OLIMEX© 2019
A64-OLinuXino quick start
A64-OLinuXino is a single-board open hardware computer. It is a system built on a single circuit board with
all hardware for proper operation already available (such as processor, power management unit, memories,
peripherals, connectors, and everything else required for basic operation).
On the other hand, A64-OLinuXino can also be considered a general-purpose development board. It can be
used in an infinite number of ways. It can boot different operating systems and distributions. There are a
number of options for accessing the operating system. The platform has free general purpose pins and
popular hardware interfaces. The board allows different ways of powering. This guide doesn't cover all
possible ways to setup the board – it lists the two most typical ways of accessing the board for the first time.
The guide is intended for absolute beginners.
1. First time setup with HDMI display
This method might be suitable for people that lack USB ↔ serial cable but have HDMI display. It is also a
method that shows the graphical user interface of the operating system. This method is prone to software
issues and incompatibilities. Additional access to the board via USB ↔ serial cable is highly recommended,
skip to chapter “2. First time setup with USB ↔ serial cable” if you need more details on how to set that up.
1.1. Items required
Before you proceed ensure that you have the following items at your disposal:
1.1.1. A board.
Any version of the A64-OLinuXino board.
1.1.2. Power supply.
An external source of power supply. It should be capable of providing at least 1A of
current at 5V of voltage. If you power additional components from the board (e.g. USB modem, LCD display,
keyboard, mouse, etc.) consider a power supply capable of providing at least 2A of current. The power
supply should fit the on-board power jack.
The on-board DC barrel jack is center positive and the inner pin is 2.0mm thick. The outer hole diameter is
6.3mm. The corresponding power supply plug (or female jack) that fits the DC barrel jack has 2.1mm inner
diameter and 5.5mm outer diameter. The length of the male plug should be between 10mm and 14mm.
For basic operation consider the 5V power adapters that we distribute – SY0605E and SY0605E-CHINA
(note that you might need additional plug adapter if you live outside of mainland Europe).
IMPORTANT! The A64-OLinuXino board is fully powered by applying 5V of voltage over the power
jack connector named “PWR1”. The board can also be powered by a 3.7V Li-Po battery attached to
the “LIPO_BAT1” connector (there is a step-up convertor to 5V, so the USB ports would still work,
albeit with lower current output available). For people that want to embed the board in their own
designs and find using power jack “PWR1” inconvenient, please use the pad of “FUSE2” to provide
power supply (and any on-board “GND” wire or pad – good places for GND are pad #2 from “UEXT1”
or pad #2 from “GPIO1” or the GND pad of the “HSIC1”).
The A64-OLinuXino board CAN NOT and SHOULD NOT be powered via the micro USB connector
“USB-OTG1”, nor via type A female USB connector “USB1”, nor via any of the “GPIO1” pads, nor via
the “UEXT1” pads, nor via Ethernet connector “LAN1”, nor via “HDMI1” connector, nor via “HSIC1”
pads, nor via nor “IPS1” pad, etc. Some of the pins of the mentioned connectors and interfaces
might have wires, pads, or pins marked as “+3.3V” or “+5V” in the schematics or in the board design
files but these are outputs only and NOT power inputs.
1.1.3.
MicroSD card with image.
A micro SD card card with an official image provided by Olimex suitable for
your board. You can use own micro SD card – we provide download links to the official images at the product
page and the board's wiki article. The card has to be at least 8GB of size. In this case you would need a card
writer tool to prepare the card and a personal computer with Internet access that is capable of running a
torrent client freely.
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