We’re now ready to announce the winners of CNX Software’s Giveaway Week 2024. We offered some of the review samples we tested (and some we did not test) in the last year, and for the fourth year running, RAKwireless also gave away two IoT development kits shipped directly to winners. This year’s prizes also included a RISC-V motherboard, a 3D depth camera, a few Arm development boards, two touchscreen displays, and an Alder Lake-N mini PC/router. All those products can be seen in the photo, minus some accessories. You’ll find more than seven devices because we organized the third Giveaway Week on CNX Software Thailand simultaneously with four prizes. We had seven winners on CNX Software: Jupiter RISC-V mini-ITX motherboard – François-Denis, Canada Orbbec Femto mega 3D depth and 4K RGB camera  – Reifu, Japan RAKwireless Blues.ONE LoRaWAN, LTE-M, and NB-IoT devkit – OldCrow, Portugal Mixtile Core 3588E development kit [...]

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The AMLogic S905X4 SoC is typically found in TV boxes, but EDATEC has integrated the quad-core Cortex-A55 SoC into its ED-GWL1010 LoRaWAN IoT gateway designed for smart buildings and industrial IoT networks requiring long-range, low-power connectivity. The ED-GWL1010 is built around the ED-REIMEI1 single-board computer, combining a mainboard and an expansion board. It integrates Semtech’s latest SX1302/SX103 baseband chip and a Microchip ATECC608 security chip for enhanced protection. The gateway offers up to 8GB LPDDR4 and 32GB of eMMC storage. For connectivity, it supports dual-band WiFi, Bluetooth 5.0, 10/100Mbps Ethernet with PoE, and a mini PCIe slot for a LoRa module compatible with both American and European LoRa frequencies (US915, AU915, AS923, EU868). It also features USB 3.0, an RGB LED indicator, a user button, and flexible power options through a 7-18V DC input or PoE. The ED-GWL1010 operates reliably in temperatures ranging from -25°C to 50°C and is housed [...]

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AMD Versal Premium Series Gen 2 SoC FPGA combines dual-core Cortex-A72 and dual-core Cortex-R5F processors with high-end FPGA fabric with up to 3.2 million logic cells and CXL 3.1 (Compute Express Link), PCIe Gen6, and DDR5/LPDDR5X high-bandwidth interfaces for data center, communication equipment, test & measurement, and aerospace & defense data-intensive applications. AMD Versal Premium Gen2 specifications: CPU cores Dual-core Arm Cortex-A72 application core, 48 KB/32 KB L1 Cache w/ parity & ECC; 1 MB L2 Cache w/ ECC Dual-core Arm Cortex R5F, 32 KB/32 KB L1 Cache, and 256 KB TCM w/ECC Memory – 256MB on-chip with ECC FPGA fabric System Logic Cells – Up to 3,273,480 LUTs – Up to 1,496,448 DSP Engines – Up to 7,616 Interfaces connected to CPU cores 2x Ethernet 2x UART, 2x SPI, 2x I2C 2x CAN-FD 1x USB 2.0 FPGA memory, interfaces, I/Os, and transceivers Up to 327 Mbit memory @ 273 [...]

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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 cor 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 [...]

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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 [...]

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NXP i.MX 94 is an octa-core Arm SoC with up to four Cortex-A55 application cores, two Arm Cortex-M33 real-time/functional safety cores, two Arm Cortex-M7 real-time/functional safety cores, and an NXP eIQ Neutron NPU designed for Edge AI industrial and automotive applications I initially thought it would be a cost-down version of the NXP i.MX 95, and while it shares many of the same features, it’s more an application-specific processor designed specifically for industrial and automotive applications, lacking a 3D GPU, camera input interfaces, a MIPI DSI display interface, and 10GbE networking, but increasing the number of real-time cores (at the cost of application cores) and adding several networking features such as an Ethernet time-sensitive networking (TSN) switch, 2.5GbE interface, an Ethercat controller, and support for industrial protocols like Profinet or OPC-UA FX. NXP i.MX 94 specifications: CPU Up to 4x Arm Cortex-A55 cores 2x Arm Corex-M7 cores, one for functional [...]

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Radxa Palmshell SLiM X4L is a low-cost, ultrathin mini PC powered by an Intel N100 Alder Lake-N SoC, equipped with 8GB to 32GB LPDDR5 RAM and a 128GB to 1TB NVMe SSD, and with a design that somewhat reminds me of the MeLE Quieter4C fanless mini PC. It’s also an update of the Palmshell SLiM X2L based on the Radxa X2L SBC powered by an Intel Celeron J4125 quad-core Gemini Lake Refresh processor and the X4L features the exact same port layout with two USB ports on the side, a USB-C port for power, a low-profile Ethernet RJ45 port, two more USB 3.2 Type-A ports on the rear panel, two HDMI outputs, a 3.5mm headphone jack, and a Kensington lock. Palmshell SLiM X4L specifications: SoC – Intel Processor N100 CPU – Quad-core Alder Lake-N processor @ up to 3.4 GHz (Turbo) GPU – 24EU Intel HD Graphics @ up to [...]

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Hello everyone. Another light week here. Let’s go over everything.

BeagleBoard Rust Imager

Continuing the trend from previous weeks, many developments took place in BeagleBoard Rust Imager.

MacOS

Thanks to help from Zain, BeagleBoard Rust Imager SD card flashing finally works on MacOS. With this, it is now possible to flash Linux images to an SD card on MacOS.

Any developers requiring similar functionality should look at the PR. Here are the steps in brief:

1. Unmount the sd card using diskutil.
2. Create pipes using std::os::unix::net::UnixStream::pair().
3. Create a MacOS Authorization external form using security_framework::authorization.
4. Launch authopen with the -extauth argument using std::process::Command with the send pipe as stdout.
5. Send the MacOS authorization external form to the process stdin.
6. Read the SCM_RIGHTS control message from the receive pipe and get the file descriptor.

Sd card formatting

SD card formatting is now supported on both Windows and Linux. MacOS support is still pending. This is useful for making the bootable SD cards usable again.

Offline support

Offline use of BeagleBoard Rust imager for all supported boards is now possible. The base configuration now includes definitions for all boards.

MicroBlocks

Since MicroBlocks IDE v2 has been released, there has been a new release of MicroBlocks stable firmware. You can grab the latest firmware for BeagleBoard Freedom from here.

GPIO Nexus Node Schema

While working on MikroBUS patches, I encountered devicetree nexus nodes. It allows the ability to create proxy GPIO controller thereby providing a stable numbering scheme for GPIO pins on MikroBUS socket.

To allow use in the Linux kernel, I created a PR to add the dt schema to the upstream repository. It has now been merged.

Dynamic alias in Linux devicetree

Currently, adding/removing/updating /aliases is not supported in the upstream Linux kernel. This means overlays cannot rely on using /aliases, which are much more powerful than existing /__symbols__. In my patch series to add support for phandles in /__symbols__, it was brought up that it might be better to switch to using /aliases instead of trying to add more to /__symbols__.

So I have created a new patch series based on the original patch series by Geert Uytterhoeven in 2015.

Ending Thoughts

This was it for this week. Hopefully, this helps bring transparency regarding where the development efforts are concentrated, and how the community can help. Look forward to next update.

Helpful links

• BeagleBoard
• BeagleBoard Imager Rust Port
• BeagleConnect Freedom
• MicroBlocks Zephyr Port

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iBASE Technology has unveiled the IB962 3.5-inch single-board computer (SBC) powered by the Intel Core Ultra 5/7 100 Series processor family (formerly Meteor Lake U/H) and delivering an “optimal balance of performance and power efficiency.” The IB962 3.5-inch SBC mostly follows the IB961 board‘s design, offering more powerful SoC options, more system memory, and an HDMI 2.0 display interface supporting 4K resolution at 60Hz. It provides dual Gigabit Ethernet networking, three USB 3.2 ports (two via pin headers), three USB 2.0 ports, and three M.2 slots (M-Key + E-Key + B-Key) for networking, storage, and cellular communication. While IB962 is not a single-board computer in the strictest sense since it uses SODIMM sockets, it is still quite compact and useful for portable or space-constrained applications. It is intended for industrial automation, manufacturing, retail, entertainment, healthcare, and various edge AI applications. It is a larger alternative to AAEON’s PICO-MTU4 Pico-ITX SBC [...]

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Let’s end CNX Software’s Giveaway Week 2024 with a bang! The last prize is an iKOOLCORE R2 mini PC and router powered by an Intel Core i3-N300 Alder Lake-N CPU, equipped with 8GB RAM and a 512GB NVMe SSD, and featuring four 2.5GbE ports. The tiny PC also comes with HDMI and USB-C ports for dual 4K video output, an M.2 E-Key socket to install a wireless module for WiFi and Bluetooth, two USB 3.1 Gen 2 (5 Gbps) Type-A ports, a USB 3.1 Gen 2 (10 Gbps) Type-C port with DisplayPort Alt. mode, and a not-so-useful USB-C audio port using Realtek ALC987 codec. My review of the iKOOLCORE R2 last year was a learning experience as it was the first time I used Proxmox VE and pfSense, and since I wanted to use the system both as a mini PC running Ubuntu 22.04 desktop and a router/firewall running pfSense [...]

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We’ve already checked out the hardware of the Maxtang T0-FP750 mini PC with an unboxing and a teardown in the first part of the review, before thoroughly testing the AMD Ryzen 7 8845HS mini PC in Windows 11 Pro. The time has now come to report our experience with Ubuntu 24.04, and more exactly Ubuntu 24.04.1 “dot” release, with the Maxtang T0-FT750 mini PC in the final part of the review. This will include a software overview, feature tests, benchmarks, storage and USB performance evaluation, 2.5Gbps Ethernet and WiFi 6 network performance tests, a stress test to check for thermal and/or power throttling, and fan noise and power consumption measurements. We will also compare the results of the Maxtang T0-FP750 mini PC in Ubuntu 24.04 against the ones for the earlier Maxtang MTN-FP750 mini PC using AMD Ryzen 7 7735HS CPU which we tested with Ubuntu 22.04. Ubuntu 24.04 system [...]

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Portwell has launched the PJAI-100-ON, a rugged and compact embedded system powered by the NVIDIA Jetson Orin Nano SOM and designed for demanding industrial environments. It operates reliably across a wide temperature range of -20°C to 60°C with a fanless, quiet design that requires minimal maintenance. Equipped with dual Gigabit Ethernet LAN ports and M.2 slots for wireless connectivity, the PJAI-100-ON is tailored for Edge AI applications. This system enhances quality control in manufacturing by using advanced optical inspection technology to detect defects, improving quality assurance and reducing production errors. Previously, we covered other Jetson Orin Nano embedded systems, including Aetina’s AIE-KO21, AIE-KO31, AIE-KN31, and AIE-KN41 and DFI X6-MTH-ORN fanless Edge AI Box computer, as well as Portwell’s WEBS-21J0-ASL another rugged embedded system built around an Intel Atom x7000RE Amstom Lake Nano-ITX motherboard and equipped with an Hailo-8 AI accelerator. Portwell PJAI-100-ON specifications: SoM – NVIDIA Jetson Orin Nano CPU [...]

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Radxa E52C is a compact router based on Rockchip RK3582 hexa-core Cortex-A76/A55 SoC and featuring two 2.5GbE ports, a USB 3.0 port, and a USB-C port for serial console access which will make some readers happy… It’s an update to the earlier Radxa E20C “Mini Network Titan” router, which was limited to two Gigabit Ethernet ports and a USB 2.0 port, and powered by an entry-level Rockchip RK3528A quad-core Cortex-A53 SoC. The Radxa E52C is better in every way with a much faster CPU, higher maximum memory and flash storage capacities, faster networking, and support for USB 3.0 storage or wireless dongles leading the company to call it an “Enhanced Mini Network Titan”. Radxa E52C specifications: SoC – Rockchip RK3582 CPU Dual-core Cortex-A76 with up to 2.4 GHz Quad-core Cortex-A55 at up to 1.8GHz GPU – None (all good since we are talking about a router here…) AI accelerator – 5 [...]

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iKOOLCORE R2 Max is an Alder Lake-N mini PC, server, and soft router equipped with two 10GbE and two 2.5GbE ports and offered with either an Intel Processor N100 quad-core CPU, or a more powerful Intel Core i3-N305 octa-core processor. When iKOOLCORE offered me an R2 Max sample for review, I explained I did not own any 10GbE networking gear. So the company decided to send me two samples for testing 10 Gbps Ethernet networking: a fanless Intel N100 model and an actively-cooled Core i3-N305 model. Since we’ve already gone through the specifications in the first article, I’ll start the iKOOLCORE R2 Max review with an unboxing, a teardown, and a first boot. In the second part of the review, I’ll use Proxmox, OpenWrt, Ubuntu, and/or other operating systems to test the devices using one as a DUT (Device Under Test) and the other as a 10GbE server. iKOOLCORE R2 [...]

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Forlinx FET-MX95xx-C is a system-on-module (SoM) based on NXP i.MX 95 SoC with up to six Cortex-A55 cores, an Arm Cortex-M7 real-time core clocked at 800 MHz, an Arm Cortex-M33 “safety” core clocked at 333 MHz, and equipped with 8GB LPDDR4x and 64GB eMMC flash. The company also provides the feature-rich OK-MX95xx-C development board based on the i.MX 95 module with a wide range of interfaces such as dual GbE, a 10GbE SFP+ cage, terminal blocks with RS485 and CAN Bus interface, three USB Type-A ports, two PCIe slots, and more. Forlinx FET-MX95xx-C system-on-module Specifications: SoC – NXP i.MX 9596 CPU 6x Arm Cortex-A55 application cores clocked at 1.8 GHz (industrial) with 32K I-cache and D-cache, 64KB L2 cache, and 512KB L3 cache Arm Cortex-M7 real-time core clocked at 800 MHz Arm Cortex-M33 safety core clocked at 333 MHz GPU – Arm Mali-G310 V2 GPU for 2D/3D acceleration with support [...]

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Day 4 of Giveaway Week 2024 will be for a development kit comprised of the Mixtile Core 3588E SoM based on Rockchip RK3588 octa-core Cortex-A76/A55 SoC and a Leetop A206 carrier board compatible with NVIDIA Jetson SO-DIMM modules. This development kit is mostly useful to evaluate the Mixtile Core 3588E system-on-module, but it can be used just like any Rockchip RK3588 SBC with the company providing a Ubuntu 22.04 Desktop image for the board. Since it relies on the same edge connector as the NVIDIA Jetson TX2 NX module, the Core 3588E module can also be connected to other compatible carrier boards. I reviewed the Mixtile Core 3588E development kit last December running Ubuntu 22.04. At the time, I found the Mixtile Core 3588E system-on-module performs well with the pre-loaded Ubuntu 22.04 image with a similar performance as on other Rockchip RK3588 hardware platforms. 3D graphics acceleration was working with [...]

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In 2022, we covered Intel’s Xeon D (Ice Lake-D) processor family, which includes the D-2700 and D-1700 models. These processors are designed for software-defined networking and edge applications, providing data center-grade capabilities at the edge. Key features include integrated AI and crypto acceleration, built-in Ethernet, and support for Intel Time Coordinated Computing (TCC) and Time-Sensitive Networking (TSN) to ensure high reliability. Leveraging these advanced capabilities, companies like ADLINK Technology and Congatec have introduced COM-HPC server modules and COM Express Type 7 modules based on the new Xeon D lineup. Axiomtek’s CEM710 is a COM Express Type 7 Basic Module powered by Intel Xeon D-1700 Series processors, designed for edge computing, industrial automation, and data-intensive applications. It offers up to 10 cores, 100Gbps Ethernet, and 64GB of DDR4 ECC memory, along with PCIe Gen3 slots for expandability. With rugged features and TPM 2.0 for security, it ensures reliable performance in demanding [...]

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Andes’ Voyager Development Platform is a micro-ATX motherboard based on the company’s QiLai SoC with four AX45MP 64-bit RISC-V cores and an NX27V vector processor optimized for AI workloads. The Voyager board supports up to 16GB of DDR4 via a UDIMM socket, features 16Mbit SPI Flash for boot code and an SD card socket, includes three PCIe Gen4 slots to connect external devices such as GPU card and SSD,  as well as a JTAG debugger and USB to UART bridge for debugging during Linux software development. Andes QiLai RISC-V AI SoC Before looking at the board itself, let’s check the Andes QiLai SoC specifications: CPU cores Andes AX45MP-4C cluster 4x RV64GC 8-stage superscalar processors clocked at 1.6 GHz (worse) / 2.1 GHz (typ.) Support of MESI cache coherence protocol with Coherence Manager 32KB L1 Instruction and Date cache 2MB L2 cache I/O Coherence Port (IOCP) – Synchronous AXI4 (256 bits [...]

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The second prize of Giveaway Week 2024 is the Orbbec Femto Mega 3D depth and 4K RGB camera powered by an NVIDIA Jetson Nano module and featuring Microsoft ToF technology found in Hololens and Azure Kinect DevKit. The camera connects to Windows or Linux host computers through USB or Ethernet and is supported by the Orbbec SDK with the NVIDIA Jetson Nano running depth vision algorithms to convert raw data to precise depth images. I first reviewed the Orbbec Femto Mega using the Orbbec Viewer for a quick test connected to an Ubuntu laptop (as shown above) before switching to a more complex demo using the Orbbec SDK for body tracking in Windows 11. Although it was satisfying once it worked, I struggled quite a lot to run the body tracking demo in Windows 11, so there’s a learning curve, and after you have this working, you’d still need to [...]

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The Lanner NCA-1050 is a fanless desktop network appliance by Intel Atom Amston Lake processors (X7835RE, X7405C, X7203C) for efficient, low-power performance. Designed for edge deployments, branch offices, and retail environments, it supports up to 16GB of DDR5 4800MHz memory and M.2 SATA storage. With versatile connectivity options, the NCA-1050 features one 2.5GbE RJ45 port, four GbE RJ45 ports, a console port, a USB 3.1 port, DisplayPort, and optional PoE+ support. It also offers two M.2 slots (PCIe/USB3.1), two Nano-SIM slots, and six antenna holes, allowing for flexible expansion and wireless configurations, making it adaptable to various network setups. Lanner NCA-1050 specifications: SoC NCA-1050A – Intel Atom x7835RE 1.3GHz octa-core processor with 6MB cache, 32EU Intel UHD graphics; TDP: 12W NCA-1050B – Intel Atom X7405C 2.2GHz quad-core processor with 6MB cache; TDP: 12W NCA-1050C – Intel Atom X7203C 2 GHz dual-core processor with 6MB cache; TDP: 12W System Memory – [...]

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