Contents

1. Introduction
2. Hardware
   1. Information
   2. Picture
   3. Features
   4. Switches Assignment
      1. Boot mode
      2. Other switch
   5. Debug Serial
   6. Caution
3. Software Version List
4. Quick Start
   1. How to build
   2. How to flash
      1. Flashing loader
      2. Flashing OS image into SD card
   3. How to boot
   4. How to run applications
      1. Software support list
      2. CAN
      3. Audio
      4. GPIO
      5. I2C
      6. UART
      7. Thermal
      8. Pi Camera
      9. Pi Display
      10. Pi Active Cooler
5. Tips
6. Known Issues & Restrictions
7. Support

Introduction

This is the page for Sparrow Hawk board with R-Car V4H provided Retronix Technology Inc.

Hardware

Information

Picture

Features

Switches Assignment

Boot mode

Other switch

Note: For more detail, please refer to board User’s Manual.

Debug Serial

This board has two serial devices and ChA(HSCIF0) is used for mainly.

Caution

FAN must be installed. Do not remove FAN for cooling the R-Car V4H from the board, as doing so will lead to the R-Car V4H being overheated to destruction. It is recommended to use a heat sink and FAN together.

Software Version List

Quick Start

How to build

How to flash

Flashing loader

Run script in ipl-burning directory(Linux: run.sh, Windows: run.bat). If using Linux host PC, please install python3 and pip command on your system before running the script.

ipl-burning.zip can be downloaded from https://github.com/rcar-community/meta-sparrow-hawk/releases. Please close other console which uses serial port of the board before executing the script.

Note:

This script use serial device /dev/ttyUSB* in Linux. But, it cannot be accessed from user without previledged right by default settings. Please use sudo command or add current user into dialout group.

Flashing OS image into SD card

Linux case

• Yocto BSP case

  gzip -cd core-image-minimal-sparrow-hawk.rootfs.wic.gz | sudo dd of=<device file> bs=1M status=progress && sync
  

• Debian based BSP case

  gzip -cd sparrow-hawk-debian-based-bsp.img.gz | sudo dd of=<device file> bs=1M status=progress && sync
  

Windows case

1. Extract gzip image using 7zip or similer software.
2. Flash extracted image into SD card using Etcher, win disk imager, and so on.

How to boot

1. Insert the SD card into CN1 which is bottom of the board.
2. Open terminal application and open serial device.
3. Press SW1 to power on the board.
4. After booting U-Boot, please press any key while showing “Hit any key to stop autoboot:” to enter U-Boot shell.
5. Input following command into U-Boot shell and press enter key.

   env default -a; boot
   

6. If command and environment is correct, Linux kernel log will output.

If you want to boot OS image automatically when power on the board, please run following to setup autoboot. Run following command:

env default -a
saveenv

After that, OS image boots automatically when power on the board.

How to run applications

This section is based on Yocto BSP. If you use Debian based BSP, it may need to install additional packages.

Software support list

Note:

“OK”: Function scceeded in the simple test as below.
“Not tested”: Function wasn’t tested.
“Not supported”: Function isn’t supported.

CAN

Loop back

1. Connect the following pins of CONN2: Connect Pin1(CAN1L) - Pin2(CAN0L) and Pin5(CAN1H) - Pin6(CAN0H)
2. Execute following commands on Linux:

   ip link set can0 up type can restart-ms 100 bitrate 1000000 dbitrate 5000000 fd on
   ip link set can1 up type can restart-ms 100 bitrate 1000000 dbitrate 5000000 fd on
   candump can0 &
   cangen can1 -I i -L i -D i -f -n 16
   killall candump
   candump can1 &
   cangen can0 -I i -L i -D i -f -n 16
   killall candump
   

Audio

1. Connect headset/earphone/Speaker to CONN3.
2. (if possible) Connect audio output like a smartphone to CONN4.
3. Setup(Mix Aux in and Headset mic and setup audio output via CONN3)

   amixer set "Headphone" 40%
   amixer set "Headphone" on
   amixer set "Mixout Left DAC Left" on
   amixer set "Mixout Right DAC Right" on
   amixer set "Aux" on
   amixer set "Aux" 80%
   amixer set "Mixin PGA" on
   amixer set "Mixin PGA" 50%
   amixer set "ADC" on
   amixer set "ADC" 80%
   amixer set "Mixin Left Aux Left" on
   amixer set "Mixin Right Aux Right" on
   amixer set "Mic 1" on
   amixer set "Mic 1" 80%
   amixer set "Mixin Left Mic 1" on
   amixer set "Mixin Right Mic 1" on
   

4. Test function
   1. Recording and Playback test(5sec)

      arecord -D hw:0,0 -t wav -d 5 -c 2 -r 48000 -f S16_LE | aplay
      

   2. Only Playback test

      speaker-test -c2
      

GPIO

Toggle GP2_12(Pin11 on Pin Header)

1. Connect LED or Oscilloscope to the board
2. Execute following command

   python3 /usr/bin/example-apps/toggle_gpio_GP2_12.py
   

For more examples, please see also https://github.com/brgl/libgpiod/raw/refs/heads/master/bindings/python/examples

I2C

• Detect I2C device

  i2cdetect -r <i2c device num(ex.3)>
  

  Note: i2c device num: 3 and 4 is located in Pin header.

Please search i2c-tools to use other commands(i2cdump, i2cget, i2cset, i2ctransfer).

UART

Loop back

1. Connect UART TX and RX(pin 8 and pin 10) on PinHeader.
2. Execute following commands:

   stty -F /dev/ttySC2 -echo
   cat /dev/ttySC2 &
   echo Hello > /dev/ttySC2
   

Thermal

• Check SoC temperature

  cat /sys/class/thermal/thermal_zoneX/temp # (X=0 ~ 3)
  # ex.) 55000 # (Unit is millicelsius => 55.000 °C)
  

• Thermal throttling

  CA76 core temp	function
  ~ 68°C	Normal operation
  68 ~ 100 °C	CPU clock is limited
  100 °C	System is shutdown forcely

• Measurement point

  zone	Measurement point
  thermal_zone0	CR52
  thermal_zone1	CNN
  thermal_zone2	CA76
  thermal_zone3	DDR

Pi Camera

Note: Currently, Raspberry Pi Camera V2 is only supported.

1. Connect Raspberry Pi Camera V2 to J1 and/or J2 connector.
   • The board connector has 22 pin so that you need to prepare pitch convert cable.
   • ex.) Raspberry Pi Official Accesary https://www.raspberrypi.com/products/camera-cable/
2. Setup for using camera
   • Change bootcmd variable on U-Boot shell as follows:

     setenv bootcmd "load mmc 0:1 0x58000000 /boot/fitImage && bootm {CONFIG}"
     

   • Cobination of connected cameras

     J1	J2	CONFIG
     Conncted	-	0x58000000#default#j1-imx219
     -	Conncted	0x58000000#default#j2-imx219
     Conncted	Conncted	0x58000000#default#j1-imx219#j2-imx219

3. Check camera device is recognized

   root@sparrow-hawk:~# cam -l
   [0:00:08.819902729] [325]  INFO Camera camera_manager.cpp:330 libcamera v0.5.2+25-d54e5537-dirty (2025-09-27T03:50:30UTC)
   [0:00:08.845788333] [326]  INFO IPAProxy ipa_proxy.cpp:180 Using tuning file /usr/share/libcamera/ipa/rkisp1/imx219.yaml
   [0:00:08.848443824] [326]  WARN RkISP1Ccm ccm.cpp:62 Failed to parse 'offsets' parameter from tuning file; falling back to zero offsets
   [0:00:08.848978126] [326]  INFO Camera camera_manager.cpp:220 Adding camera '/base/soc/i2c@e6508000/cam@10' for pipeline handler rcar-gen4
   [0:00:08.851155294] [326]  INFO IPAProxy ipa_proxy.cpp:180 Using tuning file /usr/share/libcamera/ipa/rkisp1/imx219.yaml
   [0:00:08.853023642] [326]  WARN RkISP1Ccm ccm.cpp:62 Failed to parse 'offsets' parameter from tuning file; falling back to zero offsets
   [0:00:08.853417723] [326]  INFO Camera camera_manager.cpp:220 Adding camera '/base/soc/i2c@e6510000/cam@10' for pipeline handler rcar-gen4
   Available cameras:
   1: External camera 'imx219' (/base/soc/i2c@e6508000/cam@10)
   2: External camera 'imx219' (/base/soc/i2c@e6510000/cam@10)
   

4. Test camera
   1. Display Output(Need to connect Display)

      cam -c <camera_index_num> -C -D
      #
      # Note: <camera_index_num> is got from cam -l command output like following;:
      #       Ex.) <camera_index_num>: External camera 'imx219' (/base/soc/i2c@xxxxxxxx/cam@10)
      

   2. Using camshark(Need to connect Network and Linux PC)
      • Please execute following command on Linux PC.

         sudo apt install pipx
         pipx install git+https://gitlab.freedesktop.org/camera/camshark.git
         camshark root@<sparrow_hawk_ip_address>
        

Pi Display

1. Setup
   • Connect Raspberry Pi Touch Display 2 cable to the J4 connector.
   • Connect the Power (red wire) to pin 2 of CN7 and the Ground (black wire) to pin 6 of CN7.
   • 
2. Change bootcmd variable on U-Boot shell as follows:

   setenv bootcmd "load mmc 0:1 0x58000000 /boot/fitImage && bootm 0x58000000#default#rpi-display-2"
   

3. Display will work correctly after changing above.

Pi Active Cooler

Manual control of fan speed

echo 2 > /sys/class/hwmon/hwmon4/pwm1_enable
echo 150 > /sys/class/hwmon/hwmon4/pwm1

#1 ~ 255 is acceptable but low speeds are not recommended from thermal perspective.

Tips

1. Linux kernel doesn’t boot multiple CA76 core. Only 1 core is available.
   This is due to skip running arm-trusted-firmware before starting linux kernel. This board has U-Boot SPL and U-Boot( running EL3 ). This is different point from other R-Car evaluation board. If you use booti command as same as other R-Car board, this issue is occurred. The correct boot process is to use fitImage which contains arm-trusted-firmware and Linux kernel and devicetree. By using fitImage, arm-trusted-firmware runs before starting Linux kernel and Linux kernel can handle multiple cores correctly.
   

2. There is no output on serial console when power on the board.
   You can check following list to confirm board is broken or not.
   

Do you write the loaders into the board?
Do you change DIP-SW as correct settings?
Do you use correct serial device? This board has two serial devices and lower number is used for mainly.
Do you use correct USB-PD power supply? This board needs 20V3.25A(65W) output at least.

3. How to use HDMI display instead of DP display.
   This board doesn’t support passive adaptor so that please use active adaptor.
   

4. How to flash sdcard without removing the card from the board.
   Preparation: TFTP server on your host PC and network connection between board and your host PC. And copy the gzipped image file into tftp server root.
   

ex.) /tftp/core-image-minimal-sparrow-hawk.rootfs.wic.gz

Execute following command on u-boot shell:

Note: After this operation, all data is erased on the SD card which is inserted in the board.

setenv ethaddr
setenv serverip
setenv ipaddr
tftp ${loadaddr} <image file with gzipped> && gzwrite mmc 0 ${loadaddr} ${filesize} 400000 0

ex.) tftp ${loadaddr} core-image-minimal-sparrow-hawk.rootfs.wic.gz && gzwrite mmc 0 ${loadaddr} ${filesize} 400000 0

5. Why my Headset Mic is not working?
   There are two types of 4pin Headset. one is CIST which is default of sparrow-hawk. the other is MIST. The only deference is pin assign of MIC and GND. If you use MIST type of headset, please modify the board as follows:
   

Mount :R631 , R632
Unmount :R630 , R633

6. How to expand the rootfs
   Please run “expand-roofs.sh” script on your board. Rootfs is expanded to use whole storage.
   

Known Issues & Restrictions

1. USB Type-C port doesn’t support DP-alt mode so that Display output is not supported. Please use DisplayPort or Raspberry Pi touch Display 2 instead of type-c.
2. FAN/Heat sink less doesn’t work well due to high temperature in some case. Please attach the Heatsink and FAN to use the board.
3. PCIe module outputs error log that firmware is not found in boot process. We are preparing the PCIe firmware, then please ignore it and please wait a moment.

   [    2.629357] pcie-rcar-gen4 e65d0000.pcie: Failed to load firmware (rcar_gen4_pcie.bin): -22
   

Support

FAQ: https://github.com/orgs/rcar-community/discussions/categories/faq

Q&A Forum: https://github.com/orgs/rcar-community/discussions/categories/q-a