Cybergeek Nano A1 mini PC

Cybergeek Mini PC is Great for Linux

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Cheap “Nano A1” PC Hardware Review

Update: 2025-01. This has MOSTLY* been a problem-free computer when working with the latest Ubuntu Linux OS, but I have completed a page showing significant difficulties when working with Windows 11 that might discourage you from purchasing it. *I often forget, but maybe 20%(?) of the time the WIRED networking fails to start and I have to restart the computer to get it to work (I can’t speak to WIFI). So the headaches are probably not worth the cheap price.

I recently purchased a Cybergeek Nano A1 mini PC to replace a very old PC. I wanted to be able to keep the Windows 11 OS for use with one scanner, but mainly wanted to work with Linux 99% of the time on web browsing and photo management. No gaming or heavy graphics.

After getting some mixed-messages from reviews online, I was happy to see there was a SATA cable available to add a 2.5in SSD and that the hardware is recognized and supported by the latest Ubuntu Linux version. I was disappointed, however, in that after doing a fresh install of Windows 11, downloaded from the Microsoft website, both the physical network plug and the sound output device were not recognized. You can read the reviews on Amazon if you are only going to be using the machine “as is” out of the box. When it’s working, people seem really happy with it.

Summary of Installing Ubuntu Linux 24.04

I plan on making a separate blog post on the many steps I took to get Ubuntu 24.04 installed on this computer, but to make the point right away: do not attempt this if you don’t know what you are doing! It was not simple and, as of right now, what I did seems to have broken the Windows 11 support (I don’t really care about that though).

*** THE BIOS KEY IS F2, BOOT OPTIONS are F12 (includes BIOS) ***

Also a quick note that I first tried to install Linux Mint 21.3, but the latest Mint is based on a previous LTS version of Ubuntu and the hardware was not supported. The rest of this post will focus on the hardware of the machine because getting details about it online was not easy. (Note: It might not be as bad if you are using the hard drive that came with it and completely erasing Windows 11, but then again you can buy it with Linux pre-installed).

Cybergeek Nano A1 Hardware

Here is a photo of the motherboard. You can see that it came with the SATA cable taped on and in place.

Cybergeek Nano A1 motherboard

This is a post for geeks, so I’m just going to paste selected lines of the output from the linux command “sudo lshw”. A few highlights here are that it’s an Intel motherboard with Intel multimedia, Micron RAM, and a Samsung NVME stick for a hard drive.

Cybergeek Nano A1  2024-06
Selected lines from "lshw"

nanoa1
    description: Mini PC
    product: Default string (Default string)
    vendor: CyberGeek
    version: Default string
    width: 64 bits
    capabilities: smbios-3.5.0 dmi-3.5.0 smp vsyscall32
    configuration: chassis=mini family=Default string sku=Default string 
  *-core
       description: Motherboard
       product: Default string
       vendor: Default string
       physical id: 0
       version: Default string
       slot: Default string
     *-firmware
          description: BIOS
          vendor: American Megatrends International, LLC.
          physical id: 0
          version: DNB20 V0.06
          date: 08/29/2023
          size: 64KiB
          capabilities: pci upgrade shadowing cdboot bootselect socketedrom edd int13floppynec int13floppytoshiba int13floppy360 int13floppy1200 int13floppy720 int13floppy2880 int5printscreen int9keyboard int14serial int17printer int10video acpi usb biosbootspecification uefi
     *-memory
          description: System Memory
          physical id: 4
          slot: System board or motherboard
          size: 16GiB
        *-bank:0
             description: SODIMM DDR4 Synchronous 3200 MHz (0.3 ns)
             product: TIMETEC-SD4-3200
             vendor: Micron Technology
             physical id: 0
             serial: 1F56CAEB
             slot: Controller0-ChannelA-DIMM0
             size: 16GiB
             width: 64 bits
             clock: 3200MHz (0.3ns)
        *-bank:1
             description: [empty]
             physical id: 1
             slot: Controller1-ChannelA-DIMM0
...             
     *-cpu
          description: CPU
          product: Intel(R) N100
          vendor: Intel Corp.
          physical id: d
          bus info: cpu@0
          version: 6.190.0
          serial: To Be Filled By O.E.M.
          slot: U3E1
          size: 3087MHz
          capacity: 3400MHz
          width: 64 bits
          clock: 100MHz
          capabilities: lm fpu fpu_exception wp vme de pse tsc msr pae mce cx8 apic sep mtrr pge mca cmov pat pse36 clflush dts acpi mmx fxsr sse sse2 ss ht tm pbe syscall nx pdpe1gb rdtscp x86-64 constant_tsc art arch_perfmon pebs bts rep_good nopl xtopology nonstop_tsc cpuid aperfmperf tsc_known_freq pni pclmulqdq dtes64 monitor ds_cpl vmx est tm2 ssse3 sdbg fma cx16 xtpr pdcm sse4_1 sse4_2 x2apic movbe popcnt tsc_deadline_timer aes xsave avx f16c rdrand lahf_lm abm 3dnowprefetch cpuid_fault epb cat_l2 cdp_l2 ssbd ibrs ibpb stibp ibrs_enhanced tpr_shadow flexpriority ept vpid ept_ad fsgsbase tsc_adjust bmi1 avx2 smep bmi2 erms invpcid rdt_a rdseed adx smap clflushopt clwb intel_pt sha_ni xsaveopt xsavec xgetbv1 xsaves split_lock_detect user_shstk avx_vnni dtherm ida arat pln pts hwp hwp_notify hwp_act_window hwp_epp hwp_pkg_req vnmi umip pku ospke waitpkg gfni vaes vpclmulqdq rdpid movdiri movdir64b fsrm md_clear serialize arch_lbr ibt flush_l1d arch_capabilities cpufreq
          configuration: cores=4 enabledcores=4 microcode=23 threads=4
...
        *-display
             description: VGA compatible controller
             product: Alder Lake-N [UHD Graphics]
             vendor: Intel Corporation
             physical id: 2
             bus info: pci@0000:00:02.0
             logical name: /dev/fb0
             version: 00
             width: 64 bits
             clock: 33MHz
             capabilities: pciexpress msi pm vga_controller bus_master cap_list rom fb
             configuration: depth=32 driver=i915 latency=0 mode=1920x1080 resolution=1920,1080 visual=truecolor xres=1920 yres=1080
             resources: iomemory:600-5ff iomemory:400-3ff irq:152 memory:6000000000-6000ffffff memory:4000000000-400fffffff ioport:3000(size=64) memory:c0000-dffff memory:4010000000-4016ffffff memory:4020000000-40ffffffff
...
        *-network DISABLED
             description: Wireless interface
             product: CNVi: Wi-Fi
             vendor: Intel Corporation
             physical id: 14.3
             bus info: pci@0000:00:14.3
             logical name: wlp0s20f3
             version: 00
             serial: 90:09:df:03:05:02
             width: 64 bits
             clock: 33MHz
             capabilities: pm msi pciexpress msix bus_master cap_list ethernet physical wireless
             configuration: broadcast=yes driver=iwlwifi driverversion=6.8.0-35-generic firmware=86.fb5c9aeb.0 so-a0-hr-b0-86.uc latency=0 link=no multicast=yes wireless=IEEE 802.11
             resources: iomemory:600-5ff irq:16 memory:6001144000-6001147fff
...
           *-disk
                description: ATA Disk
                product: WDC  WDBNCE0010P
                vendor: Western Digital
                physical id: 0.0.0
                bus info: scsi@0:0.0.0
                logical name: /dev/sda
                version: 30WD
                size: 931GiB (1TB)
...
           *-network
                description: Ethernet interface
                product: Ethernet Controller I225-V
                vendor: Intel Corporation
                physical id: 0
                bus info: pci@0000:01:00.0
                logical name: enp1s0
                version: 03
                size: 1Gbit/s
                capacity: 1Gbit/s
                width: 32 bits
                clock: 33MHz
                capabilities: pm msi msix pciexpress bus_master cap_list ethernet physical tp 10bt 10bt-fd 100bt 100bt-fd 1000bt-fd autonegotiation
                configuration: autonegotiation=on broadcast=yes driver=igc driverversion=6.8.0-35-generic duplex=full firmware=1089:878d ip=192.168.0.134 latency=0 link=yes multicast=yes port=twisted pair speed=1Gbit/s
...
           *-nvme
                description: NVMe device
                product: SAMSUNG MZVL4512HBLU-00BH1
                vendor: Samsung Electronics Co Ltd
                physical id: 0
                bus info: pci@0000:02:00.0
                logical name: /dev/nvme0
                version: HPS3NHAV
                width: 64 bits
                clock: 33MHz
                capabilities: nvme pm pciexpress msix nvm_express bus_master cap_list
                configuration: driver=nvme latency=0 nqn=nqn.1994-11.com.samsung:nvme:PM9B1:M.2:S6B5NF0TC70679 state=live
                resources: irq:19 memory:74600000-74603fff
...
        *-multimedia
             description: Multimedia audio controller
             product: Alder Lake-N PCH High Definition Audio Controller
             vendor: Intel Corporation

Adding a Second Hard Drive and Linux

  • In order to add the 2.5 in SSD, you need to
  • Remove the feet and take out 4 screws.
  • Remove 4 screws from the lid and separate it.
  • ADD the SSD with YOUR OWN SCREWS (see photo).
  • Attach the cable and asemble in reverse.
Cybergeek Nano A1 2nd hard drive

Dmesg Errors from Ubuntu Linux

Like I mentioned earlier, there was unsupported hardware errors when I tried to install Linux Mint in June 2024. These are the only errors after installing Ubuntu 24.04 and they all seem minor. I will note there was one time the NIC was not recognized and I had to use WIFI, but at least the WIFI is a backup and I haven’t repeated this after a couple of days(?). The sound works (unlike Windows 11) and the graphics just worked for one 1920×1080 monitor.

dmesg errors from Ubuntu 24.04, 2024-06

[    0.350798] ACPI BIOS Error (bug): Could not resolve symbol [\_SB.UBTC.RUCC], AE_NOT_FOUND (20230628/psargs-330)
[    0.350811] ACPI Error: Aborting method \_SB.PC00.TXHC.RHUB.SS01._PLD due to previous error (AE_NOT_FOUND) (20230628/psparse-529)
[    0.350842] ACPI BIOS Error (bug): Could not resolve symbol [\_SB.UBTC.RUCC], AE_NOT_FOUND (20230628/psargs-330)
[    0.350850] ACPI Error: Aborting method \_SB.PC00.TXHC.RHUB.SS02._PLD due to previous error (AE_NOT_FOUND) (20230628/psparse-529)
[    1.017938] ACPI BIOS Error (bug): Could not resolve symbol [\_SB.UBTC.RUCC], AE_NOT_FOUND (20230628/psargs-330)
[    1.017954] ACPI Error: Aborting method \_SB.PC00.TXHC.RHUB.SS01._PLD due to previous error (AE_NOT_FOUND) (20230628/psparse-529)
[    1.017969] ACPI BIOS Error (bug): Could not resolve symbol [\_SB.UBTC.RUCC], AE_NOT_FOUND (20230628/psargs-330)
[    1.017977] ACPI Error: Aborting method \_SB.PC00.TXHC.RHUB.SS01._PLD due to previous error (AE_NOT_FOUND) (20230628/psparse-529)

[    4.242970] iwlwifi 0000:00:14.3: WRT: Invalid buffer destination
[    9.975460] iwlwifi 0000:00:14.3: WRT: Invalid buffer destination
[   17.166830] iwlwifi 0000:00:14.3: WRT: Invalid buffer destination

[    5.193692] Bluetooth: hci0: Malformed MSFT vendor event: 0x02

Cybergeek Company

If you read the negative reviews on Amazon, people have trouble getting a response from “tech support” at Cybergeek. This is probably not a computer for someone who needs tech support. It is truly hard to tell if the problem is with the computers or whether Windows 11 is not keeping up properly with the new-ish hardware. There was a card that came with my computer and it gave the address of the company. I think this is their world headquarters in Salem, NH (Unit C).

Cybergeek computer company building

Review Conclusions

While it was a headache to get the PC the way I wanted it, a lot of that could be Windows 11 on ANY computer, but it worked in the end for the latest Ubuntu Linux and the price can’t be beat. I’m happy with the purchase for the most part and I’m not sure who to be upset with for the lack of Windows 11 support. Like I said, I want to create a post on making of the dual-boot computer. When I do, it will be in the Computer category.

Update 2024-07: If you do reinstall Windows 11, there is a support page for Cybergeek drivers on their website. Since this writing, I uninstalled the network driver I got from Intel website (didn’t work) and ran Windows Update. A new “Intel” package was provided by Microsoft that fixed the wired network card problem. Using the extracted files from Cybergeek, I also got *some* audio working by using Device Manager and choosing the “Update Driver” option. Luckily, it lets you browse to the folder of all the drivers and choose “also search subfolders” so you don’t have to pick. I had to do this twice (for different drivers?). So now there is audio out the HDMI cable but I still can’t choose the headphone-out wired option. There are still two “Unknown Device” entries in the Device Manager and the same method does not work for them. So, again, don’t re-install Windows 11 if you want everything to work!

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