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Snagboot is an open-source cross-vendor recovery tool for embedded targets

Bootlin has just released the Snagboot open-source recovery tool for embedded platforms designed to work with multiple vendors, and currently STMicro STM32MP1, Microchip SAMA5, NXP i.MX6/7/8, Texas Instruments AM335x and AM62x, and Allwinner “sunxi” processors are supported. Silicon vendors usually provide firmware flashing tools, some closed-source binaries, that only work with their hardware. So if you work on STM32MP1 you’d use STM32CubeProgrammer, while SAM-BA is the tool for Microchip processors, NXP i.MX SoC relies on UUU, and if you’ve ever worked on Allwinner processors you’re probably family with sunxi-fel. Bootlin aims to replace all those with the Snagboot recovery tool. The Python tool is comprised of two parts: snagrecover using vendor-specific ROM code mechanisms to initialize external RAM and run the bootloader (typically U-Boot) without modifying any non-volatile memories. snagflash communicates with the bootloader over USB to flash system images to non-volatile memories, using either DFU, USB Mass Storage, or […]

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GL.iNet Spitz AX review – Part 2: a router with 5G NR, WiFi 6, 2.5GbE, failover and load balancing

Earlier this month I introduced the GL.iNet Spitz AX (aka GL-X3000NR) router with 2.5GbE, WiFi 6, and 5G NR cellular connectivity listing the specifications, doing an unboxing, and going through the initial setup. I’ve now received a new SIM card for testing and installed it into the router to continue the review. 4G/5G cellular connectivity on Spitz AX router After powering the router, the SIM card was detected and showed a 5G connection, but quickly fell back to 4G as can be seen with the cyan icon in the screenshot below. Shortly after, I lost 4G data connectivity, and after a while, the modem was not detected at all. But after restarting the router, and clicking on the “Auto Setup” icon everything looked to be working fine and I was always on a 5G connection from “house 1”. You’ll notice an envelop icon on the top right corner of the […]

ArmSoM RK3588 AIModule7 NVIDIA Jetson Nano-compatible SOM
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UDOO VISION SBC with Intel Atom x5-E3940 or x7-E3950 CPU offers Arduino Leonardo compatibility

UDOO VISION single board computer is powered by either an Intel Atom x5-E3940 or x7-E3950 Apollo Lake processor and features the same Microchip ATmega32U4 8-bit AVR microcontroller found in the Arduino Leonardo board to control GPIOs. Two versions of the Pico-ITX SBC are available: the X5 with an Atom x5 processor, 4GB RAM, 32GB eMMC flash, and the X7 with an Atom x7 processor, 8GB RAM, and 64GB eMMC flash. Both come with miniDP++ and eDP vision interfaces, two Gigabit Ethernet ports, USB ports, M.2 sockets for expansion, and a 26-pin header with the same signals as in the Arduino Leonardo board. UDOO VISION specifications: SoC UDOO VISION X5 – Intel Atom x5-E3940 quad-core Apollo Lake processor @ 1.6 / 1.8 GHz (Turbo) with 12EU Intel HD Graphics 500 series; 9.5W TDP UDOO VISION X7 – Intel Atom x7-E3950 quad-core Apollo Lake processor @ 1.6 / 2.0 GHz (Turbo) with […]

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GL.iNet Spitz AX (GL-X3000NR) 5G NR WiFi 6 router review – Part 1: Specs, unboxing, and first boot

GL.iNet Spitz AX, also known as GL-X3000NR, is a compact 5G NR WiFi 6 router running OpenWrt 21.02 on a MediaTek Filogic 820 (TM7981A) dual-core Cortex-A53 processor coupled with 512MB DDR4 and 8GB eMMC flash, as well 2.5GbE and GbE interfaces, and a USB 2.0 port. The company sent us a Spitz AX router for evaluation, and in the first part of the review, we’ll go through the specifications, and do an unboxing and a teardown, before connecting it for a first boot. GL.iNet Spitz AX router specifications SoC – MediaTek MT7981A (Filogic 820) dual-core Arm Cortex-A53 processor @ 1.3 GHz System Memory – 512 MB DDR4 Storage – 8GB eMMC flash, MicroSD card slot up 1+ TB Networking 1x 2.5GbE WAN Ethernet port 1x Gigabit Ethernet LAN port Dual-band IEEE 802.11a/b/g/n/ac/ax WiFi 6 up to 574Mbps (2.4GHz), 2402Mbps (5GHz) RM520N-GL 5G cellular modem and 2x Nano SIM card slots […]

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Review of TwoTrees TTC 450 CNC router machine with 80W and 500W spindles

TwoTrees TTC 450 is a CNC router machine for precision cutting with a working area of 460x460x80 mm. The machine can handle 2D and 3D, 3-axis X, Y, Z movement, features a 32-bit microcontroller,  a touchscreen control display, and supports WiFi network connection. The TTC 450 can also read files on an SD card for offline operation, and workpieces can be made of a variety of materials such as wood, acrylic, Plastwood, carbon fiber sheet, aluminum, metal, and various engineering plastic materials. TTC 450 CNC router specifications Work Area – 450 x 450 X 80 mm Body Material – Metal frame & Aluminium 4080U Profile Drive System – Translation screw drive with double Y-axis system Mainboard – DLC32 V2.1 (ESP32-based as found in TwoTrees TS2 laser engraver) Stepper Driver – A4988 1.3A Stepper Motors – 17HS8401S, NEMA23 20mN.m Spindle – 74W, 8000RPM Max Speed – 800mm/Min Running Accuracy – +/-0.1mm […]

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UP Squared Pro 7000 SBC features up to Intel Core i3-N305 Alder Lake-N processor, up to 16GB LPDDR5

AAEON UP Squared Pro 7000 is a single board computer (SBC) based on a choice of Alder Lake-N SoCs up to the Core i3-N305 octa-core processor, up to 16GB LPDDR5 RAM, and 64GB eMMC flash. The board supports up to three displays and comes with a MIPI CSI port, dual 2.5GbE networking, three USB 3.2 ports, two RS232/RS422/RS485 interfaces, as well as several M.2 sockets for storage and wireless expansion that makes it suitable for machine vision solutions for smart factories, robotics applications, and retail/digital signage. UP Squared Pro 7000 specifications: Alder Lake-N SoC (one or the other) Intel Core i3-N305 octa-core processor up to 3.8 GHz with 6MB cache, 32EU Intel UHD Graphics Gen 12 @ 1.25 GHz; TDP: 15W Intel Atom x7425E quad-core processor up to 3.4 GHz with 6MB cache, 24EU Intel UHD Graphics Gen 12 @ 1.0 GHz; TDP: 12W Intel Processor N97 quad-core processor up […]

Rockchip RK3568, RK3588 and Intel x86 SBCs and SoMs in 2025
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Use Kea DHCP server as ISC DHCP server (dhcpd) is being phased out

The ISC DHCP server (dhcpd) was traditionally used to set up a DHCP server in Linux, but the software is reaching end-of-life, and the Internet Systems Consortium is now recommending their own Kea DHCP server or alternatives such as Dnsmasq or udhcpd (as found in Busybox) as a replacement. I was unaware of this having just used the isc-dhcp-server package to set up a DHCP server in NanoPi R6C router/mini PC earlier this month. But a blog post on Ubuntu informed us dhcpd was going away, and Canonical plans to switch over the Kea DHCP server instead. The main difference from the user perspective is that Kea relies on JSON configuration files so all your dhcpd files will have to be rewritten. Other highlights for the Kea DHCP server include: Modular component design, extensible with hooks modules. Kea includes daemons for a DHCPv4 server, a DHCPv6 server, and a dynamic […]

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Embedded Open Source Summit 2023 schedule – Zephyr OS, Security, IoT, Embedded Linux, and more

The Linux Foundation has just announced the full schedule for the Embedded Open Source Summit, which will take place on June 27-30, 2023 in Prague, Czech Republic, as well as virtually starting on June 26. Over 175 sessions, birds of a feather (BoF) tracks, and workshops related to embedded and open-source innovation will be presented at the event itself comprised of six micro conferences: Automotive Linux Summit Europe, Embedded IoT Summit, Embedded Linux Conference, LF Energy Embedded Summit, Safety-Critical Software Summit, and Zephyr Project Developer Summit. Even though I’m not going to attend personally, I’ve gone through the schedule to create my own little virtual schedule with some sessions relevant that should be interesting to me and hopefully to CNX Software readers. Monday, June 26 (Virtual sessions) The first day of the event will have a Yocto Dev training in the morning, and a bunch of virtual sessions that are […]

Boardcon CM3588 Rockchip RK3588 System-on-Module designed for AI and IoT applications