Argon ONE Case V2 or M.2 Expansion base

Features:

This case is compatible with the Raspberry Pi 4 Model B:

• Raspberry Pi 4 Model B 1GB (discontinued, yet still compatible)
• Raspberry Pi 4 Model B 2GB
• Raspberry Pi 4 Model B 4GB
• Raspberry Pi 4 Model B 8GB (newly launched in May 2020)

• • Argon ONE Case V2
    • Sleek aluminium alloy enclosure
    • M.2 SATA SSD compatible with Key-B or Key-B&M
      • NOT COMPATIBLE with NVMe Drive
    • UASP supported for high-speed data transfers with Raspberry Pi 4
    • Two full-sized HDMI ports with 4K output
    • Two power management modes with automatic booting or “Always ON Mode.”
    • The built-in power button for safe shutdowns reboots and forced shutdowns
    • Efficient passive cooling with the whole top part of the case being a heatsink
    • Built-in 30mm fan with software-controllable fan speed
    • Programmable IR support to the Raspberry Pi with streamlined options
    • All the connectors are located at the back for neat cable management
    • Plastic base for excellent Wi-Fi signal strength
    • Easy installation with magnetic removable top
    • Easily accessible GPIO with colour-coded pinouts

Argon One M.2 Expansion Base

• • • • • M.2 SATA SSD Compatibility
          • Accepts any size of M.2 SATA SSD with Key-B or Key-B&M
          • NOT COMPATIBLE with NVMe Drive
        • UASP Supported for Raspberry Pi 4
          • Maximizes the high-speed data transfers for Raspberry Pi 4
        • Usable for all Argon ONE Cases
          • Replace the bottom with the expansion board, and SSDs will be usable (works best with Raspberry Pi 4 Cases)
        • Plastic base for excellent Wi-Fi signal strength

120GB M.2 2280 MakerDisk SATA III SSD 

• • • • • Brand: MakerDisk
        • Form factor: M.2 2280 B+M Key SATA Solid State Drive
        • Pre-loaded with Raspberry Pi OS
        • NOT NVMe Drive
        • Low power consumption
        • Low heat generation
        • High level of ability to endure shock, vibration, and high temperature
        • SMART & TRIM support
        • Host Interface: SATA III
        • Capacity: 120GB
        • Performance:
          • Read: Up to 550MB/s
          • Write: Up to 460MB/s
        • Shock: 1500G/0.5ms
        • Operation temperature: 0°C-70°C
        • Up to 20X faster than a typical hard disk drive
        • Boosts burst write performance, making it ideal for typical computer workloads.
        • Faster boot-up, shutdown, application load, and response for Raspberry Pi

Package included: 1x Argon ONE Case V2 or M.2 Expansion base

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Development  Resources: demo codes, schematics, datasheets, etc

• User manual, pdf file
• Check out this review and stress test from ETA Prime on the Argon ONE Case V2 with M.2 expansion:

 

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Notes:

1. There may be slight size deviations due to manual measurement, different measuring methods and tools.
2. The picture may not reflect the actual colour of the item because of different photographing light, angles and display monitors.

 

Connect an M.2 SSD to your Raspberry Pi 4

Now you can connect M.2 SATA SSD drives with Key-B or Key-B&M of any size to your Raspberry Pi using this case. It has an M.2 connector inside the case, and you can connect the provided USB 3.0 adapter to one of the USB ports on the Raspberry Pi and the USB port on the case for the m.2 to function. The connection is also UASP supported, which means it allows for high-speed data transfers. This enables the SSD drive to be used as a boot drive for your Raspberry Pi, which can dramatically increase boot times.

Note: This is only Argon One M.2 Case Expansion. M.2 SATA SSD and Raspberry Pi board are NOT included.

Two full-sized HDMI connectors

The Raspberry Pi 4 Model B generally has two micro-HDMI connectors. It will not be very convenient to find a micro-HDMI to full-size HDMI cable when you want to connect your Raspberry Pi 4 to an external display. However, this Argon ONE M.2 Case solves this issue by including two full-sized HDMI connectors for your convenience.

Power Button for your Raspberry Pi

Normally a Raspberry Pi gets powered as soon as you connect it to the power supply and does not have a power button onboard. Well…Argon ONE can change the way you interact with your Raspberry Pi 4. With the power button installed on the case, you can easily turn on your Raspberry Pi and perform safe shutdowns, reboots, and forced shutdowns.

How to install Argon ONE V2 power button and fan control:

1. Connect to the internet
2. Open “Terminal” in Raspbian
3. Type “curl https://download.argon40.com/argon1.sh|bash” in the terminal to initiate the installation of the Argon ONE Pi 4 script.
4. After installation completes, two shortcuts are added to the desktop, “configure” and “uninstall”, it can use them to configure and uninstall the driver.
5. Reboot

Power button function:

The default setting of the fan is:

You can also use these commands to configure and uninstall the driver

• “argon one-config” to configure the driver
• “argon one-uninstall” to uninstall the driver

Note: Remember to always reboot after changing any configuration or uninstallation for the revised settings to take effect.

Easy Assemble with all ports to the back for better cable management

Assembling the case with the Raspberry Pi is very easy. Install the Argon ONE Script that unlocks the full functionality of the Argon ONE case. All the ports are accessed at the back, making it more manageable with minimal cable clutter and easy cleaning. This also makes it easy to tidy and pack up when on the move without compromising any motherboard ports.

Colour-coded GPIO Pins

The case was designed with one main purpose, protecting the Raspberry Pi without compromising the full functionality of the motherboard. The built-in PCB board extends the GPIO pins of the Raspberry Pi, with the pins being colour-coded to identify the pin functions easily. Also, the pins are clearly labelled for convenient use. When the pins are not in use, they’re covered and protected by a magnetic removable top. This makes the Pins accessible at all times, allowing the Raspberry PI to be used in various electronics projects.

The case comes with a top and bottom, 4 screws, a built-in PCB Board, a silicon cooling pad, and a PCB Board that extends the audio and micro HDMI ports. Assembling the Raspberry Pi with the case is as easy as 1, 2, 3 or A, B, C. Combining the parts is simple and intuitive. All that’s needed is a four-way screwdriver, and that’s to tighten the screws to the bottom of the case—no special tools needed at all. After placing the Raspberry Pi and installing the OS on the SD Card, a one-line script needs to be typed into the terminal so that you can use the power button and fan.

Power Management Modes and IR support

This case enables two power management modes with automatic booting or “Always ON Mode” and has programmable IR support to the Raspberry Pi with streamlined options.

To configure the Infrared Reciever ON/OFF signal of Argon ONE V2 and M.2, open Terminal on your RPi and type “argon one-ir“. Then follow the instruction indicated.

To use the Argon One Case, you will definitely need an M.2 NGFF (SATA) SSD. If you don’t already have one, consider getting the expansion board together with a WD 120G Green M.2 SSD or  120GB MakerDisk M.2 SSD, pre-loaded with Raspberry Pi OS.

 

M.2 SATA III SSD for Raspberry Pi 4 Model B

Everyone is booting the preferred Operating System for the Raspberry Pi 4 Model B from USB 🙂 The USB Boot firmware for Raspberry Pi 4 Model B is now officially released as a stable version. Check out this video by Jeff Geerling talking about the stable release of this firmware:

 

Booting Raspberry Pi OS and opening Apps/Programs from MakerDisk SSD is faster than the microSD card. Here are the speed test results that we get using Raspberry Pi Diagnostics.

• Sequential write speed 315076 KB/sec (target 10000) – PASS, over 31 times faster than the target
• Random write speed 12690 IOPS (target 500) – PASS, nearly 25 times faster than the target
• Random read speed 12840 IOPS (target 1500) – PASS, nearly 8.5 times faster than the target

This M.2 2280 MakerDisk SSD has a maximum sequential read and writes speed of up to 550MB/s and 460MB/s. The USB3.0 limits the above results to the SATA interface.

Note: This MakerDisk SSD is PRE-LOADED with the Raspberry Pi OS, so you can use it with Raspberry Pi 4 Model B or Raspberry Pi 400 right out of the box (if the Raspberry Pi is ready with USB boot). Of course, you will find still a SATA to USB bridge, USB3.0 to M.2 NGFF SSD Expansion Board.

Is Your Raspberry Pi 4 Model B or Raspberry Pi 400 Ready with USB Boot?

Most of the latest Raspberry Pi 4 Model B comes with the latest USB bootable firmware. In case you have an older version of the Raspberry Pi 4 Model B board, or you are not sure, check it using one of these methods:

Option 1: Do it from Raspberry Pi OS desktop with a monitor, keyboard, and mouse, going into the raspi_config, by leepspvideo:

  Option 2: Format a blank microSD card (you need to back up the content if you have only one microSD card) into FAT32, load the RPi4 EEPROM firmware using Raspberry Pi Imager(download from here). From Operating System -> Misc Utility Images -> Raspberry Pi 4 EEPROM boot recovery, choose your microSD card and load the image into it: After the Raspberry Pi Imager loaded the EEPROM firmware into the microSD card, please insert it into your Raspberry Pi 4 Model B’s microSD card slot and power it up. After just 3 seconds, the EEPROM is updated with new firmware, and it is ready for USB boot.

Option 3: Boot it directly if your Raspberry Pi 4 Model B comes with the latest firmware in the EEPROM; nothing needed to be updated 🙂

 

In any case, you can always reload the image/Operating System into this SSD using an M.2 to USB3.0 Adapter. We recommend using the official imager: Raspberry Pi Imager. Please check this video out on how to use the Advance features:

If you already have Argon One Case (without M.2 expansion), you can get the Argon One Base and 120GB SSD bundle or Argon One Base alone.