badrianiulian Posted October 29, 2015 Posted October 29, 2015 Hy I did not know where this would fit so I started the topic in the Free section Since there are a lot of problems with the wireless module on this board I searched for another more elegant solution than a usb pluged in wifi module I found this module on alibaba: USB Interface 2.4G&5.8G WiFi Module WL-UM01EBS-5572-V1.0 IEEE 802.11A/B/G/N Main Chip : MT5572 Module Name : WL-UM01EBS-5572-V1.0 Size : 27*17.7 Interface : USB2.0 Package : 6Pin WiFi Standards : IEEE 802.11A/B/G/N Operating Voltage : 3V3 Frequency : 2.4G and 5.8G(2T2R) Do not know about the pins (if they fit) but I'm thinking about replacing the RTL8192CU module with this one (i do have a soldering station to do this) I'm just asking for thoughts and if did someone else thought this before me? The original module: http://i2.wp.com/hardware-libre.fr/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/20141117_173752.jpg Specs on the original module: http://i00.i.aliimg.com/wsphoto/v0/32302769172/New-Realtek-RTL8192CU-WIFI-module.jpg Specs on this module: http://wenku.it168.com/d_001163727.shtml Specs on other modules: http://wenku.it168.com/u/docx_26332418_1.shtml 1
tkaiser Posted October 29, 2015 Posted October 29, 2015 I would better wait a bit and replace the whole R1 with something more useful, eg. http://www.cnx-software.com/2015/10/15/turris-omnia-is-a-feature-packed-openwrt-router-board-powered-by-marvell-armada-385-processor/;-)
Rui Ribeiro Posted October 29, 2015 Posted October 29, 2015 Very interesting tkaiser. I was also offered to buy a very similar israeli dev board, using the same chipset that is not yet being sold to the general public, however I was quoted as much as 2x as the one you are linking to. And I still have not an idea of the final price. The original poster idea is interesting, the wifi is a pain in the ass, and does not support 5Ghz. I had also that idea, however I am not that articulate with a soldering station. Unfortunately, it was a very bad idea having only a full USB port, and frankly the idea of using an USB hub is not that attractive.
tkaiser Posted October 29, 2015 Posted October 29, 2015 the one you are linking to. I used the cnx-software.com link for a reason because there is not one but three similar boards mentioned (one of them being canceled in the meantime): WiTi Board: https://mqmaker.com(headed by Benn Huang, co-founder of CubieTech) Turris Omnia: https://omnia.turris.cz/en/(no idea who they are) Unlike Lamobo R1's manufacturer the people behind WiTi board released their stuff very early: http://ftp.mqmaker.com/WiTi/ And in the comments on cnx there are other similar MT7621A based designs mentioned: http://www.cnx-software.com/2015/08/12/witi-openwrt-router-board-features-6-ethernet-ports-dual-band-wifi-sata-and-usb-3-0-ports-crowdfunding/#comment-435523 If I would need a board with a few GBit ports and SATA I would never ever choose the R1 again :-) Benn already posted performance numbers (and not the usual SBC benchmark stuff where everything is measured wrong but reasonable test setups testing storage and network also individually): https://mqmaker.com/tutorials/making-your-own-nas-with-witi-board/-- looks promising to me. If there will be a board variant with 512 MB or even 1 GB this would be my favourite. 2
Rui Ribeiro Posted October 29, 2015 Posted October 29, 2015 SolidRun also is planning to release a very similar board based on the same chipset. I have no doubts the quality will be vastly superior to R1, however it seems it will be pricey.
wildcat_paris Posted October 31, 2015 Posted October 31, 2015 (edited) @badrianiulian I wouldn't bother much regarding the spec https://wikidevi.com/wiki/Ralink_RT5572 better using a wifi usb key "ready to play" as AP @tkaiser Thanks for your interesting web research WiTi board has not enough RAM for me Omnia is promising as a router (they are related to CZ.NIC CZ DNS authority) but not polyvalent enough for my personal needs Edited October 31, 2015 by wildcat_paris 1
tkaiser Posted November 2, 2015 Posted November 2, 2015 WiTi board has not enough RAM for me See here: https://forum.mqmaker.com/t/state-of-the-project/104/28 512 MByte DRAM is the maximum according to the datasheet. Which is totally ok for my use cases :-) Let's see how things evolve. When the 512 MByte variant is available and they started to combine the OpenWRT kernel with a Debian rootfs I will immediately test this board. Hehe, Armbian goes Mipsian ;-)
wildcat_paris Posted November 2, 2015 Posted November 2, 2015 (edited) 512 MByte DRAM is the maximum according to the datasheet. Which is totally ok for my use cases :-) Let's see how things evolve. When the 512 MByte variant is available and they started to combine the OpenWRT kernel with a Debian rootfs I will immediately test this board. Hehe, Armbian goes Mipsian ;-) ok thxs tkaiser. ok I read about 256MB avail but 512MB has already started limited production, so good stuff with hardware NAT my main labomo issue (despite bridging & upnp) is BW is cpu limited (too many IRQs) so my 500Mbits/s internet is limited to 360 Mbits/s : DMA broken in 4.2.5 kernel? [ 5.556794] sun7i-dwmac 1c50000.ethernet: no reset control found [ 5.556823] Ring mode enabled [ 5.556832] No HW DMA feature register supported [ 5.556839] Normal descriptors [ 5.556845] TX Checksum insertion supported I hope they may consider MT7623A (details) for their next board ARM SoC instead of MIPS arch. Mipsbian would give our Armbian angel Igor too many headaches Edited November 2, 2015 by wildcat_paris
tkaiser Posted November 3, 2015 Posted November 3, 2015 my main labomo issue (despite bridging & upnp) is BW is cpu limited (too many IRQs) so my 500Mbits/s internet is limited to 360 Mbits/s AFAIK no one ever achieved better results. I don't know the reason and simply gave up on that board (or to be more precise on any SinoVoip product). You might find some insights in one of the threads here where we discussed the Lamobo's bad performance. Or maybe at bananapi.com. There in the worst forum ever a user supplied an OpenWRT build and claims he solved the performance issues. I also gave up since my questions weren't answered or understood (you find so many misleading stuff regarding R1 on the net -- some people confuse switching performance between external Ethernet ports with routing speed -- that it's not worth to believe in what others say. And the R1 I had here at my place has been delivered to a customer and I surely will never buy one again :-) )
Rui Ribeiro Posted November 8, 2015 Posted November 8, 2015 Seems the pro version is already out. http://solid-run.com/marvell-armada-family/clearfog/clearfog-specifications/ Very disappointed to learn it has only 256MB of RAM.
tkaiser Posted November 8, 2015 Posted November 8, 2015 Seems the pro version is already out. http://solid-run.com/marvell-armada-family/clearfog/clearfog-specifications/ Very disappointed to learn it has only 256MB of RAM. So it's time to build your own board with 2 GB ECC RAM around the MicroSoM A388
tkaiser Posted November 13, 2015 Posted November 13, 2015 Turris Omnia comes with 1 GB RAM: http://www.cnx-software.com/2015/11/13/turris-omnia-open-source-hardware-routers-crowdfunding-campaign-is-up/ Campaign started this morning and already reached the $100.000 goal... 1
pschasch Posted December 7, 2015 Posted December 7, 2015 Hi badrianiulian, because I have allready an R1 here too and I want to save the only USB, I think the idea of replacing the "bad 8392cu"-WIFI-Module is great. If it would work, I also would go for it... http://de.aliexpress.com/item/MT5572-WIFI-module-6-pin-WL-UM01EBS-5572-V1-0-27-17-7mm-USB2-0/32530090751.html?ws_ab_test=searchweb201556_7_79_78_77_80,searchweb201644_0,searchweb201560_9 To me the hardware looks compatible... Does anyone of the experts see a reason why this would be a problem? Hardware? Software? regards
pschasch Posted January 18, 2016 Posted January 18, 2016 Hi,my "Mt5572 wifi-modul wl- um01ebs- 5572- v 1. 0 27*17.7mm usb 2. 0" arrived from china.The ra5572-chip is working on R1-lamobo with 3.4.108-kernel and backports-3.12.8-1-drivers.Mainline kernel works out-of-the-box , but I need CSI-cam-support in 3.4.(see http://forum.armbian.com/index.php/topic/157-add-wifi-driver-ralink-rt5572-rt2800usb/?p=3456)During my x-mas vacation I tested the driver with an "CSL 300Mbit USB WLAN"-USB-ra5572 from Amazonand my wifi worked very stable for 14 days till I ended the duration test to solder the new onboard-module.So anyone who wants to test his software/drivers for the ra5572-mod could test the ra5572 with this Amazon-usb-wlan-Stick :-) I think the The orig/old 8192cu-Module on the R1 lamobo will never be stable using it with a client loading big datastreams if a wifi-client has some distance to the R1-8192cu-chip. Thanks again to badrianiulian for this great idea!New durationtest with the soldered-onboard-ra5572 is running STABLE for 8 days now, never did with 8192cu. regards 3
wildcat_paris Posted January 18, 2016 Posted January 18, 2016 @Sasha nice achievement! Are you using the antennas pins on the wifi-mini-board? (joke) Do you plan to use the 8192cu as a keychain? Maybe covered with translucid plastic like an insect?
badrianiulian Posted January 19, 2016 Author Posted January 19, 2016 I can also confirm that replacing the 8192CU module with "WL-UM01EBS-5572-V1.0" is a success. I'm now on armbian with an upgraded jessie kernel from 3.4.108 to 4.3.3 and using the rt2800usb integrated driver, the system has been stable for quite some time now. As of this morning the last uptime is about 13 days and 8 hours. I had some pictures with the new install somewhere.. will post them when I'll find them. Between the board and the new module I added some double sided thermal tape and in doing so I raised the module a bit. I soldered only the USB pins, left the antenna pins hanging and connected the antennas to the connectors on the module. As for compiling the backports, I hadn't had time to do that since I've been quite busy with other work. 2
pschasch Posted January 19, 2016 Posted January 19, 2016 @wildcat_paris I put the antenna-cables directly on the mini-rt5572-board. (joke) You or anyone in this forum could buy my 8192cu, i sell it for 10 Euro :-) @badrianiulian If you are happy with mainline-kernel there is no need to do the backports-stuff for 3.4.10x. But I need CSI-camera support which is not working on mainline. Thanks again for your idea and your configs!
tkaiser Posted January 19, 2016 Posted January 19, 2016 @badrianiulian/@pschasch: Can you please provide a few more pictures where one can see the hardware modifications clearly? And add them to http://linux-sunxi.org/Lamobo_R1#Pictures or allow me to do so? I would then summarize the 'Wi-Fi fix' there... 2
pschasch Posted January 19, 2016 Posted January 19, 2016 good morning @tkaiser, more good pictures of the module itself can be seen at: http://de.aliexpress.com/item/MT5572-WIFI-module-6-pin-WL-UM01EBS-5572-V1-0-27-17-7mm-USB2-0/32530090751.html?ws_ab_test=searchweb201556_7_79_78_77_80,searchweb201644_0,searchweb201560_9 There you can see the new ra5572 from all sides. I have no further pictures from replacement, but like badrianiulian wrote, he has some more but has to look for them and post them I had some pictures with the new install somewhere.. will post them when I'll find them. But the mod is very simple. On one side there are 6 solderpoints next to each other, the other side are 3 and 3 next to each other. Important is to heat all 12 solderpoints at one time to 'simply' pull the old 8192cu-wifi-mod off the board in one move. I took a special solder-heater to do that, but it may work using 2(both sides) or 1 solder irons too. After removing the old, I soldered all 12 new solder-pins again (see my picture), but like badrianiulian wrote he only took the 6 usb-solderpoints. If you want more pictures of the soldered look, PM me to tell me what pics you you need. regards
badrianiulian Posted January 30, 2016 Author Posted January 30, 2016 Hello all you happy people ... I'm back with an update First here's a photo I took tonight when I cleaned the dust out Also as of tonight my uptime was 25 days, 37 min There is an issue with HDMI though... When I leave the HDMI connected (even if I'm watching or not), after a while (3-4days) the system freezes. Also if the HDMI isn't connected at startup, there is no signal on screen when I connect the HDMI after the bootup... Anyone knows what's going on with that? 1
Guest Jaredk Posted February 2, 2016 Posted February 2, 2016 Sorry to derail this thread a bit but I just got this board from Ebay and have a few questions. I've read online that the 5Ghz band doesn't work with the current chip. I don't have a solder station or any solid experience soldering so should I just return this board? I paid 70 usd for the board, case and antennas. Thanks
Tido Posted February 2, 2016 Posted February 2, 2016 Yes, return it. No 5GHz and other technical limitations. 1
Tido Posted March 12, 2016 Posted March 12, 2016 I have a question concerning replacing this unit, the "MT5572 wifi-modul wl-um01ebs-5572-v 1. 0 27*17.7mm usb 2.0" comes with Band(s): 2.4GHz, 5GHz. Is there also a working solution (preferably tested) that comes additionally with Bluetooth ?
Rui Ribeiro Posted April 13, 2016 Posted April 13, 2016 Hmmm as anyone considering ever taking out/desoldering the realtek chip from the r1? Or better yet, which pin do I have to cut for it to not receive energy?
Rui Ribeiro Posted April 16, 2016 Posted April 16, 2016 Was trying to desolder +3V pin, too much trouble. Ended up taking the wifi wafer out with a small blade, the R1 is so much better now. The wifi AP is next to it, wifi seems to be working better. I am using speedtest, and this is confirmed. Was there interference noise from the realtek? Pity I did not take better measures. 1
Guest Guest Posted May 18, 2016 Posted May 18, 2016 just want to thank you @badrianiulian - i just did the mod and now the lamobo works as it should: as a real nice and fast router board with many extra features... my next mission is to show some infos (core temp, connected clients, ping to first hop...) in that way: https://www.raspberrypi.org/blog/magic-mirror/
renard Posted October 18, 2017 Posted October 18, 2017 Thanks for the info. My mt5572 came yesterday. Unsoldered old/soldered new but don't see it in dmesg/lsusb. Checked all 6 pins with multi-meter - seems ok. Have not soldered other 3+3 antenna pins - obviously no need for it (?). 5.31 with 4.9.7, anyway probably does not matter if no trace in dmesg/lsusb. Any ideas? May I solder mt5572 to ordinary usb to check the module itself? In this case on schematic what is "LED" and "PND", and is VDD33 stands for +3.3V and the ordinary usb has +5V VCC?
renard Posted October 19, 2017 Posted October 19, 2017 Update - checked voltage from banana - stable 3.3, seems ok. No ideas, probably just broken mt5572, starting to think that to be stupid idea, may purchase some orange pi r1 / zero 2+ h3 for same money as mt5572 and make it standalone access point
tkaiser Posted October 19, 2017 Posted October 19, 2017 43 minutes ago, renard said: may purchase some orange pi r1 / zero 2+ h3 for same money as mt5572 and make it standalone access point You get dual antenna / dual band USB dongles for a few bucks that show magnitudes better performance compared to those onboard SBC jokes you're now thinking of.
RagnerBG Posted October 20, 2017 Posted October 20, 2017 On 10/18/2017 at 9:18 AM, renard said: My mt5572 came yesterday. Unsoldered old/soldered new but don't see it in dmesg/lsusb. I've made the same mod and use it with no problems, but not with Armbian (needed some more noob friendly server with GUI). You can try this OpenWrt build - openwrt-sunxi-Lamobo_R1-sdcard-vfat-ext4.img.gz, as it works with no issues on my board, to check if your module is broken. This module needs some new drivers and no matter if you use newer kernel version, there may be some kernel module missing (just speculate).
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