Hello, could somebody help me out. Could anyone please tell the difference between the experimental R-01 and other non experimental models. I just wanted to run kali Linux on it. I haven’t purchased it yet but was definitely considering. The reason I am buying is just, well, because I like it. It seems cool. I would much prefer to have kali Linux. Will there be any problems on R-01. Thanks
Kali? R-01? You’ve gotta be kidding me.
Running Kali that way, if such an endeavor exists, is an exercise in patience. But if your scope is about similar to a Flipper Zero…, still, why?
That leaves you to choosing between A-06 and the CM4. The A-06 is pretty much as good as other Raspberry Pi alternatives out there, which is bad. Hate to disparage Clockwork here, but the CM4 is where all the action (and the good stuff) is.
And then we go to Kali itself. You do have two options here. One is to assemble it the official way. The other has more recent updates (and driver fixes) provided by a fellow user here. As much as I understood it, neither images come with Kali’s kernel patches, so some tools may not work properly. And even then, you need peripherals to make some tools work; they may not work with the built-in hardware.
Ultimately, none of the CPU options are speed demons. You can see the Geekbench result for the CM4 yourself here. You’d probably be prosecuted by the court before somehow successfully cracking your neighbor’s Wi-Fi. (I exaggerate.)
So, yeah. That’s about as much stuff I can gather about why not to run Kali on a uConsole. You’re welcome to try anyway. This is just a caveat emptor.
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Hey dude, thanks a lot. I barely have knowledge in this stuff yet, but I am exploring it and it is fun. I did want it to do stuff like the flipper, and I thought of purchasing it, but Uconsole is much more fun, especially the assembling part. Still I have a question, I hope you don’t mind me asking, but what exactly do people buy this for? I was thinking to buy it because it’s fun and I really like it. Do people buy it to program some stuff? Thanks a lot for your help. Have a beautiful day
@Boy0000 Most people bought it for fun, or for education purpose.
But actually, if you use RBP CM4 core, it is quite powerful, though not to today’s standard, you still can get a lot done, especially if you hook up an external monitor and keyboard.
I bought it for learning programming and etc. it helps me focus, because it is just powerful enough for vs code and browser with ChatGPT open, and nothing more…
I always end up playing games when learning with my laptop, so this is really nice for me.
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I got mine for work programming radios out in the field. I ordered a second one so I have one for work to get beat up and one for working in bed thats something i’ve never really done before with a laptop now almost every night i’m doing some kind of work in bed.
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Go for CM4 module, it’s way more usable than risc-v variant.
As for ‘why do folks are buying this unusable stuff’ - well, we like to suffer and reducing random daily reboots from 40 to 39 is what makes this hobby worthwhile 
I all seriousness, i for example (r01 here) see great potential in emerging Risc-V architecture. I want to be part of the change and if not - at least having some understanding of what’s under the hood.
If you were asking about “what for is µConsole in general” - well, it’s basically a handheld laptop, sky is the limit. One might consider it as a great drop in replacement for bedroom indie games development, other can say it’s chicks’ magnet ;d. “Why to people go for laptops when we have decent desktops” might be the same class question.
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Hi there, I would Like to thank everyone who has replied in this post and helped me a great deal. I hope that everyone has a great, great day. Thanks A lot. If anyone else is reading this, I would love to hear why you bought it and how’s it going.
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Mine is to fulfill a personal goal. My ideal personal computer. It is also my first Raspberry Pi device.
It won’t play the latest blockbuster hit games, sure. But I don’t need it to. I’m too old for that. (Or at least I feel that way.) But it can do many other things. I have a choice of full desktop web browsers that let me access my bank accounts, check weather reports, chat, and even listen to Spotify and play Netflix. If I want to, I can shoehorn Android into a desktop Linux install and do many things my phone can. I bought the 4G expansion, which not only allows me to browse the Internet anywhere in my territory, but also make and receive calls and texts.
Oh, and I have a soft spot for the form factor. You feel encouraged to make it more personal.
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R-01 is riscv64 CPU, Kali will not run on this architecture.
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HI there, I am not sure If I am allowed to talk about products about other companies in this form, but I was just wondering if there is possibly a handheld, like the uConsole, that runs Linux and is decently powerful. I apologize If I am not allowed to talk about this, I will immediately edit this question out if I am not allowed to discuss other stuff.
Last dude asking similar question ended up sleeping with fishes but i didn’t helped him wearing concrete boots ;d
No, there are no rules holding you from asking.
To my knowledge there’s nothing similat to µConsole( yet).
There are handhelds like Beepy, ShaRPIKeebo, Blak RPI there are probably tons of alikes but when you look closely you’ll see a pattern emerging.
They’re all raspberry pi zero based, are custom made and “come” as DIY. I’ve enclosed coming into quotes as often you have to source your own parts( which are often hard to find), then you have to solder everything together and slap RPI on the back/top.
No schematics (just pcb), no support, no forums (i don’t count any random facebook groups).
If you will to change form factor a bit there is Lichee deck but it’s bit expensive for what you get, it’s rather small laptop than handheld and has to offer only risc-v variant.
So yeah, Clockwork is pretty generous for providing not only ready to use product but also hosting this forum where you can find links to resources discuss about this and that. You also get schematics, STLs for 3d printing/ machining and as much sources as they can provide.
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Thanks a lot man! Have a great day!
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check this out. it is a DIY product from a Chinese DIY enthusiastic club. I heard they are trying to mass produce it.
it runs windows11 on AMD R5 7520U, 16 GB LPDDR5 5500mhz dual channel ram. though it doesn’t have dedicated GPU, the APU (RX610M, if I remembered right) is powerful enough for a lot of games.
But I guess it is available only in mainland China. You might be able to get one, but then the import would take forever since it is just a DIY product, there’s gonna be all sorts of paper work.
So just forget about it if you are not in China.
I, on the other hand, might be able to get one and perhaps run some test if I have the time.
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I checked the price is around 400 usd. Perhaps I’ll get one once it is available.
But it is nothing like ClockWorkPi, which is community driven, so I guess the long time support and customer service are going to fall short in the long run.
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mmm yeah, x86, plastic case with probably zero expandability not to mention hackery ;d i mean whatever floats one boat but imho µConsole is much more versatile. But yeah, point taken, totally forgot about UMPCs
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Its not a bad looking machine except for that keyboard. Vertically inline keys are contra naturam.
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It also has touch screen, which would be great on uconsole.
But other than that, I’d pick uconsole 10 times out of 10. it is just a more-fun (fun-ner?) device overall.
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late to the punch but i wanted to throw my bit out there too, as well as chime in on the r01-kali bit.
starting with kali, while you wouldn’t be able to use a kali image on the r01 (for far, far, far more reasons than just it being risc-v hardware and aarch64 software - like the lack of a UEFI requiring manual setup of something like uboot, for example), you could absolutely use many of the common tools in kali on the r01, assuming you can build a cross toolchain. i can see the r01 with an SDR and an RJ45 hacked into it being an excellent device for wardriving and data collection/injection, but, yeah, upload captured data to a bigger machine.
as for what i intend to use it for, well… it’s a linux machine that fits in your pocket. you use it like a linux machine. i use it as an ssh console, to do light programming, and i’m working on a lightweight OS image that will include software sufficient to replace my phone with the uconsole, as well. at that point i’ll be ditching android for good. i already use it for xmpp/irc/email/bbses/whatever.
i’ll put this out there, as well: if you (in the plural sense) expect to run VS Code or Chrome or Firefox or whatever on the r01, you’re out of your mind. it’s a primarily textual device. as for the cm4 variant, if you install a third party module like the one from PINE or a BananaPi, you could absolutely do some serious computing on it. even the r01, wimpy as it is, is far more powerful than computers were only a few decades ago. realize you won’t be running web junk on it and you’ll be much more satisfied.
oh, and, one last bit: beyond the uconsole legitimately being a more practical device for my usecase than a smartphone, i also firmly believe that open, standards-based systems are superior to closed ones. the uconsole runs most software unmodified and will hopefully run upstream linux on the r01 in the near future, has its main schematics available (even if i’ve found it difficult to come across everything i need at times), and through the cm4 adapter and the adoption of off the shelf parts, you can easily acquire repair parts or perform upgrades, even if some day clockwork disappears. i think that sort of resilience is very important, and i’ve been slowly replacing my devices with ones more like the uconsole over time (for example the imx8mq mnt reform laptop).
thanks for coming to my ted talk.