Banana Pro specifications

Illustration for Banana Pro specifications documentation

Summary

This page provides detailed technical specifications for the Banana Pro single-board computer, including processor capabilities, WiFi/Bluetooth features, storage interfaces, network performance, GPIO pinouts, power requirements, and verification commands. Use this reference when selecting compatible peripherals, diagnosing hardware issues, or planning software deployments.

Processor and memory

  • SoC: Allwinner A20 dual-core ARM Cortex-A7, 1 GHz (ARMv7)
  • GPU: ARM Mali-400 MP2 (dual-core, OpenGL ES 2.0)
  • RAM: 1 GB DDR3 (shared with GPU, typically 900950 MB available to OS)
  • Instruction set: 32-bit ARMv7 with NEON SIMD extensions
  • L1 cache: 32 KB instruction + 32 KB data per core
  • L2 cache: 256 KB shared

Verification:

# Check CPU model and frequency:
lscpu | grep -E "Model name|MHz"

# Confirm detected cores:
nproc

# Check available memory:
free -h

Storage interfaces

  • microSD slot: Boot and primary storage, supports SDHC/SDXC up to 64 GB (larger cards work but may require manual partitioning)
  • SATA interface: SATA II (3 Gbps), supports 2.5-inch SSDs and HDDs. Power provided via the board (max 500 mA at 5V); 3.5-inch drives require external power.
  • eMMC: Not present on Banana Pro (use microSD or SATA)

Performance expectations:

  • microSD sequential read: 2040 MB/s (varies by card class)
  • SATA II sequential read: 200280 MB/s (limited by SATA II and CPU overhead)
  • Random I/O: microSD is poor (1002000 IOPS); SATA SSD delivers 510k IOPS for small workloads

Verification:

# List storage devices:
lsblk

# Test microSD read speed:
sudo hdparm -t /dev/mmcblk0

# Test SATA drive (if connected):
sudo hdparm -t /dev/sda

# Check filesystem usage:
df -h

Network interfaces

  • Ethernet: Gigabit Ethernet (10/100/1000 Mbps), Realtek RTL8211E PHY, supports autonegotiation and full-duplex
  • WiFi: 802.11 b/g/n (2.4 GHz), Broadcom AP6210 module, supports client and access point modes
  • Bluetooth: Bluetooth 4.0 (includes LE support), integrated with AP6210 module

Performance expectations:

  • Gigabit Ethernet: 800900 Mbps TCP throughput (iperf3), limited by CPU overhead
  • WiFi 802.11n: 4060 Mbps TCP throughput at close range, drops to 1030 Mbps at 10+ metres or through walls
  • Bluetooth: 12 Mbps theoretical (Bluetooth 4.0 spec), practical throughput 500700 Kbps for data transfer

Verification:

# Ethernet interface and speed:
ethtool eth0 | grep -E "Speed|Duplex|Link"

# WiFi interface status:
iw dev wlan0 info
iw dev wlan0 link  # Signal strength and connection details

# Bluetooth controller:
hciconfig hci0
sudo hcitool scan  # Scan for nearby Bluetooth devices

# Network throughput test (requires iperf3 server):
iperf3 -c  -t 30

GPIO and expansion interfaces

  • 40-pin GPIO header: Largely compatible with Raspberry Pi Model B+ pinout
  • GPIO count: 28 usable GPIO pins (3.3V logic level)
  • I2C: 2 buses (I2C-0, I2C-1), 400 kHz standard speed
  • SPI: 1 bus (SPI0), supports up to 10 MHz clock
  • UART: 1 serial console (UART0, 3.3V TTL, 115200 baud default), additional UARTs available via GPIO muxing
  • PWM: 2 hardware PWM channels
  • Interrupt support: Most GPIO pins support edge-triggered interrupts (rising, falling, both)

Voltage warning: All GPIO pins are 3.3V. Connecting 5V signals directly will damage the board. Use level shifters for 5V peripherals.

Verification:

# List available GPIO chips:
ls /sys/class/gpio

# Export a GPIO pin (example: GPIO 17):
echo 17 > /sys/class/gpio/export
echo out > /sys/class/gpio/gpio17/direction
echo 1 > /sys/class/gpio/gpio17/value

# Check I2C buses:
i2cdetect -l
sudo i2cdetect -y 0  # Scan I2C-0 for devices

# UART console (via USB-to-UART adapter):
screen /dev/ttyUSB0 115200

USB ports

  • USB 2.0 host: 2 ports, 480 Mbps per port (shared 480 Mbps total bandwidth via internal hub)
  • USB OTG: 1 port (microUSB), supports host and device modes (requires OTG cable for host mode)
  • Power delivery: Each USB port supplies up to 500 mA (standard USB 2.0 spec). High-power devices (external HDDs, USB WiFi adapters) require a powered USB hub.

Verification:

# List USB devices:
lsusb

# Check USB bus details:
lsusb -t

# Monitor USB events (hotplug):
dmesg -w
# Then connect/disconnect a USB device and watch for messages.

Video and audio

  • HDMI: HDMI 1.4, 1080p60 maximum resolution, audio over HDMI supported
  • LVDS: 1 channel, for parallel LCD panels (requires device tree configuration)
  • Composite video: CVBS output via 3.5mm jack (requires adapter cable)
  • Audio out: 3.5mm stereo jack, HDMI audio
  • Audio in: On-board MEMS microphone (mono)
  • IR receiver: Consumer IR (CIR) for remote control input (lirc compatible)

Verification:

# List audio devices:
aplay -l

# Test audio output (WAV file):
aplay /usr/share/sounds/alsa/Front_Center.wav

# Record from microphone (10 seconds):
arecord -d 10 -f cd test.wav

# Check HDMI display mode:
cat /sys/class/drm/card0/card0-HDMI-A-1/modes

Power requirements

  • Input: 5V DC via 3.5mm barrel jack (centre positive), 2 A minimum, 2.5 A recommended
  • Idle consumption: 1.52.0 W (300400 mA at 5V)
  • Typical load: 2.54.0 W (500800 mA) with Ethernet, WiFi idle, light CPU usage
  • Peak load: 5.07.0 W (11.4 A) with WiFi transmitting, USB peripherals, CPU at 100%, SATA drive active
  • Undervoltage threshold: Below 4.75V, expect random reboots and microSD corruption. Use a regulated supply and short, thick power cables.

Verification:

# Check for under-voltage events in kernel log:
dmesg | grep -i voltage

# Monitor CPU frequency scaling (confirms power/thermal throttling):
watch -n 1 cat /sys/devices/system/cpu/cpu0/cpufreq/scaling_cur_freq

Thermal management

  • Operating temperature: 040�C ambient (specified)
  • Typical idle temperature: 4050�C (no heatsink, 25�C ambient)
  • Typical load temperature: 6075�C (sustained CPU + WiFi load)
  • Throttling threshold: Most kernels throttle at 8085�C
  • Heatsink recommended: For sustained loads (compiling, video encoding, 24/7 services), add a passive heatsink or small fan

Verification:

# Read CPU temperature (millidegrees Celsius):
cat /sys/class/thermal/thermal_zone0/temp

# Monitor temperature continuously:
watch -n 2 cat /sys/class/thermal/thermal_zone0/temp

# Check throttling status:
cat /sys/devices/system/cpu/cpu0/cpufreq/scaling_governor
cat /sys/devices/system/cpu/cpu0/cpufreq/scaling_available_frequencies

Boot sequence and device tree

The Banana Pro boot process:

  1. BROM (Boot ROM): On-chip bootloader searches for SPL (Secondary Program Loader) on microSD, then NAND (if present).
  2. SPL (U-Boot SPL): Initializes DRAM and loads U-Boot proper.
  3. U-Boot: Loads kernel (zImage or uImage) and device tree blob (DTB) from /boot partition.
  4. Kernel: Initializes hardware according to device tree, mounts root filesystem, starts init system (systemd or SysVinit).

Device tree files are typically named sun7i-a20-bananapro.dtb. To inspect:

# Check loaded device tree:
cat /proc/device-tree/model

# Decompile device tree to readable format:
dtc -I fs -O dts /proc/device-tree > current-dt.dts
less current-dt.dts

Known limitations

  • RAM constraint: 1 GB shared between CPU and GPU limits multi-tasking. Heavy applications (web browsers with many tabs, large databases) may trigger OOM (out-of-memory) kills. Configure swap for memory-intensive workloads.
  • USB bandwidth: Two USB 2.0 ports share a single 480 Mbps bus. Simultaneous high-speed transfers (e.g., two USB 3.0 drives) are bottlenecked.
  • WiFi 2.4 GHz only: No 5 GHz support. In congested 2.4 GHz environments, throughput degrades significantly.
  • No hardware video encoding: The Mali-400 GPU supports video decoding (H.264, MPEG-2) but not encoding. Software encoding (ffmpeg, x264) is CPU-bound and slow.
  • No real-time capabilities: Standard Linux kernel; not suitable for hard real-time applications without RT_PREEMPT patches.

Frequently asked questions

Q: Can I overclock the CPU?
A: Yes, but not recommended without active cooling. Edit /boot/armbianEnv.txt or equivalent to increase max frequency. Monitor temperature carefully; exceeding 85�C causes throttling or instability.

Q: How much power does WiFi consume?
A: WiFi adds 300500 mA when active (transmitting/receiving). Bluetooth adds 5080 mA. Total peak current with WiFi + Bluetooth + peripherals can reach 1.5 A.

Q: Can I use a USB WiFi adapter instead of the on-board WiFi?
A: Yes. Disable the on-board WiFi (blacklist the brcmfmac driver) and use a USB adapter with better Linux support (e.g., Realtek RTL8812AU for 5 GHz).

Q: What is the GPIO pinout?
A: See the Banana Pro wiki page for a detailed pinout diagram. Most pins are 3.3V compatible with RPi accessories, but verify voltage levels before connecting.

Q: Can I boot from SATA without a microSD card?
A: No. The bootloader (U-Boot) must reside on microSD. You can move the root filesystem to SATA for better performance, but the boot partition remains on microSD.

Q: Why does the board reboot when I connect a USB hard drive?
A: USB HDDs draw 5001000 mA during spin-up, exceeding the board's USB current limit. Use a powered USB hub or a SATA-to-USB adapter with external power.

Q: How do I enable the IR receiver?
A: Install lirc and configure the CIR device. Most distributions include pre-configured profiles for common remotes. See /etc/lirc/lircd.conf for configuration.

Author: LeMaker Documentation Team
Last updated: 2026-01-10