Tinker Board S

Name: Tinker Board S
Brand: ASUS
SKU: 9917

tinker board S

tinker your way to the future

The new and improved Tinker Board S is a single board computer (SBC) that offers greater durability, better stability and an overall improved user experience for DIY enthusiasts and makers everywhere.

More Durable

• Onboard 16GB eMMC storage to enhance performance and stability, plus a microSD slot for greater flexibility

• Low-voltage input detection to avoid power issue and ensure system stability if using a non-qualified* power supply
Better User Experience

• HDMI-CEC-ready for complete video entertainment, allowing users to command both Tinker Board S and a TV with a single remote control

• Audio jack plug-in detection and auto-switch to 3.5mm audio jack from other interfaces
Always Moving Forward with Makers

• Onboard power-on pin for makers giving more freedom when bringing their ideas to life.

• Enhanced I2S pin with Slave mode and an improved software API for better compatibility

* Non-qualified refers to any power supply in which the real power output differs from the value that is listed in the product specifications

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	Tinker Board S	Tinker Board
Processor	Cortex-A17 Quad-core 1.8GHz
Display	1 x 15-pin MIPI DSI supports up to HD 1 x HDMI up to 4K/30fps *HDMI CEC Hardware Ready	1 x 15-pin MIPI DSI supports up to HD 1 x HDMI up to 4K/30fps
Memory Size	Dual-CH LPDDR3 2GB
Storage	Onboard 16GB eMMC Micro SD(TF) card slot	Micro SD(TF) card slot
Connectivity	1 x GB LAN 1 x wireless 802.11 b/g/n & BT 4.0 + EDR
Audio	RTL HD Codec with 1 x 3.5mm audio jack *Supports Plug-in Detection and Auto-Switch	RTL HD Codec with 1 x 3.5mm audio jack
USB	4 x USB 2.0 ports
Internal Headers	1 x 40-pin GPIO header w/ enhanced I2S 1 x 2-pin eMMC recovery header 1 x 2-pin Power-on header	1 x 40-pin GPIO header 1 x 2-pin contact points
Power Connector	Micro USB (5V/2~3A) *Supports low voltage input detection	Micro USB (5V/2~3A)
OS Support	Debian 9 / Android 6
Dimension	3.37" x 2.125"

back

1 Micro USB power-in

Default
disable

Power-on

eMMC Recovery

3 HDMI

4 MIPI CSI

5 192K/24bit
HD Audio

6 GbE LAN

7 PWM

8 S/PDIF

9 MIPI DSI

10 802.11 b/g/n Wi-Fi & Bluetooth 4.0 + EDR

11 Upgradable i-PEX
antenna header

12 40-pins GPIO header

13 MicroSD Slot

14 USB 2.0 Ports

Features & Functionality

Class-Leading Performance

With its powerful and modern quad-core ARM-based processor — the Rockchip RK3288 — Tinker Board S offers significantly improved performance versus other popular SBC boards. To provide the flexibility needed for different builds and projects, Tinker Board S features 2GB of LPDDR3 dual-channel memory and is equipped with an onboard 16GB eMMC and SD 3.0 interface that offer significantly faster read and write speeds for the OS, applications and file storage.

Robust GPU Performance & Functionality

Featuring a powerful but energy-efficient design, Tinker Board S supports next-generation graphics and GPU computing API's. Powered by an ARM-based Mali™-T760 MP4 GPU, Tinker Board S' GPU and fixed-function processors allow for a wide range of uses, including high-quality media playback, gaming, computer vision, gesture recognition, image stabilization and processing, as well as computational photography and more.

Tinker Board S has HDMI CEC hardware circuit implemented, with the supported software, it allowing multimedia enthusiasts to control TV outputs using a single remote control for a better entertainment experience. Other fixed functions include H.264 and H.265 playback support, as well as HD and UHD video playback.*

*HD and UHD video playback at 30 fps on Tinker Board S is currently available via the included media player. Third-party video players and applications may not offer hardware acceleration, which will result in limited or unstable playback performance. Please refer to the FAQs for more information.

HD Audio Quality

Further improving on key areas found lacking on many SBC boards, Tinker Board S is equipped with an HD codec that supports up to 24-bit/192kHz audio. Its integrated audio jack supports audio output and a microphone in, without an extension module. The audio jack also offers hassle-free plug-in detection so it automatically switches the audio output to an audio jack when the speaker or headset is connected.

Maker-Friendly, with IoT Connectivity

Tinker Board S features standard maker connectivity options, including a 40-pin GPIO interface and enhanced I2S interface with Master and Slave modes for improved compatibility. With the GPIO API, Tinker Board S allows for interfacing with a range of inputs from buttons, switches, sensors, LEDs, and much more. Tinker Board S is equipped with one DSI MIPI connection for displays and touchscreens. A secondary CSI MIPI connection for compatible cameras allows for computer vision, and much more.

Tinker Board S also features Gbit LAN for Internet and network connectivity. A dedicated bus resource designed for the LAN port ensures consistent Ethernet performance. The integrated Wi-Fi and Bluetooth controller on the Tinker Board S is shielded with a metal cover to ensure minimal interference and improved radio performance. An integrated IPEX antenna header allows for easy antenna replacement or upgrades.

Tinker Board S also features a full-size HDMI output. Additionally, it includes four USB 2.0 ports for extensive peripheral and accessory connectivity.

Enhanced DIY Design

Careful consideration went into the design and development of the Tinker Board S to ensure that it provides a superior user experience for first-time builders or for seasoned hobbyists. Builders will appreciate the color-coded GPIO header, which makes it easy to recognize respective pin headers.

The PCB dimensions and topology of the Tinker Board S align with standard SBC boards, allowing support for a wide range of chassis and physical accessories. The PCB features silk-screening with a connection header and location callouts, for improved connection clarity. The onboard MIPI headers also feature color-coded pull tabs.

Tinker Board S also includes a heatsink, which helps improve heat dissipation under heavy loading or in hot ambient environments.

TinkerOS ‧ Supported OS ‧ Applications

A Debian-based distribution ensures a smooth and functional experience, directly out of the box. Whether it's browsing the web, watching videos, or writing scripts, TinkerOS is a great starting point for your next project or build.

Furthermore TinkerOS has been carefully designed to be extremely lightweight and responsive. Running on top of the base Debian 9 is a the LXDE desktop environment. This GUI is optimized specifically for SBC boards. It also features plug & play NTFS support allowing for easy access to Windows based flash drives and external hard drives. The included web browser has also been carefully selected and optimized. It based on Chromium allowing for speed and stability along with a number of extensions. The ASUS team has help to enable hardware acceleration of the browser allowing for improved web rendering and video playback including HD resolutions in YouTube.

TinkerOS also includes a number of popular applications allowing for easy programming and development. These include IDLE / Python as well as Squeak / Scratch.

Beyond TinkerOS and its Debian Linux offering Tinker Board S also support the Android Operating system. This allows for an entirely different usage scenarios ranging from media playback, gaming, and much more.

Tinker Board S is also working closely with a wide range of popular applications to enable support & optimize functionality.

Tinker Board S Performance

CPU Performance

Tinker Board S features an ARM-based RK3288 SoC and is equipped with four cores to enhance multithread application performance. It operates at frequencies of up to 1.8GHz, improving performance across all applications. This increase in CPU core count, along with an increase in processor frequency, helps to enable significantly faster performance across a wide range of applications, extending and enhancing project capabilities. As a result, typical PC tasks are faster and more responsive.

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GPU Performance

Tinker Board S' GPU is based on the Mali™-T760 MP4. It offers up 4 cores and a 600MHz clock speed. When compared to competitor SBC GPUs, Tinker Board S offers better GPU computing and GPU acceleration performance.

Stream and Memory Performance

Tinker Board S' offers dual-channel DDR3 which delivers better memory bandwidth versus competitor devices that offer only a single-channel DDR2.

eMMC & SD Card Read/Write Speed

Tinker Board S' has a microSD slot for onboard expandable storage. It supports the SD 3.0 standard, so it can use higher capacity microSD cards that offer significantly faster read and write performance.

．Read speeds: up to 422% faster
．Write speeds: up to 226% faster

*Card spec: ADATA Premier UHS-I C10 64GBexFAT

Network/Audio Specifications

Specification	Wi-Fi	Audio Format / Sample Rate	Audio Function
Tinker Board Series	802.11 b/g/n with upgradable IPEX antenna	Play: 24bit/192KHz, Record: 24bit/96KHz	Audio output, Microphone input
Competitor SBC	802.11 b/g/n	16bit/48KHz	Audio output only

Networks Performance

Tinker Board S features gigabit Ethernet, which offers significantly improved throughput versus competitor SBCs that are equipped with 10/100 Ethernet.

．Transfer/receive speeds

Tinker Board S' dedicated controller and non-shared bus design ensure superior packet delivery and reception. LAN performance remains the same on the Tinker Board S during USB transfers versus LAN performance of competitor SBC's which experience up to an 18% reduction in speed during USB transfer.

．LAN performance with USB transfer

USB Speed

Tinker Board S offers superior read and write performance with external storage drives, allowing quicker read and write speeds. This improves workflow, copying, backups and overall file usage.

．Read speeds: up to 154% faster
．Write speeds: up to 6% faster

*Card spec: Kingston DataTraveler 64GB USB3.0

Wi-Fi Performance (Signal Loss)

Tinker Board S Wi-Fi performance is more robust than most competitor devices, allowing for improved signal reception.

Location: OctoScope platform
Target AP: ASUS RT-AC66U (Broadcom)

Standard: b/g/n mixed
Channel: 6
Bandwidth: 20MHz
Security: none

*Tinker Board S- OS: Linux 4.4.0+ armv7l l Image Version: V20170113 l Memory Type: 2GB l CPU Type, Speed[GHz]: Cortex-A17 Quad-core 1.8GHz l GPU Type, Speed[MHz]: Mali™ T-764
*Competitor SBC - OS: Linux 4.4.11+ armv7l l Memory Type: 1GB l CPU Type, Speed[GHz]: Cortex-A53 Quad-core 1.2GHz l GPU Type, Speed[MHz]: VideoCore IV

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Community ‧ Contact Us

For inquiries relating to product qualification & validation and application support or peripheral & accessory support, please contact us at TinkerBoard@asus.com

Share your idea with us via

Documentation

Getting started

Requirement:

．1 x Micro-USB cable with data transfer functionality
．1 x Tinker Board power supply* or other qualified 5V/2-3A power supply**
．1 x Monitor
．1 x HDMI cable
．1 x Keyboard and mouse set

* Tinker Board power supply sold separately
** Cable must deliver up to 3A of power output

1. Connect Tinker Board S to a PC using a Micro-USB cable. Within seconds, the PC should recognize it as a USB mass storage device.
2. Download the TinkerOS image from the website and flash it into Tinker Board S using third-party ISO software such as Win32Disk Imager or Etcher.
3. Connect the power supply, keyboard, mouse and monitor to your Tinker Board S to boot up.

Hardware

The Tinker Board S requires 5V/2~3A power via the micro-USB port. The exact amount of current (mA) the Tinker Board S requires will depend on what's connected to it. For general use, a 2A power supply from a reputable retailer will provide ample power to run your tinker board.

Typically, Tinker Board S uses between 700 to 1000mA, depending on which peripherals are connected. It may use as little as 500mA when no peripherals are attached. Maximum power for the Tinker Board S is 1A. If you need to connect a USB device to bring power requirements above 0.5A, then you must connect to it via an externally powered USB hub.

The Tinker Board S is equipped with four USB 2.0 ports. These are connected to the GL852G USB Hub from the upstream USB port via the RK3288.

The USB ports enable the attachment of peripherals such as keyboards, mice and webcams. This provides the board with additional functionality.

There are some differences between the USB hardware on the Tinker Board S and the USB hardware on desktop computers, laptops and tablets.

The USB host port inside the Tinker Board S is for power supply only, RK3288, was originally intended to be used in the mobile market, e.g. the single USB port on a phone for connection to a PC, or to a single device. In essence, the OTG hardware is simpler than the equivalent hardware on a PC.

OTG typically supports communication to all types of USB devices, but to provide an adequate level of functionality for most of the USB devices that one might plug into a tinker board, the system software has to do more work.

Learn More

Supported Devices

In general, every device supported by Linux can be used with the Tinker Board S (exceptions are detailed below). Linux offers a comprehensive driver database that supports legacy hardware for most operating systems. TinkerOS and it's Debian kernel have a large number of inbox drivers for common peripherals & devices.

If you have a device and wish to use it with a tinker board, then plug it in. Chances are that it will be compatible. If you're running a graphical interface (such as an LXDE desktop environment in the OS), then it's likely that an icon or other message will pop up to announce the new device.

Port Power Limits

The device advertises its own power requirements to the USB host when it is first connected. In theory, the actual power consumed by the device should not exceed stated specification.
It should be noted that hot-swapping high-powered devices into the tinker board's USB ports may result in a brownout, which may cause the Tinker Board S to reset.

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One powerful feature of the Tinker Board S is the row of available GPIO (general purpose input/output) pins along the edge of the board. These pins are a physical interface between the Tinker Board S and the outside world. At the simplest level, you can think of them as switches that can be turned on or off. Of the 40 pins, 28 are GPIO pins (shared with SPI/UART/I2C pins). The Tinker Board S is equipped with one SPI bus that offers two chip selects. The SPI bus is available on the onboard 40-pin header.

GPIO API

Python

Python is a programming language that lets you work quickly and integrate systems more effectively.

1. Open a terminal and Install dependency package.
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install python-dev python3-dev

2. Download Python GPIO library
wget
http://dlcdnet.asus.com/pub/ASUS/mb/Linux/Tinker_Board_2GB/GPIO_API_for_Python.zip

3. Unzip GPIO_API_for_Python.zip and navigate to folder
unzip GPIO_API_for_Python.zip
cd GPIO_API_for_Python/

4. Install Python GPIO library for Tinker Board S
sudo python setup.py install
sudo python3 setup.py install

5. Reference codes
There're few sample codes under this folder
/GPIO_API_for_Python/test
add_event_callback.py (add_event_detect function for input GPIO)
btc.py (unit test for all functions of GPIO)
forloop.py (pull high all GPIO and then pull down all GPIO)
pwm.py (Software PWM function test)
pwm_input.py (Software PWM function test by raw_input)

C is a general-purpose, imperative computer programming language, supporting structured programming, lexical variable scope and recursion, while a static type system prevents many unintended operations.

1. Open a terminal and download C GPIO library
wget http://dlcdnet.asus.com/pub/ASUS/mb/Linux/Tinker_Board_2GB/GPIO_API_for_C.zip

2. Unzip GPIO_API_for_C.zip and navigate to folder
unzip GPIO_API_for_C.zip
cd GPIO_API_for_C/

3. Install C GPIO library for Tinker Board S
sudo chmod +x build
sudo ./build

4. Check install success or not
gpio -v
gpio readall

5. Reference codes
There're few sample codes under this folder /GPIO_API_for_C/wiringpitest or /GPIO_API_for_C/examples

GPIO pinout

If you would like to control GPIO's SPI, I2C or serial(UART) with Python, it is recommended to use 3rd party or open source Python library, such as spidev, smbus2 or pySerial.

GPIO.Setmode (GPIO.ASUS)	GPIO.Setmode (GPIO.BOARD)	Pinout	Physical Pin Number	Pinout	GPIO.Setmode (GPIO.BOARD)	GPIO.Setmode (GPIO.ASUS)
	1	VCC3.3V_IO	12	VCC5V_SYS	2
252	3	GP8A4_I2C1_SDA	34	VCC5V_SYS	4
253	5	GP8A5_I2C1_SCL	56	GND	6
17	7	GP0C1_CLKOUT	78	GP5B1_UART1TX	8	161
	9	GND	910	GP5B0_UART1RX	10	160
164	11	GP5B4_SPI0CLK_UART4CTSN	1112	GP6A0_PCM/I2S_CLK	12	184
166	13	GP5B6_SPI0_TXD_UART4TX	1314	GND	14
167	15	GP5B7_SPI0_RXD_UART4RX	1516	GP5B2_UART1CTSN	16	162
	17	VCC33_IO	1718	GP5B3_UART1RTSN	18	163
257	19	GP8B1_SPI2TXD	1920	GND	20
256	21	GP8B0_SPI2RXD	2122	GP5C3	22	171
254	23	GP8A6_SPI2CLK	2324	GP8A7_SPI2CSN0	24	255
	25	GND	2526	GP8A3_SPI2CSN1	26	251
233	27	GP7C1_I2C4_SDA	2728	GP7C2_I2C4_SCL	28	234
165	29	GP5B5_SPI0CSN0_UART4RTSN	2930	GND	30
168	31	GP5C0_SPI0CSN1	3132	GP7C7_UART2TX_PWM3	32	239
238	33	GP7C6_UART2RX_PWM2	3334	GND	34
185	35	GP6A1_PCM/I2S_FS	3536	GP7A7_UART3RX	36	223
224	37	GP7B0_UART3TX	3738	GP6A3_PCM/I2S_SDI	38	187
	39	GND	3940	GP6A4_PCM/I2S_SDO	40	188