StarFive VisionFive SBC User manual
www.starfivetech.com NO.: VisionFive-QSGEN-001-V1.1
VisionFive SBC
Quick Start Guide
Version: V1.1
Date: 2022-03-01
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PROPRIETARY NOTICE
Copyright © Shanghai StarFive Technology Co., Ltd., 2018-2022. All rights reserved.
Information in this document is provided "as is," with all faults. Contents may be periodically up-
dated or revised due to the product development. Shanghai StarFive Technology Co., Ltd. (herein-
after “StarFive”) reserves the right to make changes without further notice to any products herein.
StarFive expressly disclaims all warranties, representations, and conditions of any kind, whether
express or implied, including, but not limited to, the implied warranties or conditions of merchant-
ability, fitness for a particular purpose and non-infringement.
StarFive does not assume any liability rising out of the application or use of any product or circuit,
and specifically disclaims any and all liability, including without limitation indirect, incidental, spe-
cial, exemplary, or consequential damages.
All material appearing in this document is protected by copyright and is the property of StarFive.
You may not reproduce the information contained herein, in whole or in part, without the written
permission of StarFive.
Shanghai StarFive Technology Co., Ltd.
Address: Room 502, Building 2, No. 61 Shengxia Rd., China (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade
Zone, Shanghai, 201203, China
Website: www.starfivetech.com
Email: sales@starfivetech.com (sales)
support@starfivetech.com (support)
StarFive
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About This Manual
Introduction
This document mainly provides the users with the necessary information about the StarFive Vi-
sionFive development board, including features, specifications, board appearance and pinout, as
well as the guidelines to get started with the Fedora operation system.
Revision History
Version Released Revision
V1 2021-12-08 The first official release.
V1.1 2022-03-01
⚫Added new steps to use Ethernet to prepare software under
Windows and Mac/Linux environment in the Software Setup
section.
⚫Updated the Fedora image file name as Fedora-riscv64-
jh7100-developer-xfce-Rawhide-20211226-
214100.n.0-sda.raw.zst.
⚫Added steps to recover bootloader for Mac/Linux.
⚫Updated the description in the Software Setup section.
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Table of Contents
About This Manual ...................................................................................................................ii
1Features and Specifications .................................................................................................4
1.1 Features....................................................................................................................................................... 4
1.2 Specifications............................................................................................................................................... 4
2Hardware Overview ............................................................................................................6
2.1 Board Appearance ....................................................................................................................................... 6
2.2 Pinout Diagram............................................................................................................................................ 7
3Getting Started....................................................................................................................9
3.1 Required Hardware...................................................................................................................................... 9
3.2 Connecting a Fan ......................................................................................................................................... 9
3.3 Flashing Fedora OS to Micro-SD Card..........................................................................................................9
3.3.1 For Windows....................................................................................................................................... 10
3.3.2 For Mac/Linux..................................................................................................................................... 11
3.4 Logging in to Fedora ..................................................................................................................................12
3.4.1 Using Xfce Desktop over HDMI........................................................................................................... 12
3.4.2 Using SSH over Ethernet..................................................................................................................... 12
3.4.3 Using a USB to Serial Converter..........................................................................................................14
4Appendix A: VisionFive Boot Flow .....................................................................................19
5Appendix B: Updating Firmware and u-boot ......................................................................20
5.1 Using Pre-Built Binary Packages ................................................................................................................ 20
5.1.1 Hardware Connection.........................................................................................................................20
5.1.2 Software Setup ................................................................................................................................... 21
6Appendix C: Recovering the Bootloader.............................................................................33
6.1 Hardware Setup.........................................................................................................................................33
6.2 Software Setup .......................................................................................................................................... 33
6.2.1 For Windows....................................................................................................................................... 33
6.2.2 For Mac/Linux.....................................................................................................................................35
7Appendix D: GitHub Repository.........................................................................................38
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1 Features and Specifications
VisionFive is the first generation of affordable RISC-V computers designed to run Linux. It is
fully open-source with open-source software, open hardware design and RISC-V open archi-
tecture.
It is powered by RISC-V SiFive U74 Dual-Core 64-bit RV64GC ISA SoC with 8GB LPDDR4 RAM
and has rich I/O peripherals such as USB 3.0 ports, 40-pin GPIO header, Gigabit Ethernet
Connector, Micro-SD card slot and much more.
VisionFive also has rich AI features with Neural Network Engine and NVDLA Engine. It has
onboard audio and video processing capabilities and has MIPI-CSI and MIPI-DSI connectors
for video hardware. It has wireless capabilities with Wi-Fi and Bluetooth (BLE) and has a wide
software compatibility including support for Fedora.
1.1 Features
⚫Truly open-source hardware, software and RISC-V open architecture
⚫Powerful and rich AI features with Neural Network Engine and NVDLA Engine
⚫Abundant I/O peripherals
⚫Wireless connectivity with Wi-Fi and BLE
⚫Onboard video and audio processing
⚫Wide software compatibility including support for Fedora
1.2 Specifications
Table 1-1 Specifications
Specification Details
Processor
⚫RISC-V SiFive U74 Dual-Core 64-bit RV64GC ISA SoC with 2MB L2
cache @ 1.0GHz
⚫Vision DSP Tensilica-VP6 for computing vision @ 600MHz
⚫NVDLA Engine (configuration 2048 MACs @ 800MHz)
⚫Neural Network Engine (1024MACs @ 500MHz)
Memory 8GB LPDDR4
Wireless Connec-
tivity
⚫2.4 GHz Wi-Fi (IEEE 802.11b/g/n)
⚫Bluetooth 4.2 (BLE)
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Specification Details
Video Processing
⚫2 x MIPI-CSI (up to 4K@30fps), 1 x MIPI-DSI (up to 4K@30fps)
⚫1 x HDMI 1.4 (up to 1080p@60fps display)
⚫Video Decoder (H264/H265) up to 4K@60fps; Support Dual stream
decoding for 2K@30fps each
⚫Dual channels of ISP, each channel support up to 4K@30FPS
⚫Support MIPI-CSI TX for video output after ISP and AI processing
⚫JPEG encoder/decoder
Dedicated Audio
Processing DSP
and Sub-system
⚫Ultra-low power Voice Activity Detector for audio bit-stream as a
Voice Trigger
⚫On-chip Audio DAC
⚫Support DMIC and AMIC, up to 4 channels
Peripherals
⚫4 x USB 3.0 ports
⚫40 Pin GPIO Header (28 x GPIO, I2C, I2S, SPI, UART)
⚫Gigabit Ethernet Connector
⚫3.5 mm Audio jack (4-pole stereo audio output)
⚫Micro-SD card slot for system boot and data storage
⚫Support TRNG and OTP
⚫Support DMAC, QSPI and other peripheral
⚫Reset button and Power Button
Power Supply ⚫Minimum: 5 V / 1.5 A
⚫Recommended: 5 V / 3 A
Power Connector ⚫USB Type-C port or 40-pin GPIO header
Dimensions ⚫100 mm x 72 mm
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2 Hardware Overview
2.1 Board Appearance
Figure 2-1 Top View of VisionFive
Figure 2-2 Bottom View of VisionFive
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Table 2-1 Interface Description
No. Description No. Description
1RISC-V SiFive U74 Dual-Core 64-bit
RV64GC ISA SoC 9HDMI 2.0 Connector
24GB LPDDR4 RAM 10 2 x MIPI-CSI Connector
32.4 GHz Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 4.2 (BLE) 11 Gigabit Ethernet (RJ45 Connector)
440 Pin GPIO Header 12 2 x USB 3.0 Host Type-A
5MIPI-DSI Connector 13 2 x USB 3.0 Host Type-A
6PMIC 14 3.5 mm Audio Jack (4-pole stereo audio
output)
7USB Type-C Connector 15 Micro-SD SDXC Card Slot
8LCD to HDMI IC 16 Fan Header for a 2-pin 5 V Fan
Notes:
The recommended current for this board is 3 A. The reason is as the following:
The onboard components need about 1 A, the 4 USB ports can draw a total of 1 A combined,
one USB port alone can also draw 1 A and the remaining current is for expansion header and
others.
2.2 Pinout Diagram
The following is the pinout diagram:
Figure 2-3 Pinout Diagram
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Notes:
Each GPIO pin can safely draw a maximum current of 39 mA, whereas the maximum current
draw when all GPIOs are combined should be less than 100 mA. Please take this into account
or otherwise you will end up destroying the GPIO pins.
All GPIOs can be configured to support different functions including but not limited to SDIO,
Audio, SPI, I2C, UART and PWM.
For the instructions, refer to StarFive_40-Pin_GPIO_Header_User_Guide.
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3 Getting Started
3.1 Required Hardware
You need to prepare the following hardware before getting started with VisionFive：
⚫VisionFive
⚫16GB (or more) micro-SD card
⚫micro-SD card reader
⚫Computer (PC/Mac/Linux)
⚫USB to serial converter (3.3 V I/O)
⚫Ethernet cable
⚫Power adapter (5 V / 3 A)
⚫USB Type-C Cable
3.2 Connecting a Fan
It's recommended to use a fan with VisionFive. You can connect a 2-pin 5 V fan to the board
as follows:
Figure 3-1 Connecting a Fan
3.3 Flashing Fedora OS to Micro-SD Card
Now we need to burn Fedora (which a Linux distribution) to a micro-SD card, so that it can
run on the VisionFive. Follow the steps below according to your operating system.
Start by downloading the Fedora image from here.
StarFive
Table of contents
