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PCIe x1 slot adapters let the Raspberry Pi 5 SBC interface with standard PCIe cards

Waveshare has recently launched the PCIe TO PCIe x1 Board (C) which is a PCIe FFC connector to standard PCIe x1 slot adapter board for the Raspberry Pi 5. But while searching for more details about the board, I also found out about other solutions from 52Pi and Spotpear, which are a bit older, but still worth taking a look because of their unique features and low cost. These Raspberry Pi PCIe x1 slot adapters allow users to connect expansion cards such as network cards, storage controllers, and other PCIe peripherals to the Raspberry Pi 5. Additionally, the board features a dedicated 12V power header and DC jack, which supplies power to the 12V pins of the PCIe slot, for power-hungry devices. These features allow for applications like AI acceleration, high-speed networking, and storage expansion. Waveshare PCIe TO PCIe x1 Board (C) The Waveshare PCIe FFC to PCIe x1 Adapter […]

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Armbian v25.2 and DietPi v9.11 released with updated Ubuntu and Debian-based Linux images for single board computers

Vendor-provided Linux images for single board computers are not always working optimally, so this post is a regular reminder that users may want to check out Armbian and DietPi projects mostly supported by the community but also backed by some of the vendors who offload some (repackaging) software work to them. Armbian and DietPi are separate projects, but this month, Armbian v25.2 and DietPi v9.11 were almost released simultaneously. I don’t report on each release (should I?), but they release an update every few months. The last time we had a look at both projects was in September 2024 for the releases of DietPi 9.7 and Armbian 24.8. Let’s see what the new releases have to bring. Armbian v25.2 Main changes: New Boards – Rock 2A and 2F, NanoPi R3S, Retroid Pocket RP5, RPMini, Rock 5T, GenBook, MKS-PI, SKIPR, Armsom CM5, NextThing C.H.I.P, Magicsee C400 Plus Rockchip 3588 Improvements – […]

ArmSoM RK3588 AIModule7 NVIDIA Jetson Nano-compatible SOM
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LLMStick – An AI and LLM USB device based on Raspberry Pi Zero W and optimized llama.cpp

Youtuber and tech enthusiast Binh Pham has recently built a portable plug-and-play AI and LLM device housed in a USB stick called the LLMStick and built around a Raspberry Pi Zero W. This device portrays the concept of a local plug-and-play LLM which you can use without the internet. After DeepSeek shook the world with its performance and open-source accessibility, we have seen tools like Exo that allow you to run large language models (LLMs) on a cluster of devices, like computers, smartphones, and single-board computers, effectively distributing the processing load. We have also seen Radxa release instructions to run DeepSeek R1 (Qwen2 1.5B) on a Rockchip RK3588-based SBC with 6 TOPS NPU. Pham thought of using the llama.cpp project as it’s specifically designed for devices with limited resources. However, running llama.cpp on the Raspberry Pi Zero W wasn’t straightforward and he had to face architecture incompatibility as the old […]

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Boardcon SBC3576 – A feature-rich Rockchip RK3576 SBC with HDMI, mini DP, dual GbE, WiFi 6, optional 5G/4G LTE module, and more

Boardcon SBC3576 is a feature-rich single board computer (SBC) based on the MINI3576 system-on-module powered by a Rockchip RK3576 AI SoC and equipped with two 100-pin and one 44-pin board-to-board connectors for interfacing with the carrier board. The carrier board is equipped with up to 8GB RAM, 128GB eMMC flash, two gigabit Ethernet ports, a WiFi 6 and Bluetooth 5.3 module, 4K-capable HDMI 2.1 and mini DP video outputs, a mini HDMI input port, a USB 3.0 Type-A port, RS485 and CAN Bus terminal block, and more. The Rockchip RK3576 SoC comes with the same 6 TOPS NPU found in the Rockchip RK3588/RK3588S SoC and can be used as a lower-cost alternative with less performance. Boardcon SBC3576 specifications: SoC – Rockchip RK3576 CPU 4x Cortex-A72 cores at 2.2GHz, four Cortex-A53 cores at 1.8GHz Arm Cortex-M0 MCU at 400MHz GPU – ARM Mali-G52 MC3 GPU clocked at 1GHz with support for OpenGL […]

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Mekotronics R58-PTZ video surveillance/live streaming embedded computer features a PTZ camera, two HDMI input ports

I swear it’s not an AI-generated picture of a device, but the Mekotronics R58-PTZ is real and just another unusual Rockchip RK3588 hardware platform from the company that’s an embedded computer with a 3-inch display on the front panel and a PTZ (Pan-Tilt-Zoom) camera placed on top. Mekotronics describes it as a live-streaming box designed for video surveillance, so I assume its main use case is to leverage to built-in 6 TOPS NPU for live streaming with some real-time effect and/or surveillance applications detecting persons, masks, etc… especially it also offers two HDMI inputs for extra cameras. Mekotronics R58-PTZ specifications: SoC – Rockchip RK3588 octa-core processor with CPU – 4x CortexA76  cores @ up to 2.4 GHz, 4x CortexA55 core @ 1.8 GHz GPU – Arm Mali-G610 MP4 GPU with support for OpenGL ES 1.1/2.0/3.2, OpenCL 2.2, Vulkan 1.2 Video decoder – 8Kp60 H.265, VP9, AVS2, 8Kp30 H.264 AVC/MVC, 4Kp60 […]

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Radxa ROCK 5T SBC packs ROCK 5 ITX mini-ITX motherboard’s features onto a 110x80mm PCB

Radxa ROCK 5T is yet another Rockchip RK3588 SBC whose main selling point is to pack most features of the ROCK 5 ITX mini-ITX motherboard (170x170mm) into a much smaller 110x80mm board. The board features up to 32GB RAM, M.2 2280 sockets for NVMe SSDs, four independent display outputs via HDMI, USB-C, and MIPI DSI, HDMI input and camera interfaces, two 2.5GbE RJ45 jacks, on-board WiFi 6/6E and Bluetooth 5.x, and an M.2 Key-B socket for cellular connectivity. Radxa ROCK 5T specifications: (with differences highlighted in bold or strikethrough) SoC – Rockchip RK3588 or RK3588J (industrial grade) CPU – Octa-core processor with four Cortex-A76 cores @ up to 2.2 GHz (industrial) / 2.4 GHz (commercial), four Cortex-A55 cores @ up to 1.8 GHz GPU – Arm Mali G610MC4 GPU VPU 8Kp60 10-bit H.265 / VP9 / AVS2  / AV1 decoder, 8Kp30 H.264  decoder 8Kp30 H.265 / H.264 encoder AI accelerator […]

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Intel floats Modular PC design proposal for repairable laptops and mini PCs

Intel has published an article proposing a modular PC design that would improve the repairability/right-to-repair of laptops and mini PCs and reduce e-waste through the replacement of motherboard, display, and M.2 or FPC add-on modules for the user-facing ports. Making repairable, modular electronic devices is not a new idea, and the Framework laptops are probably the best-known option now, but they do come at a premium. But most projects are limited success, for instance, Project Ara modular smartphone from Google eventually died off. We’ve also covered modular or open-source hardware solutions from smaller companies over the years such as Firefly Station P3D modular Arm mini PC with swappable cards, or Olimex Teres-I DIY and open-source hardware laptop. It’s good news that a large company like Intel is taking the repairable, modular PC topic seriously, but as we’ll see below it’s currently a high-level proposal with few technical details. Most laptops […]

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PCIe3.0 to Dual M.2 HAT+ for Raspberry Pi 5 features ASMedia ASM2806 PCIe 3.0 switch

We’ve already covered Raspberry Pi HAT+ boards with multiple M.2 sockets with various keyings including the Geekworm X1004 HAT+, Pineboards HatDrive! AI, and  HatDrive! Dual with two sockets, and the Geekworm X1011 with four M.2 Key-M sockets. So when I saw Seeed Studio introduced a dual M.2 HAT+ board I initially thought it was uninteresting being a very similar board. However, all aforementioned PCIe to M.2 HAT+ boards are based on either the ASMedia ASM1182e or ASM1184e PCIe Gen2 x1 packet switches with 5GT/s shared bandwidth, and Seeed Studio’s PCIe3.0 to Dual M.2 HAT+ for Raspberry Pi 5 features instead an ASMedia ASM2806 PCIe 3.0 switch supporting up to 8GT/s shared bandwidth through the Raspberry Pi 5’s PCIe Gen3 x1 interface. Seeed Studio PCIe 3.0 to Dual M.2 HAT+ key features and specifications: Supported SBC – Raspberry Pi 5 and potentially other SBCs with a PCIe FFC connector like the […]

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