Libre Computer Board AML-S905X-CC (Le Potato) 2GB 64-bit Mini Computer for 4K Media

I'm sure you're looking at this review because you're in the same boat as everyone else right now trying to either replace a broken Pi, or buy a new one... and the prices are 3x-5x due to the shortage. This board definitely hits the right price point and after two days of tweaking things, I got it to run Mailsail and I'm back in business. Here are some Pro's and Con's:Pro: Same footprint as RPi, including GPIO location and pinouts.Pro: Lower heat production than my Pi3.Pro: CHEAP. Available.Con: No wifi. Not a big deal for me. All my printers are running Ethernet.Con: I can't get UART_A working. I tried everything. I'm using this via USB for now.Con: Very limited number of available software appliance packages. To keep your expectations in check, assume you will download a working Linux, and then you need to do everything else (i.e., download and run KIAUH to get Mainsail and related components running)Keeping all that in mind, and having some experience with SBCs, this one wasn't too terrible. It would have been great if I could have fired up the UART... but thats fine... its better than a dead RPi and a non-functional printer... LOL. I just bought a second one to be part of a simple NOE which I'll use to experiment with to see if I can get the UART functional, while the other one is in my OE.***UPDATE: January 2023***I've bumped up my review from 4 stars to 5. This little guy has been a godsend. Its cheap, runs mainsail just fine... and there is an added bonus (why I raised my rating): It runs at or even slightly below 5 volts!Before, with my RPi's, I'd constantly get under-volt errors. The FAQs say that you need a "clean power supply" and I'm running the damn thing on an 750W ATX power supply! Turns out, the RPi needs more than 5V which causes all these undervolting issues. Long story short, Le Potato makes that issue go away... so it just earned itself one more star.Also, in case you're stuck in your transition, here is how to get Mainsail on it:-Download the Raspbian image from Libre Computer's repository.-Use your favorite tool (Balena, or the RPI imager) to write that image on to the micro SD card.-Connect the board with a USB keyboard, and to a monitor with HDMI, and power it/boot.-Once booted, log in via the GUI, launch a terminal window, then launch the configurator at the terminal window( sudo raspi-config )-In the raspi-config, go to Interfacing Options, then select SSH, and then enable-Shut down the pi, disconnect the monitor and keyboard, boot again.-SSH to the Potato's address-Once logged into the libre, next you need to get KIAUH and the instructions for that can be found by searching for th33xitus and kiauh in google... but summary: you'll need to run one command to clone the KIAUH repository, then run KIUAH and the rest of the process should be pretty self explanatory.after this step is done, you can connect your libre over to the printer controller with a USB cable (I'm still trying to figure out the UART connection), and complete configuration of the controller/mainsail.Good luck!

I've become quite a fan of the Libre Computer brand. I own two of the Le Potato's and one of their Renegades. I use them for a few different use cases. They've both performed wonderfully. I know this is a review of the Le Potato, but I mention this because it's good for a person reading reviews to know that the company puts out quality products. I also enjoy that the company also has upstream drivers for their hardware, so I have been able to just go grab an Ubuntu or Armbian ISO from the actual software company if I'd like, but on top of that, Libre Computer also puts out their own customized copies of a few operating systems with their drivers baked in for each model. This is great for those who are new to these SBC devices and makes it easy for those who may want to branch out from the standard Raspberry Pi models. I actively look for new projects that I can do so that I can look into getting more of these devices from Libre Computer since they jsut work.I have one running a Pi Hole server (DNS Black Hole), and one running an Octoprint server for my Ender 3 Pro. Both were a breeze to set up and have been extremely reliable. The Pi Hole has been running non-stop for about a year or more with it's only power down being to do some updates, network wiring management, or when the power goes out. Then it pops right back online. I'm powering this one with a POE Injector to network and USB Micro.The other Le Potato is hooked up to my 3D printer and with the ease of using Ubuntu, or other readily available distros and some light linux knowledge, I was able able to also install Octo Print onto the machine. It has also worked wonderfully and I have attached a Microsoft 720p Webcam to this as well to keep an eye on the prints as they go, and it easily started working.

I have been thinking about setting up a Pi-Hole for a while, and when I finally decided to do it, found that the Pi was almost unobtanium at a decent price. Came across this by accident, and figured for the price I would give it a try.So far, seems to do what I need.I had a few issues with setup, partially because I could not find what the LED's meant, but after I found out, got it sorted.And just FYI, the red LED is for power. It should be solid red all the time, if it is blinking, your power supply is not putting out enough power for your needs.The green LED is for the SD being read, it also is solid.The blue LED is an activity LED. If solid blue, the system is doing nothing, if 2 fast flashes, pause, 2 fast flashes repeat, it is running correctly.If working correctly, the red and blue come on solid when plugged in, then the green comes on a few seconds later as it reads from the SD card, then the blue should start to flash.There may be other meanings for them, but knowing this helped me figure out my issue.When I first plugged it in, I had a solid red and solid blue, no green. No display.Found out I had apparently bumped the SD card out of the slot.Put it back in, had solid red, green and blue. No display.Tried several cards (several brands and sizes from 4 to 32 gigs) and several OS downloaded from Libre's site (Rasbian, Armbian, Ubuntu), and moved to SD using Etcher, and had same result.Then realized I had not unzipped the files! Oops.Got Armbian loaded up correctly on a 4 gig card, and it showed solid red, solid green, and blue flashing correctly, but no display.Tried an 8 gig card with Ubuntu on it, and again, leds were the same with a blank screen.Put in a 32 gig card with Rasbian installed, and same, LEDs were on correctly, but still no display.Read on the Libre forums of some displays not working for some reason or another, and I was using a tv from 2008 or so, so went to a monitor that was a little newer, and still no display.Tried another monitor, same again. Was beginning to wonder if I had a bad board.But I had been using the same HDMI cable for all 3 displays, maybe that is it?Tried a 2nd HDIM cable on a 4th monitor, and it worked.I had the 32 gig card in there with Rasbian on it, so that is what I am sticking with for now.I may swap over to the 8 gig card later (my 4 gig cards are not class 10 and may be too slow), but for now, I am sticking with what is working.Got it all set up using a keyboard and mouse, installed Pi-Hole, got ssh and vpn working and put the board in a cheap case.I had some small aluminum heatsinks that I applied to the processor and top side ram just because.The case has a large opening in it for access to the side pins, but I like that because it will help with airflow.I now have it velcroed to the side of a desk, power is coming from the USB on the router, and is sitting at ~ 41-43°C with an ambient of 77°F.So as said, so far so good, it has been up for just a day, and am seeing a lot fewer ads (still a lot of youtube ads coming through).