A20-OLinuXino-MICRO
Open-source single-board
Android/Linux mini-computer
USER’S MANUAL
Document revision P, December 2015
Designed by OLIMEX Ltd, 2015
All boards produced by Olimex LTD are ROHS compliant
Page 1: ...20 OLinuXino MICRO Open source single board Android Linux mini computer USER S MANUAL Document revision P December 2015 Designed by OLIMEX Ltd 2015 All boards produced by Olimex LTD are ROHS compliant...
Page 2: ...merchantability or fitness for purpose are excluded This document is intended only to assist the reader in the use of the product OLIMEX Ltd shall not be liable for any loss or damage arising from th...
Page 3: ...2 6 1 HDMI monitor 12 2 6 2 VGA monitor 12 2 6 3 SSH via mini USB cable in Debian 12 2 6 4 SSH via Ethernet 12 2 6 5 LCD display 13 2 7 Changing the default image resolution 13 2 8 Connecting and cal...
Page 4: ...connector 37 6 10 SATA connector and power 38 6 11 GPIO ports 39 6 11 1 GPIO 1 General Purpose Input Output 40pin connector 39 6 11 2 GPIO 2 General Purpose Input Output 40pin connector 40 6 11 3 GPIO...
Page 5: ...CPU and dual core Mali 400 GPU 1GB DDR3 RAM memory 4GB NAND FLASH memory available only on the 4GB version of the board SATA connector with 5V SATA power jack Capable of FullHD 1080p video playback Na...
Page 6: ...nder the Creative Commons Attribution ShareAlike 3 0 Unported License 1 3 Board variants There are two major board variants named A20 OLinuXino MICRO and A20 OLinuXino MICRO 4GB The 4GB version has a...
Page 7: ...tes Chapter 3 contains the general board diagram and layout Chapter 4 describes the component that is the heart of the board the A20 Allwinner processor Chapter 5 is an explanation of the control circ...
Page 8: ...larity For example when you connect an HDMI cable between a TV and the board it is a good idea to have them both connected to the same electrical source to the same utility power socket This might be...
Page 9: ...A to USB type mini cable A20 VGA CABLE adapter from 6 pin connector to 15 pin one CABLE IDC40 15cm cable for LCD to LCD_CON connection LCD OLinuXino 4 3TS low cost 4 3 LCD display with touchscreen co...
Page 10: ...we sell two power supply adapters please check chapter 2 2 We also sell USB OTG to USB type A cables if you lack such The default username password combination for the default Linux image on the SD ca...
Page 11: ...dvisable to check this product page for a reference https www olimex com Products Components Cables USB Serial Cable USB Serial Cable F You need to connect the serial cable lines as follows RX line to...
Page 12: ...tion about the video output settings and the usage of video settings script might be found in the next chapter 2 7 Changing the default image resolution 2 6 3 SSH via mini USB cable in Debian The late...
Page 13: ...ution Depending on the display or the screen you want to use with the A20 OlinuXino MICRO you might need to apply software changes to the prebuilt Android or Linux image The typical OlinuXino user wou...
Page 14: ...768 5 800 600 6 640 480 7 1920 1080 8 1280 720 If you decide to edit the configurations yourself the easiest way would be to do it on the board This can be done offline too manipulating the image loca...
Page 15: ...ays have corresponding 40 pin male connector You would only need a 0 1 female female cable for the hardware connection All LCD displays made by Olimex have at least a 0 1 LCD connector Going for an LC...
Page 16: ...ile in root directory If the problem is under Debian Linux make sure you are properly logged in the LXDE interface Else applying calibration would not happen for the current user if you are calibratin...
Page 17: ...by Dr Guido Pelz 2 10 I2C and SPI under Debian I2C and SPI are both supported in the latest Debian releases There is respective kernel support for both There is a python module called pyA20 might be f...
Page 18: ...channel We would attempt to help in almost every case We listen to the feedback and if the majority of users suggest a software change or update we try to implement such Customer feedback is very impo...
Page 19: ...ain parts of the board Note the names used on the board might differ from the names used below to describe them For the actual names check the A20 OLinuXino MICRO board itself 3 1 Layout top view The...
Page 20: ...OLIMEX 2015 A20 OLinuXino MICRO user s manual 3 2 Layout bottom view At the bottom of the board there are mainly buttons and the large SD MMC connector Page 20 of 56...
Page 21: ...e community and Allwinner themselves The full list of features might be found below CPU ARM Cortex A7 Dual Core GPU ARM Mali400MP2 Complies with OpenGL ES 2 0 1 1 VIDEO HD H 264 2160p video decoding M...
Page 22: ...I FI 100dB Audio Codec Dual analog mic amplifiers More information can be found on Allwinner s web site at the following web address http www allwinnertech com en product A20 html 4 2 Block diagram Th...
Page 23: ...25 MHz quartz crystal Q1 is connected to pins X1 and X2 of the RTL8201CP Ethernet controller 32 768 Hz RTC quartz crystal Q2 is found at pins F1 and F2 of the A20 microcontroller 24 MHz quartz crystal...
Page 24: ...always reliable and if you set wrong display settings you might be unable to recover the settings without a proper UART0 connection The more indirect ways of communicating with the board are via perip...
Page 25: ...writing the image Choose method of writing the image and confirm your wish to write the image 8 Wait till upgrade succeeds as shown below There are different flavors of the Android and Linux distribu...
Page 26: ...line of the target board the TX line of the cable RED wire should go to the RX line of the target board The BLUE wire should go to the target s GND line UART0 Pin Signal name Processor pin 1 3 3V 2 UA...
Page 27: ...data As a general precaution be careful with the SD cards you purchase There is a big percentage of fake cards due to the low effort required to counterfeit popular brands and the big demand for SD ca...
Page 28: ...It is suggested to have an SD card with a proper Linux Android image especially if you have ordered a version of the board without NAND memory It is also recommended to use Class 10 10MByte sec card...
Page 29: ...suitable for booting OS Such support is possible but not implemented in the official software releases SD MMC card connector Pin Connector signal name Wire name processor pin 1 CD DAT3 CS SDC3 D3 B16...
Page 30: ...16 volts direct current and the required current may vary depending on the peripherals connected to the board The power supply you use should be capable of providing at least 500mA of current Pin Sign...
Page 31: ...ctor for displays and monitors with built in audio speakers If you wish to use audio out you need to first disconnect the HDMI boot the board connect the audio out device speakers and finally connect...
Page 32: ...e part is loading a kernel module responsible for the behavior of the board while in device mode If such software is not enabled or missing in the official distribution you would need respectively eit...
Page 33: ...n the allowed current Please note the pads of capacitors C222 and C223 where you can solder tantalum capacitors 220uF 18V If you do so you would be able to increase the stability of the powering by th...
Page 34: ...much more The Ethernet connector is grounded according to the standard check GND1 and GND2 lines on the schematics If you use Linux then the Ethernet connector might be used for SSH connection to the...
Page 35: ...ug a cable the start up would be greatly delayed This might be problem in the first start up to users counting only on SSH connection You can enable the Ethernet after a successful boot up with ifconf...
Page 36: ...runs Android there is a specific option to set the appropriate HDMI output HDMI connector Pin Signal name Processor pin Pin Signal name Processor pin 1 HTX2P T23 11 GND 2 GND 12 HTXCN W22 3 HTX2N T22...
Page 37: ...t you would need a specific Android image for the VGA output with proper display and output settings We don t provide such image ready at the moment The VGA output has been tested only with the offici...
Page 38: ...anual 6 10 SATA connector and power The part of the schematic describing the SATA module is shown below SATA connector Pin Signal name Processor pin 1 GND 2 SATA TXP T20 3 SATA TXM T21 4 GND 5 SATA RX...
Page 39: ...T AB23 7 PG1 E21 8 VOL _BUT AB23 9 PG2 E20 10 MENU_BUT AB23 11 PG3 D21 12 SEARCH_BUT AB23 13 PG4 D20 14 HOME_BUT AB23 15 PG5 C21 16 ESC_BUT AB23 17 PG6 E19 18 ENTER_BUT AB23 19 PG7 C20 20 TVOUT3 AB17...
Page 40: ...6 PE0 E23 7 TWI0 SDA B15 8 PE1 E22 9 PI0 A20 10 PE2 D23 11 PI1 B20 12 PE3 D22 13 PI2 A19 14 PE4 C23 15 PI3 B19 16 PE5 C22 17 PI10 C17 18 PE6 B23 19 PI11 D17 20 PE7 B22 21 PC3 NCE1 L22 22 PE8 A23 23 P...
Page 41: ...A10 27 PH17 C1 28 PB15 B10 29 PH18 C2 30 PB16 A9 31 PH19 D1 32 PB17 B9 33 PH20 D2 34 PH24 E3 35 PH21 D3 36 PH25 E4 37 PH22 E1 38 PH26 F3 39 PH23 E2 40 PH27 F4 Signals marked with are multiplexed with...
Page 42: ...cial JTAG part Please check here http linux sunxi org Fex_Guide 5Bjtag_para 5D the jtag_para part The real issue would be finding piece of software that has Allwinner A20 support The sunxi community h...
Page 43: ...LCD_D22 AB12 12 LCD_D23 AC10 13 LCD_D8 AB11 14 LCD_D9 AC11 15 LCD_D10 Y15 16 LCD_D11 AA15 17 LCD_D12 Y14 18 LCD_D13 AA14 19 LCD_D14 Y13 20 LCD_D15 AA13 21 LCD_D0 AB15 22 LCD_D1 AC15 23 LCD_D2 AB14 24...
Page 44: ...the built in the image resolution settings Start it with change_display_A20_OLinuXino sh and follow the instructions Please refer to chapter 2 5 Changing the default image resolution for more details...
Page 45: ...emory part name in the schematic might be outdated We have used a number of different but fully compatible DDR3 memories due to supply unavailability It is always recommended to check the exact memory...
Page 46: ...This means that schematics for older hardware revisions of A20 OLinuXino MICRO can be found in the GitHub folder for A10 OLinuXino MICRO Both the 4GB version and the version without NAND of the A20 MI...
Page 47: ...s Note that all dimensions are in mils The three highest elements on the board in order from the tallest to the shortest are USB_HOST connector 700mils capacitors C202 650mils the Ethernet connector 6...
Page 48: ...ion changes 15 16 C 18 09 13 1 Added new additional products 2 Added more information about the SD card booting 9 43 D 30 09 13 1 Added few suggestions for USB boot 2 Added more information about powe...
Page 49: ...revision G changes 5 Fixed few spelling mistakes 3 13 14 34 35 36 37 44 K 30 01 2015 1 Updated list of suggested displays 2 Fixed error about the power jack 8 27 46 L 09 02 2015 Fixed information abou...
Page 50: ...optimized the position of PCB names 2 R16 changed from 237R to 330R for stability purposes 3 R7 R9 also changed from 237R to 330R for stability purposes 4 R41 and R104 changed from 1k 1 to 390R for b...
Page 51: ...dard 15 pin VGA one SY0612E reliable power supply adapter 50Hz for EU 12V 0 5A for A20 OLinuXino MICRO SY0612E CHINA cheaper power supply adapter 50Hz for EU 12V 0 5A for A20 OLinuXino MICRO A20 Andro...
Page 52: ...cable 4 The board might enter sleep mode very fast especially if the Android was turned off without the Quick Boot mode being ticked on Try pressing or holding down the PWR_BUT for a couple of seconds...
Page 53: ...inition Do you need to change the hardware defitions of the board It is explained above in the manual But you can also visit this wiki article wiki article Q How to edit board configurations and defin...
Page 54: ...der to prepare a microSD card with a native Android you will need a software tool called PhoenixSuit and then Install and run PhoenixSuit Go to the firmware tab of the program and point to a valid And...
Page 55: ...to start it you can change to fast boot when you power off there is dialog box asking you if you want next boot to be fast boot you have to check this box before you power off Also note that you must...
Page 56: ...rrect ordered items are allowed subject to a 10 restocking fee What is unaffected If you hooked it to power you affected it To be clear this includes items that have been soldered to or have had their...
