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HiFiBerry power controller available for beta users
We’re introducing the new HiFiBerry power controller. It solves 2 problems:
- It can shutdown the Pi and completely cut the power to the Pi when stopped. However, you can still start it again by a simple press of a button
- The rotary encoder can be used to control functions on the Pi.
We’re starting a public beta test to get more user feedback and improve software and documentation.
Hardware
There’s a microcontroller, a 3-color LED and a MOSFET power switch on the board. This allows to use the power controller even if the power to the Pi is off. Have a look a the data sheet for more information.
Software support
The software is completely open source and the communications protocol is documented. This means it can be used with basically any distribution if somebody creates a software module for it. We have integrated support for the power controller in the April 2021 release of HiFiBerryOS already. We won’t provide software for other distributions. If you’re looking for an integration, please ask the developers of this distribution are
Availability of the final product
In the past we have seen some users that weren’t happy about the fact that a specific product didn’t make it into production after the beta test. We can’t say how long the beta phase will run and we can’t guarantee that the product will be available after the beta phase. It depends a lot on the interest of users and the feedback from Beta testers. If you want this, you should try now!
Support
While we offer individual support for our sound cards, we can’t do this for this product if we want to keep the price low. Therefore, only community support is provided. We will try to answer as many questions as possible, but we won’t guarantee that we can help with a specific integration. We will also try to fix bugs if possible.
April 13, 2021
