You can mount the boot partition(s) when you connect Homey over USB to a computer, then edit the config.txt file to overclock the CPU.
However, if Athom claims that the CPU is Homey is capable of 1.8Ghz, they can only mean “through overclocking”, which is (IMO) false advertising (that they finally fixed on the Homey Pro product page).
Also, I don’t know what the warranty situation is when you overclock your Homey. Raspberry Pi has a lenient warranty policy for when you overclock, provided you stay within certain limits. If you exceed them, there’s a “warranty bit” inside the SoC that gets (permanently) set so if something goes wrong and a board gets a warranty claim, they can see if it was overclocked outside of the accepted limits.
I do agree, unless they got some very special CM4, not documented anywhere else, which I don’t think it’s the case.
For sure it’s over and so far, frankly, I don’t see any benefits of this OC - but I’m without warranty option already for more then 1 year, because of CM4 replacement.
Athom support got back to me on my follow-up question mentioned above.
They indicated that:
The CM4 module contains the same CPU as the Raspberry Pi 4: the BCM2711 chip;
As such, in their communication/marketing materials they were referring to the same specs as the Pi 4;
This page highlights the increase of the Pi 4’s turbo mode from 1.5 to 1.8 GHz after a firmware update of the Pi 4;
Technically the CM4 could also run on 1.8 GHz in turbo mode, if a similar firmware update is applied;
Raspberry Pi decided not to apply such a firmware update to the CM4, though the CM4 is capable of running at the higher turbo speed.
I find it strange to advertise a speed number that is not applicable to the actual hardware included in the Homey Pro 2023 and how that opperates in its normal use case. It results in expectations that cannot be met. At least not for the typical end user.
Its like advertising a 180 hp engine that is capped at 150 hp in your trim level of your car.
That said, I am going to leave it at this. Athom corrected their website, as it now states the actual speed the Homey Pro runs at (1.5 GHz).
Only for certain revisions of the RPi4: ““Recent” in this case means any 8GB Raspberry Pi 4, or a 2GB or 4GB board with the extra components circled in the image below”
In fact, they explicitly state that the CM4 doesn’t get the same treatment:
I got an additional (partial) response from Athom.
They concur that advertising the 1.8 GHz speed was not a good practice.
However, in their view the CPU in the CM4 module is technically capable of running at 1.8 GHz. Their interpretation is based on language used in Rasberry Pi’s response in the screenshot two posts up. Specifically the words ‘by default’. In their view the CM4 indeed runs on 1.5 GHz by default, but is able to run at 1.8 Ghz via the said firmware updgrade if that would be made available for the CM4, which is of course not the case.
I did not (yet) get a response on how they plan to align this information in their sales channel, towards partners/resellers.
