GNU/Linux Devices or Modding-Friendly Hardware

posted by Roy Schestowitz on Aug 31, 2025

• Devices/Embedded

  • Sean Conner ☛ Some more notes on the “wireless service unit”

    After much experimentation, I found out that the “wireless service unit” the Monopolistic Phone Company sent us to replace the DSL does in fact support multicasting, although it's a bit more pedantic about it than any other router I've encountered so far. The address I used to use, 239.255.0.1, falls into the “administratively scoped” category of multicast addresses, and I picked it because I wanted a multicast address that was scoped. The “wireless service unit” isn't something I fully control, so it rejected that range of multicast addresses. In fact it appeared that it didn't like any multicast address that could, in theory, be routed.

  • CNX Software ☛ NVIDIA Jetson T5000 carrier board supports GMSL3, GMSL2, FPD-Link III, SDI, or MIPI CSI-2 camera interfaces

    NVIDIA officially launched the Jetson T5000 Hey Hi (AI) module found in the Jetson AGX Thor Developer Kit earlier this week, and several companies have announced or teased products based on the new 2070 TOPS system-on-module. Connect Tech notably introduced the Gauntlet carrier board for the Jetson T5000, supporting GMSL3, GMSL2, FPD-Link III, SDI, and MIPI CSI-2 camera interfaces via a 16-lane expansion connector, DisplayPort video output, Gigabit Ethernet and 10GbE networking ports, USB ports, and various I/Os.

• Modding

  • Everyone’s talking about the new Fairphone (Gen. 6)

    It’s been a couple of months since we launched the latest Fairphone model, the new Fairphone (Gen. 6), and reviews have been pouring in from across the world. The overall verdict? We have a winner on our hands.

  • CNX Software ☛ Adafruit Fruit Jam – An RP2350 mini computer running classic Macintosh

  • CNX Software ☛ ESP32-S3-AUDIO-Board smart speaker devkit features a dual mic array, LCD/camera connectors, RGB LEDs

    Waveshare’s ESP32-S3-AUDIO-Board is an ESP32-S3-based low-cost smart speaker development kit with a dual microphone array, a speaker header, echo cancellation, surround RGB lighting, RTC, microSD card storage, and expansion interfaces for LCDs and DVP cameras. The board integrates an ES8311 audio DAC and an ES7210 4-channel audio ADC, along with a PCF85063 RTC for timekeeping. It also supports Wi-Fi 4 and Bluetooth 5 LE with both ceramic and IPEX antenna options, and takes power from a USB Type-C port or an optional 3.7V Li-ion battery with a charging circuit.

  • Hackaday ☛ FPGA Brings UNIX V1 To The DEC J-11

    If you’ve never used a PDP-11 before it’s probably because you simply weren’t around in the 70s and 80s. Although they started as expensive machines only in research labs and industry, they eventually became much more accessible. They’re a bit of a landmark in computing history, too, being largely responsible for the development of things like UNIX and the C programming language. [ryomuk] is using an FPGA in combination with an original DEC J-11 to bring us a new take on this machine. (Google Translate from Japanese)

  • CNX Software ☛ SONOFF CAM-PT2 indoor security camera review with eWeLink, ONVIF-capable NVR, Home Assistant

    Today, we’ll do a quick review of the new SONOFF CAM-PT2 indoor camera, which is the third model after the Slim Gen2 (CAM S2) fixed-angle camera and the Slim camera, both of which we reviewed previously. The CAM-PT2 (CAM Pan-Tilt 2) supports Pan/Tilt/Zoom functions. Its main features are quite similar to the CAM S2, including 1080p resolution, Motion Detection/AI Human Detection, and Privacy Zone support.

  • CNX Software ☛ Fusion Chime Vision – An ESP32-powered smart doorbell system (Crowdfunding)

    Fusion Chime Vision is an open-source smart doorbell system comprised of three items, each powered by an ESP32 WiFi and Bluetooth MCU: a doorbell based on the ESP32-CAM board, a 2.4-inch display, a microphone, and a speaker; a smart chime with a 0.96 OLED and a speaker; and an indoor display with a 3.5-inch IPS LCD,  a speaker, and a microphone.

  • CNX Software ☛ NXP MCX A34 mixed-signal Cortex-M33 MCU delivers 17x faster math acceleration for motor control and HVAC systems

    NXP has launched the MCX A34 mixed-signal Arm Cortex-M33 industrial MCU, an upgrade of the MCX A14x and MCX A15x MCUs, which were introduced in 2024. While the A14x/A15x offered Cortex-M33 cores up to 96 MHz, 128 KB Flash, 32 KB SRAM, a 12-bit ADC, the A34 scales up with a 180 MHz core, up to 1 MB Flash, 256 KB SRAM, four 16-bit ADCs (3.2 Msps), four OpAmps, a 12-bit DAC, and FlexPWM with enhanced quadrature decoding. It also features a dedicated Math Acceleration Unit (MAU) that executes trigonometric, reciprocal, and square root operations up to 17x faster than CMSIS-DSP, a SmartDMA coprocessor for offloading data transfers, and advanced security features with tamper detection and secure boot.

  • CNX Software ☛ Sipeed NanoKVM Pro – A 4K IP-KVM with ATX and Desk versions, PiKVM/NanoKVM firmware support

    The Sipeed NanoKVM Pro is a compact 4K IP-KVM with PiKVM/NanoKVM firmware support and is designed for BIOS-level remote management of servers and desktop PCs. It is primarily used in data centers, IT administration, and home labs for remote power cycling, system installation, and secure batch management. It comes in two variants, where the desk variant adds user-facing controls similar to the GL.iNet Comet Pro KVM over WiFi solution, and the ATX version is built for internal chassis or rack installation.