I am very disappointed that no Arduino Team member has not made a comment on this point. As I see this as a major fault with the documentation. When I try and run code on the Nano R4 board I get this
FQBN: arduino:renesas_uno:nanor4
Using board 'nanor4' from platform in folder: /Users/mikecook/Library/Arduino15/packages/arduino/hardware/renesas_uno/1.5.1
Using core 'arduino' from platform in folder: /Users/mikecook/Library/Arduino15/packages/arduino/hardware/renesas_uno/1.5.1
Detecting libraries used...
/Users/mikecook/Library/Arduino15/packages/arduino/tools/arm-none-eabi-gcc/7-2017q4/bin/arm-none-eabi-g++ -c -w -Os -g3 -fno-use-cxa-atexit -fno-rtti -fno-exceptions -nostdlib -DF_CPU=48000000 -DARDUINO_NANO_R4 -DARDUINO_UNOR4_MINIMA -std=gnu++17 -mcpu=cortex-m4 -mfloat-abi=hard -mfpu=fpv4-sp-d16 -fsigned-char -ffunction-sections -fdata-sections -fmessage-length=0 -fno-builtin -w -x c++ -E -CC -DARDUINO=10607 -DPROJECT_NAME="/Users/mikecook/Library/Caches/arduino/sketches/ABDA15FD3C58E87685BEA9EBF8C976BD/Basic.ino" -DARDUINO_nanor4 -DARDUINO_ARCH_RENESAS_UNO -DARDUINO_ARCH_RENESAS -DARDUINO_FSP -D_XOPEN_SOURCE=700 -mthumb @/Users/mikecook/Library/Arduino15/packages/arduino/hardware/renesas_uno/1.5.1/variants/NANOR4/defines.txt -DCFG_TUSB_MCU=OPT_MCU_RAXXX -I/Users/mikecook/Library/Arduino15/packages/arduino/hardware/renesas_uno/1.5.1/cores/arduino/tinyusb -I/Users/mikecook/Library/Arduino15/packages/arduino/hardware/renesas_uno/1.5.1/cores/arduino/api/deprecated -I/Users/mikecook/Library/Arduino15/packages/arduino/hardware/renesas_uno/1.5.1/cores/arduino/api/deprecated-avr-comp -I/Users/mikecook/Library/Arduino15/packages/arduino/hardware/renesas_uno/1.5.1/cores/arduino -I/Users/mikecook/Library/Arduino15/packages/arduino/hardware/renesas_uno/1.5.1/variants/NANOR4 -iprefix/Users/mikecook/Library/Arduino15/packages/arduino/hardware/renesas_uno/1.5.1 @/Users/mikecook/Library/Arduino15/packages/arduino/hardware/renesas_uno/1.5.1/variants/NANOR4/includes.txt /Users/mikecook/Library/Caches/arduino/sketches/ABDA15FD3C58E87685BEA9EBF8C976BD/sketch/Basic.ino.cpp -o /dev/null
Alternatives for Encoder.h: [Encoder@1.4.4]
ResolveLibrary(Encoder.h)
-> candidates: [Encoder@1.4.4]
/Users/mikecook/Library/Arduino15/packages/arduino/tools/arm-none-eabi-gcc/7-2017q4/bin/arm-none-eabi-g++ -c -w -Os -g3 -fno-use-cxa-atexit -fno-rtti -fno-exceptions -nostdlib -DF_CPU=48000000 -DARDUINO_NANO_R4 -DARDUINO_UNOR4_MINIMA -std=gnu++17 -mcpu=cortex-m4 -mfloat-abi=hard -mfpu=fpv4-sp-d16 -fsigned-char -ffunction-sections -fdata-sections -fmessage-length=0 -fno-builtin -w -x c++ -E -CC -DARDUINO=10607 -DPROJECT_NAME="/Users/mikecook/Library/Caches/arduino/sketches/ABDA15FD3C58E87685BEA9EBF8C976BD/Basic.ino" -DARDUINO_nanor4 -DARDUINO_ARCH_RENESAS_UNO -DARDUINO_ARCH_RENESAS -DARDUINO_FSP -D_XOPEN_SOURCE=700 -mthumb @/Users/mikecook/Library/Arduino15/packages/arduino/hardware/renesas_uno/1.5.1/variants/NANOR4/defines.txt -DCFG_TUSB_MCU=OPT_MCU_RAXXX -I/Users/mikecook/Library/Arduino15/packages/arduino/hardware/renesas_uno/1.5.1/cores/arduino/tinyusb -I/Users/mikecook/Library/Arduino15/packages/arduino/hardware/renesas_uno/1.5.1/cores/arduino/api/deprecated -I/Users/mikecook/Library/Arduino15/packages/arduino/hardware/renesas_uno/1.5.1/cores/arduino/api/deprecated-avr-comp -I/Users/mikecook/Library/Arduino15/packages/arduino/hardware/renesas_uno/1.5.1/cores/arduino -I/Users/mikecook/Library/Arduino15/packages/arduino/hardware/renesas_uno/1.5.1/variants/NANOR4 -I/Users/mikecook/Documents/Arduino/libraries/Encoder -iprefix/Users/mikecook/Library/Arduino15/packages/arduino/hardware/renesas_uno/1.5.1 @/Users/mikecook/Library/Arduino15/packages/arduino/hardware/renesas_uno/1.5.1/variants/NANOR4/includes.txt /Users/mikecook/Library/Caches/arduino/sketches/ABDA15FD3C58E87685BEA9EBF8C976BD/sketch/Basic.ino.cpp -o /dev/null
Error while detecting libraries included by /Users/mikecook/Library/Caches/arduino/sketches/ABDA15FD3C58E87685BEA9EBF8C976BD/sketch/Basic.ino.cpp
/Users/mikecook/Library/Arduino15/packages/arduino/tools/arm-none-eabi-gcc/7-2017q4/bin/arm-none-eabi-g++ -c -w -Os -g3 -fno-use-cxa-atexit -fno-rtti -fno-exceptions -nostdlib -DF_CPU=48000000 -DARDUINO_NANO_R4 -DARDUINO_UNOR4_MINIMA -std=gnu++17 -mcpu=cortex-m4 -mfloat-abi=hard -mfpu=fpv4-sp-d16 -fsigned-char -ffunction-sections -fdata-sections -fmessage-length=0 -fno-builtin -w -x c++ -E -CC -DARDUINO=10607 -DPROJECT_NAME="/Users/mikecook/Library/Caches/arduino/sketches/ABDA15FD3C58E87685BEA9EBF8C976BD/Basic.ino" -DARDUINO_nanor4 -DARDUINO_ARCH_RENESAS_UNO -DARDUINO_ARCH_RENESAS -DARDUINO_FSP -D_XOPEN_SOURCE=700 -mthumb @/Users/mikecook/Library/Arduino15/packages/arduino/hardware/renesas_uno/1.5.1/variants/NANOR4/defines.txt -DCFG_TUSB_MCU=OPT_MCU_RAXXX -I/Users/mikecook/Library/Arduino15/packages/arduino/hardware/renesas_uno/1.5.1/cores/arduino/tinyusb -I/Users/mikecook/Library/Arduino15/packages/arduino/hardware/renesas_uno/1.5.1/cores/arduino/api/deprecated -I/Users/mikecook/Library/Arduino15/packages/arduino/hardware/renesas_uno/1.5.1/cores/arduino/api/deprecated-avr-comp -I/Users/mikecook/Library/Arduino15/packages/arduino/hardware/renesas_uno/1.5.1/cores/arduino -I/Users/mikecook/Library/Arduino15/packages/arduino/hardware/renesas_uno/1.5.1/variants/NANOR4 -I/Users/mikecook/Documents/Arduino/libraries/Encoder -I/Users/mikecook/Documents/Arduino/libraries/Encoder/utility -iprefix/Users/mikecook/Library/Arduino15/packages/arduino/hardware/renesas_uno/1.5.1 @/Users/mikecook/Library/Arduino15/packages/arduino/hardware/renesas_uno/1.5.1/variants/NANOR4/includes.txt /Users/mikecook/Documents/Arduino/libraries/Encoder/Encoder.cpp -o /dev/null
Error while detecting libraries included by /Users/mikecook/Documents/Arduino/libraries/Encoder/Encoder.cpp
Generating function prototypes...
/Users/mikecook/Library/Arduino15/packages/arduino/tools/arm-none-eabi-gcc/7-2017q4/bin/arm-none-eabi-g++ -c -w -Os -g3 -fno-use-cxa-atexit -fno-rtti -fno-exceptions -nostdlib -DF_CPU=48000000 -DARDUINO_NANO_R4 -DARDUINO_UNOR4_MINIMA -std=gnu++17 -mcpu=cortex-m4 -mfloat-abi=hard -mfpu=fpv4-sp-d16 -fsigned-char -ffunction-sections -fdata-sections -fmessage-length=0 -fno-builtin -w -x c++ -E -CC -DARDUINO=10607 -DPROJECT_NAME="/Users/mikecook/Library/Caches/arduino/sketches/ABDA15FD3C58E87685BEA9EBF8C976BD/Basic.ino" -DARDUINO_nanor4 -DARDUINO_ARCH_RENESAS_UNO -DARDUINO_ARCH_RENESAS -DARDUINO_FSP -D_XOPEN_SOURCE=700 -mthumb @/Users/mikecook/Library/Arduino15/packages/arduino/hardware/renesas_uno/1.5.1/variants/NANOR4/defines.txt -DCFG_TUSB_MCU=OPT_MCU_RAXXX -I/Users/mikecook/Library/Arduino15/packages/arduino/hardware/renesas_uno/1.5.1/cores/arduino/tinyusb -I/Users/mikecook/Library/Arduino15/packages/arduino/hardware/renesas_uno/1.5.1/cores/arduino/api/deprecated -I/Users/mikecook/Library/Arduino15/packages/arduino/hardware/renesas_uno/1.5.1/cores/arduino/api/deprecated-avr-comp -I/Users/mikecook/Library/Arduino15/packages/arduino/hardware/renesas_uno/1.5.1/cores/arduino -I/Users/mikecook/Library/Arduino15/packages/arduino/hardware/renesas_uno/1.5.1/variants/NANOR4 -I/Users/mikecook/Documents/Arduino/libraries/Encoder -iprefix/Users/mikecook/Library/Arduino15/packages/arduino/hardware/renesas_uno/1.5.1 @/Users/mikecook/Library/Arduino15/packages/arduino/hardware/renesas_uno/1.5.1/variants/NANOR4/includes.txt /Users/mikecook/Library/Caches/arduino/sketches/ABDA15FD3C58E87685BEA9EBF8C976BD/sketch/Basic.ino.cpp -o /private/var/folders/0r/5d65776n19q2wvp1wf4bjsxr0000gn/T/1381402581/sketch_merged.cpp
In file included from /Users/mikecook/Documents/Arduino/libraries/Encoder/Encoder.h:46:0,
from /Users/mikecook/Documents/Arduino/Nano A4 software/Encoder/examples/Basic/Basic.ino:7:
/Users/mikecook/Documents/Arduino/libraries/Encoder/utility/interrupt_pins.h:390:2: error: #error "Interrupts are unknown for this board, please add to this code"
#error "Interrupts are unknown for this board, please add to this code"
^~~~~
/Users/mikecook/Documents/Arduino/libraries/Encoder/utility/interrupt_pins.h:393:2: error: #error "Encoder requires interrupt pins, but this board does not have any :("
#error "Encoder requires interrupt pins, but this board does not have any :("
^~~~~
/Users/mikecook/Documents/Arduino/libraries/Encoder/utility/interrupt_pins.h:394:2: error: #error "You could try defining ENCODER_DO_NOT_USE_INTERRUPTS as a kludge."
#error "You could try defining ENCODER_DO_NOT_USE_INTERRUPTS as a kludge."
^~~~~
exit status 1
Compilation error: exit status 1
Can I remind all posters that this is a "Nano R4 board" I am talking about and not any other sort of of Uno R4 board.
I am setting up some new hardware to continue to test this out further.