Orange Pi Lite

Basic Features of Orange Pi Lite

What is Orange Pi Lite ?

　Orange Pi Lite is an open source single-board card computer, a new generation of arm development boards, which can run Android 4.4, Android7.0, Ubuntu and Debian and other operating systems. The Orange Pi Lite uses the Allwinner H3 SoC and has 512MB DDR3 memory

Purpose of Orange Pi Lite

We can use it to build：

• A computer
• A wireless network server
• Game console
• Music player
• HD Video Player
• Speaker
• Android
  

Of course there are many more features as Orange Pi is open source.

Who is Orange Pi Lite designed for?

　The Orange Pi development board is not just a consumer product, it is designed for anyone who wants to use technology to create and innovate. It's a very simple, fun, and useful tool that you can use to shape the world around you

Hardware features of Orange Pi Lite

Hardware Features Introduction
CPU	Allwinner H3 ARM Cortex-A7 Quad Core
GPU	Mali400MP2 GPU @600MHz Supports OpenGL ES 2.0
RAM	512MB GB DDR3 (shared with GPU)
Onboard Storage	TF card slot (up to 32GB)
Onboard Network	WIFI onboard network
video input	CSI interface camera
audio input	MIC
Video Output	HDMI
Audio output	HDMI
power supply	DC input, MicroUSB (OTG) cannot be used as power input
USB 2.0 port	2 USB 2.0 HOST, 1 USB 2.0 OTG
Low-level peripherals	40 pin connector, compatible with Raspberry Pi
Debug serial port	UART-TX,UART-RX,GND
LED lights	Power indicator and status indicator
button	Power (SW4)
Infrared reception	Support infrared remote control
Supported Operating Systems	Android, Ubuntu, Debian and other operating systems
Appearance specification introduction
Product Size	85mm×56mm
Weight	29g
30px|rangePi™ is a registered trademark of Shenzhen Xunlong Software Co., Ltd.

Top view and bottom view of Orange Pi Lite

Top View：
500px|
Bottom View：
500px|

Interface details of Orange Pi Lite

600px|

Introduction to use the development board

Prepare the necessary accessories

1)TF card, a class 10 or higher high-speed card with a minimum capacity of 8GB, it is recommended to use SanDisk’s TF card. Orange Pi tests all with SanDisk’s TF card. Other brands of TF cards may cause the system to fail to start.

250px

2)TF card reader, used to read and write TF card

250px

3)HDMI to HDMI cable, used to connect the development board to an HDMI monitor or TV for display

250px

4)Power adapter, at least 5V/2A high-quality power adapter, note that the OTG interface of the development board cannot be used as power input

250px

5)USB interface mouse and keyboard, as long as it is a standard USB interface mouse and keyboard, the mouse and keyboard can be used to control the Orange Pi development board

6)Infrared remote control, mainly used to control Android system

250px

7)GC2035 or OV5640 camera kit, which can be connected to the CSI interface of the development board to display video images

250px 250px

8)The data cable of the Micro USB interface, when using the ADB debugging function of the Android system, it is necessary to connect the development board and the computer through the data cable of the Micro USB interface

250px

9)USB to TTL module and DuPont cable, when using the serial port debugging function, USB to TTL module and DuPont cable are required to connect the development board and computer

250px250px

10)A PC with Ubuntu and Windows operating systems installed

1	Ubuntu14.04 PC	Optional, used to compile Android source code
2	Ubuntu18.04 PC	Optional, used to compile Linux source code
3	Windows PC	For burning Android and Linux images

Download the image and related information of the development board

1)The download URL is

 http://www.orangepi.org/downloadresources/

文件:Orange-pi-3lts-download.png

2)The information mainly contains
a. Android source code: saved on Google Cloud Disk

b.Linux source code: saved on github

c. User manuals and schematic diagrams: chip-related data manuals will also be placed here

d. Official tools: mainly include the software that needs to be used during the use of the development board

e. Android image: saved on Google Cloud Disk

f. Ubuntu image: saved on Google Cloud Disk

g. Debian image: saved on Google Cloud Disk

Use the Android image pre-installed in eMMC to test the function of the development board

The development board comes with 8GB eMMC. After you get the development board, you can first use the Android9.0 image pre-installed in the eMMC to test the functions of the development board. After confirming that all the hardware functions of the development board can work, then burn the system you want to use

Method of flashing Linux image to TF card based on Windows PC

1)First, prepare a TF card with 8GB or larger capacity. The transmission speed of the TF card must be above class10. It is recommended to use a TF card of SanDisk and other brands

2)Then use a card reader to insert the TF card into the computer

3)Then format the TF card

a.You can use the SD Card Formatter software to format the TF card, the download address is

 https://www.sdcard.org/downloads/formatter/eula_windows/SDCardFormatterv5_WinEN.zip

b.After downloading, you can directly unzip and install, and then open the software

c.If the computer only has a TF card inserted, the “Select card” column will display the drive letter of the TF card. If the computer has multiple USB storage devices inserted, you can select the drive letter corresponding to the TF card through the drop-down box

400px

d.Then click "Format", a warning box will pop up before formatting, and formatting will start after selecting "Yes (Y)"

400px

e.After formatting the TF card, the message shown in the figure below will pop up, click OK

400px

4)Download the Linux operating system image file compression package you want to burn from the Orange Pi data download page, and then use the decompression software to decompress it. In the decompressed file, the file ending with ".img" is the operating system image file. The size is generally above 1GB
5)Use Win32Diskimager to burn Linux image to TF card

a.The download page of Win32Diskimager is

 http://sourceforge.net/projects/win32diskimager/files/Archive/

b.Install directly after downloading, the interface of Win32Diskimager is shown below
a) First select the path of the image file

b) Then confirm that the drive letter of the TF card is consistent with the one displayed in the "Device" column

c) Finally, click "write" to start burning

400px

c.After the image is written, click the "Exit" button to exit, and then you can pull out the TF card and insert it into the development board to start

Method of flashing Linux image to TF card based on Ubuntu PC

1)First, prepare a TF card with 8GB or larger capacity. The transmission speed of the TF card must be above class10. It is recommended to use a TF card of SanDisk and other brands
2)Then use a card reader to insert the TF card into the computer
3)Download balenaEtcher software, the download address is

 https://www.balena.io/etcher/

4)After entering the balenaEtcher download page, please select the Linux version of the software through the drop-down box to download

600px

5)After downloading, use unzip to decompress. The decompressed balenaEtcher-1.5.109-x64.AppImage is the software needed to burn the Linux image

test@test:~$ unzip balena-etcher-electron-1.5.109-linux-x64.zip
Archive: balena-etcher-electron-1.5.109-linux-x64.zip
inflating: balenaEtcher-1.5.109-x64.AppImage
test@test:~$ ls
balenaEtcher-1.5.109-x64.AppImage balena-etcher-electron-1.5.109-linux-x64.zip

6)Download the Linux operating system image file compression package you want to burn from the Orange Pi data download page, and then use the decompression software to decompress it. In the decompressed file, the file ending with ".img" is the operating system image file. The size is generally above 1GB
a.The decompression command of the compressed package at the end of a.7z is as follows

test@test:~$ 7z x Orangepi3-lts_2.1.6_ubuntu_bionic_server_linux4.9.118.7z
test@test:~$ ls Orangepi3-lts_2.1.6_ubuntu_bionic_server_linux4.9.118.*
Orangepi3-lts_2.1.6_ubuntu_bionic_server_linux4.9.118.7z
Orangepi3-<>lts_2.1.6_ubuntu_bionic_server_linux4.9.118.img.sha #Checksum file
Orangepi3-lts_2.1.6_ubuntu_bionic_server_linux4.9.118.img #image file

7)After decompressing the image, you can first use the sha256sum -c *.sha command to calculate whether the checksum is correct. If the prompt is successful, it means that the downloaded image is not wrong, and you can safely burn to the TF card. If the checksum does not match, it means There is a problem with the downloaded image, please try to download again

test@test:~$ sha256sum -c *.sha
Orangepi3-lts_2.1.6_ubuntu_bionic_server_linux4.9.118.img: success

8)Then double-click balenaEtcher-1.5.109-x64.AppImage on the graphical interface of Ubuntu PC to open balenaEtcher (no installation required), and the opened interface is as shown in the figure below
a. First select the path of the linux image file

b. Then select the device number of the TF card

c. Finally click Flash to start burning

600px

9)The writing process will prompt the writing speed and remaining time

600px

10)After burning, the following interface will be displayed. At this time, you can unplug the TF card from the computer and insert it into the development board to start.

600px

Method of flashing Linux image to eMMC

See the method of flashing linux image to eMMC

How to burn Android firmware to TF card

Android image can only be burned to TF card using PhoenixCard software under Windows platform, but cannot be burned under Linux platform

1)First, prepare a TF card with 8GB or larger capacity. The transmission speed of the TF card must be above class10. It is recommended to use a TF card of SanDisk and other brands

2)Then use a card reader to insert the TF card into the computer

3)Download Android 9.0 firmware and PhoenixCard burning tool from Orange Pi's data download page. Please make sure that the version of PhonenixCrad tool is PhoenixCard v4.1.2 or PhoenixCard v4.1.2 or higher

4)Use the decompression software to decompress the compressed package of the downloaded Android firmware. In the decompressed file, the file ending with ".img" is the Android firmware

5)Use decompression software to decompress PhoenixCard v4.1.2.rar, this software does not need to be installed, you can find PhoenixCard in the decompressed folder and open it

600px

6)After opening PhoenixCard, if the TF card is recognized normally, the drive letter and capacity of the TF card will be displayed in the middle list. Please make sure that the displayed drive letter is consistent with the drive letter of the TF card you want to burn. There is no display, you can try to unplug and insert the TF card

600px

7)After confirming the drive letter, format the TF card first, click the restore card button in PhoenixCard, or use the aforementioned SD Card Formatter to format the TF card

600px

8)Then start to write the Android firmware to the TF card
a. First select the path of Android firmware in the "Firmware" column

b. Select "Startup Card" in the "Type of Making Card"

c. Then click the "Burn Card" button to start burning

600px

9)After burning, the PhoenixCard will be displayed as shown in the figure below. At this time, click the close button to exit PhoenixCard, and then you can unplug the TF card from the computer and insert it into the development board to start.

600px

How to burn Android firmware to eMMC

Android image can only be burned to EMMC using PhoenixCard software under Windows platform, but cannot be burned under Linux platform

1)First of all, please note that burning the Android firmware to the eMMC of the development board needs to be completed with the help of a TF card, which is mainly divided into the following two steps
a. First use PhoenixCard to burn the Android firmware to the TF card as a mass production card
b. Then use TF card to burn Android firmware into eMMC
2)First prepare a TF card with 8GB or larger capacity. The transmission speed of the TF card must be above class10. It is recommended to use a TF card of SanDisk and other brands
3)Then use a card reader to insert the TF card into the computer
4)Download Android 9.0 firmware and PhoenixCard burning tool from Orange Pi's data download page, please make sure that the version of PhonenixCard tool is PhoenixCard v4.1.2 or PhoenixCard v4.1.2 or higher
5)Use the decompression software to decompress the compressed package of the downloaded Android firmware. In the decompressed file, the file ending with ".img" is the Android firmware
6)Use decompression software to decompress PhoenixCard v4.1.2.rar, this software does not need to be installed, you can find PhoenixCard in the decompressed folder and open it

600px

7)After opening PhoenixCard, if the TF card is recognized normally, the drive letter and capacity of the TF card will be displayed in the middle list. Please make sure that the displayed drive letter is consistent with the drive letter of the TF card you want to burn. There is no display, you can try to unplug and insert the TF card

600px

8)After confirming the drive letter, format the TF card first, click the restore card button in PhoenixCard, or use the aforementioned SD Card Formatter to format the TF card

600px

1)Then start to write the Android firmware to the TF card

a. First select the path of Android firmware in the "Firmware" column

b. Select "mass production card" in the type of "production" card

c. Then click the "Burn Card" button to start burning

600px

2)After burning, PhoenixCard will display as shown in the figure below. At this time, click the close button to exit PhoenixCard

600px

3)Then insert the TF card into the development board. After powering on the development board, the Android firmware in the TF card will be automatically burned into the eMMC of the development board. During the burning process, the red light on the development board will keep flashing. If the development board is connected to an HDMI display, the progress bar of burning Android firmware to eMMC will be displayed on the HDMI display

600px

4)After the burning is completed, the HDMI display is shown in the figure below, and then the development board will automatically shut down

600px

5)At this time, you can pull out the TF card, then power on again, and the Android system in eMMC will start

Start the Orange Pi development board

1)The development board has an on-board eMMC, which has an Android9.0 image burned by default, and you can directly use the image in the eMMC to start and fully test the function when you just get the development board.

2)If you need to use linux image, you can insert the TF card with the burned linux image into the TF card slot of the Orange Pi development board

3)The development board has an HDMI interface, you can connect the development board to a TV or HDMI display through an HDMI to HDMI cable

4)Connect the USB mouse and keyboard to control the Orange Pi development board

5)The development board has an Ethernet port, which can be plugged into the network cable for Internet access

6)Connect a 5V/3A high-quality power adapter

a. Remember not to plug in the 12V power adapter, if you plug in the 12V power adapter, it will burn out the development board b. Many unstable phenomena during the power-on and startup of the system are basically caused by power supply problems, so a reliable power adapter is very important

7)Then turn on the switch of the power adapter, if everything is normal, the HDMI display will be able to see the startup screen of the system at this time

8)If you want to view the output information of the system through the debug serial port, please use the USB to TTL module and DuPont cable to connect the development board to the computer. For the connection method of the serial port, please refer to the section on the use of the debug serial port

Debug serial port connection instructions

1)First, you need to prepare a 3.3v USB to TTL module, and then insert one end of the USB interface of the USB to TTL module into the USB interface of the computer

600px

2)The corresponding relationship between the debug serial port GND, TX and RX pins of the development board is shown in the figure below

600px

3)The GND, TX and RX pins of the USB to TTL module need to be connected to the debug serial port of the development board through a Dupont cable

a. Connect the GND of the USB to TTL module to the GND of the development board

b. Connect the RX of the USB to TTL module to the TX of the development board

c. Connect the TX of the USB to TTL module to the RX of the development board

4)The schematic diagram of connecting the USB to TTL module to the computer and the Orange Pi development board is shown below

600px

How to use the debug serial port on the Ubuntu platform

1)If the USB to TTL module is connected normally, you can see the corresponding device node name under /dev of Ubuntu PC, remember this node name, you will use it when setting up the serial port software later

test@test:~$ ls /dev/ttyUSB*
/dev/ttyUSB0

2)There are many serial debugging software that can be used under linux, such as putty, minicom, etc. The following shows how to use putty
3)First install putty on the Ubuntu PC

test@test:~$ sudo apt update
test@test:~$ sudo apt -y install putty

4)Then run putty, remember to add sudo permissions

test@test:~$ sudo putty

5)After executing the putty command, the following interface will pop up

600px

6)First select the setting interface of the serial port

600px

7)Then set the parameters of the serial port

a. Set the Serial line to connect to to /dev/ttyUSB0 (modify to the corresponding node name, generally /dev/ttyUSB0)

b. Set Speed (baud) to 115200 (baud rate of the serial port)

c. Set Flow control to None

600px

8)After setting the serial port setting interface, return to the Session interface

a. First select the Connection type as Serial
b. Then click the Open button to connect to the serial port

600px

9)After starting the development board, you can see the Log information output by the system from the opened serial port terminal

600px

How to use the debug serial port on Windows platform

1)There are many serial debugging software that can be used under Windows, such as SecureCRT, MobaXterm, etc. The following shows how to use MobaXterm. This software has a free version and can be used without purchasing a serial number.
2)Download MobaXterm

a.Download the MobaXterm URL as follows

 https://mobaxterm.mobatek.net/

b.After entering the MobaXterm download page, click GET XOBATERM NOW!

600px

c.Then choose to download the Home version

600px

d.Then select the Portable version, after downloading, you don’t need to install it, just open it and you can use it

600px

3)After downloading, use the decompression software to decompress the downloaded compressed package, you can get the executable software of MobaXterm, and then double-click to open it

600px

4)After opening the software, the steps to set up the serial port connection are as follows

a. Open the session setting interface

b. Select the serial port type

c. Select the port number of the serial port (choose the corresponding port number according to the actual situation), if you can't see the port number, please use the 360 driver master to scan and install the USB to TTL serial chip driver

d. Select the baud rate of the serial port to be 115200

e. Finally click the "OK" button to complete the setting

1000px

5)After clicking the "OK" button, you will enter the following interface, and you can see the output information of the serial port when you start the development board.

1000px

For more information on using the Orange Pi 3 LTS, please see the Orange Pi 3 LTS User Manual. (Click to download)