GEEKOM Mini Air12 Lite Review – Part 3: Ubuntu 24.04 on a low-cost mini PC

GEEKOM Mini Air12 Lite Ubuntu 24.04 review

We have already checked the hardware of the GEEKOM Mini Air12 Lite mini PC in the first part of the review, before testing the low-cost Intel Processor N100 mini PC with its 8GB RAM and 256GB SATA SSD running Windows 11 Pro in detail in the second part. We’ve now had time to test the GEEKOM Mini Air12 Lite with Ubuntu 24.04 in the third and final part of the review. We’ll test the features in Linux, run some benchmarks, evaluate storage and network performance, play some 4K and 8K videos in YouTube playback, perform a stress test to check its thermal design, and finally measure the mini PC’s fan noise and power consumption. We’ll also compare the results in Linux to the earlier GEEKOM Mini Air12 mini PC with the same CPU, but better specs and a higher price. A challenging Windows 11 / Ubuntu 24.04.1 dual boot installation […]

Mitigating a DoS attack with GoAccess and Cloudflare

Cloudflare Under Attack Mode

In this off-topic post, I’m going to discuss some behind-the-scenes “fun” that may happen when managing the web server used to host the CNX Software website. From time to time, the server becomes unreachable, but I can still access its console, and notice a very high CPU load (over 100) on a VPS with four cores, while the CPU load is typically 0.5 to 2 under normal circumstances. That’s usually due to a DoS (denial of service), DDoS (distributed denial of service), or some bug I can’t identify. An easy way to solve this issue is to log in to Cloudflare and set the “Under Attack Mode” to on. It will show all visitors a JavaScript challenge the first time they visit the website, and the CPU usage typically drops back to normal level within a minute or so. That means I can access my website and so do regular […]

UP 710S – A slim, credit card-sized Intel N97 development board with M.2 E-Key WiFi socket and GPIO, I2C, SPI, and COM wafers

UP 710S Intel N97 development board

AAEON’s UP 710S is a credit card-sized Intel N97 SBC and development board with an M.2 E-Key socket for a WiFi and Bluetooth module, and similar interfaces such as gigabit Ethernet, USB 2.0, USB 3.0, and  HDMI outputs as found in Raspberry Pi boards. It’s very similar to the UP 7000 SBC with Intel N50, N97, or N100 CPU, but it’s designed to be slimmer so the 40-pin Raspberry Pi-compatible header has been replaced by 1mm pitch wafers exposing GPIO, I2C, SPI, and serial (COM) interfaces. UP 710S specifications: Alder Lake-N SoC Default – Intel Processor N97 quad-core  processor up to 3.6 GHz with 6MB cache, 24EU Intel UHD Graphics Gen 12 @ 1.2 GHz; TDP: 12W Options – Intel N50, N100, N200 System Memory – Up to 8GB LPDDR5 Storage Up to 128GB eMMC flash 256Mbit flash for the BIOS/UEFI Video Output – HDMI 1.4b video output up to 4Kp30 […]

Orange Pi 4A low-cost octa-core SBC is powered by Allwinner T527 Cortex-A55 AI SoC with a 2TOPS NPU

Orange Pi 4A

Orange Pi 4A is a new low-cost credit card-size single board computer (SBC) powered by an Allwinner T527 octa-core Cortex-A55 processor with a 2TOP NPU and offered with either 2GB or 4GB RAM. The board also comes with multiple storage options: a 128 or 256Mbit SPI NOR flash for the bootloader, an eMMC socket for up to 128GB modules, an M.2 socket for NVMe SSDs, and a microSD card slot. It’s also equipped with four USB 2.0 ports, a gigabit Ethernet port, three display interfaces (HDMI, MIPI DSI, eDP),  two camera interfaces, and a 40-pin “Raspberry Pi” header. The Orange Pi 4A is somewhat equivalent to an octa-core Raspberry Pi 3/4 with some extra features. Orange Pi 4A specifications: SoC – Allwinner T527 CPU Octa-core Arm Cortex-A55 @ up to 1.8GHz (four cores) and up to 1.42 GHz (four cores) XuanTie E906 RISC-V core @ 200MHz GPU – Arm Mali-G57 […]

BIOSTAR MT-N97 fanless Intel N97 industrial mini PC supports 9V-24V DC input, features RS232/RS485 COM port

Fanless industrial N97 mini PC

BIOSTAR MT-N97 is a fanless not-so-mini PC powered by an Intel Processor N97 quad-core Alder Lake-N CPU and designed for industrial applications with features such as a wide DC input (9V to 24V), an optional RS232/RS422/RS485 COM port, as well as dual GbE, and support for M.2 wireless and 4G/5G cellular modules. The mini PC supports up to 16GB DDR4 SO-DIMM memory, M.2 NVMe SSD and SATA storage, and triple display setups through two HDMI interfaces and a USB-C port. It also comes with Line-out and earphones audio jacks, and a total of seven USB ports including one with 100W USB PD support. BIOSTAR MT-N97 specifications: SoC – Intel Processor N97 quad-core Alder Lake N-series processor up to 3.6 GHz with 6MB cache, 24EU Intel UHD Graphics Gen 12 @ 1.2 GHz; TDP: 12W System Memory – Up to 16GB DDR4-3200 SO-DIMM memory (Note: Some companies have tested SO-DIMM modules […]

DC-ROMA RISC-V Mainboard is designed for the Framework Laptop 13 modular laptop

DeepComputing DC ROMA RISC V mainboard

DeepComputing’s DC-ROMA RISC-V Mainboard is designed for the modular Framework Laptop 13 and powered by a StarFive JH7110 quad-core RISC-V processor running either Ubuntu 24.04 Desktop or Fedora 41 Linux distribution. The Framework Laptop 13 was initially offered with Intel Core i5-1135G7, Core i7-1165G7, or Core i7-1185G7 processor, but the advantage of a modular laptop is that you can replace components, and that’s exactly what the “DC-ROMA RISC-V Mainboard” does by allowing users/developers to do by switching to a less powerful RISC-V processor for software development. Framework Laptop 13 specifications with DC-ROMA RISC-V Mainboard: SoC – StarFive JH7110 CPU Quad-core 64-bit RISC-V SiFive U74 (RV64GC) processor @ up to 1.5 GHz with 32KB D-Cache, 32KB I-cache Single-core 64-bit RISC-V SiFive S7 (RV64IMAC) monitor core with 16KB I-cache, 8KB DTIM Single-core 32-bit RISC-V SiFive E24 (RV32IMFC) real-time control core with 16KB I-cache Up to 2MB L2 cache GPU – Imagination BXE-4-32 […]

GenBook RK3588 modular Linux laptop features an octa-core Arm CPU module with 32GB RAM (Crowdfunding)

GenBook RK3588 Ubuntu Laptop

GenBook RK3588 is a modular Linux (and Android) laptop powered by a Rockchip RK3588 Arm system-on-module (SoM), and easily serviceable by the user who can add M.2 MVMe SSD storage, switch wireless module, and eventually update to a more powerful SoM, or even change the display. It looks very similar to the Cool Pi Arm Linux laptop, and it’s indeed made by the same company, but a representative told CNX Software that the GenBook RK3588 was an upgrade of the Cool Pi without further details. So let’s have a closer look. GenBook RK3588 laptop specifications: System-on-Module – GenM5 (same as Cool Pi CM5 except for the move from LPDDR4/4X to LPDDR5) SoC – Rockchip RK3588 octa-core processor with 4x CortexA76 cores, 4x CortexA55 cores Arm Mali-G610 MP4 GPU Video decoder – 8Kp60 H.265, VP9, AVS2, 8Kp30 H.264 AVC/MVC, 4Kp60 AV1, 1080p60 MPEG-2/-1, VC-1, VP8 Video encoder – 8Kp30 H.265/H.264 video […]

Graperain G3562 – A Rockchip RK3562 system-on-module and development board

Rockchip RK3562 development board

Graperain G3562 is a Rockchip RK3562 quad-core Cortex-A53 system-on-module (SoM) with up to 8GB LPDDR4, up to 128GB eMMC flash suitable for Edge AI, IoT, automation, and consumer electronic applications. The company also provides the G3562 development board for the SoM with an M.2 socket for NVMe SSD, dual Ethernet, WiFi 5 and Bluetooth 5.0, and optional 4G LTE/3G cellular connectivity, plus a MIPI DSI/LVDS display connector, two MIPI CSI camera connectors, three USB 2.0 ports, audio interfaces, and expansion through a 30-pin GPIO header and UART connector. Graperain G3562 SoM GrapeRain G3562 specifications: SoC –  Rockchip RK3562 CPU – Quad-core Arm Cortex-A53 quad-core @ 2.0 GHz GPU – Mali-G52-2EE with support for OpenGL ES 1.1/2.0/3.2, OpenCL 2.0, Vulkan 1.0/1.1 AI accelerator – 1 TOPS (INT8) NPU VPU Encoder – H.264 1920×1080 @ 60fps Decoder – H.265/VP9 4096×2304 @ 30fps; H.264 1920×1080 @ 60fps RAM – 2GB LPDDR4 by default […]

UP 7000 x86 SBC