Ox64

The Ox64

Pinout of the production version

Powered by RISC-V

The Ox64 is a RISC-V based single-board computer based on the Bouffalo Lab BL808 RISC-V SoC with C906 64-bit and E907/E902 32-bit CPU cores supported by 64 MB of embedded PSRAM memory, and with built-in WiFi, Bluetooh and Zigbee radio interfaces. The Ox64 comes in a breadboard-friendly form-factor, has a microSD card slot, a USB 2.0 Type-C port, and many other peripheral interfaces for makers to integrate with sensors and other devices.

Software Releases

Quick Links to the Source of OS Images Build

There is a community effort to bring updated kernels, peripherals and buildroot - Lots of communication happening in the #ox64-nutcracker channel.

• buildroot bringing all the work below together with a bootable kernel and updated filesystem images for SD cards
• U-Boot and OpenSBI work by Smauel
• Kernel IRQChip, SDCard, and (WIP) USB by arm000, Alexander Horner and others
• OpenBouffalo Firmware low_load drivers by Fishwaldo and others

Original Linux Images provided by Bouffalo - Very basic alpha build which are only fit for board bring up and testing purposes.

• Linux for BL808
• Installation Instructions for Linux on BL808 (Chinese)
• Installation Instructions for Linux on BL808 (machine translated to English)

Toolchain:

• elf_newlib_toolchain/bin/riscv64-unknown-elf-gcc (Xuantie-900 elf newlib gcc Toolchain V2.2.5 B-20220323) 10.2.0
• linux_toolchain/bin/riscv64-unknown-linux-gnu-gcc (Xuantie-900 linux-5.10.4 glibc gcc Toolchain V2.2.4 B-20211227) 10.2.0
• cmake version 3.19.3

Software Development Kits

• BL808 MCU SDK
• BLDevCube Flashing Tool for Windows, macOS and Ubuntu x64
• Ox64 UART Flashing Guide, see the notes
• BL808 Demo Firmware: bl808_demo_event.bin, see the notes
• BL808 UART Log Firmware: whole_flash_data.bin, see the notes
• BL808 DVK Quick Start
• OpenSBI for BL808
• Rust Peripheral Access Crate (PAC) for BL808
• System View Description (SVD) for BL808

SoC and Memory Specification

Based on the Bouffalo Lab BL808

CPU Architecture

T-Head C906 480 MHz 64-bit RISC-V CPU:

• Supports RISC-V RV64IMAFCV instruction architecture
• Five-stage single-issue sequentially executed pipeline
• Level-1 instruction and data cache of Harvard architecture, with a size of 32 KB and a cache line of 64B
• Sv39 memory management unit, realizing the conversion of virtual and real addresses and memory management
• jTLB that supports 128 entries
• Supports AXI 4.0 128-bit master interface
• Supports core local interrupt (CLINT) and platform-level interrupt controller (PLIC)
• With 80 external interrupt sources, 3 bits for configuring interrupt priority
• Supports BHT (8K) and BTB
• Compatible with RISC-V PMP, 8 configurable areas
• Supports hardware performance monitor (HPM) units
• See here

T-Head E907 320 MHz 32-bit RISC-V CPU:

• Supports RISC-V RV32IMAFCP instruction set
• Supports RISC-V 32-bit/16-bit mixed instruction set
• Supports RISC-V machine mode and user mode
• Thirty-two 32-bit integer general purpose registers (GPR) and thirty-two 32-bit/64-bit floating-point GPRs
• Integer (5-stage)/floating-point (7-stage), single-issue, sequentially executed pipeline
• Supports AXI 4.0 main device interface and AHB 5.0 peripheral interface
• 32K instruction cache, two-way set associative structure
• 16K data cache, two-way set associative structure
• See here

T-Head E902 150 MHz 32-bit RISC-V CPU:

• See here

System Memory

• Embedded 64MB PSRAM

Board Features

Network

• 2.4 GHz 1T1R WiFi 802.11 b/g/n
• Bluetooth 5.2
• Zigbee
• 10/100 Mbit/s Ethernet (optional, on expansion board)

Storage

• On-board 16 Mbit (2 MB) or 128 Mbit (16 MB) XSPI NOR flash memory
• MicroSD, supports SDHC and SDXC (only on the 128 Mbit version)

Expansion Ports

• USB 2.0 OTG port
• 26 GPIO pins, including SPI, I²C and UART functionality, possible I²S and GMII expansion
• Dual-lane MiPi CSI port, located at USB-C port, for camera module

Audio

• Microphone (optional, on the camera module)
• Speaker (optional, on the camera module)

Board Information, Schematics and Certifications

Pinout for wiring ethernet PHY to EMAC

• Baseboard dimensions: 51 mm x 21 mm x 19 mm x 3.5 mm (breadboard friendly)
• Input power: 5 V, 0.5 A through the microUSB or USB-C ports

Production version schematic:

• Ox64 Schematic 20221018 v1.1
• Ox64 PCB Component placement(ToP) 20221018 v1.1
• Ox64 PCB Component placement(Bottom) 20221018 v1.1

Prototype (dispatched to developers) schematic:

• Ox64 Schematic 20221007 v1.0
• Ox64 PCB Component placement(ToP) 20221007 v1.0
• Ox64 PCB Component placement(Bottom) 20221007 v1.0

Certifications:

• Disclaimer: Please note that PINE64 SBC is not a "final" product and in general certification is not necessary.
• Not yet available

Datasheets for Components and Peripherals

Bouffalo BL808 SoC information:

• Bouffalo Lab BL808 SoC Datasheet
• Bouffalo Lab BL808 SoC Reference Manual

SPI NOR Flash information:

• GigaDevice 16Mb XSPI-Flash Datasheet
• GigaDevice 128Mb XSPI-Flash Datasheet
• Winbond 128Mb QSPI-Flash Datasheet (W25Q128JWSQ)

Power Regulator information:

• Innovation Analog Tech IA2014 Step_down Converter Datasheet

MicroSD socket information:

• Push type microSD socket specification

Compatible UARTs when in bootloader mode

When the Ox64 is in bootloader mode, some UARTs are unable to communicate with it. When this is the case, utilities such as BLDevCube are unable to actually program the device. If you see "Shake hand fail" and an empty ack, and your device is in bootloader mode, then it is likely an incompatible UART.

The below devices have been tested and verified as working:

• Raspberry Pi Pico - running the following UART firmware (GP4 and GP5 are used for port 0, GP12 and GP13 for port 1)
• Compiled binary for Pi Pico and connectivity diagram is here
• ESP32 with CP210x - bridge the EN pin to ground to disable the ESP32 itself, and then connect the TX on the esp32 to 14 on the Ox64 and RX to pin 15. Note that only baud rate 115200 works, and this doesn't seem to work for everyone)
• Stand-alone CP2102 dongle works at 115200 baud. Brand used was HiLetgo.
• STM32F401 BlackPill - running the Black Magic Debug firmware
• STM32F103C8T6 BluePill - running Black Magic Debug.
• Some UART adapters based on the FT232H (note that the FT232RL does not work, and neither does the Pine 64 JTAG)
• Some CH340G based adapters work and some don't.

Resources and Articles

• A short video on how to connect to the Ox64, flash and boot
• Another video that covers soldering pins, connecting via Pi Pico and flashing Linux and U-Boot
• Step-by-step tutorial for how to build, flash and run Ox64
• First batch of Ox64 won't appear as USB serial port
• First batch of Ox64 tested OK with CH340C/G
• First thoughts on the (a)symmetry of Bouffalo Labs BL808 as in Pine64 Ox64
• The $8 linux computer (with picoprobe-rp2040 programming instructions)
• Building the Xuantie GNU Toolchain for Ox64 on macOS and Apple Silicon

Ox64 BL808 RISC-V SBC articles by Lup Yuen LEE:

• Booting Linux and (maybe) Apache NuttX RTOS
• Starting Apache NuttX real-time operating system
• Sv39 Memory Management Unit
• NuttX Apps and Initial RAM Disk
• UART Interrupt and Platform-Level Interrupt Controller (PLIC)
• Fixing the UART Interrupt and Platform-Level Interrupt Controller
• $8 RISC-V SBC on a Real-Time Operating System: Ox64 + NuttX
• Nim on a Real-Time Operating System: Apache NuttX RTOS + Ox64 BL808 SBC

Git repositories:

• Community made Arduino Core specifically for the Bouffalo Labs BL808 RISC-V MCU (initial development has been postponed until further notice)

Development Efforts

• Ox64 boots Linux successfully
• Brennan Ashton is porting Apache NuttX RTOS and OpenAMP (Asymmetric Multiprocessing) to BL808
• Phone Concept for BL808

Build

Open the terminal and create a new directory for the build:

cd ~/Downloads/ox64
mkdir buildroot_bouffalo && cd buildroot_bouffalo

Clone the primary Buildroot repository and the specific Buildroot Bouffalo repository:

git clone https://github.com/buildroot/buildroot
git clone https://github.com/openbouffalo/buildroot_bouffalo

Define an environment variable for the Buildroot Bouffalo overlay path:

export BR_BOUFFALO_OVERLAY_PATH=$(pwd)/buildroot_bouffalo

Change directory into the cloned Buildroot folder:

cd ~/Downloads/ox64/buildroot_bouffalo/buildroot

Apply the default configuration for Pine64 Ox64:

make BR2_EXTERNAL=$BR_BOUFFALO_OVERLAY_PATH pine64_ox64_defconfig
# make clean # deletes all the already compiled object files

Use the menuconfig tool to adjust the build settings:

make menuconfig

target ABI setting

toolchain setting

Within menuconfig, configure the following:

• Navigate to Target Options
• Enable Integer Multiplication and Division (M)
• Enable Atomic Instructions (A)
• Enable Single-precision Floating-point (F)
• Enable Double-precision Floating-point (D)
• Set Target ABI to lp64d
• Under Toolchain, enable Fortran support and OpenMP support

Initiate the build process, but make sure first that your PATH variable contains no spaces:

make

You will get the image files required for flashing in the output/images directory

Flashing Ox64 SBC and microSD Card

This section explains how to flash an Ox64 board and a microSD card to boot the system.

Prepare the Environment

You need a Linux machine, a Raspberry Pi Pico to act as a UART adapter, the Ox64 board, and a microSD card.

Start a terminal session and set the working directory to download some files.

cd ~/Downloads
mkdir ox64 ox64/pico
cd ~/Downloads/ox64/pico
wget https://github.com/Kris-Sekula/Pine64_Ox64_SBC/blob/main/uart/picoprobe.uf2

cd ~/Downloads/ox64
mkdir ox64/devcube
cd ~/Downloads/ox64/devcube

Get the DevCube 1.8.8 flasher from one of mirror servers listed below.

• https://dev.bouffalolab.com/media/upload/download/BouffaloLabDevCube-v1.8.8.zip

Verify the file hashes listed below.

• SHA1: 0f2619e87d946f936f63ae97b0efd674357b1166
• SHA256: e6e6db316359da40d29971a1889d41c9e97d5b1ff1a8636e9e6960b6ff960913

Finally, uncompress the downloaded archive; for example:

wget https://dev.bouffalolab.com/media/upload/download/BouffaloLabDevCube-v1.8.8.zip
sha256sum BouffaloLabDevCube-v1.8.8.zip
unzip BouffaloLabDevCube-v1.8.8.zip
chmod u+x BLDevCube-ubuntu

Download compressed file from https://github.com/openbouffalo/buildroot_bouffalo/releases/ and decompress it.

(You can also get the compressed the file from https://github.com/openbouffalo/buildroot_bouffalo/releases/download/v1.0.1/bl808-linux-pine64_ox64_full_defconfig.tar.gz)

cd ~/Downloads/ox64
mkdir openbouffalo && cd openbouffalo
wget https://github.com/openbouffalo/buildroot_bouffalo/releases/download/v1.0.1/bl808-linux-pine64_ox64_full_defconfig.tar.gz
tar -xvzf bl808-linux-pine64_ox64_full_defconfig.tar.gz

You'll need the following files for the flashing process.

• m0_lowload_bl808_m0.bin
• d0_lowload_bl808_d0.bin
• bl808-firmware.bin
• sdcard.img

Establish Serial Communication from PC to Ox64 using Pi Pico

Open a terminal and check the connected USB serial devices.

ls /dev/ttyACM*

Set the Raspberry Pi Pico board into programming mode.

• Press the BootSel button
• Apply power by plugging the USB cable to PC
• Release the BootSel button

Note: you could also ground pin28 to TP6 while powering.

Copy picoprobe.uf2 file into the new device /media/<user>/RPI-RP2.

cp ~/Downloads/ox64/pico/picoprobe.uf2 /media/<user>/RPI-RP2

After flashing, the device will auto-set in serial UART communication mode according to the following wiring diagram.

Wiring Raspberry Pi Pico to Pine64 Ox64 SBC

OX64                      PI PICO
uart0_Tx_GPIO14_pin1 <->  uart0_Rx_pin17
uart0_Rx_GPIO15_pin2 <->  uart0_Tx_pin16
Rxd_GPIO17_pin31     <->  uart1_Tx_pin6
Txd_GPIO16_pin32     <->  uart1_Rx_pin7 
gnd_pin38            <->  gnd_pin38/3    
vbus5v_pin40         <->  vbus5v_pin40

Flash Your Ox64

There are two new ports to choose from, /dev/ttyACM0 for serial console and /dev/ttyACM1 for DevCube flashing.

minicom -b 2000000 -D /dev/ttyACM0

Set the Ox64 board into programming mode.

• Press the BOOT button
• Apply power or re-plug the USB cable
• Release the BOOT button

Close minicom. Open a new terminal window to run the DevCube flasher.

cd ~/Downloads/ox64/devcube
./BLDevCube-ubuntu

Select chip [BL808], press Finish and switch to [MCU] tab.

M0 Group[group0] Image Addr [0x58000000] [PATH to m0_lowload_bl808_m0.bin]
D0 Group[group0] Image Addr [0x58100000] [PATH to d0_lowload_bl808_d0.bin]
Interface: UART
Port/SN: /dev/ttyACM1 (make sure you don't use /dev/ttyACM0, it's used by the minicom console)
Uart rate 2000000
UART TX is physical pin 1/GPIO 14.
UART RX is physical pin 2/GPIO 15.
Click 'Create & Download' and wait until it's done

Switch to the [IOT] tab.

Enable 'Single Download', set Address with 0x800000, choose [PATH to bl808-firmware.bin]
Port/SN: /dev/ttyACM1 (make sure you don't use ACM0, it's used by minicom console)
Click 'Create & Download' again and wait until it's done
Close DevCube

Open-Source Flashing Using CLI

For those who do not want to use the DevCube, BouffaloLab provides open-source flashing packages bflb-iot-tool and bflb-mcu-tool.

Note: While these packages do contain binaries in addition to the Python source code, those binaries do not appear to be used for UART flashing.

First, install bflb-iot-tool using your preferred method of managing PIP packages. One option is to set up a Python virtual environment as follows.

sudo apt install virtualenv python3-virtualenv python3.11-venv
python3 -m venv ~/ox64_venv
. ~/ox64_venv/bin/activate
pip install bflb-iot-tool # we are *not* using bflb-mcu-tool

Note that each time you open a new terminal window you will need to re-run . ~/ox64_venv/bin/activate to reactivate the virtual environment.

Next, put Ox64 in programming mode (press the BOOT button when first applying power) and flash the BL808.

PORT=/dev/ttyACM1 # this will depend on which serial adapter you use
BAUD=115200       # safe value for macOS, if using Linux set to 2000000 for faster flashing
cd ~/Downloads/ox64/buildroot_bouffalo/buildroot/output/images

bflb-iot-tool --chipname bl808 --interface uart --port $PORT --baudrate $BAUD --addr 0x000000 --firmware m0_lowload_bl808_m0.bin --single
bflb-iot-tool --chipname bl808 --interface uart --port $PORT --baudrate $BAUD --addr 0x100000 --firmware d0_lowload_bl808_d0.bin --single
bflb-iot-tool --chipname bl808 --interface uart --port $PORT --baudrate $BAUD --addr 0x800000 --firmware bl808-firmware.bin --single

If you get permission errors when running the commands above, you may need to add your user to the dialout group. Running the commands as root is not recommended since this will make bflb-iot-tool create root-owned files in your home directory.

BL808 Address Details

Note that the addresses are different according to the flashing method, DevCube or CLI.

             DevCube      CLI   
M0 address   0x58000000   0x000000
D0 address   0x58100000   0x100000
LP address   0x58200000   0x200000

Flash Your microSD Card

Insert microSD card into PC, locate its device file (/dev/sdb, for example), erase the start of the card and proceed to flashing.

cd ~/Downloads/ox64/buildroot_bouffalo/buildroot/output/images
sudo dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/sdb count=1 bs=32768 
sudo dd if=sdcard.img of=/dev/sdb bs=1M status=progress conv=fsync

Booting for the First Time

Insert microSD card into Ox64 and set a UART connection to the Ox64 board, using the following parameters.

• UART TX is physical pin 32/GPIO 16
• UART RX is physical pin 31/GPIO 17
• Baud rate is 2000000

Choose from serial devices /dev/ttyACM0 and /dev/ttyACM1, using the lower number.

minicom -b 2000000 -D /dev/ttyACM0

Re-apply power to the Ox64 and enjoy the booting!