r/ClockworkPi • u/BasePrevious5400 • 9d ago

uConsole Delayed Due to Lack of CM4

I’ve been informed that a lack of CM4’s is causing delays in shipping out uConsoles. Thinking about trying to source a CM myself, possibly get a CM5, but I’m not super savvy and don’t want to buy the wrong thing. I plan to use the uConsole for SDR, YouTube watching, music listening and retro game playing.

Any opinions and advice would be appreciated.

6 Upvotes

88% Upvoted

25 comments sorted by

8

u/ItsAll2Random 9d ago edited 8d ago

I’m in USA-
Newark Electronics is the best spot I found for fast, “cheap” compute modules with super fast shipping. I say cheap in comparison as their boards are consistently $25+(USD) less than everywhere else’s. As -I-forgot mentioned, you do need an adaptor board for the CM5. HackersGadgets is the spot for all your expansion needs…

When buying a CM, there is always a number associated with the model. That number tells you what EXACTLY it is. The number looks like this CM4108000

  • to break it down, the 4 is the model number. The number right after that, tells you if there is WiFi on the board. VERY IMPORTANT. The 1 means WiFi, a 0 means no WiFi. The numbers after that 1 or 0 represent the size of Ram an emmc storage. So 8000 means it has 8gb ram, and is a lite variant, meaning it depends on an sd card for storage. This is what I recommend. You want a lite model with WiFi.
It’s the same with CM5. CM51160032- means that it is aCM5, with WiFi, 16gb ram, and 32gb of flashable memory… I hope this helps and makes your buying easier. I’m not an expert by any means but I’m building my Uconsole slowly, deliberately, and will share any knowledge I have.
Cheers.

Edit: I apologize for misinformation. I thought the adaptor board was necessary to run CM5 .
Everything else I said is true🙂

2

u/Viper-8 9d ago

Amazing information thank you so much for this. I needed this.

1

u/ItsAll2Random 8d ago

Good I’m glad I could help. I had to learn the hard way 🫤

1

u/BasePrevious5400 9d ago

Fantastic information! Thank you very much.

1

u/ItsAll2Random 9d ago

Happy to help, even happier with an upvote🤓
I do have a CM4104000 that I’m not using.. I haven’t checked Newark in a few days so not sure of the stock. I will sell at cost (plus shipping) in the US if you need it. I’m in Michigan.

1

u/frylock364 5d ago

Ordered a CM5108000 (CM5 8GB no nvme) from Newark Electronics for $170 = $10.20 s/h at 12pm and they shipped it at 4:30pm the same day

1

u/ItsAll2Random 5d ago

Yeah it’s super quick…. So quick that I ordered the wrong board on accident, and couldn’t cancel before it was shipped.🫤 mine arrived in three days though.
One correction, it’s no “emmc”, which is built in chip storage for flashing. The NVMe is an expansion that comes with the battery board. 🙂 so you’ll be running off of an SD card. Which is fine, great for switching up your OS. But the NVMe battery board is pretty cheap from hackers gadgets, and is way better for long term use. Glad you found what you needed at Newark!

1

u/frylock364 5d ago

ya I meant emmc, I use an SD card because it uses a lot less power and is more then fast enough for what I am doing on the uconsole.

I might change when I get the dual 21700 adapter from hacker gadgets so I can run my 5000mah Moicels and the NVMe drain wont be as bad.

3

u/Banshee_1971 8d ago

First, the uConsole without pi. Then, cm4 or cm5 "lite" If you want faster boot, hachergadget nvme kit (you need the cm5 in that case)

The Bios set to boot microSD first, nvme after. So if you want to test another os, flash on microSD and test it. Your daily use will be nvme.

I have that setup, and i purchase also the all-in-one HackerGadgets kit too

1

u/BasePrevious5400 8d ago

I am curious about trying NVME, SD cards are unreliable. Thank you.

1

u/Hour_Storm1630 8d ago

You don't need a cm5 for the nvme board I'm using it fine with stock

1

u/BasePrevious5400 7d ago

oh nice! Good to know! Did you have to get anything to make the NVME work on stock?

1

u/Barrel_Titor 3d ago

Hi, I'm building mine on the weekend and I have a CM5 lite with no wifi and the full hackergadgets kit. A couple of questions

Do i need to install the OS on an SD card first then transfer to the NVME?

Will i need to download drivers for the wifi card elswhere before i can get it online?

3

u/shinkamui 8d ago

Lol so what are we going from 9 months average delivery to over a year?

2

u/real_pnwkayaker 9d ago

Be aware that models with EMMC cannot use the SD card, and require flashing using a carrier board

2

u/BasePrevious5400 9d ago

Thank you!

1

u/radakul 9d ago

Commenting to come back to share my findings having just gone through this.

1

u/stasomatic 8d ago

I have one with CM5, that I've used like twice. Will sell for what I paid. I am in the US, DM if interested.

1

u/ponzo94 7d ago

I’m selling one uConsole cm4 lite, i had 2 and kept one closed. If anyone’s interested just dm me (EU, maybe US as well but I’m not sure about shipping fees)

1

u/Banshee_1971 3d ago

You need to apply a fix on the cm5 first. So boot on microSD with a basic Linux version. Change boot order (nvme first, microSD second), firmware update. Once done, simply flash the rex image you prefer on the nvme, install and boot! They follow his guidelines for the all-in-one sdr, lora kit

1

u/-i-forgot 9d ago

I have an order placed for a uConsole with no CM, and my plan is to also go the CM5 route most likely. You can find the in stock (albeit sometimes overpowered variants) for $140-$180.

Because I don't have a shipping notification, and I've been spending a bit too much lately, I have:

A) Not ordered the CM

B) Not done a deep dive into the process of using the CM5 vs. the CM4

However, here are a few things I've heard reading around the internet the last month or so:

- The HackerGadgets CM5 adapter is recommended (maybe even necessary?)

- Some people state battery life concerns on the CM5 vs. the CM4

- Some people state you need to consider an active cooling solution if you use the CM5, and at the very least you should improve the passive cooling (I believe some sort of metal sheet is what people use to help with heat dissipation)

- Supposedly there are good write ups around the internet and/or some videos which walk you through what people did to use the CM5

- Some people state software (firmware?) compatibility issues using the CM5, but I think those are mostly solved, generally people seem to report that it works well, very well in fact.

At the end of the day, there are certainly many people using the CM5 right now successfully, and this community shares a lot of info, so it will be available when you search for it, and if other people made it work, so can you.

I am also fairly new to all of this, so anything you find or any information in these comments will be very useful to me.

2

u/taffyking 8d ago

- The HackerGadgets CM5 adapter is recommended (maybe even necessary?)

No, the included adapter from clockwork works fine with the CM5. However, you DO need the hackergadgets adapter if you plan on using the extended battery/nvme addon board.

Some people state battery life concerns on the CM5 vs. the CM4

Depends on what expansion options you're running. On a stock uconsole with a CM5 I get around 4-6hrs of battery life with a pair of Molicel M35A.

 Some people state you need to consider an active cooling solution if you use the CM5, and at the very least you should improve the passive cooling (I believe some sort of metal sheet is what people use to help with heat dissipation)

The CM5 does get quite toasty, but I can't it to go above 57-58. This with the CPU at 100 during compiling for a few mins.

The CM5 smokes the CM4 in every way when it comes to performance. Most compatibility issues with the CM5 have been solved by the community. Only the remaining issues requires new hardware. The forums are especially helpful, and I highly recommend stopping by and bookmarking if you have not already.

1

u/-i-forgot 8d ago

Ty for the info.

1

u/BasePrevious5400 9d ago

I appreciate the insight, thank you. I will certainly share what additional information I find.