Tag: Libre SBCs - James A. Chambers

Best 2023 Raspberry Pi Alternatives

Published: February 21, 2023 / Last Modified: March 15, 2023 / 36 Comments / Hardware, Libre SBCs, Orange Pi, Radxa SBCs, Raspberry Pi

The Raspberry Pi continues to suffer from supply chain issues. They have promised there are a lot of their very old models that should be coming up for purchase within the next 6 months. I’ve been hearing that for years though to be honest with you.

Fortunately you don’t need to wait. There are more and better alternatives to the Raspberry Pi in 2023 than there have ever been before. In this article I’ll cover the best Raspberry Pi alternatives in 2023.

Let’s get started!

Best 2023 Raspberry Pi Alternatives Read More »

Enable Raspbian Images to Boot on Libre Computers Boards

Published: November 7, 2022 / Last Modified: March 2, 2023 / 7 Comments / Hardware, Libre SBCs, Raspberry Pi

Libre Computers is a company making single board computers that are much more open-sourced than the Raspberry Pi (especially when it comes to hardware). They are offering a USB 2.0 model (the “Le Potato”) for $40 and a USB 3.0 model (the “Renegade”) for $50. Those are not theoretical MSRP prices that are impossible to find either. Those are the listed prices available today!

When I first covered these boards the Libre reddit account let me know about a utility they had available that could enable most Raspberry Pi images to boot on Libre Computers boards such as the “Le Potato” and “Renegade”. I tried out the tool and it worked great! In this guide I will show you where to get the tool and how to use it.

Let’s begin!

Enable Raspbian Images to Boot on Libre Computers Boards Read More »

Libre “Renegade” SSD Booting Guide

Published: October 14, 2022 / Last Modified: March 15, 2023 / 31 Comments / Benchmarking, Hardware, Libre SBCs, Storage

Libre Computers "Renegade" SSD Boot Guide

The “Renegade” by Libre Computers is a $50 single board computer. You actually get USB 3.0 with the “Renegade” which is going to make it even more worth it to use a SSD with than the “Le Potato”.

This method requires a sacrificial SD card to serve as the bootloader. After booting though it will use your SSD for the system’s root filesystem. We will then benchmark it to measure the improvement/gains.

In this guide I’ll walk you through the process. Let’s get started!

Libre “Renegade” SSD Booting Guide Read More »

Libre Computers ROC-RK3328-CC “Renegade” SBC Review

Published: October 14, 2022 / Last Modified: March 2, 2023 / 16 Comments / Benchmarking, Hardware, Libre SBCs, Reviews

Libre Computers "Renegade" ROC-RK3328-CC Firefly Review

Recently I reviewed the Libre Computers “Le Potato” and I really like it. Libre Computers offers very up to date images (and takes pride in it) and the build quality on the board was rock solid. I also like that it is actually widely available to order for only $40.

I’m very excited that today I received the “Renegade” ROC-RK3328-CC Firefly board from Libre Computers which is available for only $50. One very interesting feature this board has that the “Le Potato” doesn’t is a USB 3.0 port. Since I love writing USB booting guides for all my single board computers having a USB 3.0 port means that the “Renegade” has the potential to hit much higher I/O performance scores using USB 3.0.

Will the “Renegade” live up to the high expectations set by the “Le Potato”? Let’s find out!

Libre Computers ROC-RK3328-CC “Renegade” SBC Review Read More »

Libre “Le Potato” SSD Boot Guide

Published: October 6, 2022 / Last Modified: March 15, 2023 / 14 Comments / Benchmarking, Hardware, Libre SBCs, Storage

The “Le Potato” by Libre Computers is a $40 single board computer. That is incredibly cheap in 2022 as anyone who has tried to buy a Raspberry Pi recently can tell you. There aren’t a lot of guides out there for how to best utilize it though so today I’d like to publish a guide for it for one of the best upgrades you can do with any SBC: upgrade to SSD storage!

Let’s begin!

Libre “Le Potato” SSD Boot Guide Read More »

Libre Computers “Le Potato” SBC Review

Published: October 5, 2022 / Last Modified: March 15, 2023 / 2 Comments / Benchmarking, Hardware, Libre SBCs, Reviews

The “Le Potato” single board computer available from Libre Computers is an alternative to the Raspberry Pi. It is modeled after the Raspberry Pi 3 and is largely compatible with the Raspberry Pi 3 and it’s accessories (with some limitations/caveats). It can even run Raspberry Pi OS / Raspbian.

It costs about 1/3rd of what a Raspberry Pi does while coming with 2GB of memory. It’s widely available as well (I got mine from Amazon Prime with overnight delivery). Today we’ll be taking a look at the “Le Potato” as well as benchmarking it to see how well it can perform.

Let’s get started!

Libre Computers “Le Potato” SBC Review Read More »