M.2 A/E key to M.2 M key extension board
Samsung 970 EVO plus 256GB nvme SSD
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Thank you for this post!
Is it possible to copy image and boot from the drive?
i think itās impossible, uboot is 2015.7 and not support nvme
Which image enables Nvme?
I have the adapter and Western Digital PC SN520 NVMe SSD.
Using 2020-05-18 Ubuntu 18.04 Mate M4 desktop image from BPI (Kernel 4.9.119-BPI-M4-Kernel)
Lspci lists the controller ie: Sandisk
But I am not seeing anything with lsblk.
Thanks.
@gavan1 Hi! please did you find the way to use the M.2 disk? if that is the case please which image did you use?
@August please can you give more info? did you do something with the kernel?
Regards
Fran
@August @fgonza1971 Itās been awhile but Iāve gotten back in with the BPI-M4 (rtd1395).
I thought have had this board reading my nvm driveā¦ But it looks like I am asking the same question as before.
Lspci can detect my nvme drive brand. But doesnāt show ākernel driver in use: nvmeā line like your output.
I have the same adapter as in your picture. Is there a step to do or should the driver be loaded automatically?
root@bpi-iot-ros-ai:~# lspci -v 01:00.0 Non-Volatile memory controller: Sandisk Corp Device 5004 ( rev 01) (prog-if 02 [NVM Express]) Subsystem: Sandisk Corp Device 5004 Flags: fast devsel Memory at 98064000 (64-bit, non-prefetchable) [disabled] [ size=16K] Capabilities: [80] Power Management version 3 Capabilities: [90] MSI: Enable- Count=1/32 Maskable- 64bit + Capabilities: [b0] MSI-X: Enable- Count=17 Masked- Capabilities: [c0] Express Endpoint, MSI 00 Capabilities: [100] Advanced Error Reporting Capabilities: [150] Device Serial Number 00-00-00-00-00-00 -00-00 Capabilities: [1b8] Latency Tolerance Reporting Capabilities: [300] #19 Capabilities: [900] L1 PM Substates
Also āmodprobe nvmeā shows module not found in kernel.
Can you confirm what image you are using in that picture?
Thanks
Thx for your response @gavan1 mine is not seeing the drive so maybe its the adapter mayde the NVME disk, I donāt know but as usual I never get working de BPi first time 
so again a lot of patience I put my two cents that the culprit its the adaptarā¦ the NVME disk its not Sandisk as yours doc I donāt know if exist a limitation with the internal chipset of the disk but I need the extra space because a Kubernetes things I wanna do.
Again thx @gavan1 have a great day.
Regards
Fran
@fgonza1971 Iām still waiting on @August to reply and confirm which image he is using ( or what steps he used to add vie support) I doubt it is any of the images posted onlineā¦ as modprobe nvme gives me a kernel not found on ALL images released to customers.
@sinovoip can you confirm the situation of the nvme driver in the currently released images?
Thank you.
Because, technically you can use a M to E key adapter and get an nvme drive to work as @August did.
The problem it seems that the images related to the public donāt have the nvme driver in the kernel image.
nvme supported on Feb 25, 2021, but bananapi wiki latest image published on May 18, 2020, you must build the source code and update the kernel image and modules.
Hope @August answer @gavan1 iāve been compiling the kernel with the docker image with no luck I added the modules nvme and AHCi, SATA support, etc. Maybe @August could tell which modules are needed.
Regards
Fran
just compiled the BPI-M4-bsp and installed the bsp files to SD image according to the README.md, no additional modules loaded after bootup.
@August thank you very much for the clarification! I wonāt be able to compile from source.
Could you share the image you compiled? I would really appreciate that and so would @fgonza1971. If itās easier I also have a Baidu net cloudā¦
Thank you for getting back to me.
extract the bsp files to your sdcard image boot and root partitions.
link: ē¾åŗ¦ē½ē čÆ·č¾å
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code: z83m
@August 
. Got NVME working now!.
@fgonza1971 let me know if you need any more helpā¦ FYI you will need that same nvme adapter as in the post and and you need and actual NVME drive not an SSD with M.2 form.
M.2 SSD drives look very similar to NVME but they run off SATA interface which is not what that adapter uses.
You just just need to overwrite the file shared by August and into the BPI-BOOT and BPI-ROOT and reboot.
I had to mount my boot partition as is was not visible (since my boot partition is in the emmc, I am not using an SD card)
Thx 4 the advice @gavan1 but I canāt download the fileā¦ I use Xubuntuā¦ canāt download itā¦ Iāve never used Baidu before
Now for my budget its a noā¦ Bpi 110$ plus adapter 30$ plus m.2 nvm SSD 30$ equals 180$ totalā¦
Now the new adapter from Amazon costs 15$ plus shipment a new m.2 drive another 30$ maybe 80$ total plus 180$ = 260$ plus my timeā¦ too much time trying different thingsā¦ maybe Iāll use the Bpi for network services or use a hammer with itā¦
Nope! the Bpi adventure has cost too much ā¦ too much money wasted for a Kubernetes thing that Iām running right now in old PCā¦ I could have bought an eBay mini PC or maybe a newer used mini PC from a local dealerā¦ Iāve fond memories using an old Rpi model B+ sold it 5 years ago ā¦ and I tough that could use the Bpi to experiment ā¦ my bad obviously!
Iāll use the m.2 SSD drive for the new home lab server.
The Bpi way for now its closedā¦ I wonāt invest more money and time with it!
Thx @August @gavan1 for the info and time, bad docs and OS images without full hardware support ā¦ maybe @August you could update the wiki saying the images go without m.2 support and state a warning against m.2 SSD drive type.
Regards
Fran
Lacking / incomplete / outdated documentation is the reality with Banana Pi and most SBC manufacturers.
The goal is not for you to use the product productivelyā¦ itās simply to purchase it. I āve learn the hard way and am now very very selective, I doubt I will be purchasing any product from BPI, RADXA or any of the other manufacturers apart from Raspberry Pi.
But since I purchased the BPI-M4 before I learned the reality of SBC product āsupportā, I want to be able to use the board to its full capabilities.
This board and the RADXA rock 3a has an m.2 on my Rock 3A I have the Google coral TPU which I helped RADXA make documentation for on the 3a.
In any case I do have a short nvme which works well. And I also work with clusters in the edge.
The BPI-M4 with nvme enabled does let you leverage additional docker performance as you can set docker volume to it.
Same goes for k8s performance.
Itās just a little better than a Pi3.
Iāll share my setup with the board once Iāve finished selected the OLED lcd for this one.