Just a tip for others wanting a faster SBC to use in Pi-top 3
Banana Pi BPI-M5 fits perfectly in the Pi-top 3
The cooling bridge covers the CPU exactly and keeps it at reasonable temps even under load.
Best running OS Image I came across for M5 is Armbian Ubuntu 24 based.
Nice! Especially that the eMMC is on top! Would you be interested in trying Batocera?
Great tip, thank you for it! I was just about to post a new thread to ask what people are using to bring the pi-top[3] into modern times. I hear CM4 and even CM5 solutions may exist and am interested in those, though it sounds like this M5 gets most of the way there with plug and play.
I was looking at:
Waveshare CM4-NANO-B + Pi CM4 or CM5 looks promising though will it will involve a lot of cable)
Waveshare CM4-IO-BASE-B + Pi CM4 or CM5 (this would reuse the GPIO and and heat bridge but would require re-positioning the double-USB ribbon cable to the second opening in the pitop case - how hard is this? It seems people preferred to cut through the case instead so I am assuming it is not an easy cable to move.) So that might leave the first pairing as the only option.
OR, just do what you’ve said and get a banana pi m5…
EDIT: curious, what are you using to go from the micro USB of the pitop to usb-c of the Banana Pi M5?
Banana Pi M5 is just plug n play. Only downside is lack of support for battery level and proper shutdown, other than that its a good option.
Some of the CM4 and CM5 to 3b adapters place the compute module on the underside of the PCB due to clearance limitation with the HDMI port.
The CM on the underside makes cooling and installation in pi-top 3 rather difficult.
Also need to watch power ratings, the pi-top using the bridge to power boards via the 40 pin header makes it difficult when power usage exceeds maybe 15 watts.
Alternative suggestion is:
use a Raspberry Pi Zero to 3b adapter card to attach HDMI and rear USB in pi-top 3
Then run audio, micro HDMI, USB-C and 40 pin extender cables across to install a Pi 4 or similar in the right side of the case.
That USB-C port is for power only or for flashing images. It’s not needed for pi-top.
OK that sounds good. what part#/(s) / vendors would you recommend for the 40 pin extender , micro HDMI and USB-C ? Can I use generic 40 pin ribbon cable from adafruit or does it need to be something special? I read on that other thread here that there is a “2x20 0.8mm BTB” connector on the pi-top[3] hub side , if I replace the bridge I need to go from that to gpio right? Does anyone make this cable or have a guide how to make it?
That is a surface mount b2b connector, you would need to fabricate a PCB to go from that connector to a 40 pin IDC.
To connect from a Zero to 3b adapter to a different SBC would need:
Micro HDMI female to HDMI male cable
USB-c female to 2x USB 3 type A male cable
then male to female audio extender.
It is A LOT of wiring to do vs simple plugin with BPI-M5, but you can get a Pi4 / 5 or faster board running if you work through the complication of the cables.
