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If you already made something, tell us!
Got my UP Squared today
WereCatf
New Member Posts: 201 ✭
I am happy to report that I finally received my UP2 today and it seems to be running happily. I thought I was supposed to receive the 5V 6A power-supply, only received a 5V 4A-one, but maybe I had just misunderstood something. I was a bit disappointed in receiving just one WiFi-antenna instead of two. The ABS-case is... well, it's okay, if you only want to use the board as a standalone-box, but as it prevents access to the GPIO-header and doesn't sport room for any 2.5" SATA-drives I just don't see much use for it. The board itself was bigger and much heavier than I had expected, but that in and of itself is a non-issue -- it just surprised me at first how big and heavy the heatsink was.
As for software, that Ubilinux 4.0 beta is quite rough around the edges, what with a couple of bugs here and there. I can't say I like Debian, its stupidities and the outdated packages in its repos -- I'd much rather have Ubuntu. LXQT is quite terrible, too; may just replace it with something better, like e.g. Cinnamon. Ditched that ugly monstrosity of Connman and installed NetworkManager instead (nmtui is so convenient to use from the console, either over SSH or serial!)
Anyways, there isn't much of point to this thread. Just felt like prattling about my first experiences with the board. Cheerio!
As for software, that Ubilinux 4.0 beta is quite rough around the edges, what with a couple of bugs here and there. I can't say I like Debian, its stupidities and the outdated packages in its repos -- I'd much rather have Ubuntu. LXQT is quite terrible, too; may just replace it with something better, like e.g. Cinnamon. Ditched that ugly monstrosity of Connman and installed NetworkManager instead (nmtui is so convenient to use from the console, either over SSH or serial!)
Anyways, there isn't much of point to this thread. Just felt like prattling about my first experiences with the board. Cheerio!
Comments
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The ABS case isn't really designed for using the GPIO headers I assume. I won't be using them, so the case is fine for me.
I agree with Ubuntu over Ubilinux. Would never trust a full OS developed by such a small group to offer much. We'll have to see what I have to say when mine arrives. Texim estimate from 3-4 weeks ago was early September. -
No, no it's not. It's perfectly fine if one doesn't want to use GPIOs, though; the raised "UP2" - text on it looks neat, it's very sturdy and feels good and at least on mine there are zero blemishes anywhere. Looks are obviously subject to personal taste, but the matte black colour is also pleasing to my eye. I may paint the "UP2" - text with some neon colour to give it just a little bit of flair.
That said, I hope you'll get yours soon and report back here when you do something coollies with it!
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Mine arrived yesterday as well
But looks like I ordered mine without the Wifi/BT module. I can probably use USB for wifi, or I believe Amazon sells the same module. Not sure which antenna to get to work with case...
Yep - I was also surprised on how much more bulky the UP2 feels than the UP board.
I think I made a mistake and installed Ubuntu on it... It boots find, I started to do the stuff to install other kernel, but then noticed the UP2 was not supported on the wiki...Actually the Wiki is confusing! If I go to the ublinux setup page it states:
UP^2
Not yet released
If I go to the Ubuntu page:UP^2
For now the only supported distribution on the UP^2 is Ubilinux
Ubuntu support is planned for future releases of the kernel driver package.
The problem is, this information is not at the top of the actual page in the wiki, so you blindly follow the instructions and then go oops...
Now to figure out what to do next... Probably find the Ublinux download
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As far as I knew UP^2 supported Ubuntu already? Isn't it only the GPIO headers that aren't compatible?
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You are correct, yes.
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Thanks,
I did decide to download ublinux... and just finished doing the install...
Actually I did it twice... First time it updated... and left me with user ubilinux... did not know password, although could guess... So did it again using interactive, which asked for user and password...
Did you update your Bios first? I did not (yet) figuring that it probably shipped with the latest?
Edit: Forgot to mention I did go ahead and order Wifi/BT combo from Amazon, plus some Ant... Not sure how/if I will mount them with the case. Could maybe drill holes for them. -
I didn't have to update the BIOS on mine since there was the latest version already installed. I would have installed newest BIOS first, though, if it didn't have it already.
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The heatsink seems quite adequate; compiling the kernel with 5 threads, the CPU is pegged in at around 86C with ambient temperature at around 24C, and CPU-frequency sits very nicely at 2.4GHz with no apparent throttling. I have the Pentium N4200, no case and the heatsink is pointed up towards the sky, though, so inside a case it probably would end up throttling some or with the heatsink against a table or something -- a custom case with even a small fan bolted to the side probably would prevent throttling.
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Since we are rambling about the board and case. The power plug is way to close to the usb ports.....if you stick in a wifi dongle with antenna for instances it pushes against the power plug.
Pretty bad design...something that can happen to an amateur. Not a dealbreaker ofcourse...I'm just going to use it as a mediaplayer and not even use a wifi dongle but will use ethernet.
I'm just suprised such design flaws still end up in a product in this day and age... -
Yeah, I agree. It would have been nice for them to give some more clearance for all the USB-ports; I've got all sorts of USB-devices that I can't use with those ports and I'll have to either use an extension-cable or the single port that's on the back. That said, I can deal with it, even if it is a tad inconvenient. I just hope the designers take note and leave more space around such ports in any possible future UP-boards they make -- I am making the assumption that this is still a learning process for them, too.
