Posted on

Raspberry Pi OS 64-bit officially released

The Raspberry Pi Foundation has now officially released Raspberry Pi OS 64-bit about two years after the first beta version was released. Despite some potential performance benefits from using 64-bit code instead of 32-bit, the Raspberry Pi Foundation has resisted moving too quickly to a 64-bit OS because if it would create two separate worlds for their earlier 32-bit boards like Raspberry Pi 2 or Raspberry Pi Zero, and the newer 64-bit boards starting with Raspberry Pi 3 onwards and may confuse users besides the extra workloads. Some of the main reasons to finally release a 64-bit version include improved software compatibility with many closed-source applications only available for arm64, and some open-source ones not fully optimized for the armhf port, some performance benefits, and the ability for a process to make use of the full 8GB RAM, removing the 3GB limit when using LPAE (Large Physical Address Extension) on […]

Posted on

DeskPi Lite – A Raspberry Pi 4 enclosure with full HDMI ports, two extra USB ports

In 2020, we wrote about the DeskPi Pro enclosure for Raspberry Pi 4 with 2.5-inch HDD/SSD bay, full-sized HDMI ports, and a PWM fansink as an alternative to the popular Argon One case that also brings all ports to a single side and improves cable management. The company informed us of a new low-cost model, the DeskPi Lite, with a more compact design since it lacks the 2.5-inch SATA bay, and two extra USB ports at the front which may be convenient to connect USB flash drives or anything that may be temporarily connected to your Raspberry Pi 4. DeskPi Lite features: All main ports on the rear panel: USB Type-C power input 2x full-size HDMI ports AV port (CVBS + stereo audio) 2x USB 3.0, 2x USB 2.0, and Gigabit Ethernet ports directly from the Raspberry Pi 4 SBC Font panel ports/features: 2x USB 2.0 ports 2s status LEDs […]

Khadas Edge2 Arm mini PC
Posted on

BTT SKR Pico – A Raspberry Pi RP2040 based 3D printer control board

BigTreeTech BTT SKR Pico V1.0 is a 3D printer controller board based on Raspberry Pi RP2040 MCU, compatible with Raspberry Pi Linux SBC’s, and specially designed for the compact Voron 0 3D printer, but also working with other models. The board comes with four TMC2209 motor drivers covered by a heatsink for cooling, as well as interfaces for temperature sensors, and a USB Type-C port to connect to the host computer, usually a Raspberry Pi board running Linux. BTT SKR Pico V1.0 3D printer board specifications: MCU – Raspberry Pi RP2040 dual-core Cortex M0+ microcontroller at up to 133 MHz with 264 kB of embedded SRAM Storage – TBD Motor drivers – Up to 4x TMC2209 drivers for X, Y, Z1, Z2, and E interfaces Temperature sensor interfaces – TH0, THB 2-way 100K NTC RTD sensors Host interface – USB Type-C port Misc – Built-in heatsink (Note: fan cooling is […]

Posted on

PiGear Nano – A Nano-ITX Raspberry Pi CM4 carrier board with 7-30V DC input

PiGear Nano is an Nano-ITX carrier board for Raspberry Pi CM4 (Compute Module 4) designed for industrial applications with a -30°C to +80°C temperature range, 7 to 30V DC input, as well as RS232, RS485, and CAN bus interfaces. The board also features one Gigabit Ethernet port, one HDMI port, MIPI DSI and CSI display & camera interface, M.2 SSD storage, eight USB 3.0 ports, mini PCIe and SIM card sockets for 4G LTE cellular connectivity, and various digital input and output interfaces. Pigear Nano specifications: Supported SoM – Raspberry Pi CM4 and CM4 Lite modules Storage – 1x NVMe SSD M.2 socket,  1x MicroSD card slot for Compute Module 4 Lite only Display I/F – 1x HDMI Type-A connector, 1x MIPI DSI interface x 1 Camera I/F – 1x MIPI CSI interface Networking 1x Gigabit Ethernet RJ45 port Optional 4G LTE/GPRS via mini PCIe socket plus SIM card slot […]

Posted on

StackyPi – A Raspberry Pi RP2040 board with Raspberry Pi Zero form factor (Crowdfunding)

SB Components’ StackyPi is a development board based on Raspberry Pi RP2040 MCU that happens to follow the Raspberry Pi Zero form factor. The board is equipped with 8MB SPI flash for the firmware, a MicroSD card socket, a micro SB port, two buttons, and a 40-pin GPIO header that makes it compatible with some Raspberry Pi uHAT and HAT expansion boards. StackyPi specifications: MCU – Raspberry Pi RP2040 dual-core Cortex-M0+ microcontroller @ up to 133 MHz with 264KB SRAM Storage – 8MB (64Mbit) SPI flash, MicroSD card socket USB – 1x Micro USB port Expansion – 40-pin GPIO header with GPIO, I2C, UART, SPI, etc… mostly compatible with Raspberry Pi header (3.3V I/Os) Misc – Reset and Boot buttons Power Supply- 5V via Micro USB port Dimensions – 65 x 30 mm (Raspberry Pi Zero form factor) The main advantage of such as board is that it can support […]

Posted on

10.1-inch RPI All-in-One PC review with Raspberry Pi 4

A couple of months ago I received “RPI All-in-One”, a 10.1-inch touchscreen display for Raspberry Pi boards, listed the specifications, checked out the package content, installed a Raspberry Pi 4 inside the display before booting my new all-in-one (AiO) PC successfully. I’ve now had time to spend more time with the PC/display and see how it performs under various conditions. I also tested HDMI and USB-C input features with a laptop and mini PC. Fan or fanless operation? After updating Raspberry Pi OS, I ran sbc-bench.sh script together with rpi-monitor to see how the Raspberry Pi 4 with 1GB RAM would perform under load with the (noisy) fan enabled.

  No throttling was detected, and the temperature never exceeded 56°C in a room with an ambient temperature of 26°C. I then disconnect the fan, but it turns out the fan can also be easily disabled in the OSD menu […]

Rockchip RK3568/RK3588 and Intel x86 SBCs
Posted on

Raspberry Pi RP2040 is now available in quantities for 70 cents and up

Raspberry Pi RP2040 microcontroller has been available for one dollar in single quantities for about half a year, with at the time, 500- and 3400-pieces reel pricing to be determined. But Raspberry Pi Trading has now started to sell the chip in bulk with reels of 3,400 and 500 pieces directly to businesses for a unit price of respectively 70 and 80 cents via the new Raspberry Pi Direct website. Distributors have been selling reels for a while, but closer to 85 cents to 95 cents per unit. That basically means smaller quantities should still be purchased through distributors, but it makes more sense to purchase reels directly from Raspberry Pi Trading. Eben Upton also says they have enough wafer stock to produce 20 million chips with more on the way, so no shortage is expected. That contrasts with the current situation with many STM32 microcontrollers when some companies have […]

Posted on

USB add-on boards leverage Raspberry Pi Zero test pads, USB Gadget mode

I’ve just come across a few USB boards that take advantage of the Raspberry Pi Zero (W) test pads to add one or more USB Type-A ports to the board without soldering. The first one is “Catda Raspberry Pi zero WH USB expansion board” which I found on Banggood for $9.99. It’s a kit that ships with a USB Zero plug expansion module, an acrylic “isolation protection cover”, an acrylic transparent light diffraction protection cover plus M2.5 screws and nuts for mounting it to the Raspberry Pi Zero WH board, but it should work any Raspberry Pi Zero including the new Raspberry Pi Zero 2 W board since it relies on pogo pin to connect the four test pads for USB data and power, and those are in the same position for all Pi Zero boards. You can then plug it into a laptop or computer to power the board […]

Khadas VIM4 SBC