Is removing the top USB and Ethernet on Up2 possible

faqro

I wanted to make something with up2 but dont know if it is possible to remove the top usb and ethernet to make it thinner. Is it possible? This would be really useful.

nukular

Ho do you want to remove them? Just cut them off? That would most certainly be a bad idea. I'm not entirely sure what these port housings look like internally, but I would say there is a high chance of creating a short because metal will get bend...

faqro

Im hoping to move the to usb port to the side of the bottom one.

nukular

ok, but how do you want to move it? You can't just take the top USB and Ethernet ports off and put them somewhere else. It's one unit, not meant to be taken apart, like in the image below. Also, the HDMI/DP connector is about the same height as the double Ethernet, so you would have to remove that too.

eduncan911

Well, anything is possible. I'm staring at my UP^2 and the two network ports are the tallest component followed closely by the DisplayPort+HDMI stack, and then USB and then the 40-pin GPIO header pins.

They look to be soldered through the bottom like normal, though I can't tell about the GPIO pins.

Obviously desoldering them would completely void your warranty.

eduncan911

Now that I think about it, why not go for the UP Core Plus? It's the same CPU, mem and storage options - but in a much smaller package.

http://www.up-board.org/ai-edge/up-core-plus/

Yes, the stock passive heatsink is huge (need to remove the same heat, but with less surface area to work with being smaller you have to go taller). But I'm sure an "active" cooking solution is due out soon with a lower profile and fan.

You can always adapter a low-profile heatsink and fan as well if need be - these CPUs don't put out that much heat.

If you don't need the power of those CPU options, just a tad slower but much much smaller and shorter is the UP Core. It's been way overpowered for our little projects so far and is my favorite little board - if I don't need a RPi hat.