Raspberry Pi 5 powered Mini PC | Pironman 5 with LED blink

Hello and welcome back. In this article, we are going to introduce a Mini PC case powered by the Raspberry Pi 5 board. Provided by SunFounder, it’s named the Pironman 5. The standout feature is the Pi5 NVMe PIP (PCIe Peripheral Board), a PCIe adapter board specifically designed for NVMe solid-state drives. It supports various sizes of NVMe SSDs (2230, 2242, 2260, and 2280) that can be installed in an M.2 M key slot.

What I find most interesting about this case is its cooling system. It includes two RGB fans and a tower cooler, offering a superior cooling effect compared to the Raspberry Pi 5 Active cooler. Additionally, you can monitor real-time CPU and RAM usage, temperature, and IP address on the 0.96” OLED display. This setup is versatile, perfect for use as a file server, media center, home assistant, NAS (Network Attached Storage), reverse proxy, and more. I’ve used it for both my Raspberry Pi-based projects and personal work, and it’s performed exceptionally well for me.

For those interested in hands-on projects, I’ve also included a simple LED blink example in this article. With this setup, the possibilities are endless, and you can explore a wide range of creative projects tailored to your needs.

Special Features of Pironman 5

• PCIe Gen2 x 1 NVMe PIP
• Support M.2 KEY-M NVMe SSD 2230 to 2280 sizes
• Tower cooler + Dual RGB Fans
• 270 Full view Mini PC case
• Standard HDMI x 2

If you want more info about this Pironman 5, please visit this page.

Raspberry Pi 5

The Raspberry Pi 5 board is powered by a 64-bit quad-core Arm Cortex-A76 processor, boasting a clock speed of 2.4GHz. It offers 2-3 times the performance of the Raspberry Pi 4 board, making it a significant upgrade. It supports dual 4K60 video outputs through mini HDMI ports, enabling crisp and vibrant high-definition displays for a range of applications, from multimedia presentations to advanced computing tasks. Additionally, the Raspberry Pi 5 includes improved connectivity options with USB 3.0 ports, providing faster data transfer rates than previous models. It also features enhanced GPIO (General Purpose Input/Output) capabilities, which expand its versatility for hardware projects and custom applications. With these features, we can get a smooth desktop experience with this board.

Specification of Raspberry Pi 5

• Broadcom BCM2712 2.4GHz quad-core 64-bit Arm Cortex-A76 CPU
• VideoCore VII GPU, supporting OpenGL ES 3.1, Vulkan 1.2
• Dual 4Kp60 HDMI® display output with HDR support
• 4Kp60 HEVC decoder
• LPDDR4X-4267 SDRAM (4GB and 8GB SKUs available at launch)
• Dual-band 802.11ac Wi-Fi®
• Bluetooth 5.0 / Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE)
• MicroSD card slot, with support for high-speed SDR104 mode
• 2 × USB 3.0 ports, supporting simultaneous 5Gbps operation
• 2 × USB 2.0 ports
• Gigabit Ethernet, with PoE+ support (requires separate PoE+ HAT)
• 2 × 4-lane MIPI camera/display transceivers
• PCIe 2.0 x1 interface for fast peripherals (requires separate M.2 HAT or other adapter)
• 5V/5A DC power via USB-C, with Power Delivery support
• Raspberry Pi standard 40-pin header
• Real-time clock (RTC), powered by an external battery
• Power button

Structure of Raspberry Pi 5

OK, let’s unbox and set up the Pironman 5 step by step. You can buy it using the link below.

• Pironman 5 PC case — Click on me

Step 1

Firstly, unbox this package and identify the components in this box.

Step 2

Secondly, let’s start the assembly process. For that, you can use the package included guide or my steps. Now, disassemble the A and B plates.

Step 3

Thirdly, install the M2.5 x 8, M2.5 x 5, M2.5 x 6, and M2.5 x 4 standoffs on Plate A. Then, connect the Micro extender and USB HDMI adapter to the Raspberry Pi 5 board.

Step 4

Now, install the button battery and 4-pin header on the USB HDMI adapter. Then, connect the 2-pin wire and FPC ribbon cable. (Pull up the socket and insert it. Then, push the socket)

Step 5

Next, install these parts on plate A. For that, use M2.5×18+4 fixed and M2.5×4 screws. Then, install the power switch and stick the thermal pads on the thermal points of the Raspberry Pi board.

Step 6

Afterward, install the tower cooler and the power switch converter on the Raspberry Pi board. Then, connect the power switch wire to it.

Step 7

Now, if you have an SSD, install it on the NVMe PIP (I have not used SSD). Then, install it on the USB HDMI adapter. Also, connect the NVMe PIP to the Raspberry Pi board using an FPC ribbon cable.

Step 8

Next, install the RGB fans on plate B. For that, use dust filters and M3.5×8 screws. Then, install the acrylic plate E on the IO expansion board.

Step 9

Afterward, connect the OLED screen and RGB fans to the IO expander board. Then, install it on the Raspberry Pi board.

Step 10

Now, connect the plate B and plate A using M2.5 x 4 screws. Then, stick the OLED screen and connect the Acrylic plates D and C on the side of the PC case.

Step 11

Finally, install the light pipe and stick the EVA foam pad to the bottom of the PC case.

Step 12

Now let’s install the Raspberry Pi OS to the SD card. For that, follow the steps below.

• First, connect the SD card to the SD card reader and connect it to the computer. Then, go to the Raspberry Pi OS software page and download the appropriate OS installer. I have a Windows OS computer. So I have downloaded the Windows installer file.
• Raspberry Pi OS page — Click on me

• Then, run the OS installation file and follow the steps. In these steps select the device, OS version, and storage(SD card).

• Next, you can edit the OS setting if you want to set your system as a home assistant. But I flashed the OS only. Use the following steps for that.

Step 13

If everything is fine, remove the SD card from your computer and insert it into your Pironman 5 PC. Then, connect the mouse, keyboard, monitor, and 5v power supply to this PC.

Step 14

Now, let’s set up your Raspberry Pi PC. For that, follow the steps below.

• First, provide the power to your Raspberry Pi PC and monitor. Now you can see the Raspberry Pi OS welcome screen. Then click the next button.

• Next, select your country, language, and time zone. Then, click the next button. After that, enter the username and password for your PC.

• Next, select the default browser and skip the software update step (we can update it later). Finally, click the Restart button.

Now you have a Mini PC powered by Raspberry Pi 5.

Step 15

Ok, Now you can customize the desktop screen as you like. My favorite dark theme is included in the latest Raspberry Pi OS. Then, connect your PC to the internet. You can use your router for that. Otherwise, you can use the network cable or mobile hotspot.

Step 16

Now, let’s set up the Pironman 5 features. For that, follow the steps below.

• Command list — Download
• First, edit the EEPROM configuration file. For that, run the following command on the terminal.
• sudo rpi-eeprom-config -e
• Then, edit it as follows and save it.

BOOT_UART=1
POWER_OFF_ON_HALT=1
BOOT_ORDER=0xf41

• Now run the following commands on the terminal for downloading and installing the Mironman 5 modules. Then you can see your PC CPU and RAM usage, temperature, and IP address on the OLDE screen.

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install git -y
sudo apt-get install python3 python3-pip python3-setuptools -y

cd ~
git clone https://github.com/sunfounder/pironman5.git
cd ~/pironman5
sudo python3 install.py

sudo systemctl restart pironman5.service

Step 17

Next set up the Pironman 5 control panel. For that, run the following address on the internet browser. You have to replace your IP address instead of my IP address.

• http://192.168.8.1:34001
• Now you can open the monitoring page in your browser to see the information about your Raspberry Pi, configure the RGB lights, control the fan, etc.

Step 18

Now let’s blink an LED bulb using the Pironman 5 PC. The required components are given below.

• LED bulb x 1 — Our store / Amazon
• 100 ohm Resistor x 1 — Our store / Amazon
• Breadboard x 1 — Our store / Amazon
• Jumper wires — Our store / Amazon

Disclosure: These Amazon links are Affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

Step 19

Next, identify these components.

Step 20

After that, install the LED and resistor on the breadboard and connect them to the IO expander board on the PC. For that, use the circuit diagram below.

Step 21

Finally, copy and paste the following script to the Thonny IDE and click the run button.

• Code and circuit diagram — Download

import gpiod
import time

LED_PIN = 21  # GPIO pin number where the LED is connected

# Open GPIO chip
chip = gpiod.Chip('gpiochip4')

# Get the GPIO line for the LED
led_line = chip.get_line(LED_PIN)

# Request exclusive access to the line and configure it as an output
led_line.request(consumer="LED", type=gpiod.LINE_REQ_DIR_OUT)

while True:
    led_line.set_value(1)  # Turn on the LED
    time.sleep(1)  # Wait for 1 second
    led_line.set_value(0)  # Turn off the LED
    time.sleep(1)  # Wait for 1 second

OK experience your Pironman 5 PC. The full video guide is below. So, we hope to see you in the next project. Have a good day.

Raspberry Pi 5 powered Mini PC | Pironman 5 with LED blink