NanoPi NEO Core

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1 Introduction

Overview

Front

Back

• The NanoPi NEO Core(abbreviated as "NEO Core") is an alternative NanoPi NEO that works like a CPU board with male pin-headers. It has the same form factor as the NanoPi NEO and same pin descriptions. The connectors and ports are populated to pin-headers on the NEO Core. The NanoPi NEO Core has ESD protection for its MicroUSB port and TF card slot. In addition the NEO Core can have an optional onboard eMMC flash which is preferred by industrial customers.
• The NEO Core uses a popular Allwinner H3 SoC and has onboard 256M/512M DDR3 RAM. FriendlyElec offers models with three eMMC options: 8GB/16GB/32GB and one that doesn't have eMMC at all.
• FriendlyElec migrated UbuntuCore with mainline kernel 4.14 for it.
• FriendlyElec develops a Mini Shield for NanoPi NEO Core/Core2 which has the same form factor as the RPi 3. When a NanoPi NEO Core is connected to this Mini Shield the whole assembled module can be well fit into a common RPi 3's case.

2 Hardware Spec

• CPU: Allwinner H3, Quad-core Cortex-A7 Up to 1.2GHz
• DDR3 RAM: 256MB/512MB DDR3 RAM
• Storage: NC/8GB/16GB/32GB eMMC
• MicroSD Slot x 1
• MicroUSB: OTG and power input
• GPIO: two 2.54mm spacing 12x2pin header,one 2.54mm spacing 10x2pin header
• Connectivity: 10/100M Ethernet(6Pin, included in 2.54mm pitch pin header)
• USB Host x3(included in 2.54mm pitch pin header)
• Debug Serial Port(4Pin, included in 2.54mm pitch pin header )
• Audio input/output Port(4Pin, included in 2.54mm pitch pin header )
• GPIO:It includes UART, SPI, I2C, IO etc
• PC Size: 40 x 40mm
• Power Supply: DC 5V/2A
• Temperature measuring range: -40℃ to 80℃
• OS/Software: U-boot，Ubuntu-Core
• Weight: xxg(WITHOUT Pin-headers)

3 Diagram, Layout and Dimension

3.1 Layout

NanoPi NEO Core Layout

pinout

• GPIO1 Pin Description

Pin#	Name	Linux gpio	Pin#	Name	Linux gpio
1	SYS_3.3V		2	VDD_5V
3	I2C0_SDA / GPIOA12		4	VDD_5V
5	I2C0_SCL / GPIOA11		6	GND
7	GPIOG11	203	8	UART1_TX / GPIOG6	198
9	GND		10	UART1_RX / GPIOG7	199
11	UART2_TX / GPIOA0	0	12	GPIOA6	6
13	UART2_RTS / GPIOA2	2	14	GND
15	UART2_CTS / GPIOA3	3	16	UART1_RTS / GPIOG8	200
17	SYS_3.3V		18	UART1_CTS / GPIOG9	201
19	SPI0_MOSI / GPIOC0	64	20	GND
21	SPI0_MISO / GPIOC1	65	22	UART2_RX / GPIOA1	1
23	SPI0_CLK / GPIOC2	66	24	SPI0_CS / GPIOC3	67

• GPIO2 Pin Description

Pin#	Name	Linux gpio	Pin#	Name	Linux gpio
1	VDD_5V		2	SPI1_MOSI / GPIOA15	15
3	USB-DP1		4	SPI1_MISO / GPIOA16	16
5	USB-DM1		6	SPI1_CLK / GPIOA14	14
7	USB-DP2		8	SPI1_CS / GPIOA13	13
9	USB-DM2		10	MICIN1P
11	GPIOL11/IR-RX	363	12	MICIN1N
13	SPDIF-OUT/GPIOA17	17	14	LINEOUTR
15	PCM0_SYNC/I2S0_LRCK/I2C1_SCL		16	LINEOUTL
17	PCM0_CLK/I2S0_BCK/I2C1_SDA		18	UART_RXD0 / GPIOA5 / PWM0	5
19	PCM0_DOUT/I2S0_SDOUT		20	UART_TXD0 / GPIOA4	4
21	PCM0_DIN/I2S0_SDIN		22	VDD_5V
23	GND		24	GND

• GPIO3 Pin Description

Pin#	Name	Linux gpio	Pin#	Name	Linux gpio
1	EPHY-LINK-LED		2	EPHY-SPD-LED
3	EPHY-TXP		4	EPHY-TXN
5	EPHY-RXP		6	EPHY-RXN
7	NC		8	NC
9	NC		10	NC
11	GND		12	GND
13	USB-DP3		14	GPIOA7	7
15	USB-DM3		16	I2C2_SCL / GPIOE12
17	5V		18	I2C2_SDA / GPIOE13
19	5V		20	SYS_3.3V

Note:

1. SYS_3.3V: 3.3V power output
2. VVDD_5V: 5V power input/output. When the external device’s power is greater than the MicroUSB's the external device is charging the board otherwise the board powers the external device. The input range is 4.7V ~ 5.6V
3. All pins are 3.3V, output current is 5mA
4. For more details refer to its schematic

3.2 Dimensional Diagram

For more details refer to the document: pcb in dxf format

4 Get Started

4.1 Essentials You Need

Before starting to use your NanoPi NEO Core get the following items ready

• NanoPi NEO Core
• microSD Card/TF Card: Class 10 or Above, minimum 8GB SDHC
• microUSB power. A 5V/2A power is a must
• A Host computer running Ubuntu 16.04 64 bit system

4.2 TF Cards We Tested

To make your NanoPi NEO Core boot and run fast we highly recommend you use a Class10 8GB SDHC TF card or a better one. The following cards are what we used in all our test cases presented here:

• SanDisk TF 8G Class10 Micro/SD TF card:

• SanDisk TF128G MicroSDXC TF 128G Class10 48MB/S:

• 川宇 8G C10 High Speed class10 micro SD card:

4.3 Install OS

4.3.1 Get Image Files

Visit this link download link to download image files and the flashing utility:

Image Files:
nanopi-neo-core_sd_friendlycore-xenial_4.14_armhf_YYYYMMDD.img.zip	FriendlyCore (base on UbuntuCore) Image File, kernel: Linux-4.14
nanopi-neo-core_eflasher_friendlycore-xenial_4.14_armhf_YYYYMMDD.img.zip	eflasher image, for flashing FriendlyCore(Linux-4.14) to eMMC
Flash Utility:
win32diskimager.rar	Windows utility for flashing Debian image. Under Linux users can use "dd"

4.3.1.1 Flash to eMMC

4.3.1.1.1 Flash OS with eflasher Utility

• For more details about eflasher refer to the wiki link: EFlasher。
• Extract the eflasher Image and win32diskimager.rar files. Insert a TF card(at least 4G) into a Windows PC and run the win32diskimager utility as administrator. On the utility's main window select your TF card's drive, the wanted image file and click on "write" to start flashing the TF card.
• Insert this card into your board's BOOT slot and power on (with a 5V/2A power source). If the green LED is on and the blue LED is blinking this indicates your board has successfully booted.
• If your board doesn't support HDMI or no monitor is connected you can select an OS by running the following command:

$ su root
$ eflasher

The password for "root" is "fa".

We take "nanopi-neo-core_eflasher_friendlycore-xenial_4.14_armhf_YYYYMMDD.img" as an example. After you run the "eflasher" command you will see the following messages:

Type "1", select writing friendlycore system to eMMC you will see the following messages:

Type "yes" to start installation:

After it is done power off the system, take off the TF card, power on again your system will be booted from eMMC.

• If you want to flash other system to eMMC you can download the whole images-for-eflasher directory and extract the package under that directory to the FRIENDLYARM partition of an installation SD card.
  

5 Mini Shield for NanoPi NEO Core/Core2

Here is a setup where we connect a NanoPi NEO Core to a Mini Shield for NanoPi NEO Core/Core2. Here is an introduction to Mini Shield for NanoPi NEO Core/Core2 Mini Shield
:

6 Work with FriendlyCore

6.1 Introduction

FriendlyCore is a light Linux system without X-windows, based on ubuntu core, It uses the Qt-Embedded's GUI and is popular in industrial and enterprise applications.

Besides the regular Ubuntu Core's features FriendlyCore has the following additional features:

• it integrates Qt4.8;
• it integrates NetworkManager;
• it has bluez and Bluetooth related packages;
• it has alsa packages;
• it has npi-config;
• it has RPiGPIO, a Python GPIO module;
• it has some Python/C demo in /root/ directory;
• it enables 512M-swap partition;

6.2 System Login

• If your board is connected to an HDMI monitor you need to use a USB mouse and keyboard.
• If you want to do kernel development you need to use a serial communication board, ie a PSU-ONECOM board, which will

allow you to operate the board via a serial terminal.Here is a setup where we connect a board to a PC via the PSU-ONECOM and you can power on your board from either the PSU-ONECOM or its MicroUSB:
You can use a USB to Serial conversion board too.
Make sure you use a 5V/2A power to power your board from its MicroUSB port:

• FriendlyCore User Accounts:

Non-root User:

   User Name: pi
   Password: pi

Root:

   User Name: root
   Password: fa

The system is automatically logged in as "pi". You can do "sudo npi-config" to disable auto login.

• Update packages

$ sudo apt-get update

6.3 Configure System with npi-config

The npi-config is a commandline utility which can be used to initialize system configurations such as user password, system language, time zone, Hostname, SSH switch , Auto login and etc. Type the following command to run this utility.

$ sudo npi-config

Here is how npi-config's GUI looks like:

6.4 Develop Qt Application

Please refer to: How to Build and Install Qt Application for FriendlyELEC Boards

6.5 Setup Program to AutoRun

You can setup a program to autorun on system boot with npi-config:

sudo npi-config

Go to Boot Options -> Autologin -> Qt/Embedded, select Enable and reboot.

6.6 Extend TF Card's Section

When FriendlyCore is loaded the TF card's section will be automatically extended.You can check the section's size by running the following command:

$ df -h

6.7 WiFi

For either an SD WiFi or a USB WiFi you can connect it to your board in the same way. The APXX series WiFi chips are SD WiFi chips. By default FriendlyElec's system supports most popular USB WiFi modules. Here is a list of the USB WiFi modules we tested:

Index	Model
1	RTL8188CUS/8188EU 802.11n WLAN Adapter
2	RT2070 Wireless Adapter
3	RT2870/RT3070 Wireless Adapter
4	RTL8192CU Wireless Adapter
5	mi WiFi mt7601
6	5G USB WiFi RTL8821CU
7	5G USB WiFi RTL8812AU

You can use the NetworkManager utility to manage network. You can run "nmcli" in the commandline utility to start it. Here are the commands to start a WiFi connection:

• Change to root

$ su root

• Check device list

$ nmcli dev

Note: if the status of a device is "unmanaged" it means that device cannot be accessed by NetworkManager. To make it accessed you need to clear the settings under "/etc/network/interfaces" and reboot your system.

• Start WiFi

$ nmcli r wifi on

• Scan Surrounding WiFi Sources

$ nmcli dev wifi

• Connect to a WiFi Source

$ nmcli dev wifi connect "SSID" password "PASSWORD" ifname wlan0

The "SSID" and "PASSWORD" need to be replaced with your actual SSID and password.If you have multiple WiFi devices you need to specify the one you want to connect to a WiFi source with iface
If a connection succeeds it will be automatically setup on next system reboot.

For more details about NetworkManager refer to this link: Use NetworkManager to configure network settings

If your USB WiFi module doesn't work most likely your system doesn't have its driver. For a Debian system you can get a driver from Debian-WiFi and install it on your system. For a Ubuntu system you can install a driver by running the following commands:

$ apt-get install linux-firmware

In general all WiFi drivers are located at the "/lib/firmware" directory.

6.8 Ethernet Connection

If a board is connected to a network via Ethernet before it is powered on it will automatically obtain an IP with DHCP activated after it is powered up. If you want to set up a static IP refer to: Use NetworkManager to configure network settings。

6.9 WiringPi and Python Wrapper

• WiringNP: NanoPi NEO/NEO2/Air GPIO Programming with C
• RPi.GPIO : NanoPi NEO/NEO2/Air GPIO Programming with Python

6.10 Custom welcome message

The welcome message is printed from the script in this directory：

/etc/update-motd.d/

For example, to change the FriendlyELEC LOGO, you can change the file /etc/update-motd.d/10-header. For example, to change the LOGO to HELLO, you can change the following line：

TERM=linux toilet -f standard -F metal $BOARD_VENDOR

To:

TERM=linux toilet -f standard -F metal HELLO

6.11 Modify timezone

For exampe, change to Shanghai timezone:

sudo rm /etc/localtime
sudo ln -ls /usr/share/zoneinfo/Asia/Shanghai /etc/localtime

6.12 Set Audio Device

If your system has multiple audio devices such as HDMI-Audio, 3.5mm audio jack and I2S-Codec you can set system's default audio device by running the following commands.

• After your board is booted run the following commands to install alsa packages:

$ apt-get update
$ apt-get install libasound2
$ apt-get install alsa-base
$ apt-get install alsa-utils

• After installation is done you can list all the audio devices by running the following command. Here is a similar list you may see after you run the command:

$ aplay -l
card 0: HDMI
card 1: 3.5mm codec
card 2: I2S codec

"card 0" is HDMI-Audio, "card 1" is 3.5mm audio jack and "card 2" is I2S-Codec. You can set default audio device to HDMI-Audio by changing the "/etc/asound.conf" file as follows:

pcm.!default {
    type hw
    card 0
    device 0
}
 
ctl.!default {
    type hw
    card 0
}

If you change "card 0" to "card 1" the 3.5mm audio jack will be set to the default device.
Copy a .wav file to your board and test it by running the following command:

$ aplay /root/Music/test.wav

You will hear sounds from system's default audio device.
If you are using H3/H5/H2+ series board with mainline kernel, the easier way is using npi-config。

6.13 Connect to USB Camera(FA-CAM202)

The FA-CAM202 is a 200M USB camera. Connect your board to camera module. Then boot OS, connect your board to a network, log into the board as root and run "mjpg-streamer":

$ cd /root/C/mjpg-streamer
$ make
$ ./start.sh

You need to change the start.sh script and make sure it uses a correct /dev/videoX node. You can check your camera's node by running the following commands:

$ apt-get install v4l-utils
$ v4l2-ctl -d /dev/video0 -D
Driver Info (not using libv4l2):
        Driver name   : uvcvideo
        Card type     : HC 3358+2100: HC 3358+2100  / USB 2.0 Camera: USB 2.0 Camera
        Bus info      : usb-1c1b000.usb-1
	...

The above messages indicate that "/dev/video0" is camera's device node.The mjpg-streamer application is an open source video steam server. After it is successfully started the following messages will be popped up:

 
$ ./start.sh
 i: Using V4L2 device.: /dev/video0
 i: Desired Resolution: 1280 x 720
 i: Frames Per Second.: 30
 i: Format............: YUV
 i: JPEG Quality......: 90
 o: www-folder-path...: ./www/
 o: HTTP TCP port.....: 8080
 o: username:password.: disabled
 o: commands..........: enabled

start.sh runs the following two commands:

export LD_LIBRARY_PATH="$(pwd)"
./mjpg_streamer -i "./input_uvc.so -d /dev/video0 -y 1 -r 1280x720 -f 30 -q 90 -n -fb 0" -o "./output_http.so -w ./www"

Here are some details for mjpg_streamer's major options:
-i: input device. For example "input_uvc.so" means it takes input from a camera;
-o: output device. For example "output_http.so" means the it transmits data via http;
-d: input device's subparameter. It defines a camera's device node;
-y: input device's subparameter. It defines a camera's data format: 1:yuyv, 2:yvyu, 3:uyvy 4:vyuy. If this option isn't defined MJPEG will be set as the data format;
-r: input device's subparameter. It defines a camera's resolution;
-f: input device's subparameter. It defines a camera's fps. But whether this fps is supported depends on its driver;
-q: input device's subparameter. It defines the quality of an image generated by libjpeg soft-encoding;
-n: input device's subparameter. It disables the dynctrls function;
-fb: input device's subparameter. It specifies whether an input image is displayed at "/dev/fbX";
-w: output device's subparameter. It defines a directory to hold web pages;

In our case the board's IP address was 192.168.1.230. We typed 192.168.1.230:8080 in a browser and were able to view the images taken from the camera's. Here is what you would expect to observe:

6.14 Check CPU's Working Temperature

You can get CPU's working temperature by running the following command:

$ cpu_freq 
Aavailable frequency(KHz):
        480000 624000 816000 1008000
Current frequency(KHz):
        CPU0 online=1 temp=26548C governor=ondemand freq=624000KHz
        CPU1 online=1 temp=26548C governor=ondemand freq=624000KHz
        CPU2 online=1 temp=26548C governor=ondemand freq=624000KHz
        CPU3 online=1 temp=26548C governor=ondemand freq=624000KHz

This message means there are currently four CPUs working. All of their working temperature is 26.5 degree in Celsius and each one's clock is 624MHz.
Set CPU frequency:

$ cpu_freq -s 1008000
Aavailable frequency(KHz):
        480000 624000 816000 1008000
Current frequency(KHz):
        CPU0 online=1 temp=36702C governor=userspace freq=1008000KHz
        CPU1 online=1 temp=36702C governor=userspace freq=1008000KHz
        CPU2 online=1 temp=36702C governor=userspace freq=1008000KHz
        CPU3 online=1 temp=36702C governor=userspace freq=1008000KHz

6.15 Test Infrared Receiver

Note: Please Check your board if IR receiver exist.
By default the infrared function is disabled you can enable it by using the npi-config utility:

$ npi-config
    6 Advanced Options     Configure advanced settings
        A8 IR              Enable/Disable IR
            ir Enable/Disable ir[enabled]

Reboot your system and test its infrared function by running the following commands:

$ apt-get install ir-keytable
$ echo "+rc-5 +nec +rc-6 +jvc +sony +rc-5-sz +sanyo +sharp +mce_kbd +xmp" > /sys/class/rc/rc0/protocols   # Enable infrared
$ ir-keytable -t
Testing events. Please, press CTRL-C to abort.

"ir-keytable -t" is used to check whether the receiver receives infrared signals. You can use a remote control to send infrared signals to the receiver. If it works you will see similar messages as follows:

1522404275.767215: event type EV_MSC(0x04): scancode = 0xe0e43
1522404275.767215: event type EV_SYN(0x00).
1522404278.911267: event type EV_MSC(0x04): scancode = 0xe0e42
1522404278.911267: event type EV_SYN(0x00).

6.16 Run Qt Demo

Run the following command

$ sudo /opt/QtE-Demo/run.sh

Here is what you expect to observe. This is an open source Qt Demo:

6.17 How to install and use docker (for armhf system)

6.17.1 How to Install Docker

Run the following commands：

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install docker.io

6.17.2 Test Docker installation

Test that your installation works by running the simple docker image:

git clone https://github.com/friendlyarm/debian-jessie-arm-docker
cd debian-jessie-arm-docker
./rebuild-image.sh
./run.sh

7 Make Your Own FriendlyCore

7.1 Use Mainline BSP

The NanoPi NEO Core has gotten support for kernel Linux-4.14 with Ubuntu Core 16.04. For more details about how to use mainline u-boot and Linux-4.14 refer to :Mainline U-boot & Linux

8 Connect External Modules to NEO Core

8.2 Connect Python Programmable NanoHat OLED to NEO Core

The NanoHat OLED module is a small and cute monochrome OLED module with low power consumption. It has three user buttons. We provide its driver's source code and a user friendly shell interface on which you can check system information and status.A customized aluminum case is made for it. You cannot miss this lovely utility! Here is a hardware setup:NanoHat OLED

8.3 Connect Python Programmable NanoHat Motor to NEO Core

The NanoHat Motor module can drive four 5V PWM steering motors and four 12V DC motors or four 5V PWM steering motors and two 12V four-wire step motors.Here is a hardware setup: NanoHat Motor

8.4 Connect NanoHat PCM5102A to NEO Core

The NanoHat PCM5102A module uses TI's DAC audio chip PCM5102A, a convenient and easy-to-use audio module for hobbyists. Here is a hardware setup:NanoHat PCM5102A

8.5 Connect Arduino Compatible UNO Dock to NEO Core

The UNO Dock module is an Arduino board compatible with Arduino UNO and works with Arduino programs.You can use Arduino IDE to run all Arduino programs on the Dock.It also exposes the NanoPi NEO Core's pins.It converts 12V power input to 5V/2A output.You can search for various code samples from Ubuntu's ecosystem and run on the Dock. These features make it a powerful platform for IOT projects and cloud related applications. Here is a hardware setup:UNO Dock for NanoPi NEO v1.0

8.6 Connect Power Dock to NEO Core

The Power Dock for NanoPi NEO Core is a high efficiency power conversion module. It provides stable and reliable power source. Here is a hardware setup:Power Dock for NanoPi NEO
Power Dock for NanoPi NEO_nanopi_NEO_Core

8.7 Connect NanoHat Proto to NEO Core

The NanoHat Proto is an expansion board which exposes NEO Core's various pins.It has an onboard EEPROM for data storage.Here is a hardware setup:NanoHat Proto
Matrix - NanoHat Proto_nanopi_NEO_Core

8.8 Connect Matrix - 2'8 SPI Key TFT to NanoPi NEO Core

The Matrix-2'8_SPI_Key_TFT module is a 2.8" TFT LCD with resistive touch. It uses the ST7789S IC and XPT2046 resistive touch IC. It has SPI interface and three configurable user keys.Here is its wiki page Matrix - 2'8 SPI Key TFT

10 Resources

10.1 Datasheet & Schematics

• Schematic NanoPi-NEO-Core-V1.1-1802-Schematic.pdf
• Schematic NanoPi-NEO-Core-V1.0-1705-Schematic.pdf
• Dimensional Diagram NanoPi-NEO-Core-1705 pcb的dxf文件
• Dimensional Diagram NanoPi-NEO-Core-1805 pcb的dxf文件
• H3's datasheet Allwinner_H3_Datasheet_V1.2.pdf

11 Update Log

11.1 Dec-1-2017

• Released English version