BPI-M2 Berry wifi, can not enable it

jordang · July 9, 2019

Hello,

I'm using Armbian_5.90_Bananapim2ultra_Debian_stretch_dev_5.1.12, which is offered as latest, but non supported download.

I have used it a bit and installed OMV already, which seems to work fine (sata not tested yet), but I can not get wifi to work.

wlan0 device does not exist.

iwconfig says :

root@bananapim2ultra:~# iwconfig
lo no wireless extensions.

eth0 no wireless extensions.

dummy0 no wireless extensions.

ifconfig does not bring up wireless interface at all.

If I try to modprobe bcmdhd, ap6210, ap6212, it says : modprobe: FATAL: Module bcmdhd not found in directory /lib/modules/5.1.12-sunxi

I did tried to search here, google it, saw modprobe on several places, but does not work for me. It does not exist in the library.

Do you have a suggestion where to start?

I would like to make a small mobile OMV server through mainly wifi from a sata hdd.

Thanks a lot,

JG

jordang · July 9, 2019

In the meantime I just plugged a sata hdd and I can see it in the OMV menu. So that works, but wifi not.

Thanks,

JG

guidol · July 9, 2019

you could check dmesg for missing wifi firmware...

martinayotte · July 9, 2019

2 hours ago, jordang said:

FATAL: Module bcmdhd not found in directory /lib/modules/5.1.12-sunxi

"bcmdhd" is only on Legacy kernels.

On mainline, "brcmfmac" is the one to be used ...

Igor · July 9, 2019

57 minutes ago, martinayotte said:

"bcmdhd" is only on Legacy kernels.

On mainline, "brcmfmac" is the one to be used ...

Yeah, but it should work ... @jordang probably "just" DTB got messed up. Study stock kernels DTB, check schematics ...

jordang · July 9, 2019

2 hours ago, guidol said:

you could check dmesg for missing wifi firmware...

This does not look good, but I do not know if it is a warning or is it blocking:

"[ 3.663984] vcc-wifi: voltage operation not allowed"

dmsg.txt

jordang · July 9, 2019

2 hours ago, martinayotte said:

"bcmdhd" is only on Legacy kernels.

On mainline, "brcmfmac" is the one to be used ...

YES! that does not give error message.

"

root@bananapim2ultra:~# modprobe brcmfmac
root@bananapim2ultra:~# ifconfig"

but, unfortunately I still have no wifi interface :-(

jordang · July 9, 2019

Thank You for all your replies. I still try to understand some part of the dmesg, I also inspect the board under a microscope and try to run it from a 5.5-5.6V power supply, just to see maybe the voltage to the wifi interface is dropped on the board too much.

JG

Igor · July 9, 2019

16 minutes ago, jordang said:

maybe the voltage to the wifi interface is dropped on the board too much.

It's almost certainly a wrong declaration regarding powering this wireless chip in the device tree blob (where hardware declarations / settings are). Driver is loaded automatically if chip is powered on.

jordang · July 9, 2019

2 hours ago, Igor said:

Yeah, but it should work ... @jordang probably "just" DTB got messed up. Study stock kernels DTB, check schematics ...

What is DTB ?

Thanks,

JG

martinayotte · July 9, 2019

8 minutes ago, jordang said:

What is DTB ?

"Device Tree Binary" compiled from DTS ("Device Tree Source")

The DTB is coming from /boot/dtb/sun8i-v40-bananapi-m2-berry.dtb.

As Igor said, maybe something wrong in the definition of WiFi node.

In the meantime, I suggest to use a supported USB WiFi dongle.

Igor · July 9, 2019

3 minutes ago, martinayotte said:

The DTB is coming from

And sources - the unique part for this board - looks like this:
https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git/tree/arch/arm/boot/dts/sun8i-v40-bananapi-m2-berry.dts?h=v5.1.16

martinayotte · July 9, 2019

12 minutes ago, Igor said:

the unique part for this board

Looking at those DTS, WiFi node simply doesn't exist yet ...

We would need a patch probably inspired from the on for M2-Ultra.

guidol · July 10, 2019

Today I did compile Armbian_5.91_Bananapim2ultra_Debian_buster_next_4.19.57 (reboot does work)

with ./compile.sh EXPERT="yes" WIREGUARD="no"

and started it on my M2-Berry (because in the armbian-build-system there is no entry for the M2-berry)

WiFi wlan0 does work:

root@bpi-m2-berry:~# iwconfig
wlan0     IEEE 802.11  ESSID:"My_SSID"
          Mode:Managed  Frequency:2.412 GHz  Access Point: C0:25:E9:44:71:68
          Bit Rate=72.2 Mb/s   Tx-Power=31 dBm
          Retry short limit:7   RTS thr:off   Fragment thr:off
          Encryption key:off
          Power Management:off
          Link Quality=56/70  Signal level=-54 dBm
          Rx invalid nwid:0  Rx invalid crypt:0  Rx invalid frag:0
          Tx excessive retries:0  Invalid misc:0   Missed beacon:0

lo        no wireless extensions.

eth0      no wireless extensions.

dummy0    no wireless extensions.

root@bpi-m2-berry:~# lsmod
Module                  Size  Used by
zstd                   16384  4
brcmfmac              159744  0
brcmutil               16384  1 brcmfmac
evdev                  20480  1
axp20x_battery         16384  0
axp20x_adc             16384  0
cfg80211              393216  1 brcmfmac
uio_pdrv_genirq        16384  0
uio                    16384  1 uio_pdrv_genirq
zram                   24576  2
ip_tables              20480  0
x_tables               20480  1 ip_tables
pwrseq_simple          16384  1
axp20x_usb_power       16384  0
industrialio           49152  3 axp20x_usb_power,axp20x_battery,axp20x_adc

root@bpi-m2-berry:~# dmesg
[    0.000000] OF: fdt: Machine model: Banana Pi BPI-M2-Ultra

On a older Armbian_5.77_Bananapim2ultra_Debian_stretch_dev_5.0.1
wlan0 was there, but could not connect and gave I/O-Errors (and reboot doesnt work)

The R40/V40 CPU isnt much difference (only temperature zone?)

sun8i-r40-bananapi-m2-ultra.dtb sun8i-v40-bananapi-m2-berry.dtb

jordang · July 10, 2019

Thanks!

I did overwrite the files, but it still does not work for me. BUT, I've noticed a problem I have overlooked!

login as: root
root@172.31.10.95's password:
____ ____ _ __ __ ____ _ _
| __ )| _ \(_) | \/ |___ \| | | |
| _ \| |_) | | | |\/| | __) | | | |
| |_) | __/| | | | | |/ __/| |_| |
|____/|_| |_| |_| |_|_____|\___/

Welcome to Debian Stretch with Armbian Linux 5.1.12-sunxi
System load:   0.29 0.24 0.13   Up time:       6 min
Memory usage: 9 % of 998MB     IP:            172.31.10.95
Usage of /:    38% of 3.5G

[ General system configuration (beta): armbian-config ]

Last login: Tue Jul 9 20:02:38 2019 from 192.168.1.217

root@bananapim2ultra:~#

At the terminal, it says the host is BPI M2 Ultra, while it is not an Ultra, it is a Berry.

For some reason it thinks it is an M2 Ultra, but it is an M2 Berry.

How do you make it pulling the M2 Berry config?

Thanks!!!

JG

guidol · July 10, 2019

21 minutes ago, jordang said:

At the terminal, it says the host is BPI M2 Ultra, while it is not an Ultra, it is a Berry.

For some reason it thinks it is an M2 Ultra, but it is an M2 Berry.

How do you make it pulling the M2 Berry config?

My system also thinks it a Ultra (see dmesg line):

[ 0.000000] OF: fdt: Machine model: Banana Pi BPI-M2-Ultra

I only changed the hostname, that you can see I do use a Berry and not a Ultra

As I did wrote - there isnt a compile-option for a M2-Berry - only a berry .dtb which isnt used when compiling the image

The only differences between the Ultra and the Berry are:

Ultra = 2GB Ram - Berry = 1Gb Ram

Ultra = 8GB eMMC - Berry = no eMMC

Ultra = R40 CPU - Berry = V40 CPU

http://linux-sunxi.org/V40

Support in mainline u-boot and in the mainline kernel is work in progress for R40 that should be compatible with V40.

V40 is the automotive version of R40.

http://linux-sunxi.org/R40

Operating Temperature -20 - 70

jordang · July 10, 2019

I have tried to rename sun8i-v40-bananapi-m2-berry.dtb to sun8i-r40-bananapi-m2-ultra.dtb, it does not boot any more :-)

jordang · July 10, 2019

I know it is not a good practice, but I did not have anything to loose, so I just tried to force the berry dtb file to be used.

I gave small chance that it will work, but I did not think it will not boot at all.

I think it also proves that it does use the ultra dtb file (I have overwritten that and only that).

guidol · July 10, 2019

I did compile the image Armbian_5.91_Bananapim2ultra_Debian_buster_dev_5.1.16

but here isnt WiFi available

So try to use a image like Armbian_5.91_Bananapim2ultra_Debian_buster_next_4.19.57

where WiFi is available

jordang · July 10, 2019

12 minutes ago, guidol said:

I did compile the image Armbian_5.91_Bananapim2ultra_Debian_buster_dev_5.1.16

but here isnt WiFi available

So try to use a image like Armbian_5.91_Bananapim2ultra_Debian_buster_next_4.19.57

where WiFi is available

Thanks!!

How can I download that?

Thanks again,

JG

guidol · July 10, 2019

2 minutes ago, jordang said:

Thanks!!

How can I download that?

you cant

You have to create it yourself with the armbian-build-system:
https://docs.armbian.com/Developer-Guide_Build-Preparation/

Sorry I cant upload it anywhere, because my line is much to slow for uploads....

martinayotte · July 10, 2019

4 hours ago, guidol said:

I only changed the hostname

You can also edit /etc/armbian-release which is loaded to create the motd banner ...

jordang · July 10, 2019

8 hours ago, guidol said:

you cant

You have to create it yourself with the armbian-build-system:
https://docs.armbian.com/Developer-Guide_Build-Preparation/

Sorry I cant upload it anywhere, because my line is much to slow for uploads....

Well, I'm thinking if I can go that route. I did configured and complied my kernels long long time ago, but for the last 20 years I'm only programming microcontrollers and I'm not sure building it is my thing.

In the meantim I have downloaded an ubuntu desktop image, it confirmed that from hardware point of view it works.

I guess that use different structure and I can not just take the dtb file.

The problem with an added wifi adaptor is that it would go through usb2 and for this one I need the throughput. If I do not know I can get it working, I do not continue with it. Than I rather get a PI4 and get a USB3-SATA interface.

Thanks,

JG

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BPI-M2 Berry wifi, can not enable it

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