R-Comp Interactive announce new 4te2 RISC OS computer (and Linux and more...)

The global component shortage has made production of the original 4te units somewhat tricky, which inspired us to new heights with the next generation – the 4te2 (pronounced “42”) aka 4te Mk2.

The new generation moves to a sturdy, professional-looking, metal chassis, whilst still keeping many of the design cues of the original 4te. You’ll note the curved corners, the top/bottom grill, the front USB ports and power button etc. There’s also front access microSD.

The new unit is a fraction larger (but only a little), to accommodate an internal SSD (m.2 or 2.5" SSD formats supported) as well as a chunky heatsink to keep the CPU cool.

There’s an optional fan, which can be controlled/set to your preference, monitoring temperatures. It is very quiet, but thanks to the heatsink, we’ve actually had the machine running quite happily at 2Ghz with passive (no fan) cooling, although we do live in the chilly north of England!

This can all be controlled via a new version of 4teTools, which also adds the option of a “soft shutdown” feature so that you can tell the computer to turn off without pressing the on/off button.

As we mentioned, the computer has front and rear USB ports, gigabit ethernet, and two full-size HDMI ports (supporting up to 4k resolution at 60 hz). There’s also an analogue (3.5mm jack) audio connector for those who need it.

The 4te and 4te2 share software/updates so that users of both generations will continue to receive free updates for their computer. The 4te2 can run both the supplied builds of RISC OS (and the updates we release), or builds from the RISC OS Open website (nightly or full releases) – whichever you prefer.

There are upgrade options for people who already own a Pi4 (especially as there’s a shortage of Pi boards right now), and you can tailor the specs to meet your needs.

Whilst the 4te2 might lack its predecessor’s colourful presentation, we can assure you it still has its sense of fun. This is a fast, agile computer with loads of character :) It can best our much more expensive TiMachine and similar machines in many benchmarks, and zoom ahead if you choose one of the supported overclock profiles.

That’s right – 4te2’s heatsink and cooling options allow you to safely move past 1.5Ghz, potentially reaching as high as 2.1Ghz if you wish. We’ll chat with you and find the right profile for your needs, but you can always change it later in !4teTools.

Now, we mentioned Linux in the subject of this email, but haven’t talked about it thus far. We know that many RISC OS users prefer to stick to RISC OS, but with 4te2, you don’t have to. SSD-equipped 4te2s can be configured to dual boot Linux at no extra cost if you wish!

The design of 4te2 makes it easy for users to switch between OSs depending on needs – just via a physical press on the front of the machine, you can change which OS you boot into. Because it is a hardware choice, there’s no danger of re-writing SD cards or ending up stuck in the wrong OS.

The SSDs are formatted to allow shared space between RISC OS and Linux, so you still gain the benefits of dual-drive under RISC OS, whilst getting high speed SSD performance for your Linux install. The hardware support the “trim” command under Linux for keeping the SSD healthy, too, which is nice. Linux can tap into the built-in wifi, as well as offering software like Chromium and LibreOffice.

And for those dipping their toes into RISC OS for the first time, the 4te2 can be a fantastic Linux computer with the option of RISC OS, if you find Linux more comfortable. You can even experiment with other OSs with ease.

We’d hoped to bring the price down even further with this release, but sadly the aforementioned Pi shortage (an extension of the component shortage) has tripled (yes, you read that right) the cost of a Pi board. As such, it’s quite surprisng, but we’re able to (just) keep the price at 250ukp including UK VAT. Overseas customers can order VAT-free.

You can find out more at http://www.riscoscomputers.co.uk/4te2.shtml

Looking forward to seeing it at the Wakefield show.

If you are taking questions yet:

How does the SSD connect?
The high speed under Linux, suggests not high speed under RISCOS.

Great work on making affordable systems with a nice software and support bundle during this global supply chain chaos.

From the website : “Raspberry Pi is a trademark of the Raspberry Pi Foundation.” I’m afraid that’s out of date it is now RaspberryPi Ltd

Thanks for the pointer, Dominic. You’re absolutely right – website (and documentation) updated accordingly. Thankyou :)

Alban – good question! As you probably know, Pis have quite limited IO options, and at this price point options are rather limited. The design uses an internal USB3 bridge-controller (with frimware TRIM support) with suitable carrier board for your SSD. The downside is that means USB2 speeds under RISC OS. We offset this performance hit somewhat by using caching (RAM buffering of reads/writes), but ultimately ARMX6 and Titanium will still have the edge in disc I/O intense operations, whereas 4te2 will generally be ahead on calculation/network tasks (and price/performance!).