Reverse Engineered Raspberry Pi Compute Module 5

Posted4 months agoActive4 months ago

_Microft

90 points

23 comments

github.comTechstory

calmmixed

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60/100

Raspberry PiReverse EngineeringOpen Source Hardware

Key topics

Raspberry Pi

Reverse Engineering

Open Source Hardware

The reverse engineering of Raspberry Pi Compute Module 5 has been shared on GitHub, sparking discussions about its implications for open-source development and the complexity of the board design.

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Aug 24, 2025 at 4:34 PM EDT
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Discussion (23 comments)

Showing 23 comments

TheChaplain

4 months ago

3 replies

Isn't this the same as previous? https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45018509

a_paddy

4 months ago

No, the previous post focused more on the Lumafield scans of the Raspberry Pi boards. This one is about reverse engineering the schematics of the CM5.

bobmcnamara

4 months ago

Those are lumafield scans.

This is the old analog CT method: sanding

VoidWhisperer

4 months ago

Different project, one which was referenced in the post for that thread

snvzz

4 months ago

3 replies

The elephant in the room: Why is it not Open Source Hardware to begin with?

privatelypublic

4 months ago

1 reply

NDA's with Broadcom.

mouse_

4 months ago

1 reply

Non-answer. BCM is far from the only vendor.

ACCount37

4 months ago

1 reply

Broadcom has its hand so far up RPI Foundation's ass they might as well be conjoined.

mouse_

4 months ago

True, this is the real answer.

justin66

4 months ago

1 reply

The number of people who care is small enough not to affect any outcome.

Dead_Lemon

4 months ago

1 reply

The amount of people that design and repair electronics is significantly smaller than the people that use electronics, that doesn't mean RasPi should ignore them. They boast opensource development, but seem to be working counter to that.

It makes is substantially easier to work with known design docs, and RasPi want people to use their hardware in embedded applications.

It's not like you can replicate their hardware with just the schematic. Its awesome to see other filling the gap, but its a gap that has no need to exist.

justin66

4 months ago

1 reply

I agree that they shouldn't be ignored, but... how to compel companies to share schematics, in the absence of enlightened legislation?

sitkack

4 months ago

1 reply

The original mission was to get kids into computing with a low cost board, something akin to the C64 back in the 80s. But apparently that is only as user and not as a creator. I'd argue that getting kids into computing at the hardware level is even more important now.

But I think in some small part the RPi Foundation has captured itself and turned into a for profit company where the original mission takes a back seat.

justin66

4 months ago

Yeah. The IPO really baked in some negative things.

bobmcnamara

4 months ago

Discourage cloning.

fransje26

4 months ago

2 replies

Impressive!

Out of lack of understanding: what does this new knowledge allow? Will it allow open-source developers to write better drivers? Or does it allow the making clones? Or nothing in particular?

ACCount37

4 months ago

2 replies

This is a PCB layout and board schematics. So this helps component level repair (uneconomical in first world) and diagnosing some of the weirder failures or hardware limitations. It also helps make a stronger case that RPI Foundation should have released this in the first place.

You could use this to make clones - but only if you could source at least the BCM2712 SoC, preferably RP1 too. I can't imagine that happening in practice.

jonp888

4 months ago

1 reply

It has. At one point HardKernel "found" some Broadcom chips and made a one-off unauthorized batch of the Pi-compatible Odroid-W. Rpi weren't amused :)

wkat4242

4 months ago

Yeah they've become a real commercial outfit now. You could see this already during the shortage period, they always prioritised system integrators. I stay away from them now. It was nice while it lasted.

fransje26

4 months ago

Thanks!

bobmcnamara

4 months ago

This helps placing an RP1 on a PCI-E card.

rasz

4 months ago

ten (10) layer board! :o Following twitch stream where TubeTime was doing it live gave some interesting insights, afair it did look like layout was done by more than one person and some things seemed to suggest time was more valuable than optimizing for less layers.

brcmthrowaway

4 months ago

Looks like a complex board. Who was the board design outsourced to and who did the high speed trace consulting?

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