CNX Software - Embedded Systems News

December 13, 2016December 13, 2016 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 2 Comments

Samlinking D240 Mediatek MT7620A Router Boards Support Two 4G LTE mini PCIe Modules, PoE for $38 and Up

Samlinking Technologies, a manufacturer of 4G WiFi integrated solution based in Shenzhen, has launched D240 router board powered by Mediatek MT7620A MIPS processor with 128MB RAM, 64 MB flash, four Fast Ethernet LAN ports, one Fast Ethernet WAN port with PoE, as well as two PCIe slots accepting 4G LTE modems.Three Samlinking D240 models are available with D240A1, D240A2, and D240A3 with different combination of LTE module, and 802.11 b/g/n and/or 802.11ac connectivity. SoC – Mediatek MTK7620A MIPS processor @ 580MHz System Memory – 128MB Storage – 64MB flash + micro SD card slot Connectivity 802.11 b/g/n/ac up to 300, or 300 + 867 Mbps depending on model+ 2 u.FL connectors 5x 100 Mbps Ethernet port (RJ45) with 4 LAN ports, 1 WAN port with PoE 802.3af 2x PCIe slot with LTE Cat3 to Cat 6 modem cards 2x SIM card slots Serial – 1x 4-pin header USB – 1x […]

December 13, 2016 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 3 Comments

$24 Winkel Arduino Compatible Board Includes WiFi, Bluetooth, 2.4 GHz RF, and an RTC (Crowdfunding)

There are plenty of Arduino compatible boards with WiFi based on ESP8266 WiSoC going for around $5 to $10, and with ESP32 processor, we are starting to have $15 to $20 boards with both WiFi and Bluetooth, but while ESP-IDF SDK has been progressing nicely, some parts of Bluetooth functionality are still not implemented. Winkel board offers an interesting alternative by offering WiFi, Bluetooth, 2.4GHz ISM, and an RTC for $24. Winkel board specifications: MCU – Microchip/Atmel ATmega128 MCU @ 16 MHz with 128KB flash memory, 4KB SRAM, 4KB EEPROM Connectivity WiFi 802.11 b/g/n via ESP12E module based on ESP8266 Bluetooth 2.0 + EDR via HC-05 module RF Radio – NRF24l01 2.4 GHz ISM radio. (Note: It might be possible to use it for Bluetooth LE connection, see here and there). I/Os (through both Atmel MCU and ESP8266) 38x Digital I/Os 7x PWM Digital I/Os 8x Analog Inputs USB – […]

ArmSoM CM5 - Raspberry Pi CM4 alternative with Rockchip RK3576 SoC

December 12, 2016December 13, 2016 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 16 Comments

It’s Official: Selling Android TV Boxes with Piracy Add-ons/Apps Can Get You in Jail (in the UK)

A while ago, two persons in the United Kingdom decided it was a good idea to setup a shop and sell Android TV boxes promising free access to premium content like the Premier League football matches with a one-time purchase of the hardware. Of course they did that with a TV box with some piracy add-ons and/or apps, and when The Premier League found out they brought a prosecution against the two. The court case has been going on for several month, and the UK court has announced its verdict: The main accused was sentenced to four years in prison, while his associate pleaded guilty and received a two-year suspended prison sentence, both convicted for Conspiracy to Defraud. That’s the first sentencing of IPTV boxes in England, and the Federation Against Copyright Theft (FACT)’d director declared that ” today’s result should send a hard-hitting message to anyone involved in selling […]

December 12, 2016May 29, 2017 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 2 Comments

Linux 4.9 Release – Main Changes, ARM and MIPS Architectures

Linus Torvalds released Linux 4.9 on Sunday: So Linux 4.9 is out, and the merge window for 4.10 is thus open. With the extra week for 4.9, the timing for the merge window is obviously a bit awkward, and it technically closes in two weeks on Christmas Day. But that is a pure technicality, because I will certainly stop pulling on the 23rd at the latest, and if I get roped into Xmas food prep, even that date might be questionable. I could extend the merge window rather than cut it short, but I’m not going to. I suspect we all want a nice calm winter break, so if your stuff isn’t ready to be merged early, the solution is to just not merge it yet at all, and wait for 4.11. Just so you all know (I already bcc’d the main merge window suspects in a separate mailing last […]

December 12, 2016January 7, 2017 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 7 Comments

Eweat R9 Plus Android TV Box and OpenWrt NAS Review – Part 1: Unboxing and Teardown

Zidoo X9S is getting some competition with Eweat R9 TV boxes based on the same Realtek RTD1295 processor with built-in SATA, Gigabit Ethernet, 4K VP9 and H.265, HDR, and USB 3.0. The company has three R9 models, and they sent me to top of the line R9 Plus with 2GB RAM, 16GB storage, a 3.5″ SATA bay, HDMI input, and dual Gigabit Ethernet ports for evaluation. I’ll start the first part of the review by checking out the hardware inside and out, before testing the firmware in the second part. Eweat R9 Plus Unboxing The device ships in a large package with a handle which can be convenient in brick and mortar shops since the whole package weights about 1.8 kilograms.The package then contains a smaller package will all accessories: a 12V/2.5A power supply, a “Quickly User Guide” (sic.), a HDMI cable, and an IR remote control taking two AAA […]

December 11, 2016January 22, 2017 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 11 Comments

How to Use Sonoff POW ESP8266 WiFi Power Switch with MQTT and ThingSpeak

ITEAD Studio’s Sonoff is a family of cheap home automation products based on ESP8266 WiSoC, and I’ve already tested Sonoff TH16 wireless switch with a humidity and temperature sensor using the stock firmware and eWelink app for Android or iOS. It works, but up to recently it required a registration to a cloud service (the company will now allow use from the local network), and the source code is closed. So for the second device under review, namely Sonoff POW wireless switch with a power consumption monitor, I decided to install ESPurna firmware working on ESP8266 Sonoff devices and NodeMCU, as it’s open source, supports Sonoff POW natively, includes a web interface to control the device from the LAN, and includes an MQTT client. MQTT (Message Queuing Telemetry Transport) is a lightweight publish/subscribe messaging protocol used to control IoT sensors and devices, and it’s a popular method to gather data […]

Rockchip RK3568/RK3588 and Intel x86 SBCs

December 10, 2016December 10, 2016 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 3 Comments

VGA Output Hack on $2 PADI IoT Stamp & Other Realtek RTL8710AF Modules

It’s pretty amazing what you can do with those cheap WiFi modules coming from Espressif and Realtek. You may remember CNLohr getting ESP8266 to broadcast video to your TV though NTSC, and that was impressive. But developer kissste, who has been very active since the announcement of a $2 Realtek RTL8710 module, has now developed a VGA driver demo for Realtek Ameba WiFi SoCs, and successfully tested it on Pine64 PADI IoT Stamp. Just like on ESP8266, there’s no hardware display block on RTL8710AF, RTL8711AF, and RTL8195AF SoCs, so instead he had to connect the signals to GPIOs with the video signal connected to GA1 via a resistor, H-Sync to GC2, and V-Sync to GA5. Video and H-Sync data is actually transfered over an SPI connection using DMA transfer for better performance. Normally the video signal for VGA is divided into red, green, and blue signal, so I understand he mixed […]

December 9, 2016 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 8 Comments

Sonoff SC WiFi Environmental Monitor Sells for $20

ITEAD Studio has done some good job with their Sonoff home automation devices based on Espressif ESP8266 WiSoC, as they are affordable, working as advertised with default firmware, and hackable with our own. The company has now added a new model, which may or may not be as useful, with Sonoff SC environmental monitor device that detects current temperature, humidity, light intensity, air quality, and sound levels, and sends the data to eWeLink app installed on your Android or iOS phone. You may be thinking it can be used as a home assistant since it really looks like a speaker and include some sort of microphone, but the top of the device is probably used to let air and dust go through. Sonoff SC specifications: WiSoc – Espressif ESP8266 Tensilica L106 processor @ 80/160 Mhz with WiFi MCU – Atmel ATMega328 MCU Connectivity – 802.11 b/g/n WiFi Sensors Sharp GP2Y1010AU0F dust sensor […]