Linux-Friendly Hardware and Hackable Devices

posted by Roy Schestowitz on May 08, 2023

• Replacing the keyboard on the Clevo N151CU / Lafité IV / System76 Darter Pro / Entroware Proteus

  So new toy time! One of the problems of buying non-mainstream tech is that there is a dearth of components and 3rd party accessories. I found a few Ali-Baba sellers which were selling similar keyboards, but nothing which looked identical. So I contacted the retailer and, after a few weeks, they were able to ship me a replacement. In cherry red!

• An RPi-Powered Multi-DX7/TX816 Style Synth

  [Kevin] over at Simple DIY ElectroMusic Projects has released a complete DIY modular design for simulating the classic 80s Yamaha TX816 DX/FM modular digital synthesizer. This beast of a synth was used by the cool bands of the 80s as well as TV studios, and ownership of the original machine is an expensive investment. But with the power of modern hackable electronics, and the MiniDexed firmware running bare-metal on a Raspberry Pi getting access to a compatible synth doesn’t have to break the bank.

• Dev kit integrates Xilinx XC7Z010/20 SoC

  MYIR launched this month an industrial development platform based on the Xilinx XC7Z010/20 System-on-Chip. The base board supports up to 3x Gigabit ports, CAN interfaces and other flexible peripherals.

• The world’s smallest Bluetooth SoC: InPlay NanoBeacon SoC IN100 in 2.0×1.1mm WLCSP package

  InPlay has just announced a Wafer Level Chip Scale Package (WLCSP) for its NanoBeacon SoC IN100, making it the world's smallest Bluetooth System-on-a-Chip (SoC) at just 2.0 x 1.1 x 0.35mm. The NanoBeacon IN100 is not new per se, and we covered the still tiny Bluetooth SoC when writing about Sparkfun NanoBeacon Bluetooth 5.3 module based on the DFN8 package measuring 2.5-2.5mm. The highlights include its low-code/no-code interface and an ultra-low power consumption of below 1 uW.

• electrical characteristics of telephone lines

  The conventional "copper pair" analog telephone line is fading away. The FCC has begun to authorize abandonment of copper outside plant in major markets, and telcos are applying to perform such abandonment in more and more areas. The replacement is IP, part of the overall trend of "over the top" delivery, meaning that all communications utilities can be delivered by the use of IP as a common denominator.

• Soviet-Era Computer Is Both A Mystery And A Disaster

  There are plenty of bizarre computers around from the 70s through the 90s before the world somewhat standardized around various duopolies of hardware vendors and operating systems. Commodore, Atari, and even Apple had some bizarre machines from this era but for our money, the most unusual systems come out of the Eastern Bloc. We’ve featured plenty of these before, and the latest is a Robotron CM1910 which comes to us from [Chernobyl Family] via YouTube.