We’re excited to announce that the Raspberry Pi CM5 has been thoroughly tested and is now officially verified compatible with the Axzez Interceptor Carrier Board (Any version)! Through extensive testing in our Axzez Interceptor 3HDD 1U Case—which includes its own built-in cooling—we’re confident that the CM5 delivers stable, high-performance results with our carrier board.

With an active cooling solution (using the WaveShare CM4 active cooling system), the Raspberry Pi CM5 runs continuously at its maximum frequency of 2400MHz, even under heavy workloads, without any throttling. This means you can fully leverage the improved performance of the CM5’s CPU, GPU, and enhanced PCIe data throughput for faster HDD/SSD data transfer.

Key Notes for CM5 Users:

• No USB 3 Support: While the CM5 introduces USB 3 functionality, our Interceptor Carrier Board does not support USB 3 connectivity.

• Cooling Setup: We’ve tested the CM5 using the WaveShare CM4 active cooler (12V fan) combined with an additional 1mm thermal pad (24x18mm) for the SoC. Please note that CM5 active cooling devices requiring 5V fans are not supported.

• Testing Conditions: All tests were conducted in the Axzez Interceptor 3HDD 1U Case with two 12V case fans running constantly.

• PoE Support: For PoE applications, an updated Axzez OS is required, which is not yet available. In the meantime, users can operate using the default Raspberry Pi OS.

• Power-On Button: The CM5 introduces changes to GPIO functionality, which unfortunately disables the power-on button on the Interceptor Carrier Board.

Test Results:

• Ambient Temperature: 22°C

• ISA Temperature: Peak of 53°C

• CPU Temperature: Peak of 44°C

• Workloads: Tested with 24-hour stress-ng and fio workloads in parallel

• Performance: No throttling observed; stable operation at full CPU performance.

Without active cooling, the CM5 CPU reached 85°C, causing throttling. This highlights the importance of active cooling for high-performance workloads.

Next Steps:

This compatibility opens up new possibilities for users of the Interceptor Carrier Board, from improved HDD/SSD throughput to faster CPU/GPU performance. We’re truly excited to see how you’ll take advantage of the Raspberry Pi CM5’s power in your setups.

For PoE users, stay tuned for our upcoming OS release tailored for CM5 compatibility. In the meantime, the default Raspberry Pi OS can be used.

Contact Us

For any questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out to our team at info@axzez.com.

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

Stay updated with our latest news and product releases by following us on our social media channels:

• LinkedIn

• Twitter

• Facebook

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.

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.

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!

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!

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!

Testing with the RGeek 250W PicoPSU has confirmed reliable support for Axzez Interceptor setups with 8 PoE+ devices. With the RGeek 300W PicoPSU, support extends to up to 16 PoE+ devices, providing flexibility for more demanding configurations.

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.

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

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.

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!

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.