Setting up UConsole for the first time with HackerGadgets Products

uConsole
1

I have been following this forum for quite some time and have been reading quite a lot of posts. I am very new to this.

I just received my uConsole and plan to assemble and get it set up in the very near future. One thing that I’ve searched for but can’t seem to find an answer for (I’m sure the information is available if I knew exactly what I was looking for) is this:

I wanted to add the HackerGadget AIO V2 (RTL-SDR/LoRa/GPS/RTC/USB Hub/USB 3.0/RJ45 Ethernet) kit. However, at the time it was unavailable so instead I purchased the Upgrade Kit - Adding NVMe SSD/RJ45 Ethernet/ USB 3.0/AC1200 WiFi.

For ease of explanation I’ll refer to the AIO kit as Kit A and the NVMe kit as Kit B

After I received Kit B I found out that Kit A was made available in a limited quanitity so I ordered it as well.

I plan on assembling my unit using the following replacement items:

  • Install the adapter board from Kit B
  • Install the dual 18650 batteries holder from Kit B
  • Not use the expansion board from Kit B
  • Install the extension board from Kit A
  • Install the antennas from Kit A

I’m hoping that the above modifications are correct and will work seamlessly together.

I also plan on installing Debian 12 Bookworm.

Will the software work seamlessly with the modifications I am making or will I have to perform other modifications or downloads?

I have the CM4 104000 lite core.

This is all new to me and I apologize if I’m asking an obvious question.

2

Yes that setup should work perfectly as you described. I personally would go with Trixie though as it is newer and will be supported longer.

3

Well here is a lesson learned.

I assembled the unit last night. I had a few questions but managed to find enough online and with YouTube to get me the answers. Also, gotta love AI.

After assembly, and following the “10 things to do” guide, I inserted the SD card that came with the unit and turned the power on. The screen flickered once or twice then did nothing. The green light wouldn’t stay lit. I tried this several times. I removed the back and reinspected the installation making sure all the connections were solid. I removed and reinstalled the CM4 and the battery holder again with no luck. I then decided to download Trixie and boot up with it, and again the same results.

So I came to this forum and spent an hour or two reading similar posts to see if my problem was mentioned. I had similar symptoms to ones some others had but they resolved it by replacing the CM4 or the adapter boards. I was hoping I didn’t have one of those issues.

One of the recommended things to test was to plug the unit in to power using the USB port. I did that and voila, everything booted up. Turns out, my batteries were dead. Doh. I measured the voltage on them before I installed them but apparently it was below the cutoff voltage.

One other minor issue was the push click on the trackball wasn’t working. I was having difficulties selecting items using the trackball. One quick search on this forum told me to use the L and R buttons and not the trackball. Another issue quickly resolved.

I guess my point of this long winded post is that sometimes it’s the simplest of things that can cause the most amount of frustration. When something goes wrong, always try the obvious first.

So now it’s time to learn how to use this and see what it can do for me.

3 Likes
4

Love this post. Doesn’t work? Research to find out why! Fix it and move on to the next thing. Faith in fellow nerds restored (for now), LOL.

2 Likes
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it’s a middle click, usefull for opening tabs in background and “paste text selected by mouse”