Any reason this minipc wouldn't run freedsd flawlessly?


The specs are not very clear. I don't care about bluetooh nor wifi:

Brand‎NiPoGi
Manufacturer‎NiPoGi
Series‎AM02 3750H
Product Dimensions‎12 x 12 x 4 cm; 1.22 Kilograms
Item model number‎AM02
Is Discontinued By Manufacturer‎No
Color‎Black
Form Factor‎Small Form Factor
Standing screen display size‎72 Inches
Resolution‎4K Ultra HD Pixels
Processor Brand‎AMD
Processor Type‎Ryzen 7
Processor Speed‎4 GHz
Processor Socket‎BGA 413
Processor Count‎4
RAM Size‎16 GB
Memory Technology‎DDR4
Computer Memory Type‎DDR4 SDRAM
Maximum Memory Supported‎32 GB
Memory Clock Speed‎4 GHz
Hard Drive Size‎512 GB
Hard Disk Description‎SSD
Hard Drive Interface‎Solid State
Hard Disk Rotational Speed‎4.00
Graphics Coprocessor‎AMD Radeon RX Vega 10 Graphics
Graphics Chipset Brand‎AMD
Graphics Card Description‎Radeon Vega 10
Graphics RAM Type‎DDR4 SDRAM
Graphics Card Ram Size‎16.00
Graphics Card Interface‎Integrated
Connectivity Type‎Wi-Fi
Wireless Type‎802.11ac
Number of USB 2.0 Ports‎1
Number of USB 3.0 Ports‎4
Number of HDMI Ports‎1
Number of Ethernet Ports‎1
Number of Microphone Ports‎1
Power Source‎DC
Hardware Platform‎PC, Linux
Operating System‎PC
Are Batteries Included‎No
Item Weight‎1.22 Kilograms
 
Thanks, good catch. I guess there's no way to know in advance but to buy one and return it if it doesn't work
 
Also what do you want to use it for? Little server, light desktop, video-watching, gaming, etc.?

As you’ve already said, there’s no real way to be 100% sure without trying.
 
Not the same box, but I tested out a 'firebat' N100 T8 plus recently. That one has an intel chip with 4 'E' (efficiency) cores only, 16GB RAM, 512 GB SSD. I tried it with debian on a live usb stick, all worked fine, including wifi. I didn't try freebsd as I decided to send it back, I thought the tiny form factor was just too limited despite the very low price. But I would be surprised if there were any problems running freebsd on it. I got mine from aliexpress, I got a refund no problem. One very nice feature was that it was almost inaudible, no fan noise. However I decided I wanted something with a larger steel case and some pcie slots. I was slightly concerned about how robust it would be to hot summer weather, given it only had a little fan inside the case; although presumably they've tested it.

If I didn't have other machines lying around, and just wanted a little desktop though, it would be a nice solution in many ways. I think better than a pi, including pi 5.
 
If you purchase this machine and test it with FreeBSD please post back. I would like to know if this works as well. I don't see any reason why it wouldn't. A possible limitation may be an unsupported wifi chipset. However, I have had a few mini pcs that do run FreeBSD very nicely including with wifi support. But I have not tried one with an AMD APU or iGPU.
 
I was slightly concerned about how robust it would be to hot summer weather
One of my brand-name Intel NUCs seems to have cooked itself (not definite, need to check it over when I can) this NZ summer, so think a risk for any of these small boxes. My cheaper Beelinks have survived so far.
 
One of my brand-name Intel NUCs seems to have cooked itself (not definite, need to check it over when I can) this NZ summer, so think a risk for any of these small boxes. My cheaper Beelinks have survived so far.
I've had three BeeLink systems. I have to agree they are very durable systems. I've only had the 15watt TDP chip versions of their systems but they are dependable in my experience as well.
 
The T8 mini pc I got has a fan like this, with the outlet vent just below the ethernet ports. I noticed there were no inlet vents anywhere in the upper case, only a small grille on the underside of the case, so I was concerned about constrained airflow into the case. The fan itself looks decent, but if it can't suck sufficient air in it is going going to overheat. The grille on the base was only about 3-4 mm above the table surface the box is placed on too. I also felt a bit concerned about possible dust ingress and buildup inside the case.

The ventilation of the AMD one the OP asked about looks a bit better than the T8.

Having said that I didn't have any thermal problems with the T8, but I was testing it with a room temp of around 18C, and I wondered what would happen when the room temp is say over 30 C. So I returned it. There were other factors too, the small size is initially very appealing, however it is extremely limited for any kind of upgrading or interfacing I might want to do. But I can't argue about the price! My one was about 120 UKP including postage from shenzhen, and the spec was 4-core N100 cpu, 16GB RAM and 512 GB nvme.2 SSD, and it even has 3 hdmi ports, they claim it can drive three 4K hdmi monitors which is just crazy. No wonder everyone is fixated on semiconductor process nodes, the chips just keep getting better!

The T8 that I tried has a fan like this
csm_T8_Pro_8_0d6dbd1348.jpg
csm_T8_Pro_3_7cfa279de1.jpg
 
If you purchase this machine and test it with FreeBSD please post back. I would like to know if this works as well. I don't see any reason why it wouldn't. A possible limitation may be an unsupported wifi chipset. However, I have had a few mini pcs that do run FreeBSD very nicely including with wifi support. But I have not tried one with an AMD APU or iGPU.
Machine arrived. I just tested it with ghostBSD (I hope that's enough).
The video out works beautifully. Wireless doesn't. But I don't care.
Audio: it doesn't find any device.
Should I fight this fight, or is it better not to if ghostBSD didn't pick it up?
EDIT: CSCTEK USB audio and HID is what inxi -A says I have . INteresting. Driver: N/A
How come it's USB if this is a built-in audio chipset?
Haven't found it in the list of supported devices : https://man.freebsd.org/cgi/man.cgi?query=sound&sektion=4&format=html

So I take it's not supported, and the machine should go back?
 
Machine arrived. I just tested it with ghostBSD (I hope that's enough).
The video out works beautifully. Wireless doesn't. But I don't care.
Audio: it doesn't find any device.
Should I fight this fight, or is it better not to if ghostBSD didn't pick it up?
EDIT: CSCTEK USB audio and HID is what inxi -A says I have . INteresting. Driver: N/A
How come it's USB if this is a built-in audio chipset?
Haven't found it in the list of supported devices : https://man.freebsd.org/cgi/man.cgi?query=sound&sektion=4&format=html

So I take it's not supported, and the machine should go back?

I wouldn't send it back because of a non-functional audio chip. Just get an USB sound"card". Very cheap.

The wifi chip is most likely a M.2 socketed one. Just put an Intel m.2 card.
 
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