Does the Banana Pi CM4 module work for Pocket?

MNT Pocket Reform
1

Just purchased an “MNT Reform CM4 Adapter with Banana Pi CM4 (Amlogic A311D)” from CrowdSupply for my Pocket Reform.
I assume that this module works for the Pocket.
Did I purchased the wrong thing?
If not, is there some documentation for install this module on the pocket.

2

This table says “Yes (in development)”: Modularity—MNT Research GmbH

From the software side, we merged things like this, so it seems the support is tested and should work: a311d pocket: fix sound, add lpc spi node (!44) · Merge requests · Reform / reform-debian-packages · GitLab

And in IRC Lukas said a week ago:

ok… but i’m happy to report that a311d will be nicely usable in pocket once we have builds again :smiley:

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Thanks for the reply, but I was asking more about the hardware instruction, i.e. how to fit the module into Pocket.

4

I suspect that once the module swap process is “fully baked” there will be some new documentation telling us how to do it. I am hoping to do the same thing eventually, once my RK3588 module comes in I will be swapping the A311D from my current Reform into my Pocket.

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Yes, the module fits and works in Pocket Reform. I have sidegraded my personal Pocket Reform to the RCM4 with BPi/A311D and recently made sure that all features work. I can later post a picture here of how it is installed.

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Here is my setup of RCM4/BPi/A311D in MNT Pocket Reform:

  • note that the heat transfer pad is moved to a slightly different position, it goes on the main processor (labelled Amlogic A311D)
  • MIPI-DSI flat cable is connected to the usual wider connector
  • WiFi antenna goes to the connector next to the “V1.0” but ideally one could upgrade to a dual antenna
  • For initial set up, download, extract and flash a system image named pocket-reform-system-a311d.img.gz to MicroSD card (or ideally, give bmaptool copy the “Download” link of the image) and boot from there: https://mnt.re/system-image

IMG_7051
IMG_70513024×4032 2.95 MB

IMG_7052
IMG_70523024×4032 2.54 MB

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Is it possible to use a NVMe drive with this module in Pocket Reform? The supplied adapter doesn’t fit.

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Yes, it should work directly in the NVMe slot.

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I’m curious about the new boards, especially how they apply to the Pocket. It’s easy to see how they would affect things specs-wise, but I’m curious about whether or not they might also result in improvements or changes to wireless reception, battery life, or suspend relative to the default board?

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I have the Banana Pi A311D CM4 module on my pocket. This was an upgrade originally for the big reform, obtained from Crowdsupply. (MNT Reform | Crowd Supply)

It came with a heatsink for the big reform that is not needed on the pocket, and with antenas that plug in the Banana Pi module. I am using the module built-in wifi (no wifi card, as in the original pocket), and an nvme drive.

The bult-in wifi in the Banana Pi module is a huge improvement over the original pocket wifi for me. In that it always works, no dropped connections, etc, and has very good range. I replaced the original antenas that came in the pocket with the ones that came with the Banana Pi CM4 module, in the same place where the original were.

Updating the software was easy starting with a fresh image on a new SD card, then migrating to nvme.

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