FriendlyElec Drops 4x SATA HAT for the NanoPi M4

FriendlyElec’s NanoPi M4 is an excellent RK3399-based SBC that features a Raspberry Pi format and packs some top-tier hardware, including 2X Cortex-A72s, 4X Cortex-A53s, up to 4Gb of LPDDR3 RAM, and a myriad of USB 3.0 ports. Unfortunately, it hosts zero SATA ports or connection options that would allow for large storage add-ons such as HDDs and SSDs.

To rectify that issue, FriendlyElec designed a 4x SATA HAT for the NanoPi M4 that leverages the M4’s PCIe X2 header, which supports Ethernet, Wi-Fi, USB 3.0, and SATA. As far as features go, the HAT is outfitted with a Marvell 88SE9215 PCIe to SATA 4-port 6Gbps I/O controller. It also packs 2X USB 2.0 host connectors, NanoPi M4 40-pin header pass-through, a power key (unpopulated power key jumper), and power LED/4X SATA LED indicators.

Power options consist of a 12V DC input via power barrel jack/4-pin header; 2A needed for one 3.5-inch hard drive or four 2.5-inch hard drives; 5A required for four 3.5-inch hard drives. There’s also a 4-pin power connector with 5V and 12V output options, and a 2-pin PH2.0 connector to power aftermarket fans.

On the software end, the 4x SATA HAT can take advantage of FriendlyCore 18.06 (64-bit), FriendlyDesktop 18.04 (64-bit), and Lubuntu 16.04 (32-bit) with Linux-4.4-LTS and U-boot-2014.10 for the NanoPi M4. The HAT will set you back $25, which gets you the board, heat sink (with thermal paste/screws), a SATA power cable, a pair of SATA connection cables, and 4X brass stand-offs for mounting the board to the M4.