Getting started with Acqua A5

This article explains how to get started with Acqua A5 module

What do you need to start ?

Acqua A5 is designed to be used on a carrier board. The following carriers are available from the Acme Systems eStore:

  • BERTA-A5-EXT
    EUR 25.00


    BERTA-A5-EXT - Breakout board for Acqua A5 with connectors

    Breakout board for Acqua A5 SoM with power supply section, ethernet and USB connectors.

    | Product description |

  • BERTA-A5-LCD
    EUR 35.00


    BERTA-A5-LCD - Breakout board for Acqua A5 with connectors and placement for LCD

    Breakout board for Acqua A5 SoM with power supply section, ethernet, USB connectors and placement for diplsy TFT 4.3, 5 or 7 inch.

    | Product description |

  • BERTA-A5-BASIC
    EUR 9.00


    BERTA-A5-BASIC - Breakout board for Acqua A5

    Breakout board for Acqua A5 SoM

    | Product description |

There are also some kits available which contains all the parts needed to try the Acqua board. This is the list of kits available:

  • COMBO-B43
    EUR 149.00


    COMBO-B43 - Acqua A5 + 4.3 inch TFT LCD evaluation kit

    Basic kit to evaluate the Acqua A25 SoM with TFT LCD 4.3 inch

    Parts included:

    • ACQUA-256E-N256 SoM (256 MB RAM , 256 MB Nandflash)
    • 4.3 inch TFT LCD with resistive touch (Code LCD-43-RT)
    • Berta board A5 LCD (Code BERTA-A5-LCD)
    • WIFI-2 WiFi module with PCB antenna
    • A bootable microSD with Debian Linux preinstalled
    • Debug port interface (Code DPI) with USB data cable
    • Wall adapter 5 volt @ 1A switching power supply (Code PS-5V1A-EU-MUSB)

    | Product description | Acqua A5 catalog |

  • COMBO-B50
    EUR 154.00


    COMBO-B50 - Acqua A5 + 5 inch TFT LCD evaluation kit

    Basic kit to evaluate the Acqua A25 SoM with TFT LCD 5 inch

    Parts included:

    • ACQUA-256E-N256 SoM (256 MB RAM , 256 MB Nandflash)
    • 5 inch TFT LCD with resistive touch (Code LCD-50-RT)
    • Berta board A5 LCD (Code BERTA-A5-LCD)
    • WIFI-2 WiFi module with PCB antenna
    • a bootable microSD with Debian Linux preinstalled
    • Debug port interface (Code DPI) with USB data cable
    • Wall adapter 5 volt @ 1A switching power supply (Code PS-5V1A-EU-MUSB)

    | Product description | Acqua A5 catalog |

  • COMBO-B70
    EUR 159.00


    COMBO-B70 - Acqua A5 + 7 inch TFT LCD evaluation kit

    Basic kit to evaluate the Acqua A25 SoM with TFT LCD 7 inch

    Parts included:

    • ACQUA-256E-N256 SoM (256 MB RAM , 256 MB Nandflash)
    • 7 inch TFT LCD with resistive touch (Code LCD-70-RT)
    • Berta board A5 LCD (Code BERTA-A5-LCD)
    • WIFI-2 WiFi module with PCB antenna
    • A bootable microSD with Debian Linux preinstalled
    • Debug port interface (Code DPI) with USB data cable
    • Wall adapter 5 volt @ 1A switching power supply (Code PS-5V1A-EU-MUSB)

    | Product description | Acqua A5 catalog |

If you are using a custom designed board you need at least the following parts:

  • An USB to 3.3 volt serial adapter like DPI
    EUR 8.00


    DPI - Debug Port Interface

    DPI is an USB-to-serial interface to link the Acme boards debug port to a PC USB host port and have access at the Linux system console using a terminal emulator program like minicom, putty, hyperterminal, etc.

    | Product description |

    or USB-3V-SER
    EUR 8.00


    USB-3V-SER - USB to 3V3 serial converter

    USB to 3V3 serial converter ad 3.3 volt with separated pin plugs

    | Product description |

  • A bootable Linux microSD like DEBM8G-ACQUA
    EUR 12.00


    DEBM8G-ACQUA - Debian microSD 8GB for Acqua A5

    Bootable 8GB microSD with a preinstalled Debian Linux distribution for Acqua A5 board.

    Please note that this card contains Open Source code under GPL licence and you are buying just the memory card not the software on it. Any rights on this software or support are not included.

    | Product description |

    . It is possible to make by yourself the bootlable microSD starting from the download page.

Getting started with BERTA-A5-EXT

Insert the Acqua A5 on the BERTA-A5-EXT carrier board:

Insert the bootable microSD inside the Acqua A5 microSD holder:

Insert the DPI adapter:

or alternatively the USB-3V-SER adapter:

Serial terminal configuration

The serial terminal setup is 115200.N,8,1 with no acknowledge

Plug the LAN cable. Acqua will search an active DCHP server on your LAN to get dynamically the IP address:

Plug the 5 volt power supply and check the bootstrap messages on the serial terminal:

In this phase is not so important to configure the dip switch near the mini USB connector so you can leave it in the default configuration:

Sergio Tanzilli
System designer, software developer and company co-founder
tanzilli@acmesystems.it
Webpages: https://www.acmesystems.it and http://www.tanzolab.it
Github repository: https://github.com/tanzilli and https://github.com/acmesystems