Running Hot

I decided to can further progress on the unit today. I need to figure out the heating issue first. I do not like how hot the unit is running, thermal breakdown seems to be set at 90C for this type of CPU. I'm hitting 79-80 on any load. This is way to close for me.

So, my idea is to mount a fan on the top of the hit sync. I'll need to cut a hole in the top. Maybe find some kind of screening to protect the top.

I'm thinking of using a 12v fan, and pulling power from the power plug by solder two points on the bottom of the board. My other option would be going from use at 5v. I'm thinking with the 12v I could maybe add a switch and be able to step it down for different speeds.

 It really would be great if we had a power plug on the motherboard for a fan. There are some odd unused pins and ports on the motherboard I may probe to see what they are if I have time. Though I believe the first approach would be the easiest.

32bit UEFI

The Z83 seems to ship with a 32bit UEFI. The BIOS are very locked down. You can enter the bios by hitting the DEL key on boot, it seems the ESC key works as well for me.

This will be the first real problem with some distros of linux. I want to keep a 32bit OS. Mostly because this unit only has 2GB of memory. Using a 64bit OS would mean more memory use for the same amount of applications open do to addressing I'm finding. There is some speed gain it seems as well, so it might equal out. I'm going to focus on maybe having the option of either.

Debian supports 32bit UEFI in it's default image and Ubuntu doesn't. You can build a customer boot for it that works for 32bit. Which I did do, but I'm finding after install I'm still back to hacking together the boot now for the installed OS on the EMMC.

Ubuntu seems to only support Legacy BIOS in 32bit OS and 64bit UEFI in 64bit OS.

The BT3 comes with a 64bit UEFI. There is a 64bit BIOS update for the Z83. I'll post both BIOS here to allow you to switch back and forth.

I looked at a few other computers with this same CPU. It seems they have the same AMI Aptio V. Though they seem to have a legacy option. Since we are locked out of the options on the BIOS we can't enable this.

I'm looking into modding the BIOS to unlock these hidden menus. Some branded computers seem to have this same issue and can be unlocked with key pushes. I tried many combinations and I can't find one that works. It looks like modding the bios may be the only way.

A legacy & 64bit UEFI maybe the way to go. The ROM seems to be 8MB so I would think there would be room for all three types though. I'm going to do some more research and see if I can get something working. Also I'm finding a lack of support under Linux for HDMI audio.. looks like a patch can take care of that. WIFI and BT do not work nor does the SD card reader. I believe the key for this could be Advance BIOS settings.

I have my bios flasher ready, because I have a feeling I'm going to brick this board a few times. Wish me luck.

Inside Z83

I'm going to post pictures for the BT3, after exploring the inside, it seems everything is the same.

The BT3, has 2 plates on the bottom and a extra thermal pad to connects the bottom plate on the motherboard to the case to help cool.

These pictures are accurate for the Z83 as well.

Z83 (BT3) Project Information

GPU: Intel HD Graphics 200 MHz burst to 500 MHz
System: Windows 10 32bit (BT3 I believe is 64bit)
CPU: Intel Atom Cherry Trail x5-Z8300 
Core: 4 x 1.44 GHz burst to 1.84GHz no HT 
RAM: 2GB 
ROM: 32GB (64GB BT3)
WIFI: 802.11 a/b/g/n 
Bluetooth: Bluetooth4.0 
Power Supply: Charge Adapter 
Interface: HDMI,Microphone Jack,SD Card Slot,2x USB2.0,1xUSB3.0 
1 x 1Gbit Lan

Quick Introduction and Blog Objective

This blog will be a dump for information that I find about the Bee-Link Z83, which has similar hardware to the BT3.

The man differences between the two are:

• A redesign of the case. This was due to a over heading issue. From what I can tell they had a large plate that the bottom heat sink makes contact to. I believe others are still reporting over heating issues, so this might take some modding to address.
• The EMMC ROM is 64GB in the BT3 and 32GB in the Z83.

Drivers, the motherboard, and so on seem to be all the same.

I'm attempting to fully support the device in Linux. I prefer Ubuntu or Debian. I'm not expert, but I have a wide array of skills that I fill could make this happen. 

I have two units to test. My end goal is to run a form of emulation station or Kodi based media center.