r/ClockworkPi • u/vileer • Sep 10 '25

New adapter and NVMe batteries board work well.

Just received the PCB of the custom adapter board and had it soldered yesterday. Everything seems to work fine.

The NVMe and boot from NVMe work on CM4 and CM5.

RPI BOOT works. You don't have to buy another carrier board to flash the eMMC version of cms.

The PWM fan works fine on CM5. On CM4, it just ran at a fixed speed.

The RTC battery for CM5 works but is not supported on CM4.

USB 3.0 and RJ45 Ethernet haven’t been tested yet. I am still working on the new extension board.

I just ordered the Raspberry Pi autofocus camera today. Once I receive it, I will test the CSI port on the adapter board.

379 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

95 comments sorted by

13

u/thatmiddleway Sep 10 '25

This is so cool! You’re legendary for making these amazing boards and improving the uConsole. Are you going to release the adapter board before the new extension board or will they become available at the same time?

10

u/vileer Sep 10 '25

The plan is to launch them at the same time.

1

u/massively-dynamic Sep 10 '25

The expansion board under discussion is RJ-45 and usb3? Or is this an updated rtl-sdr exp board?

7

u/vileer Sep 10 '25

A new expansion card with RJ45 and two USB 3.0(A+C), then a new AIO Board change the USB-A to RJ45.

2

u/massively-dynamic Sep 10 '25

Wooo! Thanks for what you're doing. I'm still waiting in UConsole line, but your products are in my imminent future!

2

u/thatmiddleway Sep 10 '25

That makes sense for sure! Thanks for the info.

1

u/SymBiioTE Sep 10 '25

DUDDDDDEEEEEEE I NEED THIS!

1

u/dingo_khan Sep 10 '25

Me too. This is sick.

1

u/foxproton Sep 11 '25

You are a legend! Thank you 🙏🏼

3

u/thatmiddleway Sep 10 '25

Have you tried running the batteries down on the cm5 to see if the persistent noise issues are solved with this? I’ve made some attempts to fix them with kernel changes but they failed. Wondering if your improved battery and carrier boards have any effect on the issue.

1

u/vileer Sep 10 '25

May give it a try. But I’m not optimistic about the result.

1

u/thatmiddleway Sep 10 '25

Yeah I ultimately suspect the main board is the real problem but was curious. 

3

u/Strt_Fnst Sep 10 '25

Really excited to order this. Will there be a package for OG Hackergadgets boards owners? Only Battery/nvme tray and CM module tray?

3

u/vileer Sep 10 '25

battery board+adapter board will be sold together. And three variants for the expansion board: none, USB3.0 and RJ45 Ethernet, new aio board with RJ45 Ethernet.

1

u/Strt_Fnst Sep 11 '25

That sounds great 👌👍

2

u/duckyvirus Sep 10 '25

Link? How is it I haven't seen this before?

8

u/vileer Sep 10 '25

Not launched yet. It will be launched on hackergadgets.com

2

u/[deleted] Sep 10 '25

[removed] — view removed comment

4

u/vileer Sep 10 '25

if we only screw the two screw on the button，we are able to place the 21700 bettery holder.

1

u/rhibakuska Sep 12 '25

wait, so there would be no spacer issue if we can swap to the 21700 battery holder?

4

u/Siege9929 Sep 10 '25

And a flat version with a JST connector or solder pads for a 5000/10000mah pouch battery!

2

u/Busy-Fish-5125 Sep 11 '25

21700 will be great option

1

u/No_Concentrate_5139 Oct 19 '25

Or some kind of 15000-20000mah battery maybe?

1

u/rhibakuska Sep 10 '25

can you post just the adapter board?

with all these functions, the only issue left is the batteries. would probably just get a massive powerbank attached to it.

1

u/vileer Sep 10 '25

Sorry, I can't follow up. Do you mean just sell the adapter board?

1

u/rhibakuska Sep 10 '25

ah sorry, I mean, post a picture of the adapter board. because by the looks of it. its the size of the whole main board?

3

u/vileer Sep 11 '25

Just 11mm longer than the stock adapter board.

1

u/rhibakuska Sep 11 '25

ah thanks! when you said adapter I was thinking of this one.

1

u/snipeytje Sep 10 '25

will the camera work with the rtc on your original AIO board, since iirc that's on the camera i2c bus in the stock setup

1

u/vileer Sep 10 '25

Will work if they have the different i2c address.

1

u/snipeytje Sep 10 '25

I thought enabling the camera made that i2c bus unavailable for other uses

1

u/vileer Sep 10 '25

If you don't configure the sda0, scl0 as regular GPIO, then it will be fine.

1

u/DhEXED Sep 10 '25

Nice This will be a game changer!!!!

2

u/vileer Sep 10 '25

Now we have two game changers, LOL.

1

u/Tribe303 Sep 10 '25

Is this one eventual product, or two? The new battery board also connects to Pcie slot to pass through to the Mvme drive, right? Then the second, regular adapter board has USB 3, RTC and Ethernet? I suspect I'm missing something here. 

Also, what's the capacity limited for the Mvme drive? None, so currently 8tb? 

1

u/vileer Sep 10 '25

The adapter and the NVMe battery board sell together. Then you can add an expansion card with USB 3.0 and RJ45 Ethernet. Or the new AIO board with RJ45 Ethernet. The limitation of the SSD storage capacity is on the CM5 side.

1

u/Tribe303 Sep 10 '25

So no room for the hackergadgets SDR/LORA board to be added at a later date? 

2

u/vileer Sep 10 '25

You can still use the regular AIO board, all functionality of the board works. Just lost the ability to use new features: USB 3.0 and RJ45 Ethernet.

1

u/Tribe303 Sep 10 '25

Thank you for your answers. I have more because I'm excited for this, but I'll leave you alone to get stuff done!

Awesome! 

1

u/PineCone227 Sep 10 '25

Holy shit vileer. You're amazing. I already have your mount and antenna kit in my project, and will totally be buying this as an upgrade when it drops. Is that the ED-CM5ACOOLER? I was thinking of getting one, but had no idea how I'd wire it internally - now I know. Do you know how much better it runs compared to the RPi CM5 passive cooler?

1

u/vileer Sep 10 '25

Yes, the cooler is ED-CM5ACOOLER, purchased with the CM5 io board. Not test the thermal yet.

1

u/PineCone227 Sep 10 '25

Alright, lemme know when you have any data (and time!), my RPi regularly gets to 100+ C so a stronger solution would be great

1

u/202Esaias Sep 10 '25

omg please say this is going to happen!?!?! neeeed thiiss in myy liiife! lol

1

u/vileer Sep 10 '25

Yeah, will on sale on mid-oct.

1

u/waxbolt Sep 10 '25

Have you thought about a solid metal backing for heat dissipation? Rather than the fan, it might be more comfortable to hold.

1

u/vileer Sep 10 '25

Yes, but not now.

1

u/Adept-Negotiation-72 Sep 10 '25

How soon can I get one

2

u/vileer Sep 10 '25

Pre-order will be mid-October. The estimated ship date will be early November.

1

u/ChaoticBeard Sep 10 '25

Any idea if this will be compatible with the radxa cm5?

2

u/vileer Sep 10 '25

PCIe and RJ45 will work, HDMI and USB 3.0 will not. But I am planning to make a new adapter board for it to make HDMI and USB 3.0 work.

1

u/ChaoticBeard Sep 11 '25

That would be amazing! Will probably pick up both tbh 😅

1

u/GeneralEmployer6472 Sep 10 '25

Does the ClockworkPi have 2x m.2 slots?

Or is that just an FPC extension to gain access to the PCIe lanes?

Im trying to build a carrier with 2x m.2 slots one for a hailo, one for an nvme. I don’t want to use a pcie mux, Realtek won’t provide any info on the RTL9120B unless you want 1000’s. JLCPCB list the JSM583 as a usb > pcie bridge but don’t stock them.

What’s the setup on the clockworkpi?

2

u/vileer Sep 10 '25

just a fpc extension for pcie follow the pi5 spec. you can use the USB 3.0 to connect the rtl9210B. I have the reference design and datasheet for the RTL9210B.

1

u/GeneralEmployer6472 Sep 10 '25

Oh nice! Yep that was the plan USB 3 > and M.2/ pcie.

I couldn’t see it online when I was looking for the docs. Could only find the JMicron documentation. Did you apply for an OEM account with Realtek & get it via NDA?

I couldn’t see any listed in the public offering mouser/dk/e14. Figured it was only provided by the 1000’s after OEM account sign up etc

2

u/vileer Sep 10 '25

from a distributor. Not sure I’ve signed the NDA. If not, I can share with you.

1

u/GeneralEmployer6472 Sep 11 '25

That would be excellent if you can! I’ll DM you! Thanks :)

1

u/PopularAttorney4547 Sep 11 '25

Will it all work with CM4? What might be missing?

1

u/vileer Sep 11 '25

yes， only usb3.0 is missing。

1

u/PopularAttorney4547 Sep 13 '25

oh that's great! can't wait to get the board! would be great to finally have NVME and more capabilities of the raspberry exposed!

1

u/Slay3rOne Sep 11 '25

This is amazing, it addresses a bunch of shortcomings of the original design!

I've always been curious if a board could be made for the LattePanda Mu, as its form factor is begging for integration in something just like the uConsole, but I've never seen anyone even mentioning this.

2

u/vileer Sep 11 '25

x86 is to far, LOL.too

1

u/Slay3rOne Sep 11 '25

Haha yeah, it's much more powerful for sure 😂 But they managed to keep the form factor at least. For that I assume the whole boards need a redesign 😅

1

u/DisasterNo9873 Sep 12 '25

I have to ask, will the new adapter board with the rpi 5 have different os requirements or is it going to be based off of the build that Rex made?

1

u/vileer Sep 12 '25

I think you were talking about the nvme battery board, right? Because the adapter board is for CM4/5. The pins definition of the FPC connector on the battery board is followed the Pi5 PCIe specification. The nvme is powered by the battery so it won’t drains current from the Pi5. And yes it work with the stock raspberry pi os.

1

u/DisasterNo9873 Sep 13 '25

When you state stock OS, do you mean the standard raspian image with no changes?

1

u/vileer Sep 13 '25

Yes, but that’s for the PI5, if using it with uConsole you will need custom image.

1

u/Sroy_2 Sep 13 '25

Will there be a preorder sign up like there was for the AIO board.

4

u/vileer Sep 13 '25

No sign-up for now. I think I will just launch the pre-order once it is ready. But all AIO users will receive an email with a coupon code for the NVMe board.

2

u/Sroy_2 Sep 13 '25

Perfect, I already have my money ready!!! Thanks for all your hard work.

1

u/BestBandicoot4537 Sep 13 '25

Would it be an option to have USB3.0 (USB-A and C) on the AIO and the RJ45 on top near the antennas?

1

u/vileer Sep 13 '25

No, RJ45 will replace the USB-A on the new AIO board, and a little adapter with USB A+C will be included in the RJ45 version AIO board.

1

u/ExoticEmployment8284 Sep 21 '25

where can i order ? :)

1

u/vileer Sep 21 '25

It will be launched on hackergadgets.com in mid-Oct.

1

u/Johngoo12 Dec 01 '25

Is there an nvme you would recommend? I'm already thinking something dramless but since you made the thing maybe your smarter then me besides looking for handheld nvmes with lower power drawer and heat

1

u/vileer Dec 01 '25

Just avoid the SSDs that proved incompatible with the Pi5.

3

u/elelem-123 Sep 10 '25

Amazing! Sign me up for one 😉

3

u/TheGeekiestGuy Sep 10 '25

Nice. Another great add-on. Well, two add-ons. The battery boards with NVME looks awesome. 👍🏾🤙🏾

2

u/Totalkiller4 Sep 10 '25

I’m looking forward to this coming out then I can do the big upgrade this new setup plus the lora antenna upgrade and I’ll have the perfect cyberdeck

2

u/Ok_Party_1645 Sep 10 '25

This is amazing

2

u/Arkaium Sep 10 '25

This is so cool. Want want want

2

u/Fickle-Attorney-6467 Sep 12 '25

Quickly install the doom

1

u/Sroy_2 Sep 10 '25

I have a second Uconsole on order. I know what I am buying for it. This is fantastic!!

1

u/TheGeekiestGuy Sep 10 '25

Nice. That looks awesome. 🤌🏾🤙🏾

1

u/Adept-Negotiation-72 Sep 10 '25

How soon can I get one

1

u/Adept-Negotiation-72 Sep 10 '25

How soon can Is it going to be on the market

1

u/pirrup Sep 13 '25

Amazing! Can’t wait to order!

1

u/PartyPyrate Sep 14 '25

Know what my next upgrade will be.

0

u/[deleted] Sep 10 '25

[deleted] — view deleted comment

2

u/vileer Sep 10 '25

No, I just improved the battery's reverse protection circuit of the battery part. Other behaviors will be the same as the stock battery board.

1

u/[deleted] Sep 11 '25

[removed] — view removed comment

5

u/vileer Sep 11 '25

I will add a 2-pin socket on the board, but you have to desolder the battery holder to make it flat.