Two of the most popular projects providing images for Arm and RISC-V single board computers have released new updates with Armbian 23.02 adding Linux 6.1-based Debian and Ubuntu images, and DietPi 8.14 adding experimental RISC-V support for the StarFive VisionFive 2 SBC and new Arm boards. Armbian 23.02 Quoll Linux 6.1 is the latest LTS kernel, so Armbian is now providing Ubuntu 22.04 Jammy and Debian 11 Bullseye images based on Linux 6.1.y for boards that support it, as well as the first development images based on Debian 12 Bookworm and Ubuntu 23.04 Lunar. I could not find any new boards added in the changelog, but the release brings several improvements and bug fixes to some of the already supported SBCs including the Raspberry Pi 3, Orange Pi R1 Plus LTS, ROCK Pi S, ROCK Pi 4, NanoPi R2S, NanoPi NEO3, and Banana Pi BPI-M2 Pro. The announcement also highlights […]
NanoPi R6S RK3588S mini PC & router review – Part 2: Ubuntu 22.04
NanoPi R6S is both a mini PC and a router based on Rockchip RK3588S processor. I received some samples in November and started the NanoPi R6S review with OpenWrt/FriendlyWrt quickly testing the 2.5GbE interfaces and routing with iperf3, and it worked pretty well. But using a system with an octa-core Cortex-A76/A55 processor and 8GB RAM as an OpenWrt router only feels like a waste of resources, so I wanted to install a more versatile operating system – Ubuntu 22.04 – for further testing. My struggles installing Ubuntu 22.04 on NanoPi R6S FriendlyELEC provides various images on the Wiki either booting from an SD card, installing from a MicroSD to the eMMC flash (aka eFlasher imagers), or flashing through USB with Windows tools. I like the eFlasher images since the OS runs from the internal eMMC flash and no special tools are needed. I had just used the FriendlyWrt eFlasher image, […]
8K AI embedded computer gets 4K HDMI input, WiFi 6, dual GbE interfaces, and more
Firefly EC-A3588Q is a fanless 8K AI embedded computer powered by a Rockchip RK3588 processor and fitted with up to 32GB RAM, SATA or NVMe storage, offering dual Gigabit Ethernet, WiFi 6, Bluetooth 5.0, and optional 5G/4G cellular connectivity, dual 8K video outputs, etc… It is a higher-end and larger version of the Firefly EC-R3588SPC industrial mini PC based on the Rockchip RK3588S processor that adds a 4K HDMI input port, a VGA output port, gets two GbE interfaces and support for WiFi 6/Bt 5.0, offers more USB ports, and replaces some terminal blocks with DB9 interfaces for RS232, RS485, and CAN Bus interfaces. Firefly EC-Q3588Q specifications: SoC – Rockchip RK3588 octa-core processor with CPU – 4x Cortex-A76 cores @ up to 2.4 GHz, four Cortex-A55 cores @ up to 1.8 GHz GPU – Arm Mali-G610 MP4 quad-core GPU with OpenGL ES3.2 / OpenCL 2.2 / Vulkan1.1 support AI accelerator […]
KC12 Alder Lake-P mini PC supports up to 64GB RAM, four displays, and dual 2.5GbE
KC12 is a mini PC powered by either an Intel Core i5-1240P or Core i7-1260P Alder Lake-P hybrid processor with up to 64GB DDR4, SATA and NVMe storage options, HDMI and DisplayPort for up to four 4K displays, as well as two 2.5GbE networking interfaces. The actively-cooled computer also comes with six USB ports, four of which are USB 3.x, audio jacks for a headphone and a microphone, an optional WiFi 6 and Bluetooth 5.0 module, an RS232 COM port, and a Kensington lock slot. KC12 mini PC specifications: Alder Lake-P SoC (one or the other) Intel Core i7-1260P 4P+8E (16 threads) processor @ 3.40/4.70GHz with Intel Xe graphics; 28W TDP Intel Core i5-1240P 4P+8E (16 threads) processor @ 3.30/4.40GHz with Intel Xe graphics; 28W TDP System Memory – Up to 64GB RAM via 2x SO-DIMM DDR4-2666/3200 sockets Storage M.2 2280 SSD slot for SATA or NVMe PCIe Gen4 SSD […]
IoT Prototype Kit is powered by an Alder Lake-H COM Express module with up to Core i5-12600HE CPU
ADLINK has launched an IP-i IoT Prototype Kit based on their Express-ADP COM Express Type 6 Basic “Alder Lake-H” module with either an Intel Core i5-12600HE 12-core (4P+8E) processor clocked at up to 4.5 GHz or a Core i3-12300HE 8-core (4P+4E) processor reaching up to 4.3 GHz. The kit also includes the Express-BASE6 R3.1 carrier board, a thick heatsink with an active fan, a debug board (DB30 x86), and various cables for SATA storage, a DB9 COM port, and I/Os, and the kit can be used to develop applications for industrial automation and control, medical ultrasound, image processing and analysis, high-speed video encoding and streaming, predictive traffic analysis, multi camera-based AI, etc… The Express-ADP module supports up to 64GB DDR5 memory, optional on-module NVMe storage, up to 4x 4K displays, multiple PCIe Gen4 and Gen3 interfaces, SATA 3.0, and so on. You’ll find detailed Express-ADP COM Express module specifications in […]
KiCad 7.0.0 release – Custom fonts, text boxes, SpaceMouse, crash reporting, and much more
KiCad 7.0.0 open-source EDA software has just been released with a range of new features from custom fonts to 3Dconnexion SpaceMouse integration to opt-in Sentry crash reporting, and many more. It took over three years between KiCad 5.0.0 and KiCad 6.0.0 announcements, but only a little over a year for the release of KiCad 7.0.0. Did KiCad developers acquire superhuman abilities or did AI get involved in the development somehow? Most probably not, and instead they change the release schedule to a yearly one, so we should get annual releases of the open-source EDA suite going forward, with KiCad 8.0.0 to be released in Q1 2024. Some notable changes to KiCad 7.0 include: Custom Fonts support is now available in the schematic, PCB, and worksheet editors to allow the use of any system font. Text box support was added in both the schematic and PCB editors. 3Dconnexion SpaceMouse support in […]
ESP32 MPY-Jama is a MicroPython IDE for ESP32 boards
ESP32 MPY-Jama is a cross-platform MicroPython IDE specifically designed for ESP32 boards with a file manager, a REPL terminal, real-time dashboards, and various ESP32-specific features. The IDE is an open-source Python program using pyWebView and pySerial plus some JavaScript for the user interface, and the developer of the program, Jean-Christophe Bos, provides binaries for Windows 64-bit and macOS 64-bit Arm or x86. It’s also possible to use it in Linux but needs to be built from source. Some of the key features of the ESP32 MPY-Jama IDE include: MicroPython code editor with syntax highlighting REPL interface Access to information dashboards with real-time data about WiFi and Bluetooth connections, system info with GPIO status, CPU frequency, memory and SPI flash details Easy 2-click methods to connect to WiFi and create an access point Graphical interface to install a new firmware through esptool Ability to create, import, and run “Jama Funcs” mini-applications […]
Green Metrics Tool helps developers measuring & optimizing software power consumption
The Green Metrics Tool (GMT) is an open-source framework that allows the measurement, comparison, and optimization of the energy consumption of software with the goal of empowering both software engineers and users to make educated decisions about libraries, code snippets, and software in order to save energy along with carbon emissions. While the firmware of battery-powered embedded devices and the OS running on your smartphone are typically optimized for low power consumption in order to extend the battery life, the same can not be said of most software running on SBCs, desktop computers, and servers. But there are still benefits of having power-optimized programs on this type of hardware including lower electricity bills, a lower carbon footprint, and potentially quieter devices since the cooling fan may not have to be turned on as often. The Green Metrics Tool aims to help in that regard. The developers explain how that works: […]