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= Getting Started =

This guide is designed for ROCK 3A enthusiast. The purpose is to learn about ROCK 3A as well as how to prepare and set up for basic use.
When you get a board, you need to know what model it is and which hardware version it is.
The information is printed in the top side of the board.
We will introduce the board information as much as possible.

== Close look of ROCK 3A ==
* ROCK 3A front view
* ROCK 3A front with an angle view
* ROCK 3A back view

== <span id="get_start_specs"></span> Features ==

{| class="wikitable"
! Model
! colspan="1" width=80% | ROCK 3 Model A
|-
!SoC<br><br>CPU<br>GPU<br>NPU
| colspan="2" | '''RK3568''' <br><br>Quad-core Cortex-A55, freqency 2Ghz<br>
Mali G52<br>
0.8TOPS NPU
|-
! Memory
| colspan="2" | 2/4/8GB LPDDR4 3200MT/s, up to 1560MHz
|-
! Storage
| colspan="2" | eMMC<br>μSD card (μSD slot supports up to 128 GB μSD card)<br />M.2 SSD (M.2 connector supports up to 8TB M2 NVME SSD)
|-
! Display
| colspan="2" | HDMI 2.0 up to 4k*2k@60<br />MIPI DSI 2 lanes via FPC connector<br />Any two of HDMI, MIPI DSI can work at the same time, support mirror mode or extend mode.
|- 
! Audio
| colspan="2" | 3.5mm jack with mic<br />HD codec that supports up to 24-bit/96KHz audio.
|-
! Camera
| colspan="2" | MIPI CSI 2 lanes via FPC connector, support up to 800 MP camera.
|-
! Wireless
| colspan="2" | None. Optional [[ROCKPI_wireless_module | ROCK Pi Wireless Module]]
|-
! USB
| colspan="2" | USB 3.0 OTG X1, hardware switch for host/device switch, front one<br />USB 3.0 HOST X1<br />USB 2.0 HOST X2
|-
! Ethernet
| colspan="2" | GbE LAN with Power over Ethernet (PoE) support<br />additional HAT is required for powering from PoE
|-
! IO
| colspan="2" | 40-pin expansion header<br />5 x UART<br />1 x SPI bus<br />2 x I2C bus<br />6 x PWM<br />1 x ADC<br />1 x CAN<br />6 x GPIO<br />2 x 5V DC power in<br />1 x 3.3V DC power in
|-
! Others
| colspan="2" | RTC<br />RTC battery connector for time backup(optional)
|-
! Power
| colspan="2" | USB PD, support USB Type C PD 2.0, 9V/2A, 12V/2A, 15V/2A, 20V/2A.<br />Qualcomm® Quick ChargeTM: Supports QC 3.0/2.0 adapter, 9V/2A, 12V/1.5A
|-
! Size
| colspan="2" | 85mm x 56mm
|}

== What you need ==

=== Necessary ===
* ROCK 3 main board
** ROCK 3 Model A or Model B

* One of the Storage media below:
** microSD, larger than 8GB.

* Power supply
** The ROCK 3 is powered by Type-C port and has a wide range of input voltage, from 9V to 21V. ROCK 3 supports USB Type-C PD 2.0 with 9V/2A, 12V/2A, 15V/2A and 20V/2A. Besides, the Pi supports QC 3.0/2.0  with 9V/2A and 12V/1.5A.
** The Type-C cable you using needs to support data communication. We call it USB Type-C charging data cable.

* USB Keyboard and Mouse
** With four USB-A connectors, ROCK 3 can be equipped with a full sized keyboard and mouse.

* Monitor and HDMI Cable
** ROCK 3 is equipped with a full sized HDMI connector. HDMI capable monitor is recommended.
** HDMI EDID display data is used to determine the best display resolution. On monitors and TVs that support 1080p (or 4K) this resolution will be selected. If 1080p is not supported the next available resolution reported by EDID will be used. This selected mode will work with MOST but not all monitors/TVs.

*USB to TTL serial cable
**ROCK 3 exports a dedicated serial console for CPU, which can access the low level debug message.

*USB Male A to Male A cable
**If you want write image on ROCK 3 from USB OTG port or use fastboot/adb commands you need an USB Male A to Male A cable to connect ROCK 3 and PC.

=== Optional ===
* microSD Card Reader
** For flashing the image into microSD Card 

* USB type A to type A cable
** This is needed for fastboot/adb commands.

*  USB to TTL serial cable
** This is needed for serial console.

*  Ethernet cable
** ROCK 3 supports Internet access via WIFI or Ethernet.
** An Ethernet cable is used to connect your ROCK 3 to a local network and  the Internet.

* Camera Module
** ROCK 3 supports  camera function.

* LCD Module
** ROCK 3 supports LCD display function.

* Audio cable
** Audio can be played through speaker or headphones using a standard 3.5mm jack.

* [[rock3/hardware/wifi | WiFi/BT Cards]]