eMMC

The Vicharak-Axon board exposes an eMMC 5.1 device connected to the SoC’s MMC controller. It offers three capacity options: 32GB / 64GB / 128GB. The interface provides persistent storage for the operating system, user data, and diagnostics. eMMC 5.1 offers reliable multi-block read/write, boot partitions, and compatibility with standard MMC/SDHCI stacks in modern Linux kernels.

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Hardware interface and pinout

The eMMC interface is wired to the SoC MMC controller with the following essential signals:

  • CMD: command/response line

  • CLK: clock input

  • DAT[0:7]: data lines (8-bit bus)

  • VCC: core/eMMC supply

  • VCCQ: I/O supply for the eMMC interface

  • GND: ground reference

  • RST: reset

Boot behavior and partitions

You can find eMMC Flashing Guide here (Vicharak Docs)

Formatting and partitioning

  • Partition the eMMC using standard partitioning tools (fdisk, sfdisk)

  • Create filesystems as needed (ext4, btrfs, f2fs, etc.)

Software integration

  • Linux kernel MMC/SDHCI driver drives the eMMC interface and exposes the device as /dev/mmcblkX (and /dev/mmcblkXpN), use the command “lsblk”

  • Device-tree entries describe the MMC controller, bus width, clock rates, and supply rails

  • If using the eMMC as root filesystem, plan the partition layout accordingly and ensure bootloader configuration points to the correct root device

Troubleshooting

  • If the eMMC is not detected, check kernel logs for MMC/SD/SDHCI messages to identify initialization or timing issues

  • Ensure there are no contention issues with other peripherals sharing the same MMC controller

  • Check for broken tracks or other hardware issues