J4105 processor with 8GB RAM and the rootfs […]

Developer Board 4 V3 Brings Gigabit Ethernet to 96Boards Snapdragon 410E SBC

Snapdragon 410E SBC Gigabit Ethernet

The original 96Boards CE compliant Dragonboard 410c development board launched in 2015 was followed by Geniatech Developer Board IV the following with many of the same features plus the addition of a Fast Ethernet port and an RTC battery, and an 85x60mm form factor all of which made it non-compliant with the 96Board specs. Geniatech has now introduced a new Developer Board 4 V3 version, that like the V2 model integrates a Gigabit Ethernet port and WiFi 5 connectivity, but the design has been modified get closer to  96Boards CE compliance with 85x54mm dimensions, and the same ports’ arrangement as on 96Boards CE boards, excluding the Ethernet RJ45 jack that is out of (96Boards CE) specs. Geniatech Developer Board 4 V3 specifications: SoC – Qualcomm Snapdragon 410E (APQ8016E) quad-core ARM Cortex A53 processor @ 1.2 GHz with Adreno 306 GPU System Memory – 1 or 2 GB LPDDR3 @ 533MHz […]

Wandboard 8MPLUS SBC Gets NXP i.MX 8M Plus SoC with 2.3TOPS NPU

Wandboard 8MPLUS

TechNexion Wandboard Dual was one of the first Freescale i.MX 6 single board computers when it launched in early 2013 and the company has introduced a few more models over the years including Wandboard QuadPlus in 2017. TechNexion is now working on a new version called Wandboard 8MPLUS powered by the recently announced NXP i.MX 8M Plus SoC that features a built-in 2.3 TOPS NPU for AI acceleration. Wandboard 8MPLUS preliminary specifications: EDM System-on-Module SoC – NXP i.MX8M Plus quad-core Arm Cortex-A53 processor @ up to 1.8 GHz, Arm Cortex-M7 real-time core @ up to 800 MHz, Vivante GC7000UL 3D GPU, Vivante GC520L 2D GPU, HiFi 4 audio DSP, and 2.3 TOPS Neural Processing Unit (NPU) System Memory – 2GB or 4GB LPDDR4 Storage – 32GB eMMC flash Video Decode – HD (1080p +720p) Video Encode – 1080p60 H.265, H.264 260-pin EDM Type G board-to-board connector Debugging – JTAG Interface […]

AMD Ryzen Embedded SBC Review with Ubuntu 20.04

AMD Ryzen Embedded Ubuntu 20.04

Last June, we reviewed DFI GHF51 Ryzen Embedded R1606G SBC with Windows 10 Enterprise LTSC. We had to send back the board to Taiwan, as the company wanted to double-check some of the issues we reported, and we got the board to review it with Ubuntu 20.04. So I downloaded Ubuntu 20.04.1 ISO flashed it to a USB flash drive, and could install it on the eMMC flash drive without issue. I selected to keep Windows 10, so I have a dual-boot system on a 32GB eMMC flash. Yes, I do like a challenge! 🙂 DFI GHF51 Ubuntu 20.04 System Info We can check some of the information from the system in the terminal:

So I have a 7.9GB partition to play with Ubuntu 20.04.1, but I could do all tests without issues, although I had to remove Phoronix benchmark program and data after completing the benchmark. Features Testing […]

UP 7000 x86 SBC