Linux Gadgets, Hardware, and Devices

posted by Roy Schestowitz on Aug 01, 2026

• CNX Software ☛ reTerminal Sticky 3.97-inch touch ePaper display is supported by four open-source firmware projects (so far)

  Seeed Studio’s reTerminal Sticky is a 3.97-inch “AI-powered” magnetic touch ePaper display powered by an ESP32-S3 microcontroller, which serves as a sticky-note alternative, an e-reader, a live dashboard, or a home automation controller. The 800 x 480 resolution display comes with 8MB PSRAM, 32MB Flash, a microSD card slot, and next/previous page buttons. It’s “AI-powered” through a microphone and an Hey Hi (AI) Voice button leveraging the ESP32-S3 Edge Hey Hi (AI) capabilities for a voice-to-note feature.

• CNX Software ☛ Maker Go ESP32-C5-EVB board features RS-485 interface, four relays, four opto-isolated inputs

  Maker Go ESP32-C5-EVB is an ESP32-C5 board with four relays, four opto-isolated inputs, RS-485 communication, and support for Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth Low Energy 5.0, and Thread/Zigbee connectivity. It’s a variant of the Maker Go ESP32-C6-EVB released in 2024 that replaces the ESP32-C6 module with an ESP32-C5 module and a GPIO header with a terminal block for RS-485.

• CNX Software ☛ NanoPi R28S – A tiny dual GbE Rockchip RK3528A wireless SBC and router with a USB-C console port

  NanoPi R28S is yet another tiny dual Gigabit Ethernet single board computer or router (with a metal enclosure), and the second from FriendlyELEC to implement a USB-C console port, often requested by our readers, after the NanoPi R2S Plus launched in 2024. At just 49.5 x 49.5 x 24 mm in its metal case, the Rockchip RK3528A-powered router also features 1GB LPDDR4, a microSD card slot and an eMMC module socket for storage, WiFi 6 and Bluetooth 5.3 wireless connectivity. The USB-C ports are only used for power, eMMC firmware upgrades, and debugging, and the system doesn’t feature any USB port for data connectivity, nor any GPIO header for expansion.

• Tom's Hardware ☛ New open source printer has 7 toolheads that swap in 5 seconds for fast, zero-waste multi-color 3D printing — Sovol M1D 3D printer is the first open-source IDEX design with an integrated tool-changer

  Sovol M1D 3D printer is the first open-source IDEX design with an integrated tool-changer — seven heads for quick-swapping materials with two fully independent nozzles, with 300x300x350mm print volume.

• Purism ☛ PureOS Development Report: June 2026

• Hackaday ☛ A Complex Way To Push A Button

  Well, upon opening the small device, the first issue is that there is no labeling on any of the parts, so simply adding a jumper on to existing microcontroller pins without damaging anything wouldn’t easily be possible. Adding a secondary microcontroller is the next logical step, but the power supply in the night light is extremely underpowered so using even the smallest Raspberry Pi or off-the-shelf Arduino was out of the question too. [Oscar] instead chose an ATtiny85, which solves the power requirement issue, but these are a bit more of a challenge to program without a USB device. From there, it needs a transistor wired in to the circuit to actually push the button for him, plus a few support resistors, so [Oscar] actually had a PCB custom-built to hold all of these components.

• Hackaday ☛ Tiny Desktop Robot Has Radar

  As [solitary dev] tells it, TongDou is a “tiny open-source desktop gremlin.” An ESP32-S3 serves as TongDou’s brain, buried inside a tasteful brass tube chassis. An OLED display is TongDou’s face, and he uses a pair of wheels driven by gearmotors for locomotion. A speaker plays back pre-recorded voice lines, while a 24GHz radar and an IMU enables TongDou to keep track of the space it’s moving through. They are publishing the design files on Github so other makers can build their own if so desired.

• Hackaday ☛ NES Advantage Stick Gets Bluetooth Upgrade

  To achieve this, [Aaron] whipped up a custom PCB which replaces the original cable attached to the NES Advantage. Power is via a small LiPo cell, charged via a TP4056 and paired with a TPS63900 buck-boost converter. An ESP32-WROOM-32E interfaces all the original controls, reading the stick’s CD4021 shift registers to do so. It then either emulates a Switch Pro Controller over Bluetooth Classic, for use with a modern Nintendo Switch, or it acts as a standard Bluetooth Low Energy gamepad for use with PCs, SteamOS, phones, and other compatible hardware. All that and the stick can still work with an original NES if so desired, when placed in the Switch Pro Controller mode. You merely need to plug in an 8BitDo NES Retro Receiver and you’re up and running.

• Arduino ☛ This DIY pen plotter has delta kinematics and a tool changer

  Unlike most other pen plotters, this one has delta kinematics. In two dimensions like this, that means it has two parallel arm linkages, each with an endpoint on a carriage riding on a rail. By moving the two carriages relative to each other and the bed, it can position the end effector anywhere within its work envelope — it just takes some fancy math.

  On top of that, it has a tool changer. That lets it swap between pens, markers, and potentially other kinds of tools (maybe a drag knife?). And on top of that, it has a paper feed mechanism that pulls fresh paper across the bed, like a miniature treadmill.

  Most of the pen plotter’s parts were 3D-printed. The linear rails, belts, and various fasteners are all off-the-shelf parts.

• Framework Desktop: the repairable, Linux-friendly AI mini PC for open-source creatives [Ed: Nonsense about slop in the headline]

  The Framework Desktop takes the Ryzen AI Max+ 395 in a very different direction from the sealed boxes elsewhere in this roundup. Built around a 4.5-litre Mini-ITX chassis with a standard FlexATX power supply and support for standard 120mm CPU fans, it’s the machine for creatives who want to open it up, upgrade it, and — crucially — run it on Linux. For open-source and repair-minded photographers and editors, it’s the obvious pick. See it at Framework.

• System76 ☛ System76 goes to college – a case study

  Faculty and researchers know that our computers provide the ultimate Linux computing experience: the latest high-powered CPUs and GPUs, generous RAM and storage for heavy data workloads, stunning OLED displays, freedom to customize and repair, and our Pop!_OS and COSMIC desktop experience to complete the Linux ecosystem stack.

• Devices/Embedded

  • Hackaday ☛ Hacking A Commercial Colorimeter To Add RAL Color Code Support

    So he did. The CR4501 will happily give you its entire firmware over the debug port, after which it was time for analysis in Ghidra. Some hiccups, brickings and accidental erasure of calibration data later, he finally had a working version. The end result is a simple screen that, after every time you measure, displays the closest RAL color code and how close it is.

  • Ruben Schade ☛ Swapping out a switch for an old Belkin

    Yes, this is blindingly obvious stuff, but it’s incredible to me how much I’ll live with an inconvenience when I’m busy or otherwise occupied, when the solution is literally a hardware swap. It also amuses me that the all-metal TP-Link box was SOHO kit, where I suspect the Belkin was made for residential use.

  • D Griffin Jones ☛ Demoing The Apple Newton on Comfort Zone 111

    As an unfortunate side effect of being me, I wanted to talk about the Apple Newton. I gave a hands-on demo showing how my MessagePad 2000 works, cleared up some common misconceptions, explained why I prefer it to writing with an iPad + Apple Pencil and how I still use it today.

  • Tom's Hardware ☛ Apple CEO Tim Cook says the company is fighting 'a hundred-year flood' on memory pricing — expects to pay even more for memory in September following recent price hikes

    Apple will pay even more for memory in the September quarter than it did in the June quarter, CEO Tim Cook told analysts on the company's earnings call.

• Hardware

  • Ruben Schade ☛ On form factors

    Josh of Espresso Tonic, and Joel of JoelChrono, are excellent bloggers you should read. They’ve both written recently not just about portable devices, but of their form factors. Their discussions on how such design has impacted their use, enjoyment, and productivity with such devices got me thinking how it’s impacted me as well.

    There are so many places I could go with this, but today I’ll focus on three types of devices. I sense a series.