OLIMEX A13-SOM-256 User manual

A13-SOM-256 and A13-SOM-512
System-on-Module boards capable of Linux boot
US R’S MANUAL
Revision B, March 2015
Designed by OLIMEX Ltd, 2014
All boards produced by Olimex LTD are ROHS compliant

OLIMEX© 015 A13-SOM user's manual
DI CLAIMER
© 015 Olimex Ltd. Olimex®, logo and combinations thereof, are registered trademarks of Olimex Ltd. Other product
names may be trademarks of others and the rights belong to their respective owners.
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.
The hardware designs of A13-SOM- 56 and A13-SOM-51 development boards are considered intellectual property to
Olimex. The hardware design files are considered copyright material and would not be distributed.
The hardware designs of the boards that can be attached over A13-SOM- 56 and A13-SOM-51 (e.g. A13-SOM-WIFI,
A13-SOM-WIFI, A13-SOM-LTE, etc) are considered open source hardware. The source design files are published
online and accessible by everyone.
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 I NO WARRANTY FOR THE DE IGN MATERIAL AND THE COMPONENT
U ED TO CREATE A13- OM-256 AND A13- OM-512. THEY ARE CON IDERED
UITABLE ONLY FOR A13- OM-256 AND A13- OM-512 RE PECTIVELY.
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Table of Contents
DISCLAIM R ............................................................................................................. 2
CHAPT R 1: OV RVI W ........................................................................................ 5
1. Introduction to the chapter ....................................................................................................... 5
1.1 Introduction to OM ( ystem-On-a-Module) ....................................................................... 5
1.2 Target market of the board ..................................................................................................... 6
1.3 Features of A13- OM boards ................................................................................................. 7
1.4 Board variants .......................................................................................................................... 7
1.5 Board version used in the manual .......................................................................................... 7
1.6 Document organization ........................................................................................................... 8
CHAPT R 2: S TTING UP TH A13-SOM BOARD ........................................... 9
2. Introduction to the chapter ....................................................................................................... 9
2.1 Electrostatic and electrical polarity warning ........................................................................ 9
2.2 Requirements ........................................................................................................................... 9
2.3 Powering the board ................................................................................................................ 10
2.3.1 Stand-alone powering ................................................................................................................................... 10
2.3.2 Mounted powering ........................................................................................................................................ 11
2.4 Button functions ..................................................................................................................... 11
2.5 Interacting with the board .................................................................................................... 12
2.6 Changing the default image resolution ................................................................................ 12
2.7 Connecting and calibrating a display ................................................................................... 15
2.7.1 Android calibration ...................................................................................................................................... 16
2.7.2 Debian calibration ........................................................................................................................................ 16
2.8 oftware support .................................................................................................................... 16
CHAPT R 3: BOARD D SCRIPTION ................................................................. 18
3. Introduction to the chapter ..................................................................................................... 18
3.1 Layout (top view) ................................................................................................................... 18
3.2 Layout (bottom view) ............................................................................................................. 19
CHAPT R 4: TH ALLWINN R A13 MICROCONTROLL R ....................... 20
4. Introduction to the chapter ..................................................................................................... 20
4.1 The processor ......................................................................................................................... 20
4.2 Block diagram ........................................................................................................................ 21
CHAPT R 5: CONTROL CIRCUITY ................................................................... 22
5. Introduction to the chapter ..................................................................................................... 22
5.1 Reset ........................................................................................................................................ 22
5.2 Clocks ...................................................................................................................................... 22
5.3 Power supply circuit .............................................................................................................. 22
CHAPT R 6: CONN CTORS AND PINOUT ...................................................... 23
6. Introduction to the chapter ..................................................................................................... 23
6.1 Communication with A13- OM ........................................................................................... 23
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6.1.1 UART1 interface ........................................................................................................................................... 24
6.2 Micro D card connector ....................................................................................................... 24
6.2.1 SD/MMC slot ................................................................................................................................................ 25
6.3 Power pins for external power supply .................................................................................. 25
6.4 GPIO connectors .................................................................................................................... 26
6.4.1 GPIO-1 (General Purpose Input/Output) 40pin connector ..................................................................... 27
6.4.2 GPIO-2 (General Purpose Input/Output) 10pin connector ..................................................................... 27
6.4.3 GPIO-3 (General Purpose Input/Output) 10pin connector ..................................................................... 28
6.5 LCD_TR 40pin connector ..................................................................................................... 28
6.6 Jumper description ................................................................................................................ 29
6.7 Additional hardware components ........................................................................................ 29
CHAPT R 7: SCH MATICS .................................................................................. 30
7. Introduction to the chapter ..................................................................................................... 30
7.1 Eagle schematic ...................................................................................................................... 30
7.2 Physical dimensions ............................................................................................................... 31
CHAPT R 8: R VISION HISTORY AND SUPPORT ........................................ 32
8. Introduction to the chapter ..................................................................................................... 32
8.1 Document revision ................................................................................................................. 32
8.2 Board revision ........................................................................................................................ 32
8.3 Useful web links and purchase codes ................................................................................... 33
8.4 Frequently asked questions ................................................................................................... 34
8.5 Product support ..................................................................................................................... 36
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OLIMEX© 015 A13-SOM user's manual
CHAPT R 1: OV RVI W
1. Introduction to the chapter
Thank you for choosing this single board computer from Olimex! This document provides a user’s
guide for the A13-SOM boards. It covers both the - 56 and the -51 version board. In the text
below 'A13-SOM' is used to address both “A13-SOM- 56” and “A13-SOM-51 ”; if a specific
feature is available to only one of the boards then this is specifically mentioned and the board is
addressed with the RAM-indicating suffix.
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 A13-SOM development board enables code development of applications running on the A13
microcontroller, manufactured by Allwinner Technology from China.
The A13-SOM board is typically used together with A13-SOM-WIFI or A13-SOM-WIFI-4GB
which provides the following expansions over the original design:
1) an USB-OTG connector for easier powering or adding USB modules to the board (via a splitter
or adapter)
) a built-in WIFI module (Realtek 8188CUS)
3) an LCD display connector with 0.1'' step
4) 4GB NAND memory (only in A13-SOM-WIFI-4GB)
All of the features listed above are also supported in the software releases suitable for the board.
The hardware design of A13-SOM development board is considered intellectual property to
Olimex. The hardware design files are considered copyright material and would not be distributed.
The expansion boards available for A13-SOM are an open-source, open-hardware projects and all
documentation is available to the customer.
The software support for both boards is open-source and released under GPL license.
1.1 Introduction to SOM (System-On-a-Module)
OLIMEX System-on-Module (SOM) boards are powerful Linux-capable boards. They follow a
low-cost modular design which allows rapid product development. Each of these boards has two
parts – a main part which nests the processor, the memory and the power control unit and the
peripheral part which contains the USB ports, the video output and most of the connectors. SOM
designs are targeted at customers who want to apply custom modifications and own solutions based
on a specific processor without having to deal with multi layer PCBs with controlled impedance and
BGA assembly. This makes it possible to create simple boards (that might be manufactured by your
local board manufacturer) containing only the peripherals you need with the dimensions and shape
suitable for your specific solution.
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Both the main part and the peripheral part of the SOM system have support in the official Android
and Debian images distributed by Olimex and maintained by Olimex and the Linux community.
These images are typically available at the wiki articles of the boards.
The peripheral part of the SOM design is considered Open Source HardWare (OSHW) and the
customer has access to the board source files that we used to manufacture it. The part of the design
that has the main microcontroller is considered proprietary design and design files would not be
shared. If you are looking for open source design of the processors used please check the
OLinuXino boards. OLinuXino board designs are fully open source but harder to implement in own
solutions and require more of a hardware experience to do so. Nevertheless, OLinuXino boards are
pretty good choice for evaluating the capabilities of the embedded processors.
1.2 Target market of the board
Using the A13-SOM as a stand-alone development board would be more suitable for users with
some hardware experience or people already familiar with other single-board Linux boards and
designs. As mentioned in the previous chapter the board is meant to be implemented in a hardware
design.
Please refer to the list of possible scenarios where a stand-alone A13-SOM (without other peripheral
extension boards attached) board might not be suitable for you:
1. If you are a beginner with single-board Linux computers
. If you are an OSHW purist
3. If you are looking for more straight-forward software development and you are not going to
implement the A13-SOM in own hardware products
In the cases above, it might be a better idea to take a look at the OLinuXino boards (like A13-
OLinuXino).
It is highly recommended to use A13-SOM with A13-SOM-WIFI initially, unless you have previous
experience with SOM or OLinuXino boards manufactured by OLIMEX.
A13-SOM might be is used altogether with A13-SOM-WIFI. In that case, the board's target market
widens drastically – the reason for this alteration is the additional hardware that A13-SOM-WIFI –
provides easier powering and Internet access, among others. Generally, the processors features are
much easier to access.
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1.3 Features of A13-SOM boards
The A13-SOM board has the following set of features:
•Allwinner A13 Cortex-A8 processor typically running at 1Ghz
•256MB or 512MB DDR3 memory, depending on the board version – please note that
the 256MB version is not suitable for a smooth Android experience
•Power management DCDC
•MicroSD card
•UART console connector
•4 connectors 0.05'' step
•Status LEDs
•RESET, UBOOT/HOME buttons
•Dimensions: ( 400× 100)mil ~ (61×53)mm
1.4 Board variants
There are two major board variants named: A13-SOM- 56 and A13-SOM-51 . The 56 version has
56MB of DDR3 RAM memory compared to the 51 version that has double the amount.
It is important to notice that the 56MB of DDR3 RAM are insufficient to run Android OS properly.
If you are interested in Android development for Allwinner A13 I recommend you to get the
51 MB version of A13-SOM.
A similar board is A13-OLinuXino – it is meant for fully evaluating the capabilities of A13
processor. if you are going to implement A13-SOM into custom design it would be a good idea to
first check on the A13-OLinuXino – it would be easier to evaluate the capabilites of the A13
processor, due to the
The other Olimex board with close characteristics is A 0-SOM board. It is a bit bigger and a bit
more expensive. However, has a generation newer dual-core processor that is better for heavy
computations (for instance, high resolution video decoding and encoding). The A 0-SOM board
also has a bigger extension shield with almost all of the peripherals supported by the A 0 processor.
This extension is named 'A 0-SOM-EVB'.
1.5 Board version used in the manual
A13-SOM- 56 revision D board and A13-SOM-51 revision D boards were used while writing this
document. It is possible that part of the information is outdated.
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1.6 Document organization
Each section in this document covers a separate topic, organized as follows:
–Chapter 1 is an overview of the board usage and features
–Chapter 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
–Chapter 6 covers the connector pinout, peripherals and jumper description
–Chapter 7 provides the schematics and the dimensions of the board
–Chapter 8 contains the revision history, useful links and support information
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CHAPT R 2: S TTING UP TH A13-SOM BOARD
2. Introduction to the chapter
This section helps you set up the SOM 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 lectrostatic and electrical polarity warning
A13-SOM boards are 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.
If you connect other electrical devices to the SOM board make sure that they have equal electrical
polarity. This is also true for a serial cable connected between a PC and the board's DEBUG port. In
rare cases different polarity might cause hardware damage to the board.
2.2 Requirements
In order to set up the A13-SOM board optimally one or more additional items may be needed. They
might be generally placed in two 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;
Note that if A13-SOM-WIFI or A13-SOM-WIFI-4GB is mounted on A13-SOM – the requirements
would be different! The requirements below are for a stand-alone use of A13-SOM. Refer to A13-
SOM-WIFI's user's manual for adjusted requirements.
Required items:
- 5V-external power supply with proper connectors – A13-SOM has no power jack, only powering
pins (5VEXT, GND)
- Output device – USB-SERIAL-CABLE-F + personal computer (for Linux and/or Android
debugging) – A13-SOM lacks other options for debugging – you would need a serial cable with
level-shifter to interface the board
- SD card with compatible image – if you have the board version with NO additional NAND
memory you will need it to use one of the images available. If you decide to use Debian you would
also need a card. Official Android and Debian images are available at the wiki article for the board.
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Recommended items:
- A13-SOM-WIFI – expansion board that can be directly mounted over A13-SOM – it adds USB-
mini port, a WIFI module with built-in antenna, LCD display connector with 0.1'' step and routes a
number of frequently used signals to the easier to access 0.1'' row of pinholes. The sources
schematics of A13-SOM-WIFI are available for download and the board is considered open
hardware.
Some of the above-suggested items can be purchased by Olimex, for instance:
U B- ERIAL-CABLE-F – female USB serial console cable – provides the easiest way of
debugging
A13- OM-256-DEBIAN- D – a tested, class 10 micro SD card with the latest (by the time of
leaving the Olimex facilities) official Debian release, suitable for the 56MB version of the board
A13- OM-512-DEBIAN- D – same as above suitable for the 51 MB version of the board
A13- OM-512-ANDROID- D – a tested, class 10 micro SD card with the latest (by the time of
leaving Olimex facilities) official Android Linux release
Probably you noticed that we don't sell A13-SOM- 56-ANDROID-SD – that is because we
consider that A13-SOM- 56 is not capable of running Android smoothly.
2.3 Powering the board
The powering requirements of the A13-SOM are different depending on whether you use it in
stand-alone mode or mounted atop A13-SOM-WIFI. The sub-chapters below deal with both
scenarios.
2.3.1 Stand-alone powering
If you use the board in stand-alone mode (e.g. it is neither attached to A13-SOM-WIFI nor to any
other board of peripherals) there are fewer options for powering it. There is no standard jack for the
powering circuit – you might need to make own adapter. Consider that you might need additional
cables or connectors. You would need to provide 3.3V DC to one of the two following locations:
1. UART1 pin named “3.3V”; you can use any GND pin available at the board
or
. Connector GPIO-1's pin 1 (3.3V) and pin (GND)
The minimum consumption is 0.33W (equivalent of 0.1A of current at 3.3V of voltage).
Do not provide AC voltage to the A13-SOM board! Do not provide more than 3.3V of voltage
directly to the A13-SOM board! Providing 5V or more would instantly cause permanent hardware
damage!
Consider that the board lacks hardware “wake-up” button. This means that if your OS enters sleep
mode you will probably be unable to wake the board using only the LCD. The sleep and stand-by
modes had been disabled in the default images. The Android release has an application that disables
stand-by.
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Sometimes when starting Android it is possible the board to enter battery save mode even before
booting fully. Especially, if you have turned off the board without quick boot mode enabled. In this
case you should press the PWR button for at least 5 seconds which would allow the board to start.
2.3.2 Mounted powering
Typically, A13-SOM gets evaluated when mounted connected with A13-SOM-WIFI. In this case
the former is powered via the latter. The power line, altogether with a number of other important
processor lines, is transferred via the 10-pin and 40-pin headers. A13-SOM receives power from
A13-SOM-WIFI, but what are the requirements to power A13-SOM-WIFI?
There are two main scenarios for the powering A13-SOM-WIFI (and respectively A13-SOM):
1) a miniUSB cable connected to either a personal computer or a 5V power source; A13-SOM-
WIFI has miniUSB connector – note that USB ports of personal computers usually provide up to
0.5A of current – this might be insufficient in certain cases. For example, if you have a lot of
peripherals or a display powered by the board.
) +5V directly provided to GPIO row of pinholes (the pinholes are called +5V and GND – near the
PWR_LED and the USB_OTG); these pins can be used to connect a power jack
Some typical consumptions are listed below:
- A13-SOM-51 + A13-SOM-WIFI-4GB running Debian – consumption: 0.45A @ 5V
- A13-SOM-51 + A13-SOM-WIFI-4GB + A13-LCD7-TS running Debian – consumption: 0.75A
@ 5V
- A13-SOM-51 + A13-SOM-WIFI-4GB + A13-LCD7-TS running Android – consumption: 0.40A
@ 5V
Do not provide AC voltage to the A13-SOM-WIFI board! Do not provide more than 5V of voltage
to the A13-SOM-WIFI board!
The default username/password combination for the default Linux image on the SD card (if
purchased) is: root/olimex.
Note that it is normal that when the board is powered some integrated circuits might appear hotter
than others. This is perfectly normal for some electronic components (for instance – the voltage
regulators and the main processor).
2.4 Button functions
The two buttons usually are supported under both Android and Debian:
RE ET – used to perform software turn off, software turn on; used to turn on board when powered
by battery – has to be held down for at least 5 seconds to perform each action
UBOOT/HOME – used to boot up the board, can be used for navigation in Android
Note that: the board lacks recovery button! This is not a problem if you are using Debian Linux.
However, it would make it impossible to wake the board in Android. You would need to disable
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automatic sleep
It is recommended to always make a software “turn off” of the board. After that you can safely
remove the power supply. If you disconnect the power supply (either the USB or the power supply)
before turning off the board you may corrupt your SD card.
If your board has NAND memory you can corrupt the image located on the NAND memory.
2.5 Interacting with the board
The typical and recommended way of interacting with a stand-alone A13-SOM board is via a serial
cable connected to a personal computer. You would probably need a cable suitable for such a
connection due to the fact that most personal computers lack a serial port nowadays.
We distribute such a cable. Even if you already have such a cable or you decide to purchase it
elsewhere it is advisable to check this product page for a reference: Product page
You need to connect the serial cable lines as follows: RX line to UART1-TX pin; TX line to
UART1-RX pin; GND to GND. The last pin of UART1 connector is named 3.3V and it can be used
to power the board, if you have other ways of power the board leave 3.3V pin unconnected! Be
careful to avoid the connection to the serial cable else there would be a short-circuit. Make sure that
the serial cable is connected to your personal computer and recognized properly after driver
installation.
Then open a terminal program on the serial (COM) port which the cable is associated with.
After everything else is set, you would need to power the board as explained in “ .3 Powering the
board”.
If the A13-SOM is attached to A13-SOM-WIFI in addition to the serial communication you might
also use one or more of the two additional mediums to interact with the board:
1. a compatible display via the LCD_CON connector
. a remote computer using the WIFI-capabilities (probably via SSH connection)
Using the LCD_CON or the WIFI might require additional configurations. Furthermore, it is
possible to corrupt the output settings over those interfaces and, thus, lose the output. In such cases,
you can always use the serial cable USB-SERIAL-CABLE-F as a reliable way to establish
connection to the board.
2.6 Changing the default image resolution
Depending on the display or the screen you want to use with the A13-SOM, you might need to
apply software changes to the prebuilt Android or Linux image.
The typical A13-SOM user would not need to edit the files, however.
To ease the process of changing the resolution we have compiled a number of Android images for
the Android users (with hard-coded video output settings). Alternatively, for Debian Linux users, we
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have provided a shell script that can be executed in order to set preferred video output and
resolution.
For Android that you boot from the NAND memory you would need an image suitable for the
specific resolution. Download locations to such images might be found at the wiki article for the
A13-SOM board here: https://www.olimex.com/wiki/A13-SOM.
For Linux Debian you would need to execute a shell script to be able to change the resolution. It is
very good idea to use a serial cable for connection to the board from a personal computer since in
this case you are dependent on a video resolution (a cable like USB-SERIAL-CABLE-F). When the
board boots type:
./change_display*
or
./change_display_a13.sh
It looks like this:
Then the main menu of the video configuration script shows up:
Choose the resolution and the interface (LCD or VGA). Note that VGA output is hard to implement
and requires both additional hardware and good soldering experience.
The supported resolutions are listed on the next page.
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For LCD:
1. 4.3" (480× 7 )
. 7" (800×480)
3. 10" (10 4×600)
For VGA (A13-SOM lacks VGA support on hardware level):
0. 1680×1050
1. 1440×900
. 1360×768
3. 1 80×10 4
4. 10 4×768
5. 800×600
6. 640×480
7. 19 0×1080
8. 1 80×7 0
Depending on the display or the screen you want to use with the A13-SOM, you might need to
apply software changes to the prebuilt Android or Linux image. The easiest way would be to do it
on the board itself but it can be done offline too (manipulating the image located on the microSD
card via a microSD card reader).
The tools for script.bin changing are located in /opt/sunxi-tools directory:
#cd /opt/sunxi-tools
#./chscr.sh
This will convert script.bin file from sdcard to script.fex file and the file will be opened using nano
editor. Now you can change the board modules and parameters, save the changes ("CTRL"+"X";
confirm with "Y") and exit ("CTRL"+"X" again) from nano editor.
#./wrscr.sh
this will convert script.fex to script.bin and the script.bin file will be written to the microSD card.
reboot
Reboot the board and the new settings would be enabled.
Alternatively, you can do the changes on the microSD card off the board. You would need to
remove the microSD card and explore it in a microSD card reader. You would need to edit the
configuration file script.bin and edit the settings inside. This file is usually located in the main
partition of a prepared microSD card. Script.bin can't be opened in the binary format so you would
need to convert it to .fex file format first. There are ready-to-use tools that convert script.bin <->
script.fex. Note that script.bin/fex contains configuration settings and definitions not only for the
video output but also for the pin descriptions and names; power setting and much more. If you
really want to modify and customize the default images (to change port functions, port names, to
disable specific peripherals) you would need to be able to edit the script files. Please refer to the
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following web page for more information: http://linux-sunxi.org/Fex_Guide
More information on script editing might be found in the following wiki artice: FEX edit
The typical A13-SOM user would not need to edit the files, however.
2.7 Connecting and calibrating a display
A13-SOM itself has no direct way of connecting an Olimex display (with or without touchscreen
component). Using a display without A13-SOM-WIFI is possible via cables but hard to accomplish
and impractical. It is recommended to try to use a display only if you also have A13-SOM-WIFI at
your disposal.
Unlike other OLIMEX Allwinner boards, the A13-SOM lacks a row of pins that allows the user to
connect a display out-of-the-box. The board's LCD_TR connector is female and has a smaller 0.05''
step. This means that if you use a display made by OLIMEX, you would need additional × 0
MALE-MALE 0.05'' header to convert the female connector to male. The 0.05'' headers are
somehow hard to find so we sell them here: 0.05'' step connectors. There is also something very
important to notice – since a stand-alone A13-SOM gets powered by 3.3V – this means that you
will not be able to power the display via the board (the Olimex-made displays require 5V of
voltage). You would need to power the display externally.
Newer displays made by Olimex have both 0.1'' and 0.05'' step connectors. So if you are going to
need only the display and a cable (sold separately).
The displays recommended for the board at the moment of writing might be found in the table
below:
Display name Size of
display
in inches
Native
resolution
in pixels
Official
Debian image
support
Official
Android image
support
Link to product
page
LCD OlinuXino 4.3TS 4.3 480×272 Yes No Product page
LCD OLinuXino 7 7 800×480 Yes Yes Product page
LCD OLinuXino 7TS 7 800×480 Yes Yes Product page
LCD OLinuXino 10 10 1024×600 Yes Yes Product page
LCD OLinuXino 10TS 10 1024×600 Yes Yes Product page
The displays whose names contain “TS” - include a resistive touch screen component.
The cable used for connection depends on the specific board you are using and more specifically it
depends on the pitch of the LCD connector of the board. We have two cables – both 40-pins ones
but one for the bigger pitch (0.1'') and the other for the smaller one (0.05''). Each of the displays
listed in the table above has two connectors suitable for both cables:
CABLE-IDC40-6cm – 6cm long cable suitable for 0.1'' step connectors – Product page
CABLE-40-40-10CM – 10cm long cable suitable for 0.05'' step connectors – Product page
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2.7.1 Android calibration
Calibrating a display under Android is pretty straightforward from the Android application.
Important: initially the boards are calibrated for a specific display and resolution. If you re-write the
image (no matter whether the SD card or the NAND memory) you might need to use a mouse to
calibrate the display initially. It might be impossible to calibrate it only by using the touch
component over the display.
2.7.2 Debian calibration
The command that allows calibrating in Debian Linux is:
ts_calibrate
The default Debian video output configuration is set to 7 inch LCD display (800×480). If you want
to change to other video output resolution refer to chapter .6 Changing the default image
resolution.
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 calibrating from the X
graphical interface make sure that you are logged as user “olimex” (if calibrating without the X, the
user is “root”).
#su olimex
enter the password: “olimex”, then calibrate the touch screen and reboot the board
#sudo reboot
2.8 Software support
We maintain Linux and Android images for SD card which might be downloaded for free and
modified as the user wishes. The latest images and updates are featured at the wiki article of the
device: https://www.olimex.com/wiki/A13-SOM.
We usually try to provide details on how to build the Linux and the Android images at our
wordpress page: http://olimex.wordpress.com/.
Another useful place is the Olimex forums where a lot of people share their experience and advice:
https://www.olimex.com/forum/.
The official images are a constant work-in-progress – newer releases are packed with better
hardware support, newer kernels and extra features.
You are more than welcome to send or share your suggestions and ideas at our e-mail, the public
forums or irc 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 important for the overall state of the software support. However, do not expect full
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OLIMEX© 015 A13-SOM user's manual
Linux or Android software support.
We can share our experience. We can give you full details for things we have tried. We can point
you to a resource or a guide. We can give you general directions to solving a specific problem or
places to look for more information. However, we won’t install a piece of software for you or write
custom program for you. We won't provide a specific software solution to a specific software
problem.
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OLIMEX© 015 A13-SOM user's manual
CHAPT R 3: BOARD D SCRIPTION
3. Introduction to the chapter
Here you get acquainted with the main 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 A13-SOM board
itself.
3.1 Layout (top view)
The picture below shows the top side of the board and highlights the most important parts:
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3.2 Layout (bottom view)
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OLIMEX© 015 A13-SOM user's manual
CHAPT R 4: TH ALLWINN R A13 MICROCONTROLL R
4. Introduction to the chapter
In this chapter is located the information about the heart of A13-SOM – its microcontroller. The
information is a modified version of the datasheet provided by its manufacturers.
4.1 The processor
The full list of features might be found below:
CPU/GPU
ARM Cortex-A8 Core
3 KB D-Cache/ 3 KB I-Cache
56KB L Cache
Mali-400 3-D Engine
VPU
HD Video Decoding
19 0*1080@30fps
Support H. 64, H. 63, VC1, Mpeg1/ /4
Divx 3/4/5/6, Xvid, VP6/8, AVS etc
HD Video Encoding
Support encoding in H. 64 format
Up to 19 0*1080 at 30fps
DPU
LCD Interfaces: CPU, RGB
Memory
DDR /DDR3: Up to 533MHz
16 bits Data Bus
Memory capacity up to 51 MB
MLC/TLC/SLC/EF-NAND
 flash chips, ECC 64-bit
Support NAND of 5xnm, 4xnm, 3xnm, xnm
Support NADN of Samsung, Toshiba, Hynix
Peripherals
USB .0 OTG, USB .0 HOST
(OHCI/EHCI）
SD Card V.3.0, eMMC V.4.
SPI, TWI and UART
integrated Audio Codec
CSI
R-TP Controller
4-wire resistive TP interface
 points and gesture detection
Boot Devices
NAND Flash
SPI Nor Flash
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