IdeaWell

Project ideas from Hacker News discussions.

OrangePi 6 Plus Review

Original Article

Hacker News Discussion

📝 Discussion Summary (Click to expand)

1. High Idle Power Draw

Critics highlight the board's 15W idle as excessive compared to alternatives.
"fweimer: Unfortunately, this board seems to be using the CIX CPU that has power management issues: 15W at idle, which is fairly high"
"odie5533: For comparison, an N150 mini PC uses around 6 watts at idle."
"suprjami: 15W for a modern SBC is a joke."

2. Preference for x86 Mini PCs (e.g., N150)

x86 options like Intel N-series are favored for similar price/performance, better completeness, and ecosystem.
"eleventyseven: For $200 for the 16gb model, this is the price point where you could just get an Intel N150 mini PC... those usually come with cases. They also tend to pull 5-8w at idle."
"heavyset_go: For 90% of use cases, ARM SBCs are not appropriate... Mini PCs, on the other hand, are literally little PCs."
"dingi: Why bother with these obscure boards... when you can get a better deal all around with an x86 mini PC with a N150 CPU?"

3. Poor Software Support and Upstream Lacking

ARM SBCs suffer from vendor neglect, unmainlined drivers, and custom images, risking e-waste.
"bitwize: x86 based small computers are just so much easier... ARM boards don't have that yet, requiring per-board support... board manufacturers famously drag their feet on implementing openly."
"Youden: the Linux support for various parts of the boards, not being upstreamed and mainlined, is very likely to be stuck on an older version."
"exasperaited: Stop buying this crap and maybe they will finally start focussing on doing more than shipping support for one or two old kernels... These things are e-waste."

🚀 Project Ideas

ARM SBC Mainline Kernel Support Checker

Summary

  • A web-based tool and CLI that checks an SBC model's mainline Linux kernel support status, lists upstreamed drivers (GPU/NPU/etc.), and generates pre-built vanilla aarch64 images with the latest kernel + board-specific DTBs.
  • Core value: Eliminates "spotty software support" and vendor image hassles, enabling "just works" like x86 mini PCs.

Details

Key Value
Target Audience Hobbyists, homelab users frustrated with Orange Pi/Radxa custom kernels (e.g., "no upstream support so I closed the article" - bjackman).
Core Feature Input board model → scrape kernel logs/patches, test boot compatibility, one-click download of Debian/Ubuntu ARM64 image with mainline kernel.
Tech Stack Rust CLI + React webapp; kernel.org API scraping, QEMU for emulation testing, GitHub Actions for image builds.
Difficulty Medium
Monetization Revenue-ready: Freemium (basic checks free, custom images $5/mo).

Notes

  • HN users crave this: "Warning: do not buy any SBC without mainline kernel support" (yiyayo110); "first cheap Chinese vendor that ships a SystemReady-compliant SBC is gonna make a killing" (bitwize).
  • High discussion potential as a "trustworthy compatibility database"; practical for avoiding e-waste.

SBC Power Profiler & Optimizer

Summary

  • Open-source desktop/web tool that profiles idle/load power draw on SBCs/mini PCs via USB power meters or onboard sensors, benchmarks common workloads (Plex, router), and suggests optimizations like cpufreq tweaks or firmware patches.
  • Core value: Quantifies "15W at idle is a joke" vs N150's 6W, helps pick low-power boards and reduce consumption.

Details

Key Value
Target Audience Efficiency-focused users comparing ARM SBCs to x86 (e.g., "Pi 5 idles at 3W was unreasonably high" - moffkalast; N150 fans).
Core Feature Plug in device → automated tests (idle, Geekbench, Plex transcode) → power graphs, auto-apply governor/undervolt scripts.
Tech Stack Python (psutil, pyusb); Flask/Dash web UI; supports INA219/UPDI sensors; exports to CSV for sharing.
Difficulty Low
Monetization Hobby

Notes

  • Directly addresses power wars: Quotes like "15W for a modern SBC is a joke" (suprjami), "N150 uses around 6 watts at idle" (odie5533).
  • Sparks HN threads on benchmarks; utility for real-world homelabs (Plex, streaming).

SystemReady ARM SBC Installer Service

Summary

  • SaaS platform providing UEFI/SystemReady-compliant bootloaders and auto-installers for popular ARM SBCs (Orange Pi, Radxa, Pine64), with one-click vanilla OS deployment (Debian, Ubuntu ARM64).
  • Core value: Bridges ARM's "custom boot/kernel hell" to x86-like "install any distro" ease, reducing vendor lock-in.

Details

Key Value
Target Audience Developers/sysadmins tired of DTB hacks (e.g., "ARM boards don't have [UEFI] yet" - bitwize; "Pi boots on its GPU, complicates things" - wpm).
Core Feature Select SBC → flash UEFI firmware via webgen + USB → boot any generic ARM64 ISO with auto-DTB/ACPI detection.
Tech Stack EDK2 ports + U-Boot; Node.js backend; Raspberry Pi Imager fork; hosted on AWS for image gen.
Difficulty High
Monetization Revenue-ready: $10/image build + $20/yr pro (priority support).

Notes

  • Echoes calls for standardization: "ARM actually has SystemReady... first cheap Chinese vendor... gonna make a killing" (bitwize); "Pi 4 can be made compliant" (bitwize).
  • Generates buzz on upstreaming; practical for long-term support, avoiding "useless brick in years" (moffkalast).

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