Quartz64 Model A single board computer review and demo, including running Manjaro with a MATE desktop, and testing the board's PCIe slot and SATA port.
The Quartz64 and accessories shown in this video were purchased from Pine64, where you can find out more about the board here: https://www.pine64.org/quartz64a/ -- and also on its Wiki pages here: https://wiki.pine64.org/wiki/Quartz64
My previous video in which I connected the SATA PCIe card to the RockPro64 and ran OpenMediaVault is here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9CCQicHwfDI
And my initial review of the RockPro64 is here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CeoNHGFN_30
More videos on SBCs and wider computing and related topics can be found at http://www.youtube.com/explainingcomputers
And you can access exclusive members-only videos and other perks by becoming a channel member here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCbiGcwDWZjz05njNPrJU7jA/join
You may also like my ExplainingTheFuture channel at: http://www.youtube.com/explainingthefuture
Chapters:
00:00 Introduction
00:48 Unboxing
03:59 Specifications
07:58 Manjaro
10:43 SATA Port
12:08 PCIe Slot
14:16 More Tests
16:03 Wrap
#Quartz64 #Pine64 #PCIe #ExplainingComputers
that pcie slot is begging for a graphics card or a nvme on pci express card.
@CeL-w2p Says:
Ok, i want the C model (A & B combined) with good software. 😊
@molonlabe8792 Says:
At 5:50 can the sata power connector be used to power a 12VDC 0.40A case fan?
@mihailvormittag6211 Says:
👍
@f0rmiga Says:
could this board be equiped with a gaming gpu?
@joelee24 Says:
There are quite many similar SBC with similar naming made me confused ! and I like the model B more as I don't need so many I/O and expansion, but one better than the Pi in the same form factor. Onboard storage, wifi, BT, Lan, USB and 8G or more are all I wanted.
@El_Croc Says:
Hmm. Something seriously wrong with the IP binary blobs model if drivers for base functionality are still missing after a year. A few months you could accept due to the complexities of the things, but this situation makes manufacturers look shoddy, when in fact it's the IP owners being shoddy and not helping or creating drivers / fully publishing interfaces for their design-only products.
Board and chip manufacturers need to start boycotting IP holders that do not support those manufacturers access to their opaque designs, OR be legally forced to open up those interface designs under fit-for-purpose grounds.
It's like selling a car design with an inaccessible petrol filler cap. Unacceptable.
@mickb00 Says:
Would the Quartz model fit into the Rockpro64 NAS case. Using the Rockpro64 but got the 2gb model at launch and now with a good few dockers running its starting to creak. Would this work with the same power adapter and case. Currently running 2 3.5 disks 12 and 14tb and a SSD.
@riffdex Says:
Can you show the model B next? The documentation says there’s an m.2 slot but I don’t see where it is in the stock photos.
@xxxblackvenomxxx Says:
Jesus, where did you get that keyboard from? Looks like it's from 1979 hahaha.
I really like your videos as much as I like pine64 products, even if they have much unused potential. They're perfect for tinkering around and sometimes even for everyday use!
@sc0or Says:
Veeeery interesting device at an affordable price. But I’m afraid that it will jump up to $120 (may be) when they finally write all drivers.
PS However people say below that Pine sells their devices like “$10 beta games”. So it could never happen (a working pci-e/sata)
@paulwratt Says:
I wonder why PINE dont have more devices working after a year. Maybe in part that is due to the PINE Phone work they have been madly churning out .. its a shame, as if I understand things rightly, the Quartz64, being a replacement for the Rock Pro 64, is _also_ an LTS product ..
@unpotatoedsalmon Says:
I Am planning on getting this board as use as a home Git/Media server as software wise is is mature enough for use however on the hardware acceleration side not so much
@Hunnter2k3 Says:
Oh dear, not again. I got so excited for the RockPro 64 with all the features it had... years ago. I still don't have it because of concerns. Quartz looks like it might end up in the same vein.
The features on both boards are great but the lack of support kills me. I've been wanting to make a custom tablet using it but never did take the plunge because of those concerns on support and things actually working.
Maybe Quartz will be different...? Am I getting my hopes up for another several year wait for nothing? Find out next time!
Maybe I should just make a bunch of daughter controller boards so I don't need to care about the parent board and slap anything in it and just upgrade without a care in the world. Or just buy a Framework motherboard and make a tablet around that instead. Pain.
@spudhead169 Says:
With the rising cost of energy, for someone who's used to a reasonably fast PC looking to sacrifice some performance for saving on energy bills, what SBC would you suggest that would give a nice responsive desktop environment, good streaming video playback (YouTube) plenty of RAM, 4GB minimum, 8GB preferably and the ability to attach an SSD and a larger mechanical data storage drive?
@xphis0528 Says:
Could you make videos about ESP32 boards? It was completely unknown to me until a few weeks and I noticed it is a whole new field.
@ivolol Says:
Even the Raspberry Pi still can have a lot of trouble with a "mainline" kernel, rather than their own patched one. And that's after years of integrating patches. I'm surprised you didn't even want to give the quartz64 kernel a try which seems to specifically state it solves most of your issues. It's pretty easy on arch-based systems. It's actually slightly surprising Pine64 don't ship with that one by default.
@wamy7619 Says:
The other thought that crossed my mind besides not being supported by the OS is power issue.
Still interesting concept to include those in an SBC.
@TheFartfish Says:
Food for algorithm ;-)
@HKey_Root Says:
I made the mistake of crowdfunding/Kickstarting their 1st SBC. It didn't work along with thousands of other investers'. What a waste of money. Thanks for this review though.
@alextirrellRI Says:
It's so disappointing when these boards have awesome hardware and there's poor Linux support for them. This seems like it could be a great board to build a NAS with.
@DUDE_MAN_33 Says:
can a gpu work on this device
@Dinkleberg96 Says:
The hardware its really reaaaallly interesting, but i can't understand how they went from a model A with PCIE and SATA to a model B without PCIE. Those seem like 2 completly different models for different markets instead of a hardware upgrade as they even do have different form factor, so they seem more as a new product instead of a refresh.
They could have the one model with PCIE, NVMe (or sata) as a "PRO" (or wtv name) and the other model with NVME and wifi as a "basic".
I understand they may be cutting up costs to compete with RPI, but as you said the model A is way more interesting.
The software seems almost unusable at this point witch is a shame. My question is: woudnt be possible to install another Linux distro? I absolutly love ur SBC videos, please keep those coming!
@ericwood3709 Says:
Pine is doing interesting things with Arm. Their Pinebook Pro looks like an interesting MacBook Air alternative, and it's only $200. I haven't seen a very good review of it yet, though. None that have demonstrated performance very well, at any rate. All I know is it has six CPU cores, two of which are faster.
This SBC looks like it is wanting in the CPU department. I like the other features of it, as it looks like it could possibly live in a Mini ITX case complete with a SATA drive attached. Shame it's so slow, as it would otherwise be a good desktop option.
@deterdamel7380 Says:
Buy today and get a finished product (hardware + software) in 10 years (maybe)..
@mummoorthy6511 Says:
Laptop model & ssd hdd and ram replace videos .
Playing..plz sir
@mummoorthy6511 Says:
New updates video..
Need sir ..
@mummoorthy6511 Says:
Thanks for video support
@loosand Says:
Hi, my windows 10 laptop showing"windows is activated using your organization's activation service" I'm worried what to do?
@thk4711 Says:
That is exactly why I have stopped trying these kinds of boards. The hardware is promising but because of the lack of software support you can almost never use it to the full potential and you waste days of your live. I am quite sure it will never function and these boards will end up as e waste. I now stick to raspberry pi only.
@AcidiFy574 Says:
If you guys have a problem with software support, THEN GO OUT OF YOUR WAY TO SUPPORT them
You can't seriously allow Raspberry-Pi to have a monopoly
@YeOldeTraveller Says:
How do these metrics compare to the previous board, or to other similar boards?
@noweare1 Says:
How do people /companies use these boards ? I am sure they are not using them for desktop computers. Maybe we can explore the hows and whys of these boards.
@BackpackandGear Says:
Maybe if you had the 8GB RAM model it would be a little more responsive.
@Sithhy Says:
The board might have potential with the supplied connectors, but seeing how it has close to no support, just like any other non-RaspberryPi board, it's pretty much something you can forget about using
@nehajain2974 Says:
Great video... thanks a lot.
Please make a video on how to connect and use two Bluetooth speakers at the same time with raspberry pi lite (bullseye)...
@successpro9424 Says:
Hi, can you make a video on top budget SD card in 2022? on present day today?
@attri2292 Says:
This is what you call a mini pc, this got everything, everything mate, a thunderbolt port would make it perfect 2022 computer, but highly unlikely that would happen
@nrnoble Says:
As always, an excellent script for the video. Clearly not just "winging" it, or if you are it's impossible to tell the difference... Overall, the software is still in the bleeding edge alpha category which is good to know before spending any money with higher expectations.
@ninline2000 Says:
Another "Pi Killer" let down by lackluster support. Typical.
@UncommonKnowledge587 Says:
How old is that keyboard? It looks ancient!😮
@michaeljijus980 Says:
Mr.Chris.
You rock as always.
ThanX for posting this!!!
Enjoy your day!!!
@repatch43 Says:
All of these sorts of boards are ALWAYS so tempting, especially with how hard it is to get Pis right now. And then you find out the state of the supporting software and I just say 'no'. It's not worth farting around with what might be great hardware if the software is a trash heap. Thanks very much for reviewing this board. Maybe in 5 years it'll be worth looking at.
@miguellora9147 Says:
As I can see... the pcie port is not recomended for this board... I'd prefiered mini_pcie instead.
@MrLosttheplot Says:
hi chris. ive bought some glasses so i can watch my computer screen comfortably. all you do is measure from nose to screen, and see a optician, they work
@silasdenny3267 Says:
I have the 8gb version I got last year. I should get it out and play with it again.
@mortarmopp3919 Says:
Whoa, time for a new keyboard. That one looked nasty.
@rpavlik1 Says:
Strange you're seeing graphical issues, I think that should be supported by Panfrost, so should have (at least) OpenGL-ES on fully open drivers. Maybe Alyssa and the team don't have a board with that SOC on it...
@miguelagueda3928 Says:
The PCIe connection, despite what the physical connector might look like, is a PCIe 2.0x1, as is the only available PCIe provided by this chip. There's another chip from this family, the RK3568 that adds an additional 3.0x2 conection to the SoC.
@miguelagueda3928 Says:
While you mention the fact that this is in development on the video, I don't think you stress enough the goal of this product. It's not so much a consumer product, but rather a development platform for establishing good mainline linux support for the RK356x platform. Unlike most SBC vendors that ship a simple linux distribution on top of RockChip's linux version and call it a day. This ensures much longer lifespan for the board and up to date software on the future, but requires a large initial effort. While the product has been available for a year, Pine64 has been quite transparent with the goals and provided frequent updates through the wiki and blog post. Considering how recent this chip is and the lack of contribution from RockChip, I think some of the comments are a bit too critical with the board, and this work would pay off in the long run, benefiting many other SBCs based on this same platform.
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