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Mo 62A Quick Start Guide

This document is for first-time Mo 62A users. It describes the shortest path from gathering parts to reaching the desktop or a remote login, and collects common reference material on board overview, cabling, networking, the camera, and the 40-pin header. The tone stays factual; procedural steps use second person for actions you can take.

On this page

Section Description
Shortest path to a working system Read first: flash → cable → power → log in
Device overview Positioning and key specifications
Board layout Where interfaces sit on the board
What you need Required and optional items
Flash the SD card Image download and flashing on Windows
Hardware connections Recommended cabling order
First boot Boot time, default account, serial console
Network access Ethernet, finding the IP, SSH, Wi-Fi
Camera preview (IMX219) CSI wiring and preview script
40-pin expansion header Pinout, GPIO table, command examples
Common issues and tips Black screen, camera, SD card, antenna

Shortest path to a working system

To reach the desktop or SSH as quickly as possible, follow this order (details are in the sections below).

  1. Prepare: USB Type-C supply at 5 V and ≥ 3 A, Micro SD card ≥ 16 GB and Class 10 (or faster), downloaded .img.zip image, and optionally a Micro HDMI display and Ethernet cable.
  2. Flash: On Windows, use balenaEtcher to write the image to the SD card; the operation erases all data on that card.
  3. Cable: Insert the SD card, display, Ethernet, and peripherals before applying power; non-essential items such as the camera can be connected later.
  4. Power: Connect USB-C last; the red LED should stay on to indicate power.
  5. Wait: The first boot spends about 1–2 minutes expanding the root filesystem and reboots once; afterward, expect about 30–45 seconds to the desktop.
  6. Log in: Username debian, one-time default password temppwd; the system requires an immediate password change after login.
  7. Remote (optional): On the same LAN, use ssh debian@<IP> or ssh [email protected] (mDNS required).

Device overview

About Mo 62A

Mo 62A is a single-board computer for edge AI inference, machine vision, industrial control, and similar scenarios. The SoC is TI AM62A7 (quad-core Arm Cortex-A53) with an on-die MMA (matrix multiply accelerator); peak AI inference performance is about 2 TOPS.

Key specifications

Parameter Specification
SoC TI AM62A74 (quad-core Cortex-A53 @ 1.4 GHz + Cortex-R5F)
AI accelerator MMA, 2 TOPS
Memory LPDDR4 (32-bit)
Storage Micro SD (boot / storage)
Display Micro HDMI (up to 1080p, via SiI9022ACNU)
Networking 1 × Gigabit Ethernet RJ45
Wireless Wi-Fi + Bluetooth (FG6221A, U.FL antenna)
USB 1 × USB Type-C (power + USB 2.0), 4 × USB 2.0 Type-A
Camera 22-pin FPC CSI (4-lane MIPI CSI-2)
Audio 3.5 mm 4-pole headset jack
Expansion 40-pin (GPIO / I2C / SPI / UART / PWM)
RTC PCF85263ATL with coin-cell holder
Fan PWM fan header (PWM + TACH)
Power USB Type-C 5 V (≥ 3 A recommended)
LEDs Red (power), green (activity)
Debug UART0 console on 3-pin SH1.0
Operating system Debian 13 (Trixie) with XFCE

Board layout

Mo 62A board layout

Interface / component Location
USB Type-C (power + USB 2.0) Top edge, left
4 × USB 2.0 Type-A Top edge, right
Micro HDMI Right side, upper
RJ45 Ethernet Right side, lower
Micro SD slot Bottom edge
40-pin expansion header Left edge
CSI camera connector Center, FPC
3.5 mm audio jack Front edge
Wi-Fi / BT antenna (U.FL) Near wireless module
Debug UART (SH1.0 3-pin) Near USB-C
Fan connector Near 40-pin header

What you need

Required

Item Notes
Mo 62A board —
USB Type-C power adapter 5 V, ≥ 3 A
Micro SD card ≥ 16 GB, Class 10 / UHS-I (U1) or faster
Micro HDMI cable For a display or TV
RJ45 Ethernet cable Initial wired network (find IP, SSH, etc.)
Host PC Windows — for flashing the SD card

Optional (by scenario)

Item Notes
IMX219 CSI camera module Required for CSI preview
USB keyboard and mouse Local XFCE use
3.5 mm headset Headphone output + microphone input
CR1220 coin cell RTC backup
Wi-Fi antenna (U.FL) Much better wireless range
PWM fan 4-pin, 5 V

Flash the SD card

Download the image

Download the latest pre-built SD card image from the releases page; it is distributed as .img.zip.

Full SDK source (kernel, device tree, filesystem customization) repository:

GitHub: https://github.com/inhandnet/mo-62a

Flash with balenaEtcher (Windows)

  1. Install balenaEtcher.
  2. Click Flash from file.
  3. Select the downloaded .img.zip file.
  4. Click Select target.
  5. Choose the Micro SD card from the device list.
  6. Click Flash! to start writing.
  7. When Flash Complete! appears, eject the card safely in the OS before removing it.

Warning: Flashing erases all existing data on the SD card.

Hardware connections

Use this order to reduce the risk of hot-plugging (camera details are under Camera preview (IMX219)).

  1. Insert the SD card: Push the card into the underside slot until it clicks.
  2. Connect the display: Run Micro HDMI from the board to the monitor.
  3. Connect Ethernet: Plug RJ45 into the Gigabit port if you plan to use wired networking.
  4. Connect peripherals: Attach keyboard, mouse, or other devices to any USB 2.0 Type-A port (optional).
  5. Connect the camera: For IMX219, route the FPC to the 22-pin CSI connector (see “Connect the camera” below).
  6. Apply power: Connect the USB Type-C supply last; the red power LED should light.

First boot

Boot sequence

After power-on, the system boots from Micro SD. A typical cold boot takes about 30–45 seconds; the green activity LED blinks during boot.

First boot note: On the first power-on the root filesystem expands to use the remaining SD space, which takes about 1–2 minutes and ends with an automatic reboot. The XFCE desktop appears after that second boot completes. Later boots match the typical time above.

Typical boot chain:

  1. U-Boot SPL (R5) → U-Boot (A53) — short console output on the serial port
  2. Linux kernel decompresses and loads the device tree
  3. systemd brings up services — first boot runs expansion here and triggers the reboot
  4. XFCE desktop on HDMI

Desktop login

XFCE starts automatically. Default local account:

Field Value
Username debian
Password temppwd

The default password is one-time use; after login the system forces a new password, which takes effect immediately.

Serial console (UART0)

Without a display, use the 3-pin UART0 header (SH1.0, 1.0 mm pitch) with a USB serial adapter or similar.

Pin Signal
1 RXD
2 TXD
3 GND

Settings: 115200 8N1, no flow control.

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# Linux host example (replace /dev/ttyUSB0 with your device)
minicom -D /dev/ttyUSB0 -b 115200

Network access

Wired Ethernet

After boot, eth0 uses DHCP for IPv4 by default.

Find the board IP

On the board:

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ip addr show eth0

If the LAN supports mDNS, you can try:

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ping mo-62a.local

SSH login

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ssh debian@<board-ip>
# or
ssh [email protected]

Wi-Fi

On the command line you can use nmcli:

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nmcli device wifi list
nmcli device wifi connect "SSID" password "your-password"

You can also use the graphical network applet in the XFCE tray.

The on-board connector is U.FL; an external antenna usually improves Wi-Fi range and stability a lot.

Camera preview (IMX219)

The 22-pin FPC CSI port works with an IMX219 CSI sensor module.

Connect the camera

  1. Flip up the CSI connector latch.
  2. Insert the FPC with the contacts facing the board (metal pads down).
  3. Press the latch closed.

Run the preview

The image includes /usr/local/bin/imx219-preview.sh.

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# Default 15 fps
sudo imx219-preview.sh

# 30 fps
sudo imx219-preview.sh 30

# Low light (5 fps, higher gain and exposure)
sudo GAIN=232 imx219-preview.sh 5

Video goes to HDMI; press Ctrl+C in the terminal to stop.

The script needs sudo because kmssink requires DRM master. It pauses the desktop session (lightdm) while running and usually restores it afterward.

Tunable environment variables

Variable Default Range Description
FPS (1st argument) 15 5/8/10/15/30 Frame rate
WB_R 0.5 0.0 – 1.0 White balance red reference
WB_B 0.6 0.0 – 1.0 White balance blue reference
GAIN 150 0 – 232 Analog gain
DGAIN 256 256 – 4095 Digital gain
EXPOSURE auto lines Exposure in lines

Warmer example at 10 fps:

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sudo WB_R=0.4 WB_B=0.5 imx219-preview.sh 10

40-pin expansion header

The 40-pin header defaults to GPIO mode at 3.3 V logic. I2C, SPI, UART, PWM, and other functions can be enabled with a device tree overlay.

Pins 27 and 28 (I2C2) are fixed for the camera module I2C bus and are not suited as general GPIO.

Pin map

40-pin header diagram

See the numbered table below.

Linux GPIO reference

Use gpioset / gpioget from the gpiod package for GPIO-mode pins.

Pin Name Default function gpiochip Line Alternate function
1 3V3 3.3 V power — — —
2 5V 5 V power — — —
3 GPIO2 GPIO (MCU_GPIO0_20) gpiochip0 20 WKUP_I2C0_SDA
4 5V 5 V power — — —
5 GPIO3 GPIO (MCU_GPIO0_19) gpiochip0 19 WKUP_I2C0_SCL
6 GND Ground — — —
7 GPIO4 GPIO (GPIO0_39) gpiochip1 39 —
8 GPIO14 GPIO (GPIO1_25) gpiochip2 25 UART5_TXD
9 GND Ground — — —
10 GPIO15 GPIO (GPIO1_24) gpiochip2 24 UART5_RXD
11 GPIO23 GPIO (GPIO1_23) gpiochip2 23 —
12 GPIO18 GPIO (GPIO1_0) gpiochip2 0 MCASP2_ACLKX
13 GPIO27 GPIO (GPIO0_42) gpiochip1 42 —
14 GND Ground — — —
15 GPIO22 GPIO (GPIO1_22) gpiochip2 22 —
16 GPIO17 GPIO (GPIO0_38) gpiochip1 38 —
17 3V3 3.3 V power — — —
18 GPIO24 GPIO (GPIO0_40) gpiochip1 40 —
19 GPIO10 GPIO (GPIO1_18) gpiochip2 18 SPI0_D0 (MOSI)
20 GND Ground — — —
21 GPIO9 GPIO (GPIO1_19) gpiochip2 19 SPI0_D1 (MISO)
22 GPIO25 GPIO (GPIO0_14) gpiochip1 14 —
23 GPIO11 GPIO (GPIO1_17) gpiochip2 17 SPI0_CLK
24 GPIO8 GPIO (GPIO1_15) gpiochip2 15 SPI0_CS0
25 GND Ground — — —
26 GPIO7 GPIO (GPIO1_16) gpiochip2 16 SPI0_CS1
27 I2C2_SDA I2C2 SDA (i2c-2) — — (camera bus, fixed)
28 I2C2_SCL I2C2 SCL (i2c-2) — — (camera bus, fixed)
29 GPIO5 GPIO (GPIO0_36) gpiochip1 36 —
30 GND Ground — — —
31 GPIO6 GPIO (GPIO0_33) gpiochip1 33 —
32 GPIO12 GPIO (GPIO1_14) gpiochip2 14 EHRPWM0_B
33 GPIO13 GPIO (GPIO1_13) gpiochip2 13 EHRPWM0_A
34 GND Ground — — —
35 GPIO19 GPIO (GPIO0_91) gpiochip1 91 MCASP2_AFSX
36 GPIO16 GPIO (GPIO1_9) gpiochip2 9 EHRPWM1_A
37 GPIO26 GPIO (GPIO0_41) gpiochip1 41 —
38 GPIO20 GPIO (GPIO1_5) gpiochip2 5 MCASP2_AXR0
39 GND Ground — — —
40 GPIO21 GPIO (GPIO1_2) gpiochip2 2 MCASP2_AXR1

gpiochip0 = mcu_gpio0 (MCU domain); gpiochip1 = main_gpio0 (GPIO0_x); gpiochip2 = main_gpio1 (GPIO1_x).

Voltage levels and protection

Expansion I/O is 3.3 V. Do not connect 5 V logic directly to GPIO pins.

Command examples (libgpiod v2)

The image includes libgpiod 2.x; use -c to select a controller.

List controllers:

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gpiodetect

Read an input (example: physical pin 11 → gpiochip2 line 23):

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gpioget -c gpiochip2 23

Read several lines:

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gpioget -c gpiochip1 39 38 42

Drive high (example: pin 7 → gpiochip1 line 39):

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gpioset -c gpiochip1 39=1 &
pkill gpioset   # release

Timed drive:

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gpioset --hold-period=2s -c gpiochip1 39=1

Square wave (500 ms high / 500 ms low):

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gpioset -t 500ms,500ms,0 -c gpiochip1 39=1

Edge monitor:

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gpiomon -c gpiochip2 23
gpiomon --edges=rising -c gpiochip2 23

Scan I2C2 (/dev/i2c-2):

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i2cdetect -y 2

PWM (pin 32 → pwmchip0 channel 0, 1 kHz, 50% duty):

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echo 0 | sudo tee /sys/class/pwm/pwmchip0/export
echo 1000000 | sudo tee /sys/class/pwm/pwmchip0/pwm0/period
echo 500000 | sudo tee /sys/class/pwm/pwmchip0/pwm0/duty_cycle
echo 1 | sudo tee /sys/class/pwm/pwmchip0/pwm0/enable

Common issues and tips

No display after boot

The image disables DPMS by default. Press a key or move the mouse to rule out idle blanking. If there is still no picture, on the board run:

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cat /etc/X11/xorg.conf.d/10-no-dpms.conf
grep xserver-command /etc/lightdm/lightdm.conf

Camera not detected

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v4l2-ctl --list-devices
media-ctl -d /dev/media0 --print-topology

If the expected device is missing, check that the FPC is fully inserted and the latch is closed.

SD card not found during boot

  • Confirm the card clicked fully into the slot.
  • Try another card: capacities that are too small or speeds below Class 10 may be unreliable.
  • Reflash and confirm Etcher reported no errors.

Wi-Fi antenna

Without an external antenna on the U.FL port, usable range is usually very small; install a matching antenna for stable Wi-Fi.