Joachim Wiberg
31df56308b
Add board support for the BananaPi BPI-R4 router board, based on the MediaTek MT7988A (Filogic 880) SoC with quad-core Cortex-A73 CPU. The BPI-R4 is the successor to the BPI-R3 but uses entirely different silicon: the internal switch runs at 2.5 GbE per port, the two SFP+ uplinks use native USXGMII at up to 10 Gbps, and WiFi is provided by a MediaTek MT7996E PCIe module supporting tri-band WiFi 7 (2.4/5/6 GHz). Two board variants, BPI-R4-2g5 and BPI-R4P, replace one SFP+ cage with a 2.5 GbE RJ45 port (using the MT7988A internal 2.5G PHY); the R4P adds an optional PoE daughterboard on that port. Both use the upstream mt7988a-bananapi-bpi-r4-2g5 device tree. Interfaces: - Standard R4: eth1 (gmac1/sfp2 LAN cage) → sfp2, eth2 (gmac2/sfp1 WAN cage) → sfp1 - R4-2g5/R4P: eth1 (2.5G PHY) → wan, eth2 (gmac2/sfp1 WAN cage) → sfp1 Factory reset / WPS button (GPIO14, active-low): detected by U-Boot at boot for factory reset; reused by Linux as KEY_WPS_BUTTON at runtime. eMMC install note: the MT7988A eMMC (pins 38-49) and SD card (pins 32-37) use separate physical pads so there is no electrical bus sharing, unlike some BPi-R3 configurations. However, a single MMC controller (mmc@11230000) handles both, so only one is active per boot session. The eMMC install procedure therefore still requires an intermediate SPI NAND bootloader step until a Linux-side install path is tested. SD card build (bpi_r4_sd_boot_defconfig) now uses the new mt7988a_bpir4_sd U-Boot defconfig with cap-sd-highspeed enabled, giving 50 MHz SD transfers instead of the previous 25 MHz legacy mode. Also adds MT7988/MT7996 firmware support to the buildroot linux-firmware package, for 2.5 GbE port PHY and WiFi7 extension board, and updates the aarch64_defconfig, aarch64_minimal_defconfig, the arch README, CI boot/image workflows, mkimage.sh, and the ChangeLog. Signed-off-by: Joachim Wiberg <troglobit@gmail.com>
Turn any ARM or x86 device into a powerful, manageable network appliance in minutes. From $35 Raspberry Pi boards to enterprise switches — deploy routers, IoT gateways, edge devices, or custom network solutions that just work.
Our Values
🔒 Immutable
Your system never breaks. Read-only filesystem with atomic upgrades
means no configuration drift, no corrupted updates, and instant rollback
if something goes wrong. Deploy once, trust forever.
🤝 Friendly
Actually easy to use. Auto-generated CLI from standard YANG models comes
with built-in help for every command — just hit ? or
TAB for context-aware assistance.
Familiar NETCONF & RESTCONF APIs and comprehensive documentation mean you're never stuck. Whether you're learning networking or managing enterprise infrastructure.
🛡️ Secure
Built with security as a foundation, not an afterthought. Minimal
attack surface, separation between system and data, and container
isolation. Sleep better knowing your infrastructure is protected.
Why Choose Infix
Hardware Flexibility: Start with a $35 Raspberry Pi, scale to enterprise switching hardware. Same OS, same tools, same reliability.
Standards-Based: Built around YANG models and IETF standards. Learn once, use everywhere - no vendor lock-in.
Container Ready: Run your applications alongside networking functions. GPIO access, dedicated Ethernet ports, custom protocols — your device, your rules.
Use Cases
- Home Labs & Hobbyists:
Transform a Raspberry Pi into a full-featured router with WiFi - IoT & Edge Computing:
Bridge devices to the cloud with reliable, updatable gateways - Small Business Networks:
Enterprise-grade features without the complexity or cost - Developers & Makers:
Test networking concepts, prototype IoT solutions, or build custom appliances - Network Professionals:
Consistent tooling from development to production deployment.
How about a digital twin using raw Qemu or GNS3!
Quick Example
Configure an interface in seconds - the CLI guides you with built-in help:
admin@infix-12-34-56:/> configure
admin@infix-12-34-56:/config/> edit interface eth0
admin@infix-12-34-56:/config/interface/eth0/> set ipv4 TAB
address autoconf bind-ni-name dhcp
enabled forwarding mtu neighbor
admin@infix-12-34-56:/config/interface/eth0/> set ipv4 address 192.168.2.200 prefix-length 24
admin@infix-12-34-56:/config/interface/eth0/> show
type ethernet;
ipv4 {
address 192.168.2.200 {
prefix-length 24;
}
}
admin@infix-12-34-56:/config/interface/eth0/> diff
interfaces {
interface eth0 {
+ ipv4 {
+ address 192.168.2.200 {
+ prefix-length 24;
+ }
+ }
}
}
admin@infix-12-34-56:/config/interface/eth0/> leave
admin@infix-12-34-56:/> show interfaces
INTERFACE PROTOCOL STATE DATA
lo ethernet UP 00:00:00:00:00:00
ipv4 127.0.0.1/8 (static)
ipv6 ::1/128 (static)
eth0 ethernet UP 52:54:00:12:34:56
ipv4 192.168.2.200/24 (static)
ipv6 fe80::5054:ff:fe12:3456/64 (link-layer)
admin@infix-12-34-56:/> copy running startup
Notice how TAB completion shows available options, show
displays current config, and diff shows exactly what changed before
you commit your changes with the leave command.
For more information, see CLI documentation.
Get Started
Get pre-built images for your hardware. Use the CLI, web
interface, or standard NETCONF/RESTCONF tools, e.g., curl. Add
containers for any custom functionality you need.
Supported Platforms
- Raspberry Pi 2B/3B/4B/CM4 - Perfect for home labs, learning, and prototyping
- Banana Pi-R3 - Your next home router and gateway
- NanoPi R2S - Compact dual-port router in a tiny package
- x86_64 - Run in VMs or on mini PCs for development and testing
- Marvell CN9130 CRB, EspressoBIN - High-performance ARM64 platforms
- Microchip SparX-5i - Enterprise switching capabilities
- Microchip SAMA7G54-EK - ARM Cortex-A7
- NXP i.MX8MP EVK - Highly capable ARM64 SoC
- StarFive VisionFive2 - RISC-V architecture support
Why start with Raspberry Pi? It's affordable, widely available, has built-in WiFi + Ethernet, and runs the exact same Infix OS you'd deploy in production. Perfect for learning, prototyping, or even small-scale deployments.
Technical Details
Built on proven open-source foundations: Linux, Buildroot, and sysrepo — for reliability you can trust:
- Immutable OS: Read-only filesystem, atomic updates, instant rollback
- YANG Configuration: Industry-standard models with auto-generated tooling
- Hardware Acceleration: Linux switchdev support for wire-speed packet processing
- Container Integration: Docker support with flexible network and hardware access
- Memory Efficient: Runs comfortably on devices with as little as 256 MB RAM
- Code Signing: Releases are cryptographically signed for integrity verification
Perfect for everything from resource-constrained edge devices to high-throughput network appliances.
With the entire system modeled in YANG, scalability is no longer an issue, be it in development, testing, or end users deploying and monitoring their devices. All knobs and dials are accessible from the CLI (console/SSH), or remotely using the native NETCONF or RESTCONF APIs.
Check the Latest Build for bleeding-edge features.
