OLIMEX A13-OLinuXino-MICRO User Manual

A13-OLinuXino-MICRO

Open-source single-board

mini-computer

USER’S MANUAL

Document revision B, June 2015

All boards produced by Olimex LTD are ROHS compliant

DISCLAIMER

The information in this document is provided in connection with Olimex products. No license, express or implied or otherwise, to any intellectual property right is granted by this document or in connection with the sale of Olimex products.

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/.

This hardware design by Olimex LTD is licensed under a Creative Commons AttributionShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.

The software is released under GPL.

It is possible that the pictures in this manual differ from the latest revision of the board.

The product described in this document is subject to continuous development and improvements. All particulars of the product and its use contained in this document are given by OLIMEX in good faith. However all warranties implied or expressed including but not limited to implied warranties of 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 the use of any information in this document or any error or omission in such information or any incorrect use of the product.

This evaluation board/kit is intended for use for engineering development, demonstration, or evaluation purposes only and is not considered by OLIMEX to be a finished end-product fit for general consumer use. Persons handling the product must have electronics training and observe good engineering practice standards. As such, the goods being provided are not intended to be complete in terms of required design-, marketing-, and/or manufacturing-related protective considerations, including product safety and environmental measures typically found in end products that incorporate such semiconductor components or circuit boards.

Olimex currently deals with a variety of customers for products, and therefore our arrangement with the user is not exclusive. Olimex assumes no liability for applications assistance, customer product design, software performance, or infringement of patents or services described herein.

THERE IS NO WARRANTY FOR THE DESIGN MATERIALS AND THE COMPONENTS USED TO CREATE A13-OLINUXINO-MICRO. THEY ARE CONSIDERED SUITABLE ONLY FOR A13-OLINUXINO-MICRO.

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Table of Contents

DISCLAIMER ............................................................................................................. 2

CHAPTER 1: OVERVIEW ........................................................................................ 5

1. Introduction to the chapter ....................................................................................................... 5

1.1 Features ..................................................................................................................................... 5

1.2 Target market and purpose of the board ............................................................................... 5

1.3 Board variants .......................................................................................................................... 6

1.4 Organization ............................................................................................................................. 6

CHAPTER 2: SETTING UP THE OLINUXINO BOARD ..................................... 7

2. Introduction to the chapter ....................................................................................................... 7

2.1 Electrostatic warning ............................................................................................................... 7

2.2 Requirements ........................................................................................................................... 7

2.3 Powering the board .................................................................................................................. 8

2.4 Prebuilt software ...................................................................................................................... 9

2.5 Software instructions and available SD card images ........................................................... 9

CHAPTER 3: A13-OLinuXino-MICRO BOARD DESCRIPTION ..................... 10

3. Introduction to the chapter ..................................................................................................... 10

3.1 Layout (top view) ................................................................................................................... 10

CHAPTER 4: THE ALLWINNER A13 MICROCONTROLLER ....................... 11

4. Introduction to the chapter ..................................................................................................... 11

4.1 The microcontroller ............................................................................................................... 11

4.2 Block diagram ........................................................................................................................ 13

CHAPTER 5: CONTROL CIRCUITY ................................................................... 14

5. Introduction to the chapter ..................................................................................................... 14

5.1 Reset ........................................................................................................................................ 14

5.2 Clock ....................................................................................................................................... 14

5.3 Power supply circuit .............................................................................................................. 14

CHAPTER 6: CONNECTORS AND PINOUT ...................................................... 15

6. Introduction to the chapter ..................................................................................................... 15

6.1 Communication with the A13 ............................................................................................... 15

6.1.1 USB communication ..................................................................................................................................... 15

6.1.2 UART1 interface ........................................................................................................................................... 15

6.2 SD/MMC slot .......................................................................................................................... 16

6.3 UEXT module ......................................................................................................................... 17

6.4 GPIO-1 (General Purpose Input/Output) 10pin connector ............................................... 18

6.5 GPIO-2 (General Purpose Input/Output) 40pin connector ............................................... 19

6.6 LCD_CON 40pin connector .................................................................................................. 20

6.7 PWR Jack ............................................................................................................................... 21

6.8 Headphones and microphone connector .............................................................................. 21

6.9 VGA video connector ............................................................................................................. 22

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6.10 Jumper description .............................................................................................................. 22

6.10.1 1.2V_E, 1.5V_E, 3.3V_E ............................................................................................................................ 22

6.10.2 HOST_EN ................................................................................................................................................... 22

6.11 Additional hardware components ....................................................................................... 23

CHAPTER 7: SCHEMATICS .................................................................................. 24

7. Introduction to the chapter ..................................................................................................... 24

7.1 Eagle schematic ...................................................................................................................... 24

7.2 Physical dimensions ............................................................................................................... 26

CHAPTER 8: REVISION HISTORY AND SUPPORT ........................................ 27

8. Introduction to the chapter ..................................................................................................... 27

8.1 Document revision ................................................................................................................. 27

8.2 Board revision ........................................................................................................................ 27

8.3 Useful web links and purchase codes ................................................................................... 28

8.4 Product support ..................................................................................................................... 29

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CHAPTER 1: OVERVIEW

1. Introduction to the chapter

Thank you for choosing the OLinuXino single board computer from Olimex! This document provides a user’s guide for the Olimex OLinuXino board. As an overview, this chapter gives the scope of this document and lists the board’s features. The document’s organization is then detailed. The OLinuXino development board enables code development of applications running on the microcontroller A13, manufactured by Allwinner Technology from China.

OLinuXino is an open-source, open-hardware project and all documentation is available to the customer.

1.1 Features

• A13 Cortex A8 processor at 1GHz, 3D Mali400 GPU

• 256 MB RAM (128Mbit x 16)

• 5VDC input power supply, noise immune design

• 1 USB Host

• 1 USB OTG which can power the board

• SD-card connector for booting Linux or Android image

• VGA video output – 800×600 maximum resolution

• LCD signals available on connector so you still can use LCD if you disable VGA/HDMI

• Audio output

• Microphone input pads (no connector)

• 1 User key

• 4 Mount holes

• UEXT connector for connecting additional UEXT modules like Zigbee, Bluetooth, relays,

etc

• GPIO connector with 68/74 pins and these signals : 17 for adding NAND flash; 22 for connecting LCDs; 20+4 including 8 GPIOs which can be input, output, interrupt sources; 3x I2C; 2x UARTs; SDIO2 for connectinf SDcards and modules; 5 system pins: +5V, +3.3V, GND, RESET, NMI

• (Optional low cost 7" or 4.8'' LCD with/without touchscreen)

1.2 Target market and purpose of the board

The boards from the OLinuXino family are powerful and easy to setup. They are suitable for embedded programming enthusiasts, Linux and Android gadget fans and also professionals (since its low cost makes it very good solution for application orientated embedded systems). The main usage of the board is software embedded development without the urge of understanding perfectly the hardware.

The strong points of the boards are the processor speed, the mobility of the board and the low ratio price to productivity.

A13-OLinuXino-MICRO aims at the lowest possible cost while maintaining the key OLinuXino

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features. It is suitable for cases when a number of boards are used. It is suitable for different Linux distributions.

Customers have full access to the technical documentation of the board. The software is released under General Purpose License and the board is considered open-hardware.

1.3 Board variants

There are two major board variants. According to the names: A13-OLinuXino and A13-OLinuXinoMICRO.

The base model has also two flavors: A13-OLinuXino and A13-OLinuXino-MICRO-WIFI. The first one is the base model that goes without any operating system image on board, while the second has two additional components – a WIFI module on the board and NAND memory with stored Android image.

The A13-OLinuXino-MICRO is the other less populated but cheaper board in the family. It also lacks Android out-of-the-box.

1.4 Organization

Each section in this document covers a separate topic, organized as follow:

– Chapter 1 is an overview of the board usage and features – Chapter 2 provides a guide for quickly setting up the board and software notes – Chapter 3 contains the general board diagram and layout – Chapter 4 describes the component that is the heart of the board: the A13 – Allwinner

processor

– Chapter 5 is an explanation of the control circuitry associated with the microcontroller to

reset. Also shows the clocks on the board

– Chapter 6 covers the connector pinout, peripherals and jumper description – Chapter 7 provides the schematics – Chapter 8 contains the revision history, useful links and support information

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CHAPTER 2: SETTING UP THE OLINUXINO BOARD

2. Introduction to the chapter

This section helps you set up the OLinuXino development board for the first time. Please consider first the electrostatic warning to avoid damaging the board, then discover the hardware and software required to operate the board.

The procedure to power up the board is given, and a description of the default board behavior is detailed.

2.1 Electrostatic warning

OLinuXino is shipped in a protective anti-static package. The board must not be exposed to high electrostatic potentials. A grounding strap or similar protective device should be worn when handling the board. Avoid touching the component pins or any other metallic element.

2.2 Requirements

In order to set up the A10s-OLinuXino-Micro optimally one or more additional items may be used. They might be generally placed in three categories:

Required – items that are needed in order to achieve minimum functionality; Recommended – items that is good to have in order to be able to interact with the most important

of the features of the board;

Required items:

- 5V, 5W required (5V @ 1A) – for optimal power

- LCD (preferably with touchscreen panel) display for the LCD_CON OR TV monitor with RGB port (or suitable connector)

- USB hub (for splitting the USB) – else you will be unable to connect your USB devices

- A USB mouse – if you use touchscreen LCD you might skip the mouse

- A Micro SD card with Linux image – you can download and upload the image on any 2GB or bigger Micro SD card – the image can be downloaded from the wiki article (https://www.olimex.com/wiki/A13-OLinuXino-MICRO)

OLIMEX A13-OLinuXino-MICRO User Manual

Specifications and Main Features

Frequently Asked Questions

User Manual