Operation
We have been given the BPI-R3 Mini, which comes equipped with a 20W USB-C PD power adapter. This adapter is truly exceptional, as it features an integrated smart chip that intelligently adapts the current to perfectly suit the requirements of your device. It also offers the convenience of adjustable voltages, with options ranging from 5V-3A, 9V-2.22A, to 12V-1.67A. With such versatility and sophistication, this power adapter is a true standout feature of the BPI-R3 Mini.
Banana Pi R3 Mini Power Adaptor
After conducting extensive tests, we have determined that the device’s CPU operates optimally within a temperature range of 52-64℃ (Maximum). The small fan inside the case is controlled by Pulse-width modulation (PWM). It kicks in when there is a change in CPU load or when the temperature exceeds a specific threshold. This fan plays a crucial role in gradually reducing the operating temperature of the device to a very reasonable ~53℃.
Moreover, we have found that the CPU cores are utilized at approximately 26-28% capacity during normal operation, resulting in superior performance and efficiency.
Banana Pi R3 Mini | CPU Load Information
Hardware
The Banana Pi BPI-R3 mini boasts impressive power, thanks to its robust quad-core ARM MT7986A (Filogic 830) processor. With this advanced 12 nm process technology, it delivers outstanding processing capabilities, seamlessly integrating a highly efficient CPU, GPU, AI processing unit, and a comprehensive connectivity module.
Featuring a robust 2GB of DDR4 memory, this router ensures flawless and effortless performance, even when confronted with numerous devices and extensive network traffic. This device boasts an array of remarkable features including 8GB eMMC storage, M.2 interfaces (B&M) for enhanced functionality, a Nano SIM slot for hassle-free connectivity, two 2.5G Ethernet ports for high-speed networking, and integrated onboard dual-band Wi-Fi 6 support for smooth wireless connectivity.
Checking Memory Usage
root@OpenWrt:/# free
total used free shared buff/cache available
Mem: 2041900 274420 1507116 4504 260364 1709152
Swap: 0Checking Available system resources
root@OpenWrt:~# cat /proc/meminfo
MemTotal: 2041900 kB
MemFree: 1597196 kB
MemAvailable: 1788732 kB
Buffers: 162996 kB
Cached: 68448 kB
SwapCached: 0 kB
Active: 203904 kB
Inactive: 36444 kB
Active(anon): 9592 kB
Inactive(anon): 2764 kB
Active(file): 194312 kB
Inactive(file): 33680 kB
Unevictable: 0 kB
Mlocked: 0 kB
SwapTotal: 0 kB
SwapFree: 0 kB
Dirty: 0 kB
Writeback: 0 kB
AnonPages: 8904 kB
Mapped: 14948 kB
Shmem: 3452 kB
KReclaimable: 17200 kB
Slab: 79536 kB
SReclaimable: 17200 kB
SUnreclaim: 62336 kB
KernelStack: 2048 kB
PageTables: 796 kB
NFS_Unstable: 0 kB
Bounce: 0 kB
WritebackTmp: 0 kB
CommitLimit: 1020948 kB
Committed_AS: 23568 kB
VmallocTotal: 262930368 kB
VmallocUsed: 42876 kB
VmallocChunk: 0 kB
Percpu: 608 kBResult: The OpenWrt OS efficiently uses around 4.5GB of the available 2GB RAM, ensuring optimal performance and resource utilization.
Result: The OpenWrt OS efficiently uses around 4.5GB of the available 2GB RAM, ensuring optimal performance and resource utilization.
CPU Information
root@OpenWrt:~# cat /proc/cpuinfo
processor : 0
model name : ARMv8 Processor rev 4 (v8l)
BogoMIPS : 26.00
Features : fp asimd evtstrm aes pmull sha1 sha2 crc32 cpuid
CPU implementer : 0x41
CPU architecture: 8
CPU variant : 0x0
CPU part : 0xd03
CPU revision : 4
processor : 1
model name : ARMv8 Processor rev 4 (v8l)
BogoMIPS : 26.00
Features : fp asimd evtstrm aes pmull sha1 sha2 crc32 cpuid
CPU implementer : 0x41
CPU architecture: 8
CPU variant : 0x0
CPU part : 0xd03
CPU revision : 4
processor : 2
model name : ARMv8 Processor rev 4 (v8l)
BogoMIPS : 26.00
Features : fp asimd evtstrm aes pmull sha1 sha2 crc32 cpuid
CPU implementer : 0x41
CPU architecture: 8
CPU variant : 0x0
CPU part : 0xd03
CPU revision : 4
processor : 3
model name : ARMv8 Processor rev 4 (v8l)
BogoMIPS : 26.00
Features : fp asimd evtstrm aes pmull sha1 sha2 crc32 cpuid
CPU implementer : 0x41
CPU architecture: 8
CPU variant : 0x0
CPU part : 0xd03
CPU revision : 4Finding all storage devices
root@OpenWrt:/# lsblk -o KNAME,TYPE,SIZE,MODEL
root@OpenWrt:/mnt# lsblk -o KNAME,TYPE,SIZE,MODEL
KNAME TYPE SIZE MODEL
mtdblock0 disk 128M
mtdblock1 disk 1M
mtdblock2 disk 512K
mtdblock3 disk 2M
mtdblock4 disk 2M
mtdblock5 disk 4.5M
mtdblock6 disk 2M
mtdblock7 disk 2M
mtdblock8 disk 32M
mtdblock9 disk 1G
mtdblock10 disk 980.3M
mtdblock11 disk 2G
mtdblock12 disk 4.2G
mmcblk0 disk 7.3G
mmcblk0p1 part 17K
mmcblk0p2 part 512K
mmcblk0p3 part 2M
mmcblk0p4 part 2M
mmcblk0p5 part 32M
mmcblk0p6 part 256M
mmcblk0boot0 disk 4M
mmcblk0boot1 disk 4M
nvme0n1 disk 476.9G SAMSUNG MZ9LQ512HBLU-00B00
nvme0n1p1 part 476.9G
More detailed information about the storage devices
root@OpenWrt:/# fdisk -l
Disk /dev/mtdblock0: 128 MiB, 134217728 bytes, 262144 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disk /dev/mtdblock1: 1 MiB, 1048576 bytes, 2048 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disk /dev/mtdblock2: 512 KiB, 524288 bytes, 1024 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disk /dev/mtdblock3: 2 MiB, 2097152 bytes, 4096 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disk /dev/mtdblock4: 2 MiB, 2097152 bytes, 4096 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
The backup GPT table is not on the end of the device.
Disk /dev/mmcblk0: 7.28 GiB, 7818182656 bytes, 15269888 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disklabel type: gpt
Disk identifier: 2BD17853-102B-4500-AA1A-8A21D4D7984D
Device Start End Sectors Size Type
/dev/mmcblk0p1 0 33 34 17K Linux filesystem
/dev/mmcblk0p2 8192 9215 1024 512K Linux filesystem
/dev/mmcblk0p3 9216 13311 4096 2M Linux filesystem
/dev/mmcblk0p4 13312 17407 4096 2M Linux filesystem
/dev/mmcblk0p5 17408 82943 65536 32M Linux filesystem
/dev/mmcblk0p6 82944 607231 524288 256M Linux filesystem
Disk /dev/mtdblock5: 4.5 MiB, 4718592 bytes, 9216 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disklabel type: dos
Disk identifier: 0x00000000
Device Boot Start End Sectors Size Id Type
/dev/mtdblock5p1 1 4294967295 4294967295 2T ee GPT
Disk /dev/mtdblock6: 2 MiB, 2097152 bytes, 4096 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disk /dev/mtdblock7: 2 MiB, 2097152 bytes, 4096 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disk /dev/mtdblock8: 32 MiB, 33554432 bytes, 65536 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disk /dev/mtdblock9: 1 GiB, 1073741824 bytes, 2097152 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disk /dev/mtdblock10: 980.31 MiB, 1027932160 bytes, 2007680 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disk /dev/mtdblock11: 2 GiB, 2147483648 bytes, 4194304 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disk /dev/mtdblock12: 4.24 GiB, 4554489856 bytes, 8895488 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytesBanana Pi BPI-R3 Mini specifications
- SoC – MediaTek MT7986A (Filogic 830) 4 x ARM Cortex-A53 CPU cores @ 2 GHz
- Memory – 2GB DDR4 RAM
- Internal Storage – 8GB eMMC flash, NAND flash, support for (a short) M.2 NVMe SSD
- 1 x USB 2.0 Type-C port
- 2x 2.5GbE RJ45 ports via Airoha controllers
- Wi-Fi 6 via MediaTek MT7976C (2.4GHz: 574Mbps + 5GHz: 2402Mbps)
- 4x u.FL antenna connectors
- Expansion: 1x M.2 B-Key socket + 1x M.2 M-Key socket
- Debugging – 3-pin Debug UART header for serial console
- 1x DC power input
- 1x Nano SIM card slot
- Misc – 6x LEDs, fan header, NAND/eMMC boot switch
- Power Supply – Via USB-C PD port
- Board Dimensions: 65x65mm
- Metal Case Dimension: 69x69mm
Banana Pi BPI-R3 vs. Banana Pi BPI-R3 Mini
Banana Pi BPI-R3 vs. Banana Pi BPI-R4 | ||
Model | Banana Pi BPI-R3 | Banana Pi BPI-R3 Mini |
– |  |  |
Hardware features | ||
CPU | MediaTek MT7986 (Filogic 830) | MediaTek MT7986 (Filogic 830) |
RAM Configurations | 2 GB (DDR4) | 2 GB (DDR4) |
CPU architecture | Cortex-A53 (64-bit SoC) | Cortex-A73 (64-bit SoC) |
Core number | 4 | 4 |
CPU Frequency (Max) | 4×2.00 GHz | 4×2.00 GHz |
26 PIN GPIO Header |  |  |
Interfaces | • 1x M.2 Key-M socket | • 1x M.2 Key B USB interface |
Micro SD (TF) Card Slot | | |
8GB eMMC onboard storage | | |
128MB SPI-NAND Flash | | |
32MB SPI NOR Flash | | |
Boot switch | | (NAND/eMMC boot switch) |
USB port | 1x USB 3.0 Type-A port | 1x USB 2.0 Type-A port |
Integrated WiFi | Wi-Fi 6 4×4 2.4G Wifi(MT7975N) +4×4 5G Wifi(MT7975P) | Wi-Fi 6 2×2 2.4G + 3×3 5G(MT7976C) |
Antennas | 8 Antennas | 3 Antennas |
3 Pin debug serial port (UART) | | |
Buttons | • 1x Boot switch • 1x WPS • 1x Reset | • 1x Boot switch • 1x Reset |
Ethernet | • 5x 1GbE RJ45 Ethernet | 2x 2.5GbE RJ45 Ethernet |
PCIe Interfaces | 1 | 1 |
SIM Support | x1 Micro SIM | x1 Nano SIM |
Dimensions | 100.5x148mm | 65x65mm |
Weight | 200g | 100g |
Power Interface | DC (5521) 12V 12A | DC 12V/1.67A DC via USB-C |
RTC Battery Interface | | |
OS | Ubuntu/Debian/OpenWrt | |
Astimate Price | Starting at $91 | Starting at $70 |
5Gๅคๅฃณ ๏ผๅธๆ่ฝ้็บณ
Any idea what is the purpose of the four holes between the RJ45 jacks?
According to ChatGPT, the holes are like designed for cooing/ventilation ,to improve airflow on the PCB components.