Mini PCI express Storage

balenaFin
1

Hi, I just ordered 3 balenaFins and I see that you can use the mini PCI express slot for extra storage what storage can I use ??

The Mini PCI express port on the Fin expands the connectivity capabilities to a number of different modules (4G LTE, Zigbee, LoRa, additional storage, RS232/485, CANbus). The 4-pin USB header allows a wide set of possible design applications such as additional storage, secondary ethernet port, multimedia readers, additional radio interfaces, etc. The co-processor 18-pin header allows analog and time-sensitive I/O

Also is there another serial port on the 18pin header and if so do you have a descriptive pinout document?

4

Hey @alinnz

The mPCI-E slot is a subset socket, carrying USB/I2C and a SIM-card interface, so the storage interface needs to be via USB interface over the mPCI-e slot.

The 18 pin header is connected to the co-processor, which does have serial ports, but these are not directly accessible by the CM3.

You can see the pinouts for both the coprocessor and mPCI-e slot in the balenaFin datasheets available on GitHub and also the BGM111 coprocessor datasheet.