Raspberry Pi Zero 2 Review (It Sucks)

Published: September 23, 2022 / Last Modified: October 30, 2022 / 53 Comments / , ,
This is what not giving a shit about your product looks like

It’s no secret that there’s a massive Raspberry Pi shortage right now for consumers due to the Raspberry Pi Foundation’s strategy of allocating boards to business and IoT projects first and then official resellers get whatever is left. Since I own one of every Raspberry Pi that has ever been made I ended up buying one of these scalped from eBay for about $57 (all the way from Europe) which is much better than the street price of $80-$90+ I can get it in the United States.

In other words I payed the scalpers to get my hands on this board so you don’t have to and let me tell you folks, it is honestly garbage and literally the dumbest purchase I’ve ever made. Today I will show and explain why the Raspberry Pi Zero 2 is the lamest and most disappointing product release that the Raspberry Pi Foundation has ever done. Let’s get started!

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Docker Minecraft Purpur Geyser Server

Published: September 2, 2022 / Last Modified: March 2, 2023 / 113 Comments / , ,
Minecraft Geyser + Floodgate Paper Minecraft Server

This is a new Docker container to automatically set up and run a Minecraft server that both Java and Bedrock players can connect to! This allows everyone to play on your server no matter which edition of Minecraft you are using. This is the Purpur version. It uses the Geyser and Floodgate plugins to accomplish this.

Since it uses the Purpur Minecraft server it also supports any additional plugins that are compatible with Purpur / Paper / Spigot. This gives you the ability to do many things that are currently impossible to do in Bedrock if you are hosting the official Bedrock dedicated server.

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Orange Pi Zero 2 USB SSD Boot Guide

Published: August 30, 2022 / Last Modified: March 15, 2023 / 35 Comments / , , ,
Orange Pi Zero 2 SSD Boot Guide

During my recent coverage of SBCs I’ve been benchmarking them using SSDs. The process for booting from a SSD varies across different boards. I’ve found the documentation for some of these to be lacking / nonexistent and the Orange Pi Zero 2 is one of these.

Today I wanted to benchmark the Orange Pi Zero 2 with the SSD and given the lack of documentation I’m going to document my process for setting it up. The Orange Pi Zero 2 will require a sacrificial SD card to bootstrap the process and has USB 2.0 ports. With those limitations in mind let’s set it up and see how it performs!

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ODROID N2+ Petitboot SSD Boot Guide

Published: August 29, 2022 / Last Modified: March 15, 2023 / 39 Comments / , , ,
ODROID N2+ SSD Boot Guide

Configuring the ODROID N2+ for USB booting can be a little bit tricky. There are guides out there that will both use a SD card to bootstrap the SSD booting and other guides that use Petitboot but have complex setup instructions.

Today I want to show you a simple method that I used to get SSD booting set up on the ODROID N2+ so I could perform my storage benchmarking on the device for my review. I will be using a NVMe SSD but you may use other types of SSDs as well. Let’s get started!

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ODROID Go Super Getting Started Guide

Published: August 29, 2022 / Last Modified: March 15, 2023 / 2 Comments / , ,
ODROID Go Super Getting Started Guide

The ODROID Go Super is the latest model of the popular handheld retro gaming consoles made by ODROID. It was recommended by a regular reader that I should check these out and I’m really enjoying it so far.

Today I’ll show you how to get started with the ODROID Go Super including getting a network connection, loading more games onto the device and more. Let’s begin!

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ODROID XU4Q Review / eMMC Tests

Published: August 24, 2022 / Last Modified: March 15, 2023 / 2 Comments / , , ,
ODROID XU4Q Review / Benchmarks / Guide

I recently received several ODROID products I wanted to review and benchmark in my quest to explore the rest of the SBC world outside of Raspberry Pi. Today we’re going to cover the ODROID XU4Q!

We’ll cover the pros and cons of the board and then benchmark the board with a official Hardkernel eMMC module. Let’s get started!

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Hardkernel ODROID eMMC Guide / Performance Benchmarking

Published: August 23, 2022 / Last Modified: March 2, 2023 / Leave a Comment / , , ,
ODROID eMMC Guide

I’ve covered eMMC modules on the site before as being a fantastic performance option. Today I received some Hardkernel eMMC modules that I wanted to do some performance testing to see how they perform as well as a guide for how to get started with them.

These are promised to be ready to go out of the box. I will test that claim and then we will do some performance benchmarking. No matter what happens we will also do a fresh reimage of the module to show the complete process of getting them set up. Let’s begin!

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Upgrading HackRF One to PortaPack H2

Published: August 19, 2022 / Last Modified: March 2, 2023 / 13 Comments / ,
PortaPack H2 Capture

I just received a very exciting upgrade for my HackRF One. It is called the PortaPack H2. It essentially gives your HackRF a rechargeable battery, a touchscreen display and many new capabilities that are a part of the Havoc firmware.

This setup will basically take my HackRF’s capabilities completely mobile opening it up to places and locations to explore that aren’t easy/possible without a setup like this.

Today I wanted to build the new PortaPack H2 and show all the steps I took. Let’s begin!

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ODROID M1 Review and Benchmarks

Published: August 18, 2022 / Last Modified: March 15, 2023 / 36 Comments / , , ,
ODROID M1

Today I’m very excited to review the ODROID M1 board. I bought this board for a couple of reasons. The first was that it is one of the top rated (and the top rated) boards on my Pi Benchmarks storage benchmarking website.

The second reason was a recommendation from you guys on one of my articles to check out and review the board! This will be my very first ODROID board. Definitely let me know if there’s more boards I need to check out that I haven’t covered as I’m actively investigating alternative SBCs to the Raspberry Pi due to the ongoing shortage

Let’s begin!

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Fix Linux Ledger Live USB Connection

Published: August 16, 2022 / Last Modified: March 15, 2023 / 10 Comments / ,
Ledger Live - "All Good"

When installing Ledger Live on Ubuntu 22.04 I ran into an issue where during the genuine check it would not find my device. It was not even prompting for a PIN or showing any activity and would simply time out eventually and fail the check.

It turns out that Ledger Live needs some udev rules to work correctly. In this quick guide I’ll cover how to set up and fix Ledger Live in Linux!

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Use HackRF SDR to Lock / Unlock Car

Published: August 15, 2022 / Last Modified: March 2, 2023 / 2 Comments / , , ,
CubicSDR - Lock / Unlock Intercept

I’ve previously covered getting your HackRF set up in Linux and getting the firmware updated. In that guide we installed the very easy to use CubicSDR application and were able to easily tune to various audio signals.

Today we’re going to do something more interactive and actually use the transmitter. We’re going to unlock and lock my vehicle using the HackRF! Let’s get started.

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ASUS Tinker Board Getting Started Guide

Published: August 13, 2022 / Last Modified: March 2, 2023 / 12 Comments / ,
Tinker Board Getting Started Guide

My wife got me a Tinker Board several years ago as a gift and I always meant to cover it on the site but got busy and forgot about it. Due to the ongoing Raspberry Pi shortage and high prices I’ve been reexamining boards from other manufacturers and found that the Tinker Board is widely available for something like ~$76. There are several more powerful versions available as well such as the Tinker Board 2S model.

Today I will correct the injustice done to the Tinker Board and cover how to get a Tinker Board all set up with the latest image and updates. Let’s get started!

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Using Cheap 2.5″ SSDs with PS4/Xbox to Improve Performance

Published: August 10, 2022 / Last Modified: March 15, 2023 / 5 Comments / ,
Last-Gen Console SSD Upgrade using StarTech

When my wife and I were trying to play Cyberpunk 2077 on our last-gen console it was extremely painful and not just because of the bugs. It was painful because every time I died it would take 2-3 minutes to reload the game.

Eventually I decided to grab one of my spare SSDs and use a USB to 2.5″ SATA adapter and hook it up to our last generation consoles and try installing all of the Cyberpunk files to the SSD. It made a gigantic difference getting my load times down to something closer to 20-30 seconds (much better than 3 minutes).

This is also an incredibly cheap thing to do. Even if you buy a new SSD and a 2.5″ SATA adapter you will spend under $30 or so if you get a minimal capacity SSD. If you already have an older spare SSD even better.

Today I’ll cover how to set this up. Let’s get started!

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Read and Reset Car Codes – Wireless ODBII Diagnostic Tool

Published: August 9, 2022 / Last Modified: October 9, 2022 / Leave a Comment / ,
2006 Chrysler 300C ODB Port

Chances are if you own a vehicle at some point you’ve experienced a check engine light on your vehicle. When this happens it’s common to stop by an auto-parts store or the dealership to have them read the code and determine what is wrong. Most auto parts stores will have a little diagnostic computer they can plug in to read the code.

Today I wanted to highlight a really inexpensive way that you can interface with that same diagnostic computer yourself using a cheap (<$30) adapter that not only allows you to read these codes but to actually reset them!

I’ve found it very empowering to have one of these as I can immediately research any check engine codes my vehicle has and determine what I’m going to need to do to resolve it. It’s also great if you have a check engine light for something you already know about as you are able to reset them yourself. Let’s get started!

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Minecraft Java + Bedrock Server Together – Geyser + Floodgate

Published: August 6, 2022 / Last Modified: April 7, 2023 / 463 Comments / , ,
Minecraft Geyser + Floodgate Paper Minecraft Server

This is a new Docker container to automatically set up and run a Minecraft server that both Java and Bedrock players can connect to! This allows everyone to play on your server no matter which edition of Minecraft you are using. It uses the Geyser and Floodgate plugins to accomplish this.

Since it uses the Paper Minecraft server it also supports any additional plugins that are compatible with Paper / Spigot. This gives you the ability to do many things that are currently impossible to do in Bedrock if you are hosting the official Bedrock dedicated server.

It is fully compatible with my Paper Minecraft Java Server Container and you can swap between these two containers without changing any configuration.

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