Radxa ROCK Pi 4 A User manual

This guide is designed for ROCK Pi 4 enthusiast. The purpose is to learn about the
ROCK Pi 4 board as well as how to prepare and set up for basic use. The ROCK Pi 4
has two models, one called ROCK Pi 4 Model A and the other called ROCK Pi 4 Model
B. When you get a board, you need to know what Pi model it is and which hardware
version it is. The information is printed in the top side of the board. We will introduce the
board information as much as possible.
What you need
Necessary
•ROCK Pi 4 main board
oROCK Pi 4 Model A or Model B
•One of the Storage media below:
oμSD card, larger than 8GB.
oeMMC Module , larger than 8GB with eMMC to μSD converter board.
•Power supply
oThe ROCK Pi 4 is powered by USB Type C port and supports a wide range of input
voltage, from 9V to 20V. The power adapter can be USB Type-C PD 2.0 with 9V/2A,
12V/2A, 15V/2A and 20V/2A protocol compatible, or Quick Charge 2.0 9V/2A, 12V/2A
compatible. A dummy 9V or 12V power adapter with USB C tail will also work.
Warning: 9V/12V USB C dummy power adapter is dangerous to other 5V only
devices, don't mix them.
oIf the power adapter is PD/QC compatible, the USB power cable must support USB data
communication(USB 2.0 or 3.0) between the board and the power adapter, or the power
adapter will not output desired voltage wanted by the board.
oNote: We don't suggest using a 5V only USB C power adapter. The board may boot
but it will cause stability issue once the system load rises.
•USB Keyboard and Mouse
oWith four USB-A connectors, ROCK Pi 4 can be equipped with a full sized keyboard and
mouse.
•Monitor and HDMI Cable
oROCK Pi 4 is equipped with a full sized HDMI connector. HDMI capable monitor is
recommended.
oHDMI EDID display data is used to determine the best display resolution. On monitors
and TVs that support 1080p (or 4K) this resolution will be selected. If 1080p is not
supported the next available resolution reported by EDID will be used. This selected
mode will work with MOST but not all monitors/TVs.
•USB to TTL serial cable
oROCK Pi 4 exports a dedicated serial console, which can access the low level debug
message.
•USB Male A to Male A cable
oIf you want write image on ROCK Pi 4 from USB OTG port or use fastboot/adb
commands you need an USB Male A to Male A cable to connect ROCK Pi 4 and PC.

Optional
•μSD Card Reader
oFor flashing the image into μSD Card or eMMC Module.
•USB type A to type A cable
oThis is needed for fastboot/adb commands.
•USB to TTL serial cable
oThis is needed for serial console.
•Ethernet cable
oROCK Pi 4 supports Internet access via WIFI or Ethernet.
oAn Ethernet cable is used to connect your ROCK Pi 4 to a local network and the
Internet.
•Camera Module
oROCK Pi 4 supports camera function.
•LCD Module
oROCK Pi 4 supports LCD display function.
•Audio cable
oAudio can be played through speaker or headphones using a standard 3.5mm jack.
Close look of ROCK Pi 4B
•ROCK Pi 4B front view

•ROCK Pi 4B front with an angle view
•ROCK Pi 4B back view

Features
Model ROCK PI 4 Model A ROCK PI 4 Model B ROCK PI 4 Model C
Processor
64bits hexa core processor
Rockchip RK3399
Dual Cortex-72, frequency 1.8GHz with qual Cortex-A53, frequency 1.4GHz
Mali T860MP4 gpu, support OpenGL ES 1.1/2.0/3.0/3.1/3.2, Vulkan 1.0, Open CL
1.1 1.2, DX11.
Memory LPDDR4
64bit dual channel LPDDR4@3200Mb/s, 1GB/2GB/4GB optioal
Storage
eMMC module (Optional industrial compatible high performance eMMC module,
8GB/16GB/32GB/64GB/128GB available)
μSD card (μSD slot supports up to 128 GB μSD card)
M.2 SSD (M.2 connector supports up to 2T M2 NVME SSD)
Display HDMI 2.0 up to 4k@60
MIPI DSI 2 lanes via FPC connector
DP up to 1440P@60
HDMI 2.0 up to 4k@60

HDMI and MIPI DSI can work at the same time, support
mirror mode or extend mode.
MIPI DSI 2 lanes via FPC
connector
HDMI and DP can work at
the same time.
Audio 3.5mm jack with mic
HD codec that supports up to 24-bit/96KHz audio.
Camera MIPI CSI 2 lanes via FPC connector, support up to 800 MP camera.
Wireless None
802.11 ac wifi
Bluetooth 5.0
with on board antenna
USB
USB 3.0 OTG X1, hardware switch for host/device switch, upper one
USB 3.0 HOST X1, dedicated USB 3.0 channel, lower one
USB 2.0 HOST X2
Ethernet GbE LAN GbE LAN with Power over Ethernet (PoE) support
additional HAT is required for powering from PoE
IO
40-pin expansion header
2 x UART
2 x SPI bus
3 x I2C bus
1 x PCM/I2S
1 x SPDIF
2 x PWM
1 x ADC
6 x GPIO
2 x 5V DC power in
2 x 3.3V DC power in
Others RTC
RTC battery connector for time backup(optional)
Power USB PD, support USB Type C PD 2.0, 9V/2A, 12V/2A, 15V/2A, 20V/2A.
Qualcomm® Quick ChargeTM: Supports QC 3.0/2.0 adapter, 9V/2A, 12V/1.5A

Size 85mm x 54mm
Starting the board for the first
time
ROCK Pi 4 can be started with eMMC or μSD Card. Now, you are presented with two
options when installing your new operating system onto your ROCK Pi 4.
Prepare
•When start system with eMMC
Insert eMMC Module into eMMC to μSD card converter board. Insert the converter
board into μSD Card Reader, which connects to host computer. The picture below
shows.
(add eMMC, eMMC to μSD Module and μSD Card Reader picture)
If you do not have an eMMC to μSD card converter board, you can also first install a
linux system to a μSD Card and then use the running μSD System to install the desired
system to the eMMC card with the eMMC card already inserted into the Rock PI 4.
See Rockpi4/install/eMMC.
•When start system with μSD Card
Insert the μSD Card into μSD Card Reader, which connects to host computer. The
picture below shows.
(add μSD Card and μSD Card Reader picture)
Write Image
•Download the flash tool, etcher, from Downloads. Choose the right version for your host
operation system. Here we operate on host Ubuntu 16.04.
•After unpacking the package, we run the tool by executing the command
$ ./etcher-etcher-electron-1.4.5-x86_64.AppImage
If you get an error message: "No polkit authentication agent found" you can try and start
it with sudo, but do know that this is running the tool as root.
•In the etcher window, click Select image.

•In the etcher window, click Select Drive.
•In the etcher window, click Flash.

•In the etcher window, once it shows us Flash Complete! It is done and can be put into the
RockPi.
Boot
•Now insert system storage media into the socket on board.
oMethod of starting system with eMMC. The picture below shows.

•
oMethods of starting system with μSD Card. The picture below shows.

•Connect the ROCK Pi 4 to your display with the HDMI cable. Ensure that the source for the
display is switched to the HDMI port you are using.
•Connect the USB keyboard and mouse.
•Connect the power supply to the ROCK Pi 4. The board will begin to immediately. (You
might not see the boot sequence, on Ubuntu Server you will see the login prompt)
Wish you good luck!
Troubleshooting
•Refer Troubleshooting page
•Post your issue on the forum: https://forum.radxa.com/c/rockpi4/Troubleshooting