this post was submitted on 26 Sep 2024
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[โ€“] dudeami0@lemmy.dudeami.win 29 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (1 children)

It's is M.2, but not the M/B+M key most M2 SSDs use but rather a A+E meant for WIFI/Bluetooth. According to this video it's essentially 2 PCI Express x1 lanes and USB 2.0. The video goes on to explain some possible alternative uses:

  • A gigabit ethernet adapter
  • 2x SATA ports for a standard SATA drive
  • Coral tensor processor
  • SD card reader
  • 2x USB A-type ports
  • Some type of SIM card adapter (video wasn't quite sure on it either)
  • A PCI Express x16 slot that only functionally works as a x1

So while does this slot has it's uses, it's not meant to be used for M.2 drives but rather WIFI.

[โ€“] qupada@fedia.io 2 points 1 month ago

it's essentially 2 PCI Express x1 lanes and USB 2.0

Sometimes there's only a single PCIe lane though. And as you say, that's not a x2 but explicitly two x1s.

No WiFi card needs the bandwidth (yet), at PCIe 3 speeds you've got around 7.8Gbps for a x1, and PCIe 4 double that.

The Coral comes in a "dual" version for exactly this reason (https://coral.ai/products/m2-accelerator-dual-edgetpu/) you just have to be very sure the slot you're putting it in is actually delivering two PCIe connections.

Also for bonus fun, most WiFi/BT cards use the PCIe interface for the WiFi and USB for the Bluetooth.