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Another 3720 box - GL.Inet MV1000

sfx2000

By sfx2000
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sfx2000

sfx2000

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Another edge-router based on the Armada 3700 series...

 

Specs look decent - 1GB, 16MB SPI-NOR, 8GB eMMC - runs OpenWRT, but they promise ubuntu support - shipping mid-October 2019

 

https://www.gl-inet.com/products/gl-mv1000/

 

brume_mv1000.png.77ebdd52e8754f7f73211640e8957bac.png

 

I've done work with other devices in their product lineup - and GL-Inet does a pretty good job on the HW side, and good SW support.

 

Nice that they have USB gadget support on the USB-C port (which is also power)

 

Initial vendor docs here -- https://docs.gl-inet.com/en/3/setup/brume/first-time_setup/

 

 

 

 

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Tido

Tido

Posted
Posted

Interesting: Configure the function of the mode switch. It doesn't have any function by default. You can set it as a toggle to turn on or off Wireguard/OpenVPN client.

 

A pure chinese company ?

 

What price to you expect ?

sfx2000

sfx2000

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  On 9/30/2019 at 9:50 AM, Tido said:

Interesting: Configure the function of the mode switch. It doesn't have any function by default. You can set it as a toggle to turn on or off Wireguard/OpenVPN client.

 

A pure chinese company ?

 

What price to you expect ?

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ModeSelect is typically via GPIO - since they're primarily OpenWRT, it's in the device tree as the Armada's have been on Master at least.

 

They've got offices in Hong Kong and Shenzen, PRC

 

Looks like they're targeting $129USD for the box

 

Based on past experience with their HW - good quality on the Atheros AR9331/AR9351 chips, also with Qualcomm IPQ-4028 based B1300 (Convexa-B).

sfx2000

sfx2000

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Posted
  On 10/6/2019 at 9:50 PM, sfx2000 said:

Definitely not an EspressoBin respin...

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notes

 

Board in hand - well made, comes with their custom OpenWRT spin based on 19.07 - easy to run, WG/OpenVPN clients and servers supported, along with GL-Inet's vertical services

 

RGMII across the Topaz switch, which is common with many 3720 boards.

 

Solid/Stable at 1GHz

sfx2000

sfx2000

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Posted
  On 9/30/2019 at 4:55 PM, ebin-dev said:

@sfx2000 What about the cooling system ? There would not appear to be any fan inside the housing.

Passive cooling inside an essentially closed box ? I don't think this is going to work.

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@ebin-dev They've got the thermals pretty much sorted...

 

As we both know, MV3720 can be a bit of a challenge with thermals, but the team at GL-iNet have that fairly sorted...

 

IMG_2312.thumb.jpg.c1bd24ee45e0184d27cebacd9b79bde4.jpgIMG_2313.thumb.jpg.6257ebb6e44ee758e3927add7afdf222.jpgIMG_2314.thumb.jpg.171ef236183df03961052cc4252204ca.jpg

sfx2000

sfx2000

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They do have the UART pins soldered in, which is handy... I'll have to check on the levels, whether they're 3v3 or 1v8, but typically GL-iNet has done 3.3vdc there for other devices...

 

@Igor - getting Armbian on this box might not be so hard, as they already offer Ubuntu 18.04LTS images on their github - bit tricky, but easy enough. I could probably do the port myself, but rather, I would introduce you to my contact there, and you can sort things.

 

https://github.com/gl-inet/mv1000-ubuntu-image

 

Note that the default u-boot does appear to use the pepe-2k mod for reflash, but there, one can only flash OpenWRT image, but with notes above, one can get back into ubuntu.

 

Their current firmware is based on OpenWRT 19.07 on their private branch, but the 3.102 testing build is fairly solid, NAT routing is wire speed, and they've recently pulled in support for a USB based RTL8811AU/RTL8821AU and RTL8812AU devices

sfx2000

sfx2000

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Post u-boot log for linux bootup (openwrt)

 

  Reveal hidden contents

 

sfx2000

sfx2000

Posted
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Posted
  On 2/9/2020 at 1:14 AM, sfx2000 said:

They do have the UART pins soldered in, which is handy... I'll have to check on the levels, whether they're 3v3 or 1v8, but typically GL-iNet has done 3.3vdc there for other devices...

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Confirmed - 3V3, the SoC is 1.8, but they level shift it up.

Tido

Tido

Posted
Posted
  On 2/9/2020 at 1:14 AM, sfx2000 said:

getting Armbian on this box might not be so hard

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Would you like to do that just as a proof of concept?

 

I am wondering why one would need armbian if  OpenWRT  is already on it and as far as I know they have packages for additional software as well.

Apart from that, it is a router-board without GPIO's or HDMI, where do you see the need for armbian?

 

Igor

Igor

Posted
Posted
  On 2/11/2020 at 8:42 AM, Tido said:

I am wondering why one would need armbian if  OpenWRT  is already on it and as far as I know they have packages for additional software as well.

Apart from that, it is a router-board without GPIO's or HDMI, where do you see the need for armbian?

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People run Armbian (Debian / Ubuntu type of OS) on setup boxes, notebooks, routers, SBC without any GPIO or connection. Support provided by Armbian is usually better than OpenWrt that provides their user land to thousands of different boxes. Check Espressobin as the nearest example. We have troubles with him and troubles elsewhere can only be bigger.

You also setup your own way of networking on top of Armbian, run OpenWRT in a Docker container or use some Debian based firewall solution.

Tido

Tido

Posted
Posted
  On 2/11/2020 at 9:30 AM, Igor said:

Espressobin

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ESPRESSObin seems to me some kind of 'labor of love' from Globalfoundries, but nothing serious.  If Marvell & Bootlin are their real paid partners (according to their website), I cannot think of any troubles apart from an error on the PCB. Especially after more than 1 year after production.

 

Where as GL Technologies speaks about enterprise hardware. And their afore mentioned  GL.Inet MV1000  comes with their (GL Technologies) OpenWrt.  And @sfx2000 wrote:

RGMII across the Topaz switch, which is common with many 3720 boards.  Solid/Stable at 1GHz

 

Sounds to me super good - never change a running system ;)   Which then again leads to my question from above.

 

Igor

Igor

Posted
Posted
  On 2/11/2020 at 10:40 AM, Tido said:

If Marvell & Bootlin are their real paid partners

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That means nothing. Obviously. We waste insane amount of time to keep this device operational / supported.

 

  On 2/11/2020 at 10:40 AM, Tido said:

enterprise hardware.

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This is recycled Espressobin, but I guess software support is not that bad/shitty as it was when Espresso was introduced.
 

  On 2/11/2020 at 10:40 AM, Tido said:

with their (GL Technologies) OpenWrt.

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Sinovoip also provides their Ubuntu, Debian, whatever ... And their OpenWrt. This means its possible to boot the device into Linux ... it means nothing.

 

  On 2/11/2020 at 10:40 AM, Tido said:

RGMII across the Topaz switch, which is common with many 3720 boards.  Solid/Stable at 1GHz

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I can also state the same. But I don't use this hardware for real. Check users comments in this forum ... beware to do that on Espressobin forums.

Tido

Tido

Posted
Posted
  On 2/11/2020 at 11:28 AM, Igor said:

Sinovoip also provides their Ubuntu, Debian, whatever

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Do their products look as shiny like this?  https://www.gl-inet.com/products/

 

Nice Hardware overview, really nice and handy to click through. They used Qualcomm, Atheros and MTK till now:  https://docs.gl-inet.com/en/3/hardware/x1200/

The MV1000 is their first Marvell Armada 88F3720, 1.0GHz product. If this idea has been adapted from ESPRESSObin and done better, why not. TK loved the network throughput of Marvell SoC, IIRC.  TK got one, back in the days and I think I recall some flaw in the HW design.

 

However, as SFX2k is a forum member and says:   RGMII across the Topaz switch, which is common with many 3720 boards.  Solid/Stable at 1GHz

 

Sounds to me super good - never change a running system

 

Igor

Igor

Posted
Posted
  On 2/11/2020 at 3:32 PM, Tido said:

look as shiny like

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Do you recall a marvellous promotion for (a total shit at that time) Pine 64? Better marketing doesn't means better product.

 

  On 2/11/2020 at 3:32 PM, Tido said:

loved the network throughput of Marvell SoC

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This is a low cost Marvell chip, not Armada 8080 or 380. I am sure they have done it better then Espressobin, but they still need to follow the chip reference design. Remember nice and cool PCB design and promotion of Tinkerboard? Nice board and big failure at the same time. I know those guys are not amateurs, so such troubles are not very possible ... 

 

  On 2/11/2020 at 3:32 PM, Tido said:

Sounds to me super good - never change a running system

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???

sfx2000

sfx2000

Posted
  • Author
Posted
  On 2/11/2020 at 3:32 PM, Tido said:

Nice Hardware overview, really nice and handy to click through. They used Qualcomm, Atheros and MTK till now:  https://docs.gl-inet.com/en/3/hardware/x1200/

The MV1000 is their first Marvell Armada 88F3720, 1.0GHz product. If this idea has been adapted from ESPRESSObin and done better, why not. TK loved the network throughput of Marvell SoC, IIRC.  TK got one, back in the days and I think I recall some flaw in the HW design.

 

However, as SFX2k is a forum member and says:   RGMII across the Topaz switch, which is common with many 3720 boards.  Solid/Stable at 1GHz

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With their private OpenWRT*, performance is fairly good - NAT over 1Gb is 900 Mb up/down - WG is around 240 Mb...

 

(OpenWRT 19.07, their private release is 3.102)

 

As mentioned - It's a MV3720 design, but carefully done, they've peeled off the non-essentials, e.g. the PCIe socket and SATA ports that were problematic on eBin

 

Again - working uboot with failsafe recovery, a working ubuntu device tree, and a working ubuntu image - so work would be around on-boarding to Armbian, with support for Armbian tools/configs, and the build platform.

 

I can do the work, just can't do it right now, day job is taking most of my time.

 

@Igor - I think a huge amount of damage around this SoC was a result of GlobalScale and to some point Marvell with shifting sands and a lack of support from the Board Vendor

 

The fact that GL-iNet has built a device on this SoC platform is significant in where it sits in their product line, and they've been extremely open on their docs to support the board.

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