Generic x86 supported hardware

ginandbacon · January 6, 2024, 7:55pm

So, my almost 10 year old nuc is having some issues. I tried finding a list of compatible hardware but was unable to although I’m sure it’s out there somewhere. I was wondering if anyone had any experience with something like the below. Raspberry pi’s are to hard to get and slow and considering the wattage, size, and not brand new hardware I would assume something like this would work. Not bad for the price, 52 dollars US plus 10 dollars US as the heatsink is sold separately.

RADXA X2L
The new Intel® Celeron® J4125 based low profile SBC from RADXA is now ready for the market introduction.

Processor

Intel®Celeron®Processor J4125
Quad-core processor / 4 Threads @ 2.00 GHz
Burst frequency 2.70 GHz

Intel® UHD Graphics 600
Graphics Base Frequency: 250MHz
Graphics Burst Frequency: 750MHz
DirectX Support: 12
OpenGL Support: 4.4

Memory

LPDDR4@2400 MT/s

2GB /4GB /8GB options

Interfaces

Display

2x HDMI with up to 4k@30

Audio

3.5mm headphone jack with mic input

Wireless

1x M.2 E Key Connector for WiFi / BT Module

Storage

1x M.2 M Key Connector (4-lane PCIe 2.0) for M.2 NVMe SSDs (for OS boot and storage)

USB

2x USB 3.0 HOST Type A
2x USB 2.0 HOST Type A

Ethernet

1x GbE LAN (RTL8111H)

IO

40-pin expansion header

up to 2 x UART
up to 2 x SPI
up to 2 x I2C
up to 8 x PIO (Programmable IO)
up to 16 x PWM
1 x 5V DC power in
2 x 3.3V DC power out
Other

RTC battery socket

4-pin 1.25mm fan header

3-pin debug header

4x buttons:

1x power button
1x BOOTSEL Button for RP2040
1x User Button
1x Clear CMOS Button

jeffcrum · January 6, 2024, 10:59pm

So, my thoughts here.

First, background:
I have owned RPIs since the original through RPI3s. I loved playing with them and had a lot of fun. But, they are all in a box now. I might drag one out in the near future to do FlightAware, FlightRadar24, etc because it is just fun!

I also owned six 3COM Ergo Audrey computers while running MisterHouse using X-10 devices for home automation many moons ago. That was a BLAST! Attached picture because I could

And, before all of that, I started with a Commodore 64. The floppy disk drive was the same size as the computer/keyboard No, I did not have the VIC-20. But, I did have several VIC-20 accessories that worked with the 64. The tape drive was crazy slow. And, of course, the ‘War Games’ voice cartridge was awesome.

My wife will be able to open a dorky museum when I die. LOL. I know many on here are my age or older and have similar memories.

So, I do understand the want/need for micros. But, in 2018, I bought a used server and won’t look back at the micros. I bought https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004M3UXLC.

This was before I got into HA. I was running bare metal Hyper-V for a while. But, when I got into HA, I went with VMWare ESXi. I run HA on it and several other smaller VMs for testing. But, it is mainly for HA nowadays.

Yes, it is big. Yes, it is heavy. Yes, it is how I convinced the wife that I ‘needed’ a server rack

The CPU specs are Intel® Xeon® Processor X5650

Yes, older hardware. But, working really well. It was $260 in 2018 when I bought it. It is currently $105. I think I bought another drive holder back then, removed the DVD drive, and put that in. I also bought several ‘reserve’ drives in case I needed them. Have had to replace one since the purchase. It has an nice/easy/simple raid. I did it into two drives. All backups go to my Synology NAS (which also has VMs running on it).

It has been up for months without issue. The only reason it is months is that I had to do things with power since we have been here.

Again, just my thoughts. Thanks for the memories

dproffer · January 7, 2024, 12:40am

From my experience with several different ARM and Intel/AMD devices for Home Automation servers, I would stick with a vendor that has a proven track record with Linux support for their devices. The ‘devil is in the details’, even with Intel/AMD based hardware. Fan control and motherboard sensors are examples where you can end up with a Linux server that sounds like a 747 at take off and no control. Does not bode well for conversation with the ‘significant other’ Solid BIOS configuration options, USB, video and more are things you ‘just want/expect to work’, not guaranteed from my experience with was would seem a ‘generic’ Intel or AMD motherboard.

On the whole GPIO control (and if I read the info correctly, a Raspberry Pi Pico coprocessor) can be another whole ‘black hole’ area, both on ARM (pretty much other than RPI devices) and Intel where controlling GPIO and a coprocessor under Linux can be difficult unless you have a vendor that is really engaged in supporting it. I have a couple devices that appear similar to this device with GPIO headers (both ARM and Intel devices) in my ‘stuff that did not work’ bottom drawer. The amount of work required by the OS developer for getting at hardware under Linux (or any OS) should not be underestimated.

You can pick up some solid used name brand mini PC units on eBay, Amazon and other places that are low cost, low power and have solid mainline Linux support. Buy two, 2nd for testing and backup. Do some googling on this forum and youtube to find first hand experiences with these devices that work. Or stick with the Raspberry PI family if you go ARM.

Good hunting!

ginandbacon · January 7, 2024, 3:06pm

Sound logic and thanks for the advice. It was just a good price but I understand the generic x86 HA install probably does better with slightly older hardware then newer hardware which isn’t really needed or utilized anyways, at least not to it’s full extent. Plus I can find other hardware that others are using that’s known to work well and play nice with Linux. My experience going from an RPI 4 with SSD USB boot to an Intel nuc was night and day as far as performance but Intel has a proven track record (somewhat) with Linux and their Nuc lineup, at least the older models. That and RPI’s are just to expensive and hard to get compared to a few years ago where you see RPI 4’s going for 80+ US which just isn’t worth it IMO., especially when you can snag something off eBay for 100 to 150 that’s way faster. I haven’t even looked at the price of an RPI 5 yet which isn’t supported yet at the time of this post unless something changes in the last couple of days and doesn’t seem like a huge improvement over the 4 and has an “odd” PCI express port.

I will keep looking. It looks like eBay from a reputable seller is my best bet for a somewhat older mini PC with a proven track record based on user feedback here is my best bet. Ah, the Commodore 64 brings back memories, I was young but I remember them from way back in the day when my older brother had one.