Media & Press Updates
We want to keep customers and followers well informed with the latest Axzez LLC news. Read our updates below to find out what we’ve been up to recently, and if you have any questions at all, please do not hesitate to get in touch with us.
July 22, 2024
Introducing the Axzez Interceptor Carrier Board Version 2.0
We are excited to announce the launch of our Axzez Interceptor Carrier Board Version 2.0, designed to enhance usability and reliability for Raspberry Pi CM4 and Banana Pi CM4 users. This new version includes several key improvements aimed at delivering the best possible experience for our customers.
Key Improvements:
Enhanced Power Efficiency: With upgraded voltage regulation, the new Interceptor Carrier Board offers improved power efficiency and reduced heat generation. This enhancement results in better overall performance and extends the board's longevity.
Micro SD Card Slot Addition: The addition of a micro SD card slot allows for convenient booting from a micro SD card, especially enhancing the functionality of Lite boards without eMMC. Users can now boot the Banana Pi CM4 from the micro SD card and install our OS to the eMMC on the board. Please note, as with other CM4 carrier boards, you can only use either eMMC or SD card, not both, after boot.
New Power LEDs: We’ve introduced power LEDs for clear status indication:
Blue LED: ATX Power on indicator
Yellow LED: CM4 3.3V out indicator
Green LED: CM4 Activity indicator
Overall Board Stability Improvements: We have implemented several enhancements to ensure greater overall stability and reliability of the board.
Pricing and Availability
The new Axzez Interceptor Carrier Board Version 2.0 is available now for $94. To learn more or to place an order, visit our Interceptor Carrier Board product page.
Limited Stock Alert
In addition to the new carrier board, we also have a limited number of Raspberry Pi and Banana Pi CM4 boards available for purchase exclusively with the Interceptor Carrier Board. Don’t miss out on this opportunity to enhance your projects with our latest technology.
Stay Connected
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Thank you for your continued support. We are committed to providing you with high-quality products that meet and exceed your expectations.
Contact Us
For any questions or further information, please do not hesitate to contact us.
August 10, 2023
Interceptor OS Updated / Banana Pi Support
We are excited to announce a major OS update for the Axzez Interceptor Carrier Board, which can be downloaded here. The new Interceptor OS is now based on recently released Linux 6.4 and Debian 12 (bookworm). Here are some changes in this image from Axzez.
We now use the mainline rtl8365mb driver for the realtek rtl8367rb switch instead of the hacked openwrt driver the previous images used
As a result, we now use mainline Linux DSA architecture for configuring the switches (openwrt's "swconfig" is no longer used)
The most visible benefit of this is that the virtual network interfaces (eg "poe0-0") now reflect the actual ethernet link status
The boot menu is now a true boot menu and is executed by u-boot before Linux boots.
The biggest benefit of this is that the kernel image and modules can now reside in the same place and be upgraded together.
We are also very excited to announce that we now provide an image for the Banana Pi CM4 board (aka BPi CM4). The BPi CM4 provides a nice speedup over the Raspberry Pi CM4, but there are a few drawbacks when using a BPi CM4:
Only HDMI 0 works because the BPi CM4 only supports 1 HDMI connection.
Our power-on button does not work. BPi simply did not wire this pin up. We are not sure why.
The BPi CM4 cannot boot from USB.
Since the Banana Pi CM4 can only boot from eMMC or SD card, and the Interceptor Carrier Board v1.5 does not have an SD card slot, the eMMC has to be imaged beforehand. This can be done with the Raspberry Pi CM4 IO Board or the Banana Pi CM4 IO Board. You can either boot our image above from SD card and install to eMMC or you can use the aml-flash-tool below to install over USB.
https://github.com/Dangku/aml-flash-tool
If you have any questions, please head over to the discussion Forum and post there. We are happy to help.
We are actively working on several new projects and hope to keep bringing amazing solutions to our valued customers. We are so thankful to all of you for your continued support.
Thank you, The Axzez Team.
October 5, 2022
PoE Boards and 1U Cases in stock!
Our Interceptor Cases have arrived, and our Interceptor PoE Boards are back in stock. We know several of you have been waiting for these and we appreciate your patience. We have one new product on the horizon and we'll share more news about this when we've approved the prototype!
September 8, 2022
Interceptor 1U Case Status
The new Interceptor 1U cases have been off-loaded in California and should be heading our way very soon. We are hoping they will arrive early next week (~ Sep. 12-13). Thank you to everyone for your patience!
July 6, 2022
Interceptor 1U Case Pre-Order
We are excited to announce that our new custom Interceptor 1U Case is now available for pre-order, with an arrival expected in early September 2022. A limited production run started today!
We are also happy to share that Axzez has validated three high-quality Flex PSUs, specifically customized for the new case and our Interceptor Carrier and PoE Boards. These PSUs provide exactly what you need: 5 x SATA, 1 x 24-pin ATX, and 12Vdc for a PoE VOITA Power Converter.
Next, we have a new VOITA Power Converter that works with all of our new PSUs, having less power input requirements than the previous WMX power converter. This VOITA Power Converter will eventually replace the WMX Power Converter, which we are phasing out.
Axzez will assemble, at no cost to you, your Interceptor 1U Case along with any parts you purchase in your order(s), including our circuit boards. We will do this before shipping, so you will only need to install HDDs/SSDs (data cables not included) and boot it up! We can still ship all parts unassembled if you want to set it up yourself (we understand the fun in that). Reach out to us at sales@axzez.com with your order number(s) and let us know that you want us to put it together.
Finally, we have eliminated shipping costs for all U.S. domestic shipping and reduced costs for international shipping. This is something we have been working on over the past couple of weeks and we think we are getting close to stabilizing. If something does not look right with shipping, please let us know.
We are so thankful to all of our wonderful customers out there. The excited emails we received always brighten our day and we appreciate all of you. See you in the forums!
April 27, 2022
Interceptor Carrier Boards in Stock!
We have a smaller production run of 80 Interceptor Carrier Boards in stock. We have already started a larger production run and expect those to be here in late May. Unfortunately, we have quite a few people waiting for stock and once we put these 80 boards up in the store they will be gone quickly. Customers will need to put in a new "back in stock" request to be notified when boards are back in stock in late May. We thank you for your patience. We are building the boards as quickly as possible and doing our best to keep up with demand.
September 15, 2023
Open Media Vault and OpenWrt Support!
We have some exciting news! Our latest software release for our Interceptor Carrier Board includes OS images for Open Media Vault (OMV) and OpenWrt, as well as new desktop images, all supporting both Raspberry Pi CM4 and Banana Pi CM4.
We're really excited about releasing our Open Media Vault image. We've had many customers who have been asking questions about OMV installation for a while now, so we hope this makes life a lot easier for everyone.
If you have any questions or requests for us, please drop us an email or head over to the Axzez Forums and start a discussion. We would love to hear from you.
January 26, 2023
Interceptor OS Updated
We released an updated OS image today that includes the latest firmware and kernel being used by Raspberry Pi. It also includes a fix for our driver that was reporting half-duplex for PoE ports even when they are full-duplex. (see https://www.axzez.com/forum/main/comment/fccb0f68-5d43-4dfc-9927-0bc20db42131?postId=62632d56ed3c900016ce90d2). The new kernel is based on 5.15.84 and the firmware is the latest released RaspberryPi firmware 1.20230106 (only updated if boot order is not what we expect). Downloads here: https://www.axzez.com/software-downloads
September 21, 2022
Delivery Confirmed
We just received confirmation that the Interceptor 1U cases will be delivered midday tomorrow! As shared previously, we will quickly and carefully evaluate the cases for quality, and then begin shipping them out to customers immediately. We will work until all cases are sent out! We appreciate your patience as we've figured this delivery delay out.
July 7, 2022
Demos and Acquiring CM4 Boards
Are you interested in our Interceptor Systems but worried you can't find Raspberry Pi CM4 boards? If you are considering buying in larger numbers, we have your CM4 needs covered! We also have some sample CM4 boards available if you wish to purchase a system for evaluation. Just reach out to us at sales@axzez.com and let us know what you are looking for. We can even a demo!
June 27, 2022
New Payment Methods Accepted
We now accept ACH and Wire transfers, as well as Wise.com and Bill.com payments. Please contact sales@axzez.com for assistance with these payment methods.
April 25, 2022
Introducing Interceptor PoE Board
Axzez LLC is proud to introduce our next exciting hardware product, the Interceptor PoE Board. The Interceptor PoE Board is an expansion for our original CM4-based Interceptor Carrier Board, adding an 8 port PoE+ switch. Each Interceptor Carrier Board can support up to two of our new Interceptor PoE Boards.
Some of the features of the new Interceptor PoE Board include:
Eight fast PoE+ ethernet ports
IEEE 802.3AF-2003 and 802.3AT-2009 compliance
Each port has activity/link and status LEDs
Input voltage range of 44-57V
Optional 48V power boost that can support up to two Interceptor PoE+ boards (Power from ATX 12V)
Thermal, current, voltage, short circuit monitoring and protection
Linux drivers for VLAN configuration and PoE monitoring and control
Our Axzez provided Debian 11 “bullseye” operating system includes the drivers needed for the new PoE board, and can be downloaded for free here. With our installer image, you will be up and running in minutes. No drivers to install or configuration to figure out. Just install and go! With Axzez, setup is EZ!
For more information on the Axzez Interceptor PoE Board or the Interceptor Carrier Board, please see the product page, the Interceptor PoE Board Brief, or the Interceptor Carrier Board Brief.
Please reach out to us at info@axzez.com if you have questions, or visit our support forum to have a conversation.