First startup

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Safety Instructions (Must Read)

💡 - Hardware Usage Guidelines (Preventing Damage)
- Please use the included USB-A power cable (5A). Do not use power supplies below 3A current (such as phone chargers), as this may cause the smart single-board computer to be underpowered and crash frequently. If external high-power modules (e.g., motors) are needed, power them separately. Do not draw power from the smart single-board computer USB port or GPIO port (to avoid overloading and damaging the board).
- Always disconnect power before plugging or unplugging accessories (such as camera FPC cables or Ethernet cables). Hot-plugging may damage interface chips. The USB-C port is for firmware flashing and host mode communication only — do not use it to power the board.
- Operating temperature:-20 ~ +70 °C. Do not use the device in high-temperature (e.g., direct sunlight), high-humidity (humidity >80%), or dusty environments. Before handling, touch a metal object to discharge static electricity; avoid touching chip pins on the board with bare hands.

• System and Software Precautions

  • Only official system images provided by Quectel are supported. Do not flash images intended for other boards (e.g., Raspberry Pi), as this will cause driver incompatibility and boot failures.

  • When installing software, use the apt command to download from official repositories. Avoid installing packages from unknown sources to prevent system compromise or crashes.

What You Need to Prepare

Depending on your use case, there are two configuration options: external monitor and ADB connection. √ indicates required, ○ indicates optional.

Accessory	Specification	External Monitor	ADB Connection
Quectel Pi M2 smart single-board computer	—	√	√
Power Adapter	5V/5A or 9V/3A PD	√	√
Ethernet Cable	Connect to router or use Wi-Fi	○	○
Monitor	PC / Laptop / MIPI Display	√	○
HDMI Type-A Male Cable	Connect to monitor	○	○
Keyboard/Mouse	USB Wired/Wireless	√	√
PC / Laptop	For running terminal software	○	√
USB Type-C to USB Type-A Data Cable	Connect development board to PC	○	√

Pre-Power-On Preparation

DIP switch status description:

DIP Switch 1	Operating Mode / Purpose
ON	System starts automatically on boot
OFF	The system needs to be manually started by pressing and holding the PWRKEY button

Choose Your Use Case

The Quectel Pi M2 smart single-board computer comes pre-loaded with a Debian 13 system image — no additional image flashing is required. Please choose the corresponding boot method based on your available equipment:

Scenario	Applicable Conditions	Jump To
With External Monitor	Has HDMI/USB-C DP/MIPI monitor, keyboard and mouse	Boot with External Monitor
Without External Monitor	No monitor available, has a USB-C data cable and a computer	Boot without Monitor

Scenario 1: Boot with External Monitor

Hardware Connection

⚠️ Warning: Disconnect all power before making connections to avoid hardware damage from hot-plugging!

1. Display Connection: Choose the connection method based on your monitor’s interface. Here we use Option 2: connect one end of the Micro HDMI cable to the main board’s Micro HDMI port and the other end to the monitor’s HDMI port.

   • Option 1 (High Definition): Connect one end of the FPC ribbon cable to the MIPI port on the Quectel Pi M2, and the other end to the monitor’s MIPI port. For details, refer to the MIPI.

   • Option 2 (Compatible): Connect one end of the HDMI cable to the HDMI port on the Quectel Pi M2, and the other end to the monitor’s HDMI port.

2. Network Connection: Connect the Quectel Pi M2 Ethernet port to the router’s LAN port using an Ethernet cable.

3. Peripheral Connection: Plug a USB keyboard and mouse into the two USB-A ports on the Quectel Pi M2. For wireless keyboard/mouse, simply plug the receiver into a USB port.

4. Power Connection: Finally, connect the USB-A end of the power cable to the power adapter, and the USB-C end to the power port of the Quectel Pi M2.

System Boot

⚠️ After connecting power, press and hold the PWRKEY button on the left side of the Quectel Pi M2 for 3-5 seconds until the system starts.

• Turn on the monitor and confirm that the input source is switched to the corresponding interface (e.g., USB-C or HDMI).

• Quectel Pi M2 smart single-board computer boot behavior : When you turn on the power for the Quectel Pi M2 (with the power cable plugged in), the power indicator on the Quectel Pi M2 (usually blue) will light up, showing that the system is starting up.

• Wait approximately 1 minute, and the monitor will display the system desktop.

Quectel Pi M2 smart single-board computer System Login

For login username and password settings, please refer to the System login chapter.

Note

1. The root account has no password by default and must be set manually.

2. If you accidentally enter the Enterprise Login interface and cannot exit when creating a user, click Enterprise Login again to switch back to the user creation interface.

The M1’s Debian system uses the GNOME desktop by default.

Language Settings

Navigate to System > Region & Language > Language > Select Language, and the changes will take effect after re-login.

Note

If you switch the system language to Chinese, please keep the old folder names after re-login. Otherwise, you will not be able to access paths like Desktop in the terminal.

Network Settings

Connect to Wi-Fi by entering the password for the desired network in Settings.

Opening the Terminal Command Line

Scenario 2: Boot without Monitor

If you do not have a monitor, keyboard, and mouse connected to the Quectel Pi M2 smart single-board computer, you can remotely control it from another computer.

To remotely control the Quectel Pi M2, you need to connect it to a network and then access it through a client on another device. Use SSH for remote command-line terminal access; use RDP for remote graphical desktop access. If the device is not yet connected to the network, you can use ADB to complete the initial network configuration.

For more remote access methods, please refer to the Device connection.

Method	Description	Prerequisites	Tutorial Link
RDP	Remote graphical desktop access	Device is connected to network	RDP remote desktop
SSH	Remote command-line terminal access	Device is connected to network	SSH remote terminal

Note

For the first boot, it is recommended to complete Wi-Fi configuration via ADB first, then you can use RDP or SSH for daily operations.

ADB Boot

Hardware Connection

Prepare a USB Type-A extension cable. Connect one end to the USB port on the Quectel Pi M2 and the other end to the host computer.

ADB Installation

Download the ADB tool: platform-tools.

Extract the downloaded platform-tools to a folder on your computer.

Open the folder where the platform-tools are located, type cmd in the address bar at the top, and press Enter to open the ADB terminal, then execute the command:

adb devices

Example output:

List of devices attached
790c2fb9        device

Create a Regular User

The default system only has the root user. It is recommended to create a regular user for daily operations.

Create User

Here we use pi as an example username; you can change the username as needed.

# Here pi is the username being created
adduser pi

The system will interactively prompt you to set a password. Enter the password twice as prompted.

After user creation is complete, the system will automatically generate /home/username as the user’s home directory. You can store personal files, project code, etc. in this directory.

Grant sudo Privileges

usermod -aG sudo pi

Switch User

# Verify user
id pi

# Switch user
su - pi

# Test privileges
whoami
sudo whoami   
# Should output root, verifying sudo privileges

Connect to Wi-Fi

The development board has a built-in qpi-config tool for quick Wi-Fi connection management.

Scan for Nearby Wi-Fi Networks

qpi-config wifi scan

Connect to Wi-Fi

# Connect to WiFi
qpi-config wifi connect "Your_WiFi_Name" "Your_WiFi_Password"

# View saved WiFi connections
qpi-config wifi show

# Remove a saved WiFi connection
qpi-config wifi remove <connection uuid>

Verify Network Connectivity

ping www.baidu.com

Purpose

Android Debug Bridge (ADB) is a set of command-line tools provided by the Android SDK, used to establish communication between a computer and Android devices (physical devices / emulators), enabling device debugging, management, and development testing capabilities.

Serial Console

Hardware Connection

⚠️ When using a USB serial cable to log in to the smart single-board computer via serial port, make sure the pin connections are correct. Incorrect pin connections may cause hardware damage to the smart single-board computer.

• Connection Method

  • Connect the GND pin of the Quectel Pi M2 smart single-board computer to the GND pin of the USB serial cable

  • Connect the TXD pin of the Quectel Pi M2 smart single-board computer to the RXD pin of the USB serial cable

  • Connect the RXD pin of the Quectel Pi M2 smart single-board computer to the TXD pin of the USB serial cable

Serial Login

Note

The CH340 driver must be installed on the system first, otherwise the serial port will not be recognized.

It is recommended to download the QPiTerminal tool for serial connection.

1. Open Device Manager to view the serial port.

2. Double-click to open QPiTerminal, select the USB serial port and set the baud rate to 115200, then click Connect.

3. After entering the terminal, the default user is root. Enter ls to test. If the input is successful, it means that the serial port has been logged in normally. You can then view the logs and run commands through the serial port for debugging.

Purpose

The Serial Console is primarily used for viewing system logs, running commands for debugging via serial connection, and as a backup method for system access when the graphical interface is unavailable. It is an important tool for embedded system development and maintenance, particularly suitable for low-level debugging and troubleshooting.

SSH Connection to smart single-board computer

View Device IP Address

Execute the sudo ifconfig command in the smart single-board computer terminal to obtain the device’s IP address.

In this example, the device IP is 10.55.44.50.

Use QPiTerminal to SSH Connect to smart single-board computer

Open a new SSH session, enter the smart single-board computer’s IP address, username, and password, then click Connect.

System Health Check

After the system boots, use the qpi-config command in the terminal to quickly check the system status:

Check System Module Temperatures

sudo qpi-config dump temperature

Check System CPU, Memory, and Storage Status

sudo qpi-config dump systemusage

Network Status Check

After connecting the device to the network via Ethernet cable or Wi-Fi, use the ping command to confirm the device can access external networks.

ping www.baidu.com

Normal connectivity output example:

PING www.a.shifen.com (183.2.172.177) 56(84) bytes of data.
64 bytes from 183.2.172.177: icmp_seq=1 ttl=51 time=18.5 ms
64 bytes from 183.2.172.177: icmp_seq=2 ttl=51 time=18.2 ms
64 bytes from 183.2.172.177: icmp_seq=3 ttl=51 time=18.3 ms
64 bytes from 183.2.172.177: icmp_seq=4 ttl=51 time=18.8 ms
64 bytes from 183.2.172.177: icmp_seq=5 ttl=51 time=18.2 ms
64 bytes from 183.2.172.177: icmp_seq=6 ttl=51 time=18.5 ms
64 bytes from 183.2.172.177: icmp_seq=7 ttl=51 time=18.9 ms

--- www.a.shifen.com ping statistics ---
7 packets transmitted, 7 received, 0% packet loss, time 6011ms
rtt min/avg/max/mdev = 18.199/18.482/18.901/0.249 ms

Field Descriptions:

• 64 bytes from ... — Received ICMP reply, indicating normal network connectivity

• icmp_seq — Sequence number; incrementing values indicate continuous responses

• ttl — Time to live; normal values are typically between 30~128

• time — Round-trip delay; lower values indicate better network quality

• 0% packet loss — Packet loss rate is 0%, network is stable

Your First Hello World

Setting Up the Development Environment

After entering the Quectel Pi M2 smart single-board computer system, open a terminal window, enter the following command and press Enter to install the necessary development tools:

sudo apt update && sudo apt install gcc make 

Compile and Run Hello World (C Version)

1. Open the system terminal and enter the command to create a hello.c file.

touch hello.c

1. Enter the following command to open the hello.c file with the vim editor.

sudo vim hello.c

1. Copy the following code into the hello.c file, press “ESC + Shift + :”, then type “wq” to save the code and exit the vim terminal.

#include <stdio.h>
int main(void)
{
    printf("hello world\r\n");
    return 0;
}

1. Execute the following command to compile the code:

gcc hello.c -o hello

1. Execute the following command to run the hello program:

./hello

1. Program output:

./hello
hello world

Compile and Run Hello World (Python Version)

In addition to C, you can also use Python to quickly implement a Hello World program. The system comes pre-installed with a Python environment — no additional interpreter installation is needed.

1. Open the system terminal and enter the command to create a hello.py file.

touch hello.py

1. Enter the following command to open the hello.py file with the vim editor. (On M1, you can also use the Files manager in the desktop environment to edit code.)

sudo vim hello.py

1. Copy the following code into the hello.py file, press “ESC + Shift + :”, then type “wq” to save the code and exit the vim terminal.

def main():
    print("Hello, World!")

if __name__ == "__main__":
    main()

1. Python is an interpreted language — no compilation needed, just run it directly:

python3 hello.py

1. Program output:

python3 hello.py
Hello, World!

Purpose

The Hello World program is primarily used to verify that the development environment has been set up successfully. By writing, compiling, and running a simple C/Python program, it tests the system’s basic functionality, including whether the compiler, runtime environment, etc. are working properly. It is a fundamental practice for getting started with embedded development.

Safe Shutdown and Restart

Quectel Pi M2 supports shutdown and restart via both the desktop and command line.

Shutdown via Desktop GUI

If you are using an external monitor and are in the desktop environment:

1. Click the top-right corner of the desktop.

2. Select Power Off or Restart.

Shutdown via Command Line

On the Quectel Pi M2, you can execute the following commands in the terminal (local terminal, SSH, or ADB shell):

Shutdown

sudo poweroff

Restart

sudo reboot

Shutdown via Physical Button

Press and hold the PWRKEY button on the right side of the Quectel Pi M2 (approximately 3~5 seconds), and the system will perform a safe shutdown procedure.

What’s Next?

After completing the introductory experience, you can continue to explore more features:

• Supported accessories

• User guide

• Operating system

• Application development

• Edge computing

• Development tools

• Supported features

• FAQ