RDK-B Banana Pi R4 - Beta Engineering Release(05 Feb 2025)

• 2Scope
• 3Frequently Asked Questions
• 4Build instructions
• 5Flashing instructions(NAND flash)
• 6Flashing instructions(SD card)
• 7Boot mode
  • 7.1NAND 
    • 7.1.1switch configuration
  • 7.2SD 
    • 7.2.1switch configuration
• 8Yocto 
  • 8.1Version
  • 8.2SoC meta layers
  • 8.3RDK meta layers
• 9Kernel & user space
• 10Currently supported & working WAN technologies
• 11Wi-Fi highlights
• 12Flashing mechanism
  • 12.1Primary
  • 12.2Secondary
• 13Hardware & Peripherals
• 14How to get bananapi R4
• 15Features supported in Beta engineering release
• 16Validation  Status
  • 16.1Sanity Status 
  • 16.2Features Status
• 17List of Supported Features - User Manual's
• 18Roadmap of new Features
• 19Known issues  
• 20References
• 21Reference image 
• 22Test results reference
• 23For support

Scope

Scope of this Beta engineering release is for RDK-B community to explore and understand RDK-B running on Banana pi R4.

Frequently Asked Questions

• Can i use this release for production - Not recommended
• Does it cover all features - Yes
• what release version i can use for deployment - 2025Q2 release is planned for deployment
• Can i share this Beta release with my OEM's/Operators/SI's/SoC's - You are free to share
• Can i contact RDKM team if i have any queries/to give any feedback - Yes
• Is this Beta engineering release fully tested - Yes we have done End to End testing
• Can i use Beta release for my development/New enhancements - Yes
• Does beta release support 6.x linux kernel,If no what is the plan - Beta release support 5.4 kernel and we are planning linux kernel 6.1 upgrade with upcoming mediatek BSP release
• Does beta release support EasyMesh/Wi-Fi 7 - No,We plan Post beta release

Build instructions

• NAND
  repo init -u https://code.rdkcentral.com/r/reference/manifests -m bpi4_tags/rdkb-bpi-extsrc-2025Q1.xml -b master
  repo sync -j`nproc` --no-clone-bundle
  MACHINE=bananapi4-rdk-broadband source meta-cmf-bananapi/setup-environment-refboard-rdkb
  bitbake rdk-generic-broadband-image
  
  SD card
  Note: pls check here for more info -https://wiki.rdkcentral.com/pages/viewpage.action?pageId=354648448
  repo init -u https://code.rdkcentral.com/r/manifests -b kirkstone -m rdkb-bpi-extsrc.xml
  repo sync -j `nproc` --no-clone-bundle --no-tags 
  MACHINE=bananapi4-rdk-broadband BPI_IMG_TYPE=sdmmc source meta-cmf-bananapi/setup-environment-refboard-rdkb
  bitbake rdk-generic-broadband-image

Flashing instructions(NAND flash)

Pre-requirements: Install tftp server in you local machine and copy the image to tftp server location

Flashing instructions(SD card)

Tested machines - Linux,MacOs

Boot mode

• NAND 

  • switch configuration

    • https://wiki.banana-pi.org/Getting_Started_with_BPI-R4#Prepare_to_develop

• SD 

  • switch configuration

    • https://wiki.banana-pi.org/Getting_Started_with_BPI-R4#Prepare_to_develop

Yocto 

• Version

  • Kirkstone(Yocto 4.0)

• SoC meta layers

  • meta-filogic
  • meta-cmf-filogic

• RDK meta layers

  • meta-cmf-bananapi
    • https://github.com/rdkcentral/meta-cmf-bananapi/tree/Beta

Kernel & user space

• Kernel 5.4 
• Full 64bit (User space and kernel space)

Currently supported & working WAN technologies

• 
• 

Wi-Fi highlights

• 2.4 Ghz (wifi0)
• 5 Ghz (wifi1)
• 6 Ghz(wifi2)
• Does it support multiple creations - As of now we have not created any VAP's.Technically that is possible based on requirement.

Flashing mechanism

• Primary

  • NAND flash supported in Beta Engineering release

• Secondary

  • SD flash supported in Beta Engineering release
  • Prerequisites:You may need to compile your own uboot and copy files to build system before build.The reason is uboot code is not fully open.as of now we are not authorized to host binaries in RDKM(SD Monolitic image build and flashing steps for BPI R4.)

Hardware & Peripherals

• Banana Pi R4 Router Board
• BE14 Wi-Fi 7 card & Antennas
• Quectel EM05-G Cellular Modem
• Power supply & Heat sinks
• Case (Optional)
• serial cable

How to get bananapi R4

• https://www.amazon.com/Development-MediaTek-MT7988A-onboard-Network/dp/B0DFBLL1CX/ref=sr_1_3?crid=F4K6S2C1WSLY&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.VcoMSeqhcGQZZ_Izyt-ezSl4nissusDy-9DX3HtClc5bM0CS1tY8XJu61qTPGaRRTQcyNK6BYUXP_vPjx0FIXXkdDGjpgGdSIzz0IQ0Xy2Qrw5_58JPNNl5PQUT6Arvw64sR8D7uwWeqZY0WAlGFZfff303GAp8FdafZ9UWHJ6TFcUIZh_jtU4Wrr9u131p7plmRCHSqIU-dAFGS4Z_plaknOogJtU7PtddRVlPLHd8.SU2S2lZCwzak9CRvg1LH_uRzc_0UKs1UeQqvk5xvIO0&dib_tag=se&keywords=banana+pi+r4&qid=1729895436&sprefix=bananapi+r4%2Caps%2C141&sr=8-3
• Cellular Modem - Quectel EM05-G LTE M.2 Module/Simcom Module 8200EAM2
  • Note: For testing with other CellularModules,There might need some changes in ModemManager (You can plan it on your own)

Features supported in Beta engineering release

• 

Validation  Status

Sanity Status 

Features Status

List of Supported Features - User Manual's

1. Webpa - WebPA Feature Support on BPI R4 - User Manual
2. RFC -RFC Feature Support in RDKB BPI - User manual
3. WebConfig -WebConfig Feature Support in RDKB BPI - User Manual
4. Telemetry 2 - Telemetry 2.0 Feature support for RDKB BPI -User Manual
5. Log Rotate -Log Rotation Feature Support in RDKB BPI - User manual
6. Cellular -  Cellular Feature support in RDKB BPI - User Manual
7. UspPa - Including UspPa in a device
8. CpuProcAnalyser - Cpuprocanalyzer Feature support in RDKB BPI - User Manual
9. OneWifi - OneWifi Integration in RDKB BPI - User Manual
10. Selfheal - Self Heal Feature in BPI - User manual - Preferred Program - RDK Central Wiki
11. TR-69 - TR069 Support for Bananapi R4 - Preferred Program - RDK Central Wiki
12. SNMP - SNMP Support for BPIR4 - Preferred Program - RDK Central Wiki
13. OneWifi with Single WiPhy support 
    1. OneWifi Integration in RDKB BPI - User Manual
    2. Single wiphy design for Onewifi/rdk-wifi-hal
14. Crashupload - Crash Upload Feature RDK-B - RDK - RDK Central Wiki
15. Test and Diagnostics similar to RPI- Test and Diagnostic on R-Pi
16. Bridge Mode similar to RPI- BridgeMode Feature support in RPI
17. DAC similar to RPI 
    1. Containerization using META DAC SDK in RDK-B RPI
    2. DAC on BPI R4 RDK-B -64 bit
    3. iperf3 application
18. eSDK similar to TurrisOmnia - ESDK dunfell  support on Turris Omnia 
19. PopulateSDK : Creating Yocto SDK 
20. SD card support - SD Monolitic image build and flashing steps for BPI R4.

Roadmap of new Features

Known issues  

• Bridge Mode is working when it is enabled. Device is not booting with bridgemode on reboot. To recover,  switch to router mode with command "dmcli eRT setv Device.X_CISCO_COM_DeviceControl.LanManagementEntry.1.LanMode string router"

References

• About Bananapi R4 - https://www.banana-pi.org/en/bananapi-router/155.html
• Cellular Modem - https://en.simcom.com/product/SIM8200EA_M2.html
• https://wiki.banana-pi.org/Getting_Started_with_BPI-R4#2.EF.BC.89_4G.2F5G_Module
• EM05-G
  • PDF 

Reference image 

• Can be provided to RDK-B Licenses on demand

Test results reference

• Will be attaching shortly ..

For support

• Please reachout to support@rdkcentral.com