https://wiki.banana-pi.org/Banana_Pi_BPI-R4

• MediaTek MT7988A (Filogic 880)
  • MT7530 switch builtin (1 cpu-port with 4GBit/s + 1Gbit/s user-ports)
• 4G RAM
• 8GB eMMC flash
• 128MB SPI-NAND Flash
• either 2x SFP+ (10GBit/s USXGMII) or 1SFP+ and 2g5 rj45 with PoE (link)
• Wifi7 with additional module connected to the 2 PCIe slots at bottom of board
  • BPI-R4-NIC-BE19 (no public sale): MT7996 + MT7975 (2.4G) + MT7977A (6G) + MT7977B (5G)
  • BPI-R4-NIC-BE14: MT7995AV + MT7976CN + MT7977IAN
• powersupply 12V/5A required when using wifi card,2A (like on other BPi Routers) is not enough

v00:

v1.0:

Changes between v0 and v1 (pm): https://forum.banana-pi.org/t/bpi-r4-linux-bootup/15926/59

v1.1:

cat /sys/class/thermal/thermal_zone0/temp

Uses lvts driver

Thermalpad size: https://forum.banana-pi.org/t/banana-pi-bpi-r4-heatsink-and-case-design/16638/53

by default first trip point is set to 40°C and second is 85°C…for testing the fan it is a bit high when using a passive heatsink. so just set first to 35 and second to 45.

root@bpi-r4-v11:/sys/class/thermal/thermal_zone0
# cat trip_point_4_temp
40000
root@bpi-r4-v11:/sys/class/thermal/thermal_zone0
# cat trip_point_3_temp
85000
root@bpi-r4-v11:/sys/class/thermal/thermal_zone0
# echo 45000 > trip_point_3_temp
root@bpi-r4-v11:/sys/class/thermal/thermal_zone0
# echo 35000 > trip_point_4_temp
root@bpi-r4-v11:/sys/class/thermal/thermal_zone0

GMAC0 (4GBit/s) is connected internally to mt7530 switch variant where the 4 user-Ports are exposed as rj45 on board (1xWan,3xLan).

The SFP(+) cages are connected to SerDes lanes of GMAC1 and GMAC2, and those can be switched between SGMII/1000Base-X/2500Base-X mode for 10M/100M/1000M/2500M (via mtk-pcs-lynxi, just like on MT7622 and MT7986) and USXGMII/10GBase-KR for 5000M and 10000M.

Supported interface modes for the SFP+ cages of the R4 are: SGMII, 1000Base-X, 2500Base-X, 5GBase-R, 10GBase-R, USXGMII

So 1.25Gbps (= 1000Base-X or SGMII) and 3.125Gbps (= 2500Base-X) SFP modules can work fine with the R4.

Sfp-connections

Forward 10g should work with ppe patch,but input needs rss+lro.

https://forum.banana-pi.org/t/bpi-r4-not-getting-full-10gbps-speed-on-wan/18134/30

full 10G will need RSS+LRO implemented in mtk ethernet driver and enabled (not yet working):

ethtool -K eth2 lro on # enable hw_lro
ethtool -k eth2 | grep large
large-receive-offload: on
iperf3 -bidir -c 192.168.90.10

RSS: https://git01.mediatek.com/plugins/gitiles/openwrt/feeds/mtk-openwrt-feeds/+/18f46a84d87308a4f56f9176ca166dc75c38bb20%5E%21/ LRO: https://git01.mediatek.com/plugins/gitiles/openwrt/feeds/mtk-openwrt-feeds/+/ddc366751fad05dade79b09932a999c5d5ae890c%5E%21/#F0

NETSYS: V2 for mt7986 (bpi-r3) V3 for mt7988 (bpi-r4)

Daniel tells me that lro should be enabled via userspace with

ethtool -N $ifname flow-type tcp4 dst-ip $lan_ip loc 0

ODI quirk

https://forum.banana-pi.org/t/bridged-interfaces-flowtable-hw-offload/18893/47?u=frank-w

wifi is realized with daughter board (Network Interface Card) in the 2 mPCIe-Slots at bottom of the board.

Wifi-Module needs 12V…v1 uses sw4 in on-position, v0 used devicetree-overlay which enables the WIFI_PWR_EN regulator. Be careful with this setting when using different card in mPCIe slots!

kernel-module: mt7996e.ko

Newer wifi card with reduced antenna-count (6 instead of 14):

https://forum.banana-pi.org/t/banana-pi-bpi-r4-bpi-be14-wi-fi7-nic-module/17182

newer card currently has timeout on 3rd wifi interface (6.8-netnext), i guess we need another firmware file for the mt7977ia frontend

wifi config (inprogress untested):

driver=nl80211
logger_syslog=127
logger_syslog_level=2
logger_stdout=127
logger_stdout_level=2
country_code=PT
ieee80211d=1
ieee80211h=1
hw_mode=a
beacon_int=100
channel=acs_survey


tx_queue_data2_burst=2.0

#num_global_macaddr=1
ieee80211n=1
ht_coex=0
ht_capab=[HT40+][LDPC][SHORT-GI-20][SHORT-GI-40][TX-STBC][RX-STBC1][MAX-AMSDU-7935]
ieee80211ac=1
vht_oper_chwidth=2
vht_oper_centr_freq_seg0_idx=acs_survey
vht_capab=[RXLDPC][SHORT-GI-80][SHORT-GI-160][TX-STBC-2BY1][SU-BEAMFORMER][SU-BEAMFORMEE][MU-BEAMFORMER][MU-BEAMFORMEE][RX-ANTENNA-PATTERN][TX-ANTENNA-PATTERN][RX-STBC-1][SOUNDING-DIMENSION-3][BF-ANTENNA-3][VHT160][MAX-MPDU-11454][MAX-A-MPDU-LEN-EXP7]
ieee80211ax=1
he_oper_chwidth=2
he_oper_centr_freq_seg0_idx=acs_survey
he_su_beamformer=1
he_su_beamformee=1
he_mu_beamformer=1
he_bss_color=128
he_spr_sr_control=3
he_default_pe_duration=4
he_rts_threshold=1023
he_mu_edca_qos_info_param_count=0
he_mu_edca_qos_info_q_ack=0
he_mu_edca_qos_info_queue_request=0
he_mu_edca_qos_info_txop_request=0
he_mu_edca_ac_be_aifsn=8
he_mu_edca_ac_be_aci=0
he_mu_edca_ac_be_ecwmin=9
he_mu_edca_ac_be_ecwmax=10
he_mu_edca_ac_be_timer=255
he_mu_edca_ac_bk_aifsn=15
he_mu_edca_ac_bk_aci=1
he_mu_edca_ac_bk_ecwmin=9
he_mu_edca_ac_bk_ecwmax=10
he_mu_edca_ac_bk_timer=255
he_mu_edca_ac_vi_ecwmin=5
he_mu_edca_ac_vi_ecwmax=7
he_mu_edca_ac_vi_aifsn=5
he_mu_edca_ac_vi_aci=2
he_mu_edca_ac_vi_timer=255
he_mu_edca_ac_vo_aifsn=5
he_mu_edca_ac_vo_aci=3
he_mu_edca_ac_vo_ecwmin=5
he_mu_edca_ac_vo_ecwmax=7
he_mu_edca_ac_vo_timer=255

interface=phy2-ap0
ctrl_interface=/var/run/hostapd
ap_isolate=1
bss_load_update_period=60
chan_util_avg_period=600
disassoc_low_ack=1
skip_inactivity_poll=0
preamble=1
wmm_enabled=1
ignore_broadcast_ssid=0
uapsd_advertisement_enabled=1
utf8_ssid=1
multi_ap=0
sae_require_mfp=1
sae_pwe=2
wpa_passphrase=testtesttest
wpa_psk_file=/var/run/hostapd-phy2-ap0.psk
auth_algs=1
wpa=2
wpa_pairwise=CCMP
ssid=MT7996-233-test-5
bridge=br-lan
wds_bridge=
snoop_iface=br-lan
wpa_disable_eapol_key_retries=0
wpa_key_mgmt=SAE
okc=1
ieee80211w=2
group_mgmt_cipher=AES-128-CMAC
dynamic_vlan=0
vlan_naming=1
vlan_no_bridge=1
vlan_file=/var/run/hostapd-phy2-ap0.vlan
qos_map_set=0,0,2,16,1,1,255,255,18,22,24,38,40,40,44,46,48,56
bssid=fe:9c:48:0a:86:32
#default_macaddr

driver=nl80211
logger_syslog=127
logger_syslog_level=2
logger_stdout=127
logger_stdout_level=2
country_code=PT
ieee80211d=1
hw_mode=g
supported_rates=60 90 120 180 240 360 480 540
basic_rates=60 120 240
beacon_int=100
channel=acs_survey

#num_global_macaddr=1
ieee80211n=1
ht_coex=0
ht_capab=[LDPC][SHORT-GI-20][SHORT-GI-40][TX-STBC][RX-STBC1][MAX-AMSDU-7935]
ieee80211ax=1
he_su_beamformer=1
he_su_beamformee=1
he_mu_beamformer=1
he_bss_color=128
he_spr_sr_control=3
he_default_pe_duration=4
he_rts_threshold=1023
he_mu_edca_qos_info_param_count=0
he_mu_edca_qos_info_q_ack=0
he_mu_edca_qos_info_queue_request=0
he_mu_edca_qos_info_txop_request=0
he_mu_edca_ac_be_aifsn=8
he_mu_edca_ac_be_aci=0
he_mu_edca_ac_be_ecwmin=9
he_mu_edca_ac_be_ecwmax=10
he_mu_edca_ac_be_timer=255
he_mu_edca_ac_bk_aifsn=15
he_mu_edca_ac_bk_aci=1
he_mu_edca_ac_bk_ecwmin=9
he_mu_edca_ac_bk_ecwmax=10
he_mu_edca_ac_bk_timer=255
he_mu_edca_ac_vi_ecwmin=5
he_mu_edca_ac_vi_ecwmax=7
he_mu_edca_ac_vi_aifsn=5
he_mu_edca_ac_vi_aci=2
he_mu_edca_ac_vi_timer=255
he_mu_edca_ac_vo_aifsn=5
he_mu_edca_ac_vo_aci=3
he_mu_edca_ac_vo_ecwmin=5
he_mu_edca_ac_vo_ecwmax=7
he_mu_edca_ac_vo_timer=255

interface=phy1-ap0
ctrl_interface=/var/run/hostapd
ap_isolate=1
bss_load_update_period=60
chan_util_avg_period=600
disassoc_low_ack=1
skip_inactivity_poll=0
preamble=1
wmm_enabled=1
ignore_broadcast_ssid=0
uapsd_advertisement_enabled=1
utf8_ssid=1
multi_ap=0
sae_require_mfp=1
sae_pwe=2
wpa_passphrase=testtesttest
wpa_psk_file=/var/run/hostapd-phy1-ap0.psk
auth_algs=1
wpa=2
wpa_pairwise=CCMP
ssid=MT7996-233-test-2.4
bridge=br-lan
wds_bridge=
snoop_iface=br-lan
wpa_disable_eapol_key_retries=0
wpa_key_mgmt=SAE
okc=1
ieee80211w=2
group_mgmt_cipher=AES-128-CMAC
dynamic_vlan=0
vlan_naming=1
vlan_no_bridge=1
vlan_file=/var/run/hostapd-phy1-ap0.vlan
qos_map_set=0,0,2,16,1,1,255,255,18,22,24,38,40,40,44,46,48,56
bssid=fe:9c:48:0a:86:31
#default_macaddr

• only 6dbm tx power due to eeprom fields empty (https://github.com/immortalwrt/immortalwrt/blob/master/package/kernel/mt76/patches/100-wifi-mt76-mt7996-Use-tx_power-from-default-fw-if-EEP.patch)
• noise (https://forum.openwrt.org/t/a-new-dual-10g-router-based-on-filogic-880-banana-pi-bpi-r4/163861/1242)

Due to MLO there is only 1 phy visible since kernel 6.14

https://forum.banana-pi.org/t/bpi-r4-kernel-6-14-wifi-interfaces-on-be14-not-discovered/22876/9

# iw list | grep -A 2 'interface combination'                                   
        valid interface combinations:                                           
                 * #{ AP } <= 16, #{ managed } <= 19,                           
                   total <= 19, #channels <= 1, STA/AP BI must match, radar det}
# iw dev wlan0 interface add wlan1 type managed
# iw dev wlan0 interface add wlan2 type managed

# iw dev wlan1 info                                                             
Interface wlan1                                                                 
        ifindex 11                                                              
        wdev 0x2                                                                
        addr 00:0c:43:26:60:10                                                  
        type managed                                                            
        wiphy 0                                                                 
        multicast TXQ:                                                          
                qsz-byt qsz-pkt flows   drops   marks   overlmt hashcol tx-bytes
                0       0       0       0       0       0       0       0      0

Then give these 3 interfaces different MAC addresses an run on each a hostapd process.

With systemd it can be done with netdev files in /etc/systemd/network

[NetDev]
Name=wlan1
Kind=wlan

[WLAN]
PhysicalDevice=phy0
Type=ap

https://forum.banana-pi.org/t/bpi-r4-accessories-wifi7-module-extension-suites/22948

needs patches for jumbo frame support

https://github.com/frank-w/BPI-Router-Linux/commits/6.19-jumbo/

• first mac has to be set to up to calculate max-mtu (ip l set eth0 up)
• mac has to be restarted with the mtu setting to adjust RX buffers (ip l set eth0 down+ip l set dev eth0 mtu 9000 up)
• then dsa-port can be brought up with mtu setting (ip link set dev lan3 mtu 9000 up)

2x1Lane (M.2 slots) and 2x2lane. the 2x2lane is for wifi (mPCIe slots).

• CN16(M.2 KEY) – SIM1
• CN12 (mPCIE) – SIM2
• CN14 (mPCIE) – SIM3

switch down is “1”, so both down booting from sdcard (v0 had both up to boot from sdcard)

v0:

How to get pwm6 working:

https://forum.banana-pi.org/t/bpi-r4-cpu-fan-setup/17362/102

echo "pwm6_0 pwm" > /sys/kernel/debug/pinctrl/1001f000.pinctrl-pinctrl_moore/pinmux-select # Enable PWM function on the pin group pwm6_0 (GPIO62)
echo 100000 > /sys/class/pwm/pwmchip0/period # Set freq to 10 kHz (100000 ns period)
echo 40000 > /sys/class/pwm/pwmchip0/duty_cycle # Set duty cycle to 40% (40000 ns active)
echo 1 > /sys/class/pwm/pwmchip0/enable # Run PWM

BPI-R4 has an eeprom on i2c-mux channel 0

[ 1.515672] at24 2-0057: 256 byte 24c02 EEPROM, writable, 1 bytes/write

write-mode (wp-gpio is linked to green led):

# echo 0 > /sys/devices/platform/gpio-leds/leds/green:status/brightness
root@bpi-r4-v11:~
# echo "test" > /sys/bus/i2c/devices/2-0057/eeprom
root@bpi-r4-v11:~
# hexdump -C /sys/bus/i2c/devices/2-0057/eeprom
00000000  74 65 73 74 0a ff ff ff  ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff  |test............|
00000010  ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff  ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff  |................|
*
00000100
root@bpi-r4-v11:~
# echo 1 > /sys/devices/platform/gpio-leds/leds/green:status/brightness
root@bpi-r4-v11:~

https://docs.phytec.com/projects/yocto-phycore-am65x/en/latest/interfaceguides/eeprom.html

BPI-R4> i2c bus
Bus 0:  i2c@11004000
Bus 1:  i2c@11005000
   70: i2c-mux@70, offset len 1, flags 0
Bus 2:  i2c@11005000->i2c-mux@70->i2c@0
   57: eeprom@57, offset len 1, flags 0
BPI-R4> i2c dev 2
Setting bus to 2
BPI-R4> i2c probe
BPI-R4> i2c md 0x57 0 5
0000: 74 65 73 74 0a    test.
BPI-R4> i2c read 0x57 0 5 $loadaddr
BPI-R4> md.b $loadaddr 5
46000000: 74 65 73 74 0a

Battery connection looks like charging circuit for ml2032. You should not connect non-rechargeable battery like cr2032.

https://forum.banana-pi.org/t/bpi-r3-bpi-r4-does-the-bpi-r3-r4-have-a-rtc/17763/36

Connector is JST with 1.25mm pitch

RTC time will survive software reboot

# dmesg | grep rtc
[    1.479923] rtc-pcf8563 2-0051: low voltage detected, date/time is not reliable.
[    1.487390] rtc-pcf8563 2-0051: registered as rtc0
[    1.493378] rtc-pcf8563 2-0051: low voltage detected, date/time is not reliable.
[    1.500771] rtc-pcf8563 2-0051: hctosys: unable to read the hardware clock
root@bpi-r4-v11:~
# date -s "2024-04-27 09:55 CEST"
Sat Apr 27 07:55:00 UTC 2024
root@bpi-r4-v11:~
# hwclock -w
root@bpi-r4-v11:~
# hwclock -r
2024-04-27 07:56:23.979830+00:00
root@bpi-r4-v11:~
# reboot
...
root@bpi-r4-v11:~
# dmesg | grep rtc
[    1.480067] rtc-pcf8563 2-0051: registered as rtc0
[    1.486061] rtc-pcf8563 2-0051: setting system clock to 2024-04-27T07:56:53 )
root@bpi-r4-v11:~
# date
Sat Apr 27 08:00:46 UTC 2024
root@bpi-r4-v11:~

uboot

currently use these:

• uboot: https://github.com/frank-w/u-boot/tree/2024-04-bpi
• ATF: https://github.com/frank-w/u-boot/tree/mtk-atf

and bootup "my" kernel like this:

MT7988> setenv fit 6.5.0-rc1-mt7988.itb
MT7988> setenv kaddr 0x48000000
MT7988> fatload mmc 0:5 ${kaddr} ${fit}
4970220 bytes read in 417 ms (11.4 MiB/s)
MT7988> bootm ${kaddr}

kaddr 0x46000000 works too, if uncompressed kernelimage is smaller than 32M (fit size of 14M was too large)

in newer u-boot i have set kaddr to 0x46000000 (fit loadaddr 0x44000000, rdaddr 0x48000000)

ram-boot with mtk_uartboot tool:

fix_bricked_boot

bpi-r4_ram.tar.gz

./mtk_uartboot -s /dev/ttyUSB4 --aarch64 --payload bpi-r4_ram_bl2.bin --fip bpi-r4_ram_fip.bin

mtk_uartboot - 0.1.1
Using serial port: /dev/ttyUSB4
Handshake...
hw code: 0x7988
hw sub code: 0x8a00
hw ver: 0xcb00
sw ver: 0x1
Baud rate set to 460800
sending payload to 0x201000...
Checksum: 0x32ed
Setting baudrate back to 115200
Jumping to 0x201000 in aarch64...
Waiting for BL2. Message below:
==================================
NOTICE:  BL2: v2.9(release):v2.9.0-358-g4e064f88b83f ram
NOTICE:  BL2: Built : 18:38:51, Jun 11 2024
NOTICE:  WDT: Cold boot
NOTICE:  WDT: disabled
NOTICE:  CPU: MT7988
NOTICE:  EMI: Using DDR unknown settings
NOTICE:  EMI: Detected DRAM size: 4096 MB
NOTICE:  EMI: complex R/W mem test passed
NOTICE:  Starting UART download handshake ...
==================================
BL2 UART DL version: 0x10
Baudrate set to: 921600
FIP sent.
==================================
NOTICE:  Received FIP 0x4440d @ 0x40400000 ...
==================================

BPI-R4> fatload usb 0:1 $loadaddr u-boot-r4-2025.04-i2c.bin
903816 bytes read in 567 ms (1.5 MiB/s)
BPI-R4> go $loadaddr

to use 8GB of ram bl2 code needs to be changed

https://forum.banana-pi.org/t/bpi-r4-successfully-upgraded-8gb-ram-on-bpi-r4/17882/44?u=frank-w

right kernel devicetrees have to be loaded

example for 6.15-rc:

bootconf=#conf-base-2g5#ov-sd
fit=6.15.0-rc1.itb
9625136 bytes read in 645 ms (14.2 MiB/s)
## Loading kernel from FIT Image at 46000000 ...
   Using 'conf-base-2g5' configuration
   ...
   Using 'ov-sd' configuration
   Trying 'fdt-ov-sd' fdt subimage

firmware has to be downloaded and installed to /lib/firmware/mediatek/

https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/firmware/linux-firmware.git/tree/mediatek/mt7988/i2p5ge-phy-pmb.bin

then module has to be loaded (currently not autoloaded in debian and result in crash if not loaded and interface set to up).

root@bpi-r4-8G:~# modprobe mtk-2p5ge
root@bpi-r4-8G:~# ip link set eth1 up
[   40.141879] MediaTek MT7988 2.5GbE PHY mdio-bus:0f: Firmware date code: 0/0/0, version: 0.0
[   41.492639] MediaTek MT7988 2.5GbE PHY mdio-bus:0f: Firmware loading/trigger ok.
[   41.500970] mtk_soc_eth 15100000.ethernet eth1: PHY [mdio-bus:0f] driver [MediaTek MT7988 2.5GbE PHY] (irq=POLL)
[   41.511319] mtk_soc_eth 15100000.ethernet eth1: configuring for phy/internal link mode
root@bpi-r4-8G:~# [   44.697996] mtk_soc_eth 15100000.ethernet eth1: Link is Up - 1Gbps/Full - flow control rx/tx

root@bpi-r4-8G:~# ip a a 192.168.0.19/24 dev eth1
root@bpi-r4-8G:~# ping 192.168.0.11
PING 192.168.0.11 (192.168.0.11) 56(84) bytes of data.
64 bytes from 192.168.0.11: icmp_seq=1 ttl=64 time=0.339 ms
64 bytes from 192.168.0.11: icmp_seq=2 ttl=64 time=0.169 ms
^C
--- 192.168.0.11 ping statistics ---
2 packets transmitted, 2 received, 0% packet loss, time 1012ms
rtt min/avg/max/mdev = 0.169/0.254/0.339/0.085 ms

maybe put it in /etc/modules

echo "mtk-2p5ge" >> /etc/modules

BPI-R4> setenv bootfile 6.5.0-rc1-mt7988-r4.itb
BPI-R4> run bootnetfit

using bin/targets/mediatek/filogic/openwrt-mediatek-filogic-bananapi_bpi-r4-initramfs-recovery.itb

BPI-R4> usb start
BPI-R4> ls usb 0:1 r4
            ./
            ../
  7929856   openwrt-mediatek-filogic-bananapi_bpi-r4-initramfs-recovery.itb

1 file(s), 2 dir(s)

BPI-R4> fatload usb 0:1 0x50000000 r4/openwrt-mediatek-filogic-bananapi_bpi-r4-initramfs-recovery.itb
7929856 bytes read in 672 ms (11.3 MiB/s)
BPI-R4> bootm 0x50000000#config-mt7988a-bananapi-bpi-r4#mt7988a-bananapi-bpi-r4-sd

to get the bootconfigs (after #) we can use dumpimage from uboot-tools, see https://www.gibbard.me/linux_fit_images/

https://git01.mediatek.com/plugins/gitiles/openwrt/feeds/mtk-openwrt-feeds/+/master/autobuild/unified/global/24.10/files/target/linux/mediatek/patches-6.6

related ethernet (and other) patches for 6.6 in openwrt 24.10:

https://git.openwrt.org/?p=openwrt/openwrt.git;a=tree;f=target/linux/generic/pending-6.6

basicly i have 3 github-repos for this…

• my u-boot repo creates the bootchain (atf bl2+uboot fip+partitions+creating base image), so look for details in this ci-pipeline (.github/workflows/build.yaml) and build.sh in uboot branch and mtk-atf branch
• my kernel-repo (BPI-Router-Linux) contains the linux kernel also built via ci pipeline and build.sh
• my images repo collects these 2 binaries (base-image and kernel-package) and make a full image with rootfs (also ci available in gdrive branch)

prebuilt images on my gdrive: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1A5S7_82Bg4EYxjzdQ5FKyBw9Qi2C3uK-?usp=drive_link

some more information and using ubi for nand are here: https://gist.github.com/BtbN/9e5878d83816fb49d51d1f76c42d7945

Webgui (cockpit): https://forum.banana-pi.org/t/bpi-r4-sd-debian-bookworm-bullseye-images-on-kernel-6-8-0-dango/17487/43

flash via this command to sdcard:

gunzip -c bpi-r4_sdmmc.img.gz | sudo dd bs=1M status=progress conv=notrunc,fsync of=/dev/sdX

apt install mtd-utils

#get mtd device for ubi partition
cat /proc/mtd | grep '"'ubi'"' | cut -d':' -f1 | tr -d [:alpha:]

ubidetach -p /dev/mtd1
ubiformat -y /dev/mtd1
ubiattach -p /dev/mtd1

ubidevice="$(basename /sys/class/mtd/mtd1/ubi*)"
echo $ubidevice
ubinfo /dev/ubi0
ubimkvol /dev/${ubidevice} -n 0 -N fip       -s 1MiB   -t static

#writing bl2 does not work because of readonly flag in devicetree
#dd if=/mnt/2025.04/bpi-r4_spim-nand_ubi_bl2.img of=/dev/mtd0

#get fip ubi partition
ubinfo /dev/ubi0 -N fip

ubiupdatevol /dev/ubi0_0 /mnt/2025.04/bpi-r4_spim-nand_ubi_fip.bin

#add additional ubi volumes
ubimkvol /dev/ubi0 -n 1 -N ubootenv  -s 128KiB
ubimkvol /dev/ubi0 -n 2 -N ubootenv2 -s 128KiB
ubimkvol /dev/ubi0 -n 3 -N rootfs    -m
mkfs.ubifs /dev/ubi0_3

#mount ubifs and copy kernel itb to it
mkdir -p /tmp/mnt/ubiroot
mount -t ubifs /dev/ubi0_3 /tmp/mnt/ubiroot

cp /mnt/usb/bpi-r4-6.16-mt7988upstream.itb /tmp/mnt/ubiroot/

ubi handling in uboot

do not use dd on mtdX devices! nandwrite is also from mtd-utils like ubi

current way with ubinized image does not work and nandwrite for bl2 does also not work

nandwrite -p /dev/mtd0 /mnt/bpi-r4pro_spim-nand_bl2.img #only possible if there is no readonly-flag for bl2 mtd partition
ubidetach -d 0
dd if=/mnt/bpi-r4-pro_nand.img  of=/dev/mtdblock1

https://www.kernel.org/doc/html/v6.1/admin-guide/kernel-parameters.html

3GB Ram limit not needed anymore as ethernet driver now uses 36bit addressing

mem=3G

https://github.com/frank-w/BPI-Router-Linux/tree/6.6-dango

# mount -t debugfs none /sys/kernel/debug/
# cat /sys/kernel/debug/gpio
# cat /sys/kernel/debug/pinctrl/pinctrl-handles
# cat /sys/kernel/debug/regulator/regulator_summary
# cat /sys/kernel/debug/clk/clk_summary

#enable debug for driver probe                                                                                     
# echo 'file dd.c +p'>/sys/kernel/debug/dynamic_debug/control                                                                   
# echo 'file core.c +p'>/sys/kernel/debug/dynamic_debug/control 

# echo '11230000.mmc' > /sys/bus/platform/drivers/mtk-msdc/unbind
# echo '11230000.mmc' > /sys/bus/platform/drivers/mtk-msdc/bind

ip link set lan0 up
ip a a 192.168.0.19/24 dev lan0
ip r a default via 192.168.0.10
date -s "2023-08-23 19:37 CEST"
#stats
ip -s link show dev eth2
ethtool -S eth2

DNS needs to be set in /etc/resolv.conf or in systemd like this:

mkdir -p /etc/systemd/resolved.conf.d/ 
cp /etc/systemd/resolved.conf /etc/systemd/resolved.conf.d/TEST.conf
echo "DNS = 192.168.0.10" >> /etc/systemd/resolved.conf.d/TEST.conf
systemctl restart systemd-resolved.service 

modules in initrd:

mount /dev/mmcblk0p6 /mnt
mkdir /lib/modules
mkdir /lib/firmware
mount -o bind /mnt/lib/modules /lib/modules
mount -o bind /mnt/lib/firmware /lib/firmware
modprobe mt7996e

same as for r3

https://forum.banana-pi.org/t/banana-pi-r3-bsp-source-code/14257/2

but select BananaPi BPI-R4 of course :)

i had to do a “make distclean” after “git pull” followed by the documented steps

# Update the feeds
./scripts/feeds update -a
./scripts/feeds install -a

make menuconfig
#select "Target System (MediaTek Ralink ARM)" => "Subtarget (Filogic 8x0 (MT798x))" => "Target Profile (Bananapi BPi-R4)"
make -j$(nproc)

then write the sdcard image…

gunzip -c bin/targets/mediatek/filogic/openwrt-mediatek-filogic-bananapi_bpi-r4-sdcard.img.gz | sudo dd bs=1M status=progress conv=notrunc,fsync of=/dev/sdX

Resize rootfs: https://forum.banana-pi.org/t/bpi-r3-mini-how-to-extend-emmc-overlayfs/17732/43

Patch adding uboot

https://git.openwrt.org/?p=openwrt/openwrt.git;a=blob;f=package/boot/uboot-mediatek/patches/450-add-bpi-r4.patch;hb=HEAD

https://openwrt.org/inbox/toh/sinovoip/bananapi_bpi-r4

• clone openwrt master
• add this to feeds.conf.default: “src-git mtksdk https://git01.mediatek.com/openwrt/feeds/mtk-openwrt-feeds”
• scripts/feeds update -f mtksdk
• make menuconfig:
  • Target System (MediaTek Ralink ARM)
  • Subtarget (Filogic 8×0 (MT798x))
  • Target Profile (MediaTek MT7988a nand rfb) #here i see no sd-variant

adding additional options:

CONFIG_PACKAGE_f2fs-tools=y
CONFIG_PACKAGE_e2fsprogs=y
CONFIG_PACKAGE_dosfstools=y
CONFIG_PACKAGE_resize2fs=y
CONFIG_PACKAGE_nano=y
CONFIG_PACKAGE_iperf3=y
#CONFIG_PACKAGE_netcat
CONFIG_PACKAGE_tcpdump=y
CONFIG_BUSYBOX_CUSTOM=y
CONFIG_BUSYBOX_CONFIG_TELNET=y

*-initramfs-kernel.bin is not the production image we’re using. We only use it for testing purpose since it contains rootfs and won’t read the flash.
*-sysupgrade.bin is the actual production image. It’s a tar ball for nand/emmc/sd boards. It contains separate kernel and rootfs that will be written to ubi volume for nand, or the partitions defined for sd/emmc.

#tar -xf bin/targets/mediatek/filogic/openwrt-mediatek-filogic-mediatek_mt7988a-rfb-nand-squashfs-sysupgrade.bin sysupgrade-mediatek_mt7988a-rfb-nand/kernel
#dumpimage -l sysupgrade-mediatek_mt7988a-rfb-nand/kernel

dumpimage -l openwrt-24.10.0-mediatek-filogic-bananapi_bpi-r4-initramfs-recovery.itb
tftpboot 0x50000000 openwrt-mediatek-filogic-bananapi_bpi-r4-initramfs-recovery.itb
bootm 0x50000000#config-mt7988a-bananapi-bpi-r4#mt7988a-bananapi-bpi-r4-sd

https://gist.github.com/BtbN/9e5878d83816fb49d51d1f76c42d7945

• SFP which pulling moddef0 to low after they get power do not work (analyzed by daniel golle), seems affecting my H!Fibre 1G MM SFP
• Card in M.2 slot causes i2c issues (sfp not detected): https://forum.banana-pi.org/t/bpi-r4-nvme-i2c/17152/2
• pcie2 and some others (offloading with 4G, multiple ppe, rss/lro) not yet working (https://forum.banana-pi.org/t/banana-pi-bpi-r4-wifi-7-router-board-with-mediatek-mt7988a-filogic-880-4g-ram-and-8g-emmc/15757/241)
• Wifi range/throughput currently bad with mainline (openwrt) code. Seems like eeprom issue. https://forum.banana-pi.org/t/bpi-r4-wifi-range/19418/236?u=frank-w