How to Check if Your Raspberry Pi 4 Model B is Rev1.2?

INTRODUCTION

Updated 12th Mar 2020, we just verified that Raspberry Pi 4 Model B 2GB that we have in stock is a MIX of Rev1.1 and Rev 1.2. In other words, as of now (12th Mar 2020):

• Raspberry Pi 4 Model B 2GB boards are a mix of Rev1.1 and Rev1.2
• Raspberry Pi 4 Model B 4GB boards are Rev1.2 (latest hardware revision)

Well, this comes without any announcement from the Raspberry Pi Foundation. We get to know from a customer asking about the Raspberry Pi 4 Model B 4GB hardware revision. There is? It is not an EEPROM firmware version that improves the thermal performance and this is not the Raspbian version. It is Hardware Revision. You can check the Raspberry Pi Revision Codes page for details. I have print screen one here: (Updated 8Mar2020)

What is the Problem?

Well, I am sure many of us are waiting for the fix for USB-C even it does not affect most of us. The USB-C issue that being highlighted many blogs, example:

• Exploring The Raspberry Pi 4 USB-C Issue In-Depth from Hackaday
• Raspberry Pi admits to faulty USB-C design on the Pi 4 from arstechnica

Despite the highlights, many are still using Raspberry Pi 4B with the official Power adapter from Raspberry Pi foundation and many 3rd party power adapter. Frankly speaking, up to today, I have yet to get an actual “E-Marked” USB-C cable or adapter. We have been powering up this powerful single board computer since the launch, June 2019, without problem. 

Nonetheless, this issue is still like a scar on your car. You will want to fix it, and there you go. It is fixed according to:

• RASPBERRY PI SLIPS OUT NEW PCB VERSION WITH USB C POWER FIX, by Jenny List, Hackaday
• Get in the C: Raspberry Pi 4 can handle a wider range of USB adapters thanks to revised design’s silent arrival by Richard Speed, theregister
• New Pi 4B v1.2, forum threads, Raspberry Pi forum
• RPi 4 USB-C Power Delivery Seems Fixed, forum threads, Raspberry pi forum

Am I Getting the Rev 1.2 Raspberry Pi 4 Model B Board?

That is the purpose of this article, to guide you to identify your board.

Hardware Changes

Before going further, I need to remind again, this new revision only applied for both Raspberry Pi 4 Model B 4GB board and 2GB. 1GB boards still remain Rev 1.1.

If you have an RPi4B 2GB or 4GB board and would like to check, here are the physical changes that you can check 🙂

From the top view, we notice there are two spots that have changes. The orange circle highlights a tiny capacitor or resistor has been relocated on Rev 1.2 board. While red circle shows there is additional black shining IC is added near the edge of CPU on Rev 1.2 board.

From the bottom, we notice there is more area being modified. Yet it might relocation of certain components only. The obvious relocation is the transistor alike IC highlighted by purple circle on Rev 1.1 board (near to the edge of microSD card socket) seem to be relocated to the red circle on Rev 1.2 board. Apparently, that transistor is the WLCSP SD card voltage switch that has been moved. Raspberry Pi Foundation moved the switch because some people would inadvertently unsolder it in the original version of the board while trying to insert the MicroSD card according to CNX-Software Post. Yet, I don’t really understand who will unsolder any component when inserting the MicroSD card 🙂

Can You Check from Raspbian?

If your Raspberry Pi 4 Model B board is enclosed in a case and you do not want to open it just to check the revision, you can still check it from terminal within Raspbian.

Open the terminal in Raspbian and type in “dmesg” and hits Enter key:

If you have the Rev1.1 board, you will get Raspberry Pi 4 Model B Rev1.1 under the Machine model. So stick with it 🙂

You should get this result if you have the Rev 1.2 board:

There is another command that you may key in to check the Revision within Raspbian. According to CNX-Software’s Post. Again, open the terminal, key-in: cat /proc/cpuinfo (Please do note there is a “space” after the “cat”, before “/”), and you should get this response:

If the Revision (pointed by Yellow Arrow) shows “b03112” it means you are the lucky owner of a Raspberry Pi 4 2GB Rev 1.2 board. Where the first non-zero code a, b, c digit referring to the amount of memory (1GB, 2GB, 4GB RAM), and the last two digits refer to hardware Revision, 12 refers to 1.2! Of course the Aqua colored arrow show the Raspberry pi 4 Model B Rev1.2. You can learn how to decode Raspberry Pi revision codes here. If you have a Rev1.1 board of 2GB, it will shows “Revision: b03111” instead.

For 4GB board, the Revision shows “c03112” and it means you are the lucky owner of a Raspberry Pi 4 4GB Rev 1.2 board. Where the first “c” character refers to 4GB board and the last two digits refer to hardware Revision, 12 refers to 1.2! If you have a Rev1.1 board of 4GB, it will shows “Revision: c03111” instead.

Conclusion

Again, we are not sure the details  of the relocation or changes of components, and frankly speaking, we do not have the expensive “E-marked” USB-C cable 🙂 Hopefully the forum threads that I shared in the early post is genuine and verified. 

BTW, all our stock of Raspberry Pi 4 Model B 4GB are Rev 1.2 now, and a mix of Rev1.1 and Rev1.2 for Raspberry Pi 4 Model B 2GB  boards.