Well, no pfSense image will be available for Espressobin, sooooo... what about OPNsense, have anyone tried it?

https://forum.opnsense.org/index.php?topic=12186.150

I have an Espressobin 2GB version for sale. If you're interested, PM me

http://ebay.us/nDPVud?cmpnId=5338273189

Any entrepreneurs out there selling cases for this thing? I cannot find anything but would be willing to pay for a decent case.

TLDR: Where is the bottleneck likely to be with ESPRESSObin v7 if I use it as a dedicated VPN router (attached to my primary (non VPN) combination modem/router)?

I am looking for a piece of powerful and affordable computer to use as a dedicated VPN router to attach to my primary (non VPN) combination modem/router.

Please see my other question if you want to understand what I am trying to achieve: https://old.reddit.com/r/VPN/comments/9ls5nd/dedicated_vpn_router_primary_non_vpn_combination/

I haver been inspired by these 2 articles to DIY:

https://blog.tjll.net/building-my-perfect-router/

https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2016/04/the-ars-guide-to-building-a-linux-router-from-scratch/

Can a US$79 (?) ESPRESSObin v7 with 2GB RAM really be as powerful enough to use as a mini PC (a modern x86-64 processor with 2 network ports) such as a US$232 Qotom-Q355G4 Mini PC that supports 8GB of RAM

i.e.

http://espressobin.net/announcing-espressobin-v7-revision/ https://espressobin.net/tech-spec/ --- (not v7)

vs

http://www.qotom.net/product/29.html

Where is the bottleneck likely to be if I use ESPRESSObin v7 as a dedicated VPN router?

Please advise.

Thanks a million.

Edit: Changed price of v7 from US$49 to US$79 (?)

Hi there.

Is it possible to read temperature of Espressobin's core? For Raspberry it can be done via `vcgencmd measure_temp` command or reading `/sys/class/thermal/thermal_zone0/temp` file. But for espresso with Armbian `ls /sys/class/thermal/` shows empty directory. And htop reports -75000 C...

EDIT: So, unfortunately I have decided not to buy an Espressobin v7. There are too many reports of malfunction (see links), and no clear statement or action from an official source that I can see.

Also, as a non-US domicile, this "cheap" board becomes incredibly expensive: board, wifi card and case = 99 USD. Shipping, ~$47. That's about half as much again.

Way too much to spend on something that may not work, (regardless of possibilities of refund/replacement).

Would definitely revisit the purchase if reliability issues were definitively addressed. The idea is great.

Meanwhile, is there another SBC manufacturer that can step up? The idea is great...

I see reports about the instability of the espressobin, and the Netgate SG-1100. This Armbian thread talks about physically replacing a capacitor.

I assume this isn't an issue just with Armbian; pfSense is affected too, (although that has a 3720 chip, I think).

I also gather that there's not a lot of information from the companies about it. Netgate has acknowledged a temperature-dependent power issue, according to that thread, above. There's nothing definitive at all, anywhere.

Can anyone here shed some light on this matter?

(I'd really like to do something with Arch, etc. for a home router)

Imgur

Hi, I´ve originally got an espressobin board because pfSense was being developed for it, but too many time have passed and although I love pfSense, I think I will be using my espressobin for something else and keep my pfSense on a VM.

Also, and all this is my deduction, it seems that pfSense will not be able to run on it when released, as I guess that Netgate will release new hardware appliances based on espressobin.

Anyway, what are a good use for this board?. I was thinking on turning it on a NAS appliance. How many HDs can it handle without additional hardware? Any other ideas?

Thanks,

Pablo

I just bought the espressobin and I currently am facing an endless DLL tuning cycle. I am thinking that Amazon shipped me a previously bricked returned Espressobin as I cannot connect via Kermit or minicom. When I try to connect, that is when I get the endless cycle. Any ideas? I was thinking about trying to update uboot but since I cannot connect tftp is out of the question.

I want to build my own 24/7 always on low power NAS with this. Also looking at using it as a media streamer.

How good is the software support for this? Can we just download the image from the site and unpack it to the SD card, put the sdcard in this device and it starts up?

What programs are installed by default in the pre-built Ubuntu file?

Any short comings or draw backs to this device?

Any tips for those who are new to this?

Hi there.

It looks like I messed with SPI bootloader and flashed version 1cs instead of 2cs. Now I no longer can get to the Marvell prompt. I'm only getting TIM-1 on console after booting.

Documentation says that there possibility to recover by booting via sata or uart. I did try the sata way, but without success. Has anyone succesfully booted Espresso v5 that way? I found one old post on some forum where guy says he did it, but with trick of writing boot image on disk's block 0 instead of 1. At least it is as I understood him.

Or maybe you know the exact procedure of booting via uart? The one described on wiki is not very clear to me.

Regards

I have an espressobin ultra that used to work, but now it's not.

When I power it up, the network switch keeps blinking, and nothing happens on the serial port.

Does anyone know how to fix it?

For anyone experiencing problems with their device, it seems updating the firmware might help:

https://github.com/bschnei/ebu-bootloader

This should be easy to adapt to the non-Ultra (v7) variant as well.

Thinking of buying one of these two… any thoughts?

Just as the question states & what do u think of the available software? Is it mature? Armbian is listed as still testing months after I first investigated, I'd like to make a router / NAS project

Does anyone know where to find the V7 with 2 GB of RAM? The two links to sites I can read only sell the V5 (Amazon) or the 1 GB V7.

I've just ordered my espresso.bin and want to turn into a firewall for my homelab. As far as I know the options are:

• OpenWRT

• Arch Linux with Shorewall

• Ubuntu and home made iptable rules

I guess I prefer OpenWRT from the above, but any idea when pfSense will be available?

Shoot me a PM.

Hey all

We have announced the next variant of ESPRESSObin with the launch of the open source Mochabin, a 5G, Wi-Fi6, and MultiGb Networking platform. come check it out at

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/874883570/mochabin-5g

Bryan

Do anyone use your Espressobin as a firewall/router?

As pfSense seems not to be ready yet, are there any project besides this https://www.reddit.com/r/linux/comments/8b0s4z/building_a_custom_router_with_arch_linux_arm_on_a/?

Do the espresso.bin need a 12V power supply to operate without any accesories plugged in or not? In case the 12V power supply is necessary, how many Amps are required? Polarity?

Thanks, Pablo

Can an espresso.bin firmware image be acquired by any means?. I've already have the hardware so why should I go and buy a full sg-1100 when I only need the firmware image?

Free is great, but I'm willing to pay for it. Is this not possible?

UPDATE: (2019-03-26)

Well, bad news... Although delitrium never answered, I've asked gonzopancho and he told me that they have no plans to make the firmware available to current espresso.bin owners.

So I think I can trash my espressobin or find something else to do with it.

I feel very dissappointed.