Topton Jasper Lake Quad i225V Mini PC Report

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p3kty

New Member
Jul 12, 2022
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Topton type 2 with the big enclosure.
Mainboard Bluetech 1338np-12 with hdmi+dp, 4 i225, rj45 serial console, 2 usb 2.0 + 2 usb 3.0 .

Or....? Maybe the bios doesn't care the video out specs of the board and just works well.
Crazy CN OEM world. :p

edit//
yup.. the file on mega.nz is for the 2 hdmi variant (HSX-1338NP-12). pigr8 said it is downloaded from a chinese forum. definitely CNCTION.
 
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safado

Member
Aug 21, 2020
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Well yeah to me for not researching properly....bought the v4 4-port i226-V 5105 model to test a few firewall/UTM options and apparently the i226-v isn't supported by Untangle Debian Buster yet. :( Guess that eliminates one option! :D
 
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sko

Active Member
Jun 11, 2021
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The 4 units we ordered last week [1] arrived yesterday :D
This variant comes with the perforated bottom plate and copper block.
I disassembled each of them before installing RAM (8GB crucial) and the NVMe (256GB WD SN530) and they all had good contact with the copper block. Only on one unit I filed the studs a bit to also get some slight pre-tension, but I don't think it was necessary.

photo_2022-09-23_10-22-05.jpg

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BIOS Version is 1338NP-12-V112:
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Only drawback so far: the serial console wasn't enabled by default, so I had to connect a monitor and keyboard on each unit at first to enable it.

These units will be used as small branch VPN endpoints running OpenBSD, so I don't expect them to ever see very high loads.


[1] https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005004501531656.html?spm=a2g0o.order_list.0.0.21ef1802rQgIuQ
 

elvisimprsntr

Active Member
May 9, 2021
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...they all had good contact with the copper block. O





View attachment 24575
But what's between the copper block and the aluminum enclosure? Paint?

Looks like they simply took a piece of sandpaper to the other contact point, rather than masking the area during coating.

You can already see what appears to be thermal distress in the paint, presumably during factory testing. I just love the smell of VOCs in the morning.

All signs point to poor design and manufacturing. They might make a good egg cooker or coffee warmer.
 
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burtal

Active Member
Jul 7, 2022
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Yeah...is paint...my v3 had paint. Some sandpaper fixes that.

Also lapping the copper helps

All cases are the same...in that regard....cheeper and quikcer to paint all in one go
 

sko

Active Member
Jun 11, 2021
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But what's between the copper block and the aluminum enclosure? Paint?
there is no paint. the aluminium is anodized (which is nearly irrelevant in terms of thermal conductivity). between the block and aluminium profile they applied the same thermal paste as on the cpu.

it seems there was at one point something mounted to that other surface and the thermal compound hasn't been cleaned thoroughly. the darker patch around both contact surfaces is not paint, its just a slightly 'oily' surface, most likely from cleaning off the thermal compound.
because the residuals on the unused surface don't match what is used underneath the copper block and CPU, I suspect they buy those profiles pre-assembled for another application (e.g. the older J4125 variants) and remove/replace the blocks for the current platforms.
 
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kikuchi

New Member
Sep 23, 2022
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Well yeah to me for not researching properly....bought the v4 4-port i226-V 5105 model to test a few firewall/UTM options and apparently the i226-v isn't supported by Untangle Debian Buster yet. :( Guess that eliminates one option! :D
Hold up, you're telling me I bought the v4 4p i226 5105 to use with Untangle/Arista and you post a few hours later saying it's not yet supported? I guess too late for me now, it's already been shipped.
 

miroco

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Aug 22, 2022
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Hi Guys,


First post. I've been following this thread for a bit.

I ordered one of these: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005004403345225.html

It's a V4 N5105 4-port i226 - WMS-III N5105. I bit the bullet on aug. 27th and it arrived on sep. 19th after being stuck in customs for a week.

The temperatures idles between 42-46 °C. Ambient temperature is 24 °C. No fan or other cooling measures. I equipped it with 16GB of ram (2x8GB) Kingston Furu 2666MHz and a WS Blue SN570 250GB. It's running OPNsense 22.7.4 without issues. It came with BIOS ver. JK4LV103. I then upgraded it to JK4LV105. The latest version as far as I know.

I've tried to access the serial JCOM1 port/header (console) on the motherboard, but I've been unsuccessful so far. Does anyone have any insights?

I've been using a FTDE equipped TTL-232R-RPi Debug Cable, pairing (cable) TX to (mobo) RX and (cable) RX to (mobo) TX mimicking a null modem cable.

 

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roarking

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Aug 28, 2022
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I've tried to access the serial JCOM1 port/header (console) on the motherboard, but I've been unsuccessful so far. Does anyone have any insights?

I've been using a FTDE equipped TTL-232R-RPi Debug Cable, pairing (cable) TX to (mobo) RX and (cable) RX to (mobo) TX mimicking a null modem cable.
rs232.png

The JCOM1 header on the V4 N5105 board is for a COM port with RS-232 voltage levels, while your TTL-232R-RPi Debug Cable uses UART TTL voltage levels.
 
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dums

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Aug 14, 2022
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I've tried to access the serial JCOM1 port/header (console) on the motherboard, but I've been unsuccessful so far. Does anyone have any insights?
I've been using a FTDE equipped TTL-232R-RPi Debug Cable, pairing (cable) TX to (mobo) RX and (cable) RX to (mobo) TX mimicking a null modem cable.
My guess would be wrong cable. I think JCOM1 is good old RS-232, while you're using TTL adapter.
 

miroco

New Member
Aug 22, 2022
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Thank you for the input. I'm aware that there is a legacy TTL standard using 5V and a more "recent" using 3.3V. This cable I'm using belong to latter category and I assume that my brand spanking new mini pc also does. This is the first time I had problems using it. I therefore think the problem lies elsewhere. Time will tell.
 

roarking

New Member
Aug 28, 2022
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Thank you for the input. I'm aware that there is a legacy TTL standard using 5V and a more "recent" using 3.3V. This cable I'm using belong to latter category and I assume that my brand spanking new mini pc also does. This is the first time I had problems using it. I therefore think the problem lies elsewhere. Time will tell.

RS232 vs TTL

What's the difference? RS232 more extreme voltages help make it less susceptible to noise, interference, and degradation. The minimum and maximum voltages of RS-232 signals are +/-13V, while TTL signals are 0 to 3.3V/5V.
 

BrutusBoots

Member
Sep 19, 2022
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Hi Guys,


First post. I've been following this thread for a bit.

I ordered one of these: 191.45US $ 5% OFF|Upgrade The N5105 Softroute Mini-host /openwrt/pve/esxi Fansless Energy Saving Pc - Barebone & Mini Pc - AliExpress

It's a V4 N5105 4-port i226 - WMS-III N5105. I bit the bullet on aug. 27th and it arrived on sep. 19th after being stuck in customs for a week.

The temperatures idles between 42-46 °C. Ambient temperature is 24 °C. No fan or other cooling measures. I equipped it with 16GB of ram (2x8GB) Kingston Furu 2666MHz and a WS Blue SN570 250GB. It's running OPNsense 22.7.4 without issues. It came with BIOS ver. JK4LV103. I then upgraded it to JK4LV105. The latest version as far as I know.

I've tried to access the serial JCOM1 port/header (console) on the motherboard, but I've been unsuccessful so far. Does anyone have any insights?

I've been using a FTDE equipped TTL-232R-RPi Debug Cable, pairing (cable) TX to (mobo) RX and (cable) RX to (mobo) TX mimicking a null modem cable.

How do you like it so far? I'm waiting on that exact unit.
 

miroco

New Member
Aug 22, 2022
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To put it into perspective. I've been using a PC Engines APU2C4 since 2016. To be perfectly honest, I don't need a more performant machine today. Its advantages are a low power consumption, small form factor (168mm x 157mm x 30mm), 4GB ECC memory, monthly CoreBoot BIOS upgrades, x3 1GB i210 NICs. I run OPNsense on it, and it's my daily driver. If you'd put OpenWRT or IPFire (Linux) on it you could probably squeeze close to 1GB out of it, and also add WiFi to it.


I will use this new machine as a test-bench not to compromise my day to day internet access. To start afresh if you will. This is what prompted me to buy the new machine: OPNsense Baseline Guide with Mullvad VPN Multi-WAN, Guest, and VLAN Support

The new machine is well built, but nothing fancy. I had no problems installing the ram or ssd of my choice. The installation of OPNsense went smoothly, and this is where I am at the moment.
 

BrutusBoots

Member
Sep 19, 2022
80
57
18
To put it into perspective. I've been using a PC Engines APU2C4 since 2016. To be perfectly honest, I don't need a more performant machine today. Its advantages are a low power consumption, small form factor (168mm x 157mm x 30mm), 4GB ECC memory, monthly CoreBoot BIOS upgrades, x3 1GB i210 NICs. I run OPNsense on it, and it's my daily driver. If you'd put OpenWRT or IPFire (Linux) on it you could probably squeeze close to 1GB out of it, and also add WiFi to it.


I will use this new machine as a test-bench not to compromise my day to day internet access. To start afresh if you will. This is what prompted me to buy the new machine: OPNsense Baseline Guide with Mullvad VPN Multi-WAN, Guest, and VLAN Support

The new machine is well built, but nothing fancy. I had no problems installing the ram or ssd of my choice. The installation of OPNsense went smoothly, and this is where I am at the moment.
Nice. My plan is to install proxmox on it, virtualize opnSense, Adguard and a few other services I currently run on rapsberry pi's. Looking forward to getting my hands on it.
 

safado

Member
Aug 21, 2020
44
6
8
Hold up, you're telling me I bought the v4 4p i226 5105 to use with Untangle/Arista and you post a few hours later saying it's not yet supported? I guess too late for me now, it's already been shipped.

Yep that's what I'm saying unfortunately... :D

Guess I'll kick the can with OPNsense for a bit and wait to see how Untangle develops. That or order a Protectli with the legacy intel NIC. Typically I'm a better researcher but dropped the ball this time for sure.