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Fan Interface

The Radxa Cubie A7A features an onboard fan interface that supports connecting a fan using a 2-Pin 1.25mm cable (fan operating voltage: 5V) to provide cooling for the mainboard.

tip

For the exact location of the fan interface, please refer to the interface description section in the Hardware Interface guide!

User Guide

Connect a fan to the fan interface with the following specifications:

  • Interface Type: 2-Pin 1.25mm
  • Operating Voltage: 5V
tip

Pay attention to the positive and negative polarity when connecting the fan.

Checking Fan Device

  1. Use the ls command to view registered fan devices in the system.
radxa@device$
ls /sys/devices/platform/ | grep fan

Terminal output will be similar to:

radxa@device$
pwm-fan
  • pwm-fan: Control device for the onboard fan
  1. Locate the PWM Control File

PWM control files for the fan are typically located in the /sys/class/hwmon/ directory. You need to find the hwmon directory corresponding to pwm-fan.

Use the ls command to view the PWM control files for the pwm-fan device.

radxa@device$
ls /sys/class/hwmon/

Terminal output will be similar to:

radxa@device$
hwmon0
  1. Identify the Fan Control Node

Use the ls command to view the PWM control files for the pwm-fan device in the hwmon directory.

radxa@device$
ls -l /sys/class/hwmon/hwmon*/device

Terminal output will be similar to:

/sys/class/hwmon/hwmon0/device -> ../../../pwm-fan

Based on the terminal output, we can control the pwm-fan through hwmon0.

Controlling Fan Speed

Use the echo command to set the fan speed. The PWM control range is typically 0~255 (0=stop, 255=full speed).

  • Full Speed
radxa@device$
echo 255 | sudo tee /sys/class/hwmon/hwmon0/pwm1
  • Half Speed
radxa@device$
echo 128 | sudo tee /sys/class/hwmon/hwmon0/pwm1
  • Turn Off Fan
radxa@device$
echo 0 | sudo tee /sys/class/hwmon/hwmon0/pwm1

Interface Specifications

Technical Reference

For complete technical specifications and pin definitions, please refer to the Hardware Design: Schematics document in the download section.