A13-OLinuXino and A13-OLinuXino-WIFI
Open-source single-board system capable of booting Linux or Android
USER’S MANUAL
Document revision J, October 2017
Designed by OLIMEX Ltd, 2012
All boards produced by Olimex LTD are ROHS compliant
OLIMEX© 2017
A13-OLinuXino user's manual
DISCLAIMER
© 2017 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 project is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 United States
License. You may reproduce it for both your own personal use, and for commercial use. You will have to
provide a link to the original creator of the project http://www.olimex.com on any documentation or website.
You may also modify the files, but you must then release them as well under the same terms. Credit can be
attributed through a link to the creator website: http://www.olimex.com
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 IS NO WARRANTY FOR THE DESIGN MATERIALS AND THE
COMPONENTS USED TO CREATE A13-OLINUXINO AND A13-OLINUXINO-
WIFI. THEY ARE CONSIDERED SUITABLE ONLY FOR A13-OLINUXINO AND
A13-OLINUXINO-WIFI.
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OLIMEX© 2017
A13-OLinuXino user's manual
Table of Contents
DISCLAIMER............................................................................................................. 2
CHAPTER 1: OVERVIEW........................................................................................5
1. Introduction to the chapter.......................................................................................................5
1.1 Features.....................................................................................................................................5
1.2 Target market and purpose of the board...............................................................................6
1.3 Board variants..........................................................................................................................6
1.4 Document organization........................................................................................................... 7
CHAPTER 2: SETTING UP THE OLINUXINO BOARD.....................................8
2. Introduction to the chapter.......................................................................................................8
2.1 Electrostatic warning...............................................................................................................8
2.2 Requirements........................................................................................................................... 8
2.3 Powering the board..................................................................................................................9
2.4 Prebuilt software....................................................................................................................10
2.5 Button functions in Android..................................................................................................11
2.6 How we configured the Android image................................................................................11
2.6.1. Getting the Android SDK tools...................................................................................................................11
2.6.2. Adding information for the board in the Linux........................................................................................11
2.6.3. Installing the SDK tools..............................................................................................................................12
2.6.4. Connecting the A13-OLinuXino................................................................................................................12
2.6.5. Downloading the default config file and script tool..................................................................................13
2.6.6. Applying the script and uploading the confing.........................................................................................13
2.6.7. Restarting the A13-OLinuXino..................................................................................................................13
2.7 GPIO under Debian...............................................................................................................14
2.8 I2C and SPI under Debian....................................................................................................15
2.9 Software support....................................................................................................................15
CHAPTER 3: A13-OLINUXINO BOARD DESCRIPTION.................................17
3. Introduction to the chapter.....................................................................................................17
3.1 Layout (top view)...................................................................................................................17
CHAPTER 4: THE ALLWINNER A13 MICROCONTROLLER.......................18
4. Introduction to the chapter.....................................................................................................18
4.1 The microcontroller...............................................................................................................18
4.2 Block diagram........................................................................................................................ 20
CHAPTER 5: CONTROL CIRCUITY................................................................... 21
5. Introduction to the chapter.....................................................................................................21
5.1 Reset........................................................................................................................................21
5.2 Clocks......................................................................................................................................21
5.3 Power supply circuit.............................................................................................................. 21
CHAPTER 6: CONNECTORS AND PINOUT......................................................22
6. Introduction to the chapter.....................................................................................................22
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OLIMEX© 2017
A13-OLinuXino user's manual
6.1 Communication with the A13............................................................................................... 22
6.1.1 USB communication.....................................................................................................................................22
6.1.2 UART1 interface...........................................................................................................................................23
6.2 SD/MMC slot..........................................................................................................................24
6.3 UEXT module.........................................................................................................................25
6.4 GPIO-1 (General Purpose Input/Output) 10pin connector...............................................26
6.5 GPIO-2 (General Purpose Input/Output) 40pin connector...............................................27
6.6 LCD_CON 40pin connector..................................................................................................28
6.7 PWR Jack...............................................................................................................................29
6.8 Headphones and microphone connector..............................................................................29
6.9 Battery connector...................................................................................................................30
6.7 VGA video connector.............................................................................................................30
6.8 Jumper description................................................................................................................31
6.8.1 CE_NAND_E................................................................................................................................................31
6.8.2 3.3V_OPTION, 1.5V_E................................................................................................................................31
6.8.3 5V_E.............................................................................................................................................................. 31
6.8.4 HOST_EN, 5V_E_WIFI, WIFI-3.3V/5V_USB..........................................................................................31
6.9 Additional hardware components........................................................................................ 32
CHAPTER 7: SCHEMATICS..................................................................................33
7. Introduction to the chapter.....................................................................................................33
7.1 Eagle schematic......................................................................................................................33
7.2 Physical dimensions...............................................................................................................35
CHAPTER 8: REVISION HISTORY AND SUPPORT........................................ 36
8. Introduction to the chapter.....................................................................................................36
8.1 Document revision................................................................................................................. 36
8.2 Board revision........................................................................................................................ 37
8.3 Useful web links and purchase codes...................................................................................38
8.4 Product support..................................................................................................................... 39
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OLIMEX© 2017
A13-OLinuXino user's manual
CHAPTER 1: OVERVIEW
1. Introduction to the chapter
Thank you for choosing the OLinuXino single board computer from Olimex! This document
provides a user’s guide for the Olimex OLinuXino board. 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 OLinuXino development board enables code development of applications running on the
microcontroller A13, manufactured by Allwinner Technology from China.
OLinuXino is an open-source, open-hardware project and all documentation is available to the
customer.
1.1 Features
The board has the following set of features:
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A13 Cortex A8 processor at 1GHz, 3D Mali400 GPU
512 MB RAM
6-16VDC input power supply, noise immune design
3 + 1 USB Host, 3 available for users 1 for (only in A13-OLinuXino-WIFI) WIFI
RTL8188CU 802.11n 150Mbit module on board
1 USB OTG which can power the board
SD-card connector for booting the Linux image
(only in A13-OLinuXino-WIFI) 8GB NAND flash (older revisions had 4GB NAND flash)
VGA video output – 800×600 resolution
LCD signals available on connector so you still can use LCD if you disable VGA/HDMI
Audio Output
Microphone input
RTC PCF8536 on board for real time clock and alarms
5 Keys on board for android navigation
UEXT connector for connecting additional UEXT modules like Zigbee, Bluetooth, Relays,
etc
GPIO connector with 68/74 pins and these signals: 17 for adding NAND flash; 22 for
connecting LCDs; 20+4 including 8 GPIOs which can be input, output, interrupt sources; 3x
I2C; 2x UARTs; SDIO2 for connectinf SDcards and modules; 5 system pins: +5V, +3.3V,
GND, RESET, NMI
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