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Hardware Mod BPi-R1


badrianiulian

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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:
 
Specs on the original module:
 
Specs on this module:
 
Specs on other modules:
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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. 

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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. 

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@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 by wildcat_paris
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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 ;-)

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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 by wildcat_paris
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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 :-) )

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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

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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 Amazon
and 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.

 

post-389-0-23842000-1453111064_thumb.jpg

 

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

 

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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.

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@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!

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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

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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

post-267-0-42276100-1454195505_thumb.jpg

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?

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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

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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 ?

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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.

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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? New-Realtek-RTL8192CU-WIFI-module.jpg

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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 :)

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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.

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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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