Open Hardware/Modding: Raspberry Pi, SparkFun, Arduino, and More

posted by Roy Schestowitz on Jul 30, 2025

• Raspberry Pi ☛ How to rapidly design and adapt quality learning experiences for your students

  Discover how to rapidly design quality, inclusive learning experiences using the ABC learning design framework.

• Raspberry Pi ☛ RP2350 A4, RP2354, and a new Hacking Challenge

  Like any silicon device, RP2350 wasn’t perfect on day one. The launch stepping, designated A2, is affected by a number of errata, including an error in the GPIO pad design which prevents pads from properly going into a high-impedance state (Erratum 9), and a number of security issues identified by participants in our RP2350 Hacking Challenge. Today, we’re happy to announce the immediate availability of a new A4 stepping, which addresses the vast majority of these issues.

• Carl Svensson ☛ More retrocomputing, less nostalgia

  In retrocomputing circles, there's a lot of talk about nostalgia. While I'm sure an old computer is perfectly capable of triggering real nostalgia for some people in some settings, the word is more often used to describe any activity related to old computers - not just reminiscing. I'd argue that among retro enthusiasts, real nostalgia is no more common than among others, and that reminiscing - much like in other subcultures - is at most a secondary activity.

• Bunnie Huang ☛ Name that Ware, July 2025

  Thanks to FETguy and Renew Computers in San Rafael, California for contributing this ware!

• Bunnie Huang ☛ Winner, Name that Ware June 2025

• Arduino ☛ Could these VR haptic gloves replace human touch?

  That comes in the form of a pair of long gloves that extend up the wearer’s forearms, almost to their elbows. Each glove has 26 vibrotactile actuators (eccentric rotating mass motors) across its surface and an Arduino UNO R4 WiFi board controls those according to commands sent by a computer hosting a Unity 3D VR environment, rendered through Meta Quest VR headsets. The Arduino controls the vibrotactile actuators through PWM (pulse-width modulation) shields, so it can vary the intensity of the feedback to match the VR interaction.

• CNX Software ☛ Raspberry Pi RP2350 A4 stepping fixes E9 GPIO Erratum, glitching bugs, introduces 2MB flash variants

  The Raspberry Pi RP2350 dual-core Arm/RISC-V has gotten a new version – A4 stepping – addressing bugs and security vulnerabilities, notably the infamous E9 GPIO erratum and glitching bugs in the A2 stepping identified by the 2024 Hacking Challenge.

• Olimex ☛ We can now offer version of SMT32MP157 boards with Secure Boot and AES256

  Secure Boot (or Security Boot) for the STM32MP157F is a security mechanism that ensures the microcontroller only executes authorized and cryptographically signed software during boot. This prevents the execution of malicious code or unauthorized firmware modifications.

• SparkFun Electronics ☛ Taking a Closer Look at the VEML7700 Qwiic Ambient Light Sensor

  The SparkFun Qwiic VEML7700 Ambient Light Sensor provides accurate, 16-bit ambient light readings from 0 to 167,000 lux via the I2C interface. This miniature sensor (6.8mm x 3.0mm x 2.5mm) features a high-sensitivity photodiode, a low-noise amplifier, and a 16-bit analog-to-digital (A/D) converter. Its unshifted 7-bit I2C address is 0x10.

• The Register UK ☛ Raspberry Pi RP2350 A4 update fixes old bugs and dares you to break it again

  The Raspberry Pi team has released an update to the RP2350 microcontroller with bug fixes, hardening, and a GPIO tweak that will delight retro hardware enthusiasts.

  The A4 stepping brings several improvements, including remedies for the glitches identified in the company's 2024 hacking challenge (though a spokesperson was quick to note they all required physical access to the hardware), as well as the documented GPIO pull-up issue that required affected customers to use some extra circuitry and resistors.

  Chris Boross, senior sales exec at Raspberry Pi, told us that with the new stepping, the team wanted to deal with the issue and render the additional circuitry unnecessary. "It's a drop-in replacement," he said. "This is something that we always wanted to take care of."

• XDA ☛ I built a Steam Machine out of spare PC parts and you can, too

  Whether you have an aging gaming PC, a laptop that can barely run Windows anymore, or, like me, you've upgraded your PC but still have old components from your previous build, it may still have a purpose.

  If you have old PC hardware lying around or an aging Windows laptop, you can breathe new life into it by turning it into your own Steam Machine with SteamOS. You can turn almost any PC into a homemade Steam machine, and you don't need an expensive graphics card or the latest CPU to do it. I did this in just a few hours, and the results were far better than I expected.

• XDA ☛ This one free app lets me play all of my non-Steam games on Steam Deck

  Whether you're new to Steam Deck or still thinking about buying one, you might be wondering if you can play non-Steam games on the Steam Deck or SteamOS. You can, and one free app is the key. It's not pre-installed on the Steam Deck, but installing and setting it up takes only a few minutes.

  Here's how I installed the Heroic Games launcher on SteamOS to play games from Epic Games, GOG, and Amazon Gaming.