USAGE-AND-COMMON-PRACTICEs-A20-Olimex_kernel_3.4.103+_Jessie_rel_3.txt

Advice and common practices for A20-SOM, A20-OLinuXino-MICRO, A20-OLinuXino-LIME,
A20-OLinuXino-LIME2 boards

I. Card preparation
---

There are three ways to get a working Linux card. First, you can download the official Debian image
from the wiki article of the board and download it to a microSD card - each board has own wiki
article and specific Debian image so make sure that you are getting the proper Debian image from the
correct wiki article. Alternatively, you can purchase a card with Debian on it - again make sure
that the card is suitable for the board that you purchased. If you have doubts drop us an e-mail or
post in the forums.

The third way of getting a working microSD is to prepare the image from scratch. The step-by-step
guide on how to do it can be found in the GitHub.

Note: We sell microSD cards with pre-loaded official Debian that you just plug and use. These are
8GB class 10 fast cards. If you are going to download the image and prepare a microSD card please
use at least 8GB card with similar speed card (or faster) or the performance of  will slow
down. The latest official image is Debian Jessie Linux with mainline u-boot and kernel 3.4.103+.

All images are archived. Before you can download the image to the microSD card you need to extract
the archive and you need an external microSD card reader. To extract the file:

1. under Windows

Use 7zip and then use Win32DiskImager.exe (http://sourceforge.net/projects/win32diskimager/) for
image writing.

1.2 under Linux

Use p7zip package. If you have no installed 7zip then type

#apt-get install p7zip

Copy the archived image to your directory and unzip it with

#7za e a20-XXX.7z

,where a20-XXX.7z must be replaced with the name of the image that you downloaded

The output should be a new file named a20-XXX.img.

Insert a suitable microSD card (at least 8GB, preferably class 10 speed) in your card reader and
type

#ls /dev/sd

Then press two times <TAB> you will see a list of your sd devices like sda sdb sdc note that some of
these devices may be your hard disk so make sure you know which one is your microSD card before you
proceed as you can damage your HDD if you choose the wrong sd-device. You can determine which is the
card by unplugging your sd card reader and identify which "sd" devices remove from the list. Once
you know which device is your sdcard like sda use this text instead of the sdX name in the
references below:

#dd if=a20-XXX.img of=/dev/sdX

Note that the image is 8GB and if you write it on bigger SD card it is reccomended to resize it in
order to use all SD card space. From root directory start resize_sd.sh script with the following
parameters

#./resize_sd.sh /dev/mmcblk0 2

II. Default user name and password
---

Under the command line interface you are automatically logged as super user (user "root", password
"olimex"). However, under the graphical environment you are not auto-logged as super user and you
must type "sudo" before the command (in the GUI the super-user is "olimex" and the password is
"olimex").

The list of all installed packages is located in debian_jessie_installed_packages.txt file

III. Changing A20-XXX HDMI, LCD or VGA video output resolution 
---

The default SD card setup is made with settings for HDMI 720p/60Hz. If you want to change to some
other LCD, VGA or HDMI resolution then you have to start change_display.sh script file in /root
directory. When you are logged as super user in the board type:

For Debian Wheezy releases: #./change_display* (* = press 'tab')
For Debian Jessie releases: #change_display* (* = press 'tab')

and press "Enter".

Note that the script should be executed as super user. Under the command line interface you are
automatically logged as super user (user "root", password "olimex"). However, under the graphical
environment you are not auto-logged as super user and you must type "sudo" before the command (in
the GUI the super-user is "olimex" and the password is "olimex").

Then choose the resolution and the interface(LCD, HDMI or VGA). Note that the selection of a
specific resolution is done by navigating with the arrow keys and pressing "space" button. Make sure
the asterisk marks your selection properly. 


- For the 15.6 and the 15.6-FHD LCDs you can control the backlight duty percentage and DCR(Dinamic
Contrast Ratio) using a soft pwm module. The main goal is to decrease power consumption. For
example:

#echo 50 > /sys/class/softpwm/backlight/duty

will decrease the LCD backlight to 50%, the parameter for duty can be between 0 and 100

#echo 10 > /sys/class/softpwm/duty

will decrease the LCD contrast, the parameter 10 for duty is between 0 and 100 

- For the rest of the displays - 4.3", 7" and 10" LCD  you can control only backlight a hardware pwm
module. The main goal is to decrease power consumption. For example:

#echo 50 > /sys/class/pwm-sunxi/pwm0/duty_percent

will decrease the LCD backlight to 50%, the parameter for duty_percent is between 0 and 100


IV. Editing configurations - changing script.bin file
---

Note that you have to be very carefull with script.bin changing because the system can stop working.
It is recommeded to make backup of script.bin file before change it.

If you want to convert script.bin file from sdcard to script.fex file first you have to mount the
first sdcard patition:

#mount /dev/mmcblk0p1 /mnt

Then use bin2fex script to convert and script.bin to script.fex:

#bin2fex /mnt/script.bin script.fex

Now you can change the board modules and parameters, save the changes and exit from nano editor:

#nano script.fex
#save and exit

Now you have to convert script.fex to script.bin and replace it:

#fex2bin script.fex /mnt/script.bin

Then reboot: 

#reboot

V. Hardware tested, interfaces usage and instructions
---

Note that not all A20 boards have all the hardware described below. The main tested onboard hardware
modules are:

- GPIOs - these are located in /sys/class/gpio directory. Note that first you have to export GPIOs.
For example, to exporte export all available GPIOs:

for i in `seq 1 1 230`; do echo $i > /sys/class/gpio/export; done

To set a port as output:

#echo out > /sys/class/gpio/gpioXX_pxx/direction

To set a port in high level (locical 1):

#echo 1 > /sys/class/gpio/gpioXX_pXX/value

- LCD - 4.3"(480x272), 7"(800x480), 10"(1024x600), 15"(1366x768), 15"(1080x1920)
- SATA - with power on/off control and battery support
- HDMI - the default HDMI resolution is 720p50(720x1280 - 50 Hz)
- Touch screens for the display - you need to calibrate the touch screen first. Use the graphical
environment to do that. Launch Calibrate Touchscreen application from Preferences menu(press the
button in down left corner). In order to save calibration data it is better to copy values from the
window that appears after calibrations to Option "Calibration" section in
/usr/share/X11/xorg.conf.d/10-evdev.conf file. It is something like - Option "Calibration" "3999 66
198 3938". To open the file use:

#nano /usr/share/X11/xorg.conf.d/10-evdev.conf

- ASIX8877 USB-LAN - https://www.olimex.com/Products/OLinuXino/A13/USB-ETHERNET-AX88772B/ - usually
it is eth1 interface
- USB WEB camera A4TECH
- WIFI-RTL8188 - https://www.olimex.com/Products/Modules/Ethernet/MOD-WIFI-RTL8188/ - you have to
set your SSID network and your password in /etc/network/interfaces file; if there are problems in
bringing the WIFI interface up; first create a file "/etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-rtlcommon.conf" 
then access it for editing with command "nano /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-rtlcommon.conf". Inside 
the file insert these three lines:

install rtl8192cu /bin/false
install rtl8192c_common /bin/false
install rtlwifi /bin/false

Save and close the file (Ctrl+X; Y; Enter). Finally, reboot the board with "reboot" command.
- MOD-WIFI-R5370 - https://www.olimex.com/Products/USB-Modules/MOD-WIFI-R5370 - you have to set your
SSID network and your password in /etc/network/interfaces file
- USB-OTG - low/full/high USB host - there is USB gadgets module enabled, you can use USB_OTG for
SSH connection without need of LAN cable or serial cable. You can use only mini USB cable connected
between your host PC and the onboard mini USB connector. For connection convenience there a DHCP
server started only for USB0 interface. So the DHCP server should give IP address to the new USB0
interface of your host PC and you can make SSH connection from your PC to the default board IP
address of USB0 interface - 192.168.2.1. Note that USB0 interface IP address by default  is
192.168.2.1 Therefore the host IP address has to be in this network - 192.168.2.xxx(except
192.168.2.1). Use login:olimex and password:olimex to connect with the board.

- USB-HOSTs - low/full/high USB hosts
- MOD-USB3G	-	https://www.olimex.com/Products/USB-Modules/MOD-USB3G - in order to test MOD-USB3G
module you need to make sure that usb-modeswitch is installed. Issue the following commands:

  apt-get update
  apt-get install usb-modeswitch
  sudo reboot

Then place the SIM card (without pin code) in the module and connect it to USB host connector, 
then edit the network settings in /etc/wvdial.conf file according to your mobile operator
and type:

  #wvdial <name_specified_in_wvdial>

A wvdial.conf that we have used successfully here (use only as reference):

[Dialer VIVACOM]
Init1 = ATZ
Init2 = ATQ0 V1 E1 S0=0 &C1 &D2 +FCLASS=0
Init3 = AT+CGDCONT=1,"IP","internet.vivacom.bg"
Stupid Mode = 1
Modem Type = Analog Modem
ISDN = 0
Phone = *99#
Modem = /dev/ttyUSB0
Username = {VIVACOM}
Password = {VIVACOM}
Baud = 460800

Then I run:

  wvdial VIVACOM &

and ping with

  ping google.com

If you have problems try to add the modem manually with:

  nano /etc/usb_modeswitch.d/05c6\:1000

This opens a new file and you enter the following information inside:

  TargetVendor=0x05c6
  TargetProduct=0x6000
  StandardEject=1
  
Save and close the file. Try again.
- micoSD card interface - Linux boots from this microSD card usually; in case you boot from NAND it
can be used as a storage
- SD card interface - can be used as storage 
- ETHERNET - 100Mb/1000Mb. By default the board IP address is 192.168.1.254. So if you want to
connect with the board via the Ethernet connector using SSH client (for example PuTTY -
http://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~sgtatham/putty/) then you have to use this address. You can
change this address from /etc/network/interface file. Note that for internet connection you have to
set your gateway address in /etc/network/interdaces file and you have to set your DNS server in
/etc/resolv.conf (for example nameserver 192.168.1.1)

- MICROPHONE INPUT and HEADPHONES OUTPUT - to stream the audio from the MICROPHONE jack to the
HEADPHONE jack use:

#arecord -f dat -r 60000 -D plughw:0,0 | aplay

- NAND support - /dev/nandX. Alternatively, ou can use boot linux only from NAND without using SD
card. Use naninstall script to do this:

#nandinstall

Be patient. This operation will take around 10 minutes. If you face problems with nandinstall then
visit this wiki article: https://www.olimex.com/wiki/How_to_install_Debian_to_NAND

- emmc support - /dev/mmcblk1p1 - you can copy SD card image to onboard emmc chip and then you can
boot from the emmc device. Use emmc.sh script to do this:

#./emmc.sh

- I2C2(100KHz) - /dev/i2c-2
- I2C1(100KHz) - /dev/i2c-1
- UART4(only for A20-LIME and A20-LIME2) - /dev/ttyS1
- UART6(only for A20-SOM, A20-OLinuXino-MICRO) - /dev/ttyS1
- UART7(only for A20-SOM, A20-OLinuXino-MICRO) - /dev/ttyS2
- SPI1((only for A20-SOM, A20-OLinuXino-MICRO)) - /dev/spidev1.0
- SPI2 - /dev/spidev2.0 there is a simple test for SPI2 in /opt/spidev directory:

#ls /opt/spidev

- MOD-TC - in folder max6675/ there is example related with
MOD-TC(https://www.olimex.com/Products/Modules/Sensors/MOD-TC/open-source-hardware) - temperature
sensor that you have to connect to UEXT1 connector:

#cd max6675
#./MAX6675
the last command will read temperature from MOD-TC thermocouple

- BUTTONs - we use evtest package for testing. To start it:

#evtest

then enter event number for keyboard and now you can press the BUTTONs and you should see the result
on terminal window.

- on board camera support (only for A20-SOM-EVB) - you can do a simple camera test if you paste the
next command:

#mplayer -fps 60  -tv driver=v4l2:width=640:height=480:device=/dev/video0 tv:// 

and see camera stream to fremebufer output you set - HDMI, VGA or LCD

- USB gadgets - you can use mini USB connector to connect with the board via SSH. Note that USB0
interface IP address by default  is 192.168.2.1 Therefore the host IP address has to be in this
network - 192.168.2.xxx(except 192.168.2.1). Use login:olimex and password:olimex to connect with
the board.

- Video playing with full hardware acceleration. Open a console window in X environment. Type:

#export VDPAU_DRIVER=sunxi
#mpv --vo=vdpau --hwdec=vdpau --hwdec-codecs=all test.mp4
, where test.mp4 is the video file name

- CAN bus
for example you have to use 2 A20-CAN board connected to GPIO3 connector of A20-Olinuxino boards and connected with CAN bus. 
https://www.olimex.com/wiki/A20-CAN

if the one board is server then type:

# ip link set can0 down
# ip link set can0 up type can bitrate 1000000 triple-sampling on loopback off
# ip link set can0 up
# candump can0

if the other is client then type:

# ip link set can0 down
# ip link set can0 up type can bitrate 1000000 triple-sampling on loopback off
# ip link set can0 up
# cansend can0 123#1E.66.55

You will receive can data from server