The W versions also add a wireless radio which allows us to make the device that we mount with has a wireless connection with the rest of the devices, which is ideal for home automation.
It is therefore a very simplified type of panel, but it has a series of extremely interesting utilities, especially since its low consumption makes it ideal for its implementation for various industrial and home automation applications. Of course, we’re not dealing with a microcontroller to use, but an SoC with external memory on the outside of the chip, so it’s much easier to develop software to take care of specific solutions, where yes, you have to program it first.
Raspberry Pi Zero 2 W
With the second generation of their low-power SBC, the folks at Raspberry have taken a leap forward in performance, which is to be expected considering that more than five years have passed since the launch of the original model. which allowed them to create. a model 5 times more powerful than the original while maintaining the same form and size factor.
What are its performances? Pues este SBC tiene como main SoC a Broadcom BCM2710A1, a Cuatro Núcleos Cortex A53 SoC operating at 1 GHz. To keep in cuenta that estos núcleos no son de alto rendimiento y que incluso teléfonos actuales por menos de 100 dollars tienen a SoC much better.
Although that’s not a bad option for it, since its performance puts it on par with a third-generation Raspberry Pi. Regarding its visual capabilities, it has a very simple GPU with support for OpenGL ES 2.0, which is sufficient for simple tasks and can play videos encoded in H.264 and MPEG-4.
RAM, storage and I / O
As for RAM, this is its weakest point, since it uses LPDDR2 memory. Part of the secret of its low price lies in the use of this RAM (already very old), but its choice limits its memory to only 512 MB, being the biggest weak point of this system and limiting its capacities. For storage, it uses a microSD card slot.
If we go to its I / O interfaces, and starting with the physical ones, we find a micro-USB 2.0 port with OTG, a Mini-HDMI port and a CSI-2 connector in case we want to connect a camera. In addition, we can optionally ask to integrate 40 GPIO pins on the board. If we are already talking about wireless connectivity, its integrated radio gives it the possibility of connecting to WiFi networks such as 802.11b / g / na 2.4 GHz and Bluetooth 4.2 and BLE.
How to overclock a Pi Zero 2W
After the little introduction of the device, we have to talk about how to make it work faster, because you may find some app that is not working enough. Let’s not forget that the Pi Zero 2 W is designed for low power projects and that its clock speed is adapted to be able to be powered from the micro-USB port supplied as standard, the margin to increase its speed from clock is therefore weak. .
It should also be borne in mind that this is a device designed to work by passive cooling, so it is advisable to install a fan. In addition, many starter kits with everything you need to start using this SBC include, among other things, a small fan. If you don’t have one, we recommend purchasing and installing it before overclocking. More than anything to avoid the effects of Thermal Throttling caused by overclocking the Pi Zero 2 W.
Update the operating system
We will be doing the process from Raspberry Pi O, the Ubuntu-style GNU / Linux distribution that is included with the SBC and was previously known as Raspbian. This is usually already installed on the microSD card supplied with the card. We will therefore have nothing to touch at the hardware level, yes, make sure you have updated the operating system of your Pi Zero 2 W. For this from the operating system terminal write:
sudo apt update && sudo apt dist-upgrade
This will update the operating system to the latest version, keep in mind that Raspberry users usually perform periodic updates to their operating system to resolve errors. By the way, make sure you have a second microSD with the latest version of Raspberry Pi Os, as these memory cards are usually very delicate.
Modify the configuration file
The speed at which the various components of your Pi Zero 2 W operate and other parameters are set in a configuration file which is usually located in the root folder of the operating system. When the operating system boots, it immediately reads this file and tells the components to be tuned to these speeds.
For this we will use the classic text editor for Linux and Unix nano terminals, it’s as easy as typing the following on the command line:
sudo nano /boot/config.txt
The editor will open in the terminal itself, move the cursor down and add the following lines to the end of the file:
#Overclock 1400
arm_freq = 1400
core_freq = 525
overvoltage = 6
gpu_freq = 700
force_turbo = 1
This will force the Raspberry Pi Zero 2W SoC to run at full speed all the time. However, the change will not be immediate. Simply save the file by pressing CTRL + X keys simultaneously, then Enter.
Restart the Pi Zero 2W
The last step of our tutorial is to restart the Pi Zero 2 W to verify that the changes are effective, to do this restart the system and open a terminal window to write:
watch -n 1 vcgencmd arm clock_measure
Which will give you the clock speed at which the processor is running in real time, if you are constantly seeing 1400 MHz, it will mean that you have done all the steps we have described correctly. These values and speeds are safe to maintain stability and do not trigger the performance / consumption ratio, so they are ideal if what you are looking for is a little more free performance.
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