NEC MPI4E Raspberry Pi Compute Module Setup Guide

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Is it possible to boot directly to an external USB drive instead of the onboard eMMC memory?

Yes. The Compute Module 4 Bootloader can be modified to change the boot order to directly boot from a

USB drive. Details of configuring and uploading the bootloader are available from Raspberry Pi:

https://github.com/raspberrypi/rpi-eeprom

Note that the EEPROM of the Compute Module can be write protected to prevent the bootloader from

being updated by installing a jumper across the EEPEOM_nWP pins on the Interface Board.

What is the LAN MAC address of the Compute Module?

The LAN MAC address is assigned by the Compute Module itself and is derived from the CPU serial

number.

The first 3 octets (B8:27:EB) are fixed and assigned to Raspberry Pi Foundation. The remaining 3 octets

are the last 6 hex digits of the CPU serial number. For example, if the CPU serial number is

0000000096bf4e08 the MAC address will be B8:27:EB:BF:4E:08. The CPU serial number can be

obtained by using:

cat /proc/cpuinfo

Note that both the Gigabit and 10/100 Mbps LAN interfaces will be assigned a MAC address based on

the serial number of the Compute Module. At the time of writing, Raspberry Pi OS will assign identical

MAC and IP addresses to both interfaces. This will lead to an illegal ethernet condition if both network

ports are connected to the same network and may result in degraded or no network connectivity.

What is the Wi-Fi MAC address of the Compute Module?

On Raspberry Pi OS, the Wi-Fi MAC address is derived similarly to the LAN MAC address, except the

bottom 48 bits of the CPU serial number is XOR'd with 0x555555 to avoid colliding with the LAN MAC

address. Other operating systems may assign the MAC address differently.

How long does it take to program the Compute Module?

It depends on the size of the image being programmed. USB read and write speeds are typically 5MB/s.

So, a 4GB image will take approximately 13 minutes to write. That time will double if verification is used.

How can I find out the LAN IP or MAC address of the host display from the Compute Module?

The Python SDK includes the functions command_ip_address_read() and

command_lan_mac_address_read() that will return the IP and MAC address of the display if it has

been configured with a static IP address.

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NEC MPI4E RaspberryPi 4 System on a Chip Solution