Topton Jasper Lake Quad i225V Mini PC Report

[DomFel]

That board is hybrid, not v.1/v.2 and not a full v.3/v.4.

They provided me a file with a package for that board. Here's is the link:
CW-N6000 v.3
or
CW-N6000 v.3

Basically you unzip the file, format a usb stick FAT32, copy the folder in the zip to the root of the usb drive, rename it in EFI, connect it to the unit.
Remove any hard drive connected (NVME, mSATA, whatever). Turn it on, check the light on the usb stick (if there's any), after the beep it will light up once (it means the bios is seeing it as bootable), press Enter on the keyboard, the drive will start flashing.
Wait a couple of minutes, unplug the drive, switch off the unit. Power it on again, and wait until the beep (it will take a minute), after that it will reboot and bang, hdmi is back.

If it doesn't work: format the drive with Rufus as FreeDos bootable, then copy the folder on it and rename it to EFI, repeat the process.

If it doesn't work: after the first blink of the usb drive, press Enter, then wait 5sec and press Enter again. Then wait. Wait 1 minute, press E on the keyboard, wait 2-3 minutes, then power off and unplug the drive and wait as above.

Apparently on some board the software to flash the bios will require to press E after the usb drive is booted from the bios. On mine there was no need, it was already flashing I guess, since after few minutes I plugged it out, rebooted and it worked.

 

[Catalin]

I've just received the same file from them but with less instructions than yours. Apparently the process is automatic, Indeed, first time the stick flashed twice then nothing. I will let it be for 10 minutes then I will use your approach,

It should not need the DOS boot format as the folder is standard EFI, having inside the "startup.nsh" script which calls the flashing script "1.nsh". This script is launching the actual EFI flash program " AfuEfiX64" : AFUEFIX64 CWN60T11-1.bin /P /B /N /X".

I've done that already few days ago but it didn;t work in my case but also did use ENTER keys and so on.

Many thanks!

 

[volker]

My experience with Topton wasn't great:

1. ordered a N6005 with 6x i225
2. They told me to cancel it since they N6005 is out of stock. They couldn't provide me a date on when its available.
3. canceled and searched for alternatives, saw hundreds of N6005 with six ports available from Topton, odered one of them.
4. they told me again to cancel it since they are out of stock and blamed Aliexpress for not being able to set available units to zero. They offered a free VESA mount if I order a 4 port.
5. ordered a N6005 with 4x i226, canceled the other order. Asked them if they could provide RAM or SSD instead of a VESA mount (asking doesn't hurt), especially after finding this thread I was sold on the 4x.
6. They responded to my question if they can provide memory or disks instead of a VESA mount by telling me to order one that comes with memory and SSD. At this time I was unhappy with them and didn't want to order from Topton again.
7. Canceled the new order. Noticed that the old order got never canceled and cancellation was in pending.
8. Had over three days a ping pong to get my two order cancellation from Topton accepted.

Ordered now from CWWK.

 

[Catalin]

My experience with Topton wasn't great:

1. ordered a N6005 with 6x i225
2. They told me to cancel it since they N6005 is out of stock. They couldn't provide me a date on when its available.
3. canceled and searched for alternatives, saw hundreds of N6005 with six ports available from Topton, odered one of them.
4. they told me again to cancel it since they are out of stock and blamed Aliexpress for not being able to set available units to zero. They offered a free VESA mount if I order a 4 port.
5. ordered a N6005 with 4x i226, canceled the other order. Asked them if they could provide RAM or SSD instead of a VESA mount (asking doesn't hurt), especially after finding this thread I was sold on the 4x.
6. They responded to my question if they can provide memory or disks instead of a VESA mount by telling me to order one that comes with memory and SSD. At this time I was unhappy with them and didn't want to order from Topton again.
7. Canceled the new order. Noticed that the old order got never canceled and cancellation was in pending.
8. Had over three days a ping pong to get my two order cancellation from Topton accepted.

Ordered now from CWWK.

I would not recommend TOPTON also.. I waited 1.5 months until they shipped and the support is awful. Order from CWWK.

 

[Snk B]

My experience with Topton wasn't great:

1. ordered a N6005 with 6x i225
2. They told me to cancel it since they N6005 is out of stock. They couldn't provide me a date on when its available.
3. canceled and searched for alternatives, saw hundreds of N6005 with six ports available from Topton, odered one of them.
4. they told me again to cancel it since they are out of stock and blamed Aliexpress for not being able to set available units to zero. They offered a free VESA mount if I order a 4 port.
5. ordered a N6005 with 4x i226, canceled the other order. Asked them if they could provide RAM or SSD instead of a VESA mount (asking doesn't hurt), especially after finding this thread I was sold on the 4x.
6. They responded to my question if they can provide memory or disks instead of a VESA mount by telling me to order one that comes with memory and SSD. At this time I was unhappy with them and didn't want to order from Topton again.
7. Canceled the new order. Noticed that the old order got never canceled and cancellation was in pending.
8. Had over three days a ping pong to get my two order cancellation from Topton accepted.

Ordered now from CWWK.

The shopping experience with CWWK is far superior.
There is definitely no way to recommend buying from them now that CWWK has entered the game.
Support (pre and post sales) and build quality far superior to Topton and Kingnovy.

 

[Catalin]

I've just received the same file from them but with less instructions than yours. Apparently the process is automatic, Indeed, first time the stick flashed twice then nothing. I will let it be for 10 minutes then I will use your approach,

It should not need the DOS boot format as the folder is standard EFI, having inside the "startup.nsh" script which calls the flashing script "1.nsh". This script is launching the actual EFI flash program " AfuEfiX64" : AFUEFIX64 CWN60T11-1.bin /P /B /N /X".

I've done that already few days ago but it didn;t work in my case but also did use ENTER keys and so on.

Many thanks!

Just to confirm it worked! The secret was the E key, I was doing basically the same they advised, even the scripts but I didn't know about the E key. CWWK has good support, recommend buying from them directly.

 

[Kenneth]

I have a barebones Topton N5105 4x i226 on the way, in the chassis with trifork fins on three sides and a mount for a 40 mm fan on the bottom - should be arriving soon. That should be a v3 or v4 I think.

I’d like to order what I need to get it up and running so I have once it gets here, couple questions:

1) I’m considering installing a 40 mm fan. Would a Noctua 40x40x10 12V PWM work?

2) Any suggestions for decent, cool running NVMe SSDs and/or SSD heatsinks?

 

[xShARkx]

I have a barebones Topton N5105 4x i226 on the way, in the chassis with trifork fins on three sides and a mount for a 40 mm fan on the bottom - should be arriving soon. That should be a v3 or v4 I think.

I’d like to order what I need to get it up and running so I have once it gets here, couple questions:

1) I’m considering installing a 40 mm fan. Would a Noctua 40x40x10 12V PWM work?

2) Any suggestions for decent, cool running NVMe SSDs and/or SSD heatsinks?

If it its using the intel i226 then its the V4 model.

For the fan and if you are planning to connecting it to the conector on the board, then:

According to ChangWang pdf specs of the board, the conector on the board for a fan is 4 pin + 5V.

畅网第四版N5105/N6005主板规格说明书

畅网第四版N5105/N6005主板规格说明书,请在网盘中下载

changwang.com

But if you don't plan on using the connector, then you can either buy the 12v version or the 5v version of the noctua fan and power it using the sata adapter cable.

 

[Oarman]

I am a little curious why there is such interest on these units and not on the Beelink U59 Pro you can get on Amazon. The way I see it:

+ For the price of this CW unit barebone, you can get a Beelink with (cheap Chinese noname) 8/16GB ram and an SSD, and a Windows license
+ You're dealing with Amazon for delivery and returns and not AE or worse.
+ US model wall-wart doesn't look like it's going to catch fire
= The BIOS and tech support are similar jank. Beelink kind of sort of has English support forums.
= Same Jasper Lake quirks with Proxmox, same fix running newer Linux kernel
- It isn't fanless and the non-standard heat sink fan will inevitably fail or just get noisy. But people are adding fans to these 'fanless' units anyway
- You get two Realtek 1GBe ports instead of 4/6 i225/226. I have <1 gig WAN and I'm not planning to hang multiple 2.5g downstream devices directly off of my firewall. Is doing that the appeal of the CW? Is the concern that Realtek drivers are still poop in 2022? I'm not seeing much love for the i225/226 except that they're there and they're cheap.

I've got a U59 (non-Pro, unfortunately, so N5095 only one Ethernet port). It seems to work OK running Proxmox and some light VMs, on stress test it ran for several days inaudibly although it does start clocking down if it hits 80C.

 

[johnknierim]

I don't understand why no one is buying from HUNSN

I got two of these units, barebones for $480

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0B53QR7TL?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details&th=1

- 6 X 2.5G Intel B3 Stepping ports, no problems with VMWare, Proxmox, OPNSense or PFSense
- Core I7 1165G7, more than enough power for firewall or virtualization needs
- Excellent communication and customer service from seller
- No gaps between case and copper heatsink (there was a lot of thermal grease)
- Sold on Amazon. First one I get in a week and the second one in two days with a lightning deal with 15% off
- A console port that works along with 6 network ports
- No overheating, processor stays in the mid 30s to 40s Celsius

 

[dazagrt]

I don't understand why no one is buying from HUNSN

I got two of these units, barebones for $480

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0B53QR7TL?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details&th=1

- 6 X 2.5G Intel B3 Stepping ports, no problems with VMWare, Proxmox, OPNSense or PFSense
- Core I7 1165G7, more than enough power for firewall or virtualization needs
<snip>

The Barebones i7 version can not be selected, you can only buy it with extras.

 

[johnknierim]

That is true currently, was not when I recently purchased my two units about two weeks apart
I am trying to point out they are a viable option, I had a good experience via Amazon with this seller, who seems fairly established.
I used to buy Protectcli, but I found a much better unit for less.
I will attach the units manual so people can see what they are getting

 

[pigr8]

I am a little curious why there is such interest on these units and not on the Beelink U59 Pro you can get on Amazon. The way I see it:

+ For the price of this CW unit barebone, you can get a Beelink with (cheap Chinese noname) 8/16GB ram and an SSD, and a Windows license
+ You're dealing with Amazon for delivery and returns and not AE or worse.
+ US model wall-wart doesn't look like it's going to catch fire
= The BIOS and tech support are similar jank. Beelink kind of sort of has English support forums.
= Same Jasper Lake quirks with Proxmox, same fix running newer Linux kernel
- It isn't fanless and the non-standard heat sink fan will inevitably fail or just get noisy. But people are adding fans to these 'fanless' units anyway
- You get two Realtek 1GBe ports instead of 4/6 i225/226. I have <1 gig WAN and I'm not planning to hang multiple 2.5g downstream devices directly off of my firewall. Is doing that the appeal of the CW? Is the concern that Realtek drivers are still poop in 2022? I'm not seeing much love for the i225/226 except that they're there and they're cheap.

I've got a U59 (non-Pro, unfortunately, so N5095 only one Ethernet port). It seems to work OK running Proxmox and some light VMs, on stress test it ran for several days inaudibly although it does start clocking down if it hits 80C.

yes realtek is shit with drivers when non in windows, so on linux should be avoided.
indeed not fanless, a true fixed (without gaps problem or bad thermal paste) fanless unit is a better choice noise wide and also no potential failures.
i see in eu the pro model with 8gb/512gb at 339€, well i got a topton 4port for 190€ so the price difference has to be considered also.

 

[pigr8]

I don't understand why no one is buying from HUNSN

I got two of these units, barebones for $480

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0B53QR7TL?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details&th=1

- 6 X 2.5G Intel B3 Stepping ports, no problems with VMWare, Proxmox, OPNSense or PFSense
- Core I7 1165G7, more than enough power for firewall or virtualization needs
- Excellent communication and customer service from seller
- No gaps between case and copper heatsink (there was a lot of thermal grease)
- Sold on Amazon. First one I get in a week and the second one in two days with a lightning deal with 15% off
- A console port that works along with 6 network ports
- No overheating, processor stays in the mid 30s to 40s Celsius

price on that unit?

 

[DomFel]

I am a little curious why there is such interest on these units and not on the Beelink U59 Pro you can get on Amazon.

I don't understand why no one is buying from HUNSN

I got two of these units, barebones for $480

All right, let's not compare apples to oranges:

1. Price is double (you gave us the link for the i7..)
2. i225 vs i226
3. i7/i5? No thanks, I need a low power device, not a desktop.
4. N5105? No thanks I need a bit more power than that.
5. Fanless. Yes, CWWK/Topton/whatever are fanless. On older models you have to replace the thermal paste, but that's it. No Noctua fans, no 3D printed stands, etc. CPU is running at 29/30C (N6005) here with the NVME (simple Kingston NV1) sitting around 41/44C, room AC is set to 25C. I don't need fans, no need for noise no need for more electricity.
6. Realtek? Oh my god definitely a big no-no.
7. Not everyone lives in the US, it's a big world out there, so everyone has different availability on their Amazon's.

Price/performance wise I still believe CWWK is unbeatable. But of course to each his own.

 

[amikids]

I'm on the N6005 with Proxmox and no issues for 12 days... no freezing with the VM's I'm hosting...View attachment 24057

How about the network you config of VM pfsense?
Is this virtio or E1000?
For me with new ver J6413 with 6P i226 pfsense (config network virtio) crash when fulload traffic around 2-3 hours
Just only pfsense crash, Proxmox still uptime.
Here is the textdum of pfSense

Fatal trap 12: page fault while in kernel mode
cpuid = 0; apic id = 00
fault virtual address = 0x8a2ea5d9
fault code = supervisor write data, page not present
instruction pointer = 0x20:0xffffffff8135cc7d
stack pointer = 0x28:0xfffffe0049e1c998
frame pointer = 0x28:0xfffffe0049e1c9c0
code segment = base 0x0, limit 0xfffff, type 0x1b
= DPL 0, pres 1, long 1, def32 0, gran 1
processor eflags = resume, IOPL = 0
current process = 12 (irq262: virtio_pci1)
trap number = 12
panic: page fault
cpuid = 0
time = 1662434018
KDB: enter: panic

 

[DomFel]

How about the network you config of VM pfsense?
Is this virtio or E1000?

I use virtIO only for bridges between VM, the real NIC are all with PCI passthrough. You need to enable IOMMU and PT first in your /etc/default/grub, just add intel_iommu=on iommu=pt after quiet and reboot the pve.
After that, remove your VirtIO NIC from pfSense and add the NICs again as PCI device.

 

[dums]

Hi,.

What was the problem and what unit do you have? I also lost video on HDMI after a bad bios update. I have the black PCB board CW-N6000. Can you please provide more details? Thanks!

It is hard to see on the photo, but I think that in top left corner you have pins to connect serial port cable. Not sure if in your motherboard BIOS terminal redirection to serial was implemented, but it might be work a shot. You would need this cable:

1.76US $ 11% OFF|Motherboard 10pin Female To Db9 Rs232 9pin Male Serial Port Full-height Profile Rear Bracket Cable Cord 26cm For Printer - Pc Hardware Cables & Adapters - AliExpress

Smarter Shopping, Better Living! Aliexpress.com

www.aliexpress.com

 

[Catalin]

All right, let's not compare apples to oranges:

1. Price is double (you gave us the link for the i7..)
2. i225 vs i226
3. i7/i5? No thanks, I need a low power device, not a desktop.
4. N5105? No thanks I need a bit more power than that.
5. Fanless. Yes, CWWK/Topton/whatever are fanless. On older models you have to replace the thermal paste, but that's it. No Noctua fans, no 3D printed stands, etc. CPU is running at 29/30C (N6005) here with the NVME (simple Kingston NV1) sitting around 41/44C, room AC is set to 25C. I don't need fans, no need for noise no need for more electricity.
6. Realtek? Oh my god definitely a big no-no.
7. Not everyone lives in the US, it's a big world out there, so everyone has different availability on their Amazon's.

Price/performance wise I still believe CWWK is unbeatable. But of course to each his own.

How did you make it to run so cool? My Topton/cwwk unit runs much hotter.
Thanks.

 

[DomFel]

How did you make it to run so cool? My Topton/cwwk unit runs much hotter.

I just applied the MX4 thermal paste as soon as I received it, both on the cpu and also between the copper pad and the aluminium case.
Externally the case is quite warm, but inside the sensors are showing a good temp so who cares. (it actually means the aluminium casing is effectively dissipating the heat)