SWAMR-54108 turned into doorstop

[adamski]

In my haste the other morning, I made a schoolboy error when flashing the firmware on my one day old SWAMR-54108 router. Basically, I rebooted it before it had finished it's stuff and now it's toast.

I thought I was onto something when I saw the "Origo router USB Flash repair guide", but the jumpers are totally different and my pc refuses to admit there is anything connected by usb.

Is there any hope? Or should I drown my sorrows in a few pints and go by another?

Hope you can help
Adam

[thechief]

It can still be recovered (hopefully). The system is actually quite robust as far as doorstop-recovery is concerned - as long as the bootloader is still intact - and I think it is pretty hard to kill the bootloader.

The secret is the PCTool.

You have to assign the PC a static IP (e.g., 192.168.1.3) in the Windows network settings (assuming you're using Windows XP - if not, then this will not help you).

1. Turn the router off.
2. Start the PCTool.
3. Turn on the router
4. Wait for about 2 seconds (you only have a 3-second window of opportunity here),
5. Click on "Retrieve/Assign IP Address" and hope it finds the IP address of 192.168.1.1.

If it doesn't you will need to repeat steps 1 to 5 several times until it does. Steps 4 and 5 would be straightforward if you have the correct serial console cable (you will need to open the router and attach it to the right place). Biro knows a lot more about serial cables than me

6. Once the PCTool has found the IP address correctly, select "flash" for media type, and "binary" for file type, and then "download" your "Firmware - Kernel/FS" to the router.

7. After this is successfully completed, change your Windows settings back from static IP address to automatic, and restart your router.

Some screenies below:

[markybrooknow]

Chief, could you please give details of the serial lead. Is this Rs232 or USB? Could one make or buy this lead?
On my SWAMR-54108 not only will it not respond but the WLAN light doesn't come on. Could this still be a firmware problem?

[thechief]

Chief, could you please give details of the serial lead. Is this Rs232 or USB? Could one make or buy this lead?
On my SWAMR-54108 not only will it not respond but the WLAN light doesn't come on. Could this still be a firmware problem?

The serial lead is one that has to be custom-made. It is not usb. One part of it goes to your PC's rs232 port, and the other part goes to the pins next to the "Barcode" label at the front part of the router (the serial cable is one with a red line on one side of it, as shown in my screenshot).

It has to be custom-made, because there are some technical issues, not least that the serial port inside the router is a series of pins, and not a proper rs232 port. But there are also issues of correct voltage, etc. A vero board might be required. I am afraid I know little about electronics, and wouldn't have an idea of how to build this custom serial cable. Biro knows more about the technical side. I got my serial cable from him

Edit: to answer your question about lights not being on, etc., that is the classic sign of boot failure. If you had a serial cable and you ran Hyperterminal, you would see something like "Kernel panic: cannot load the filesystem", or something just as frightening. The situation is easily recoverable as described above. Biro and I had many of those kernel panic situations while developing the RouterTech firmware Nothing much to worry about.

[markybrooknow]

Thanks Chief I wonder if Biro or anyone techie could tell me what pins need to be connected to make this lead. Without this lead the router really is a doorstop!

[thechief]

Biro could probably tell you when he comes online. In the meantime, you may find some of these links helpful:
http://www.tlarson.com/guides/dslhack/serial
http://www.seattlewireless.net/ActiontecGT701
http://www.webalice.it/andrea.usenet/ds ... serial.jpg
http://www.webalice.it/andrea.usenet/ds ... rcuito.jpg
http://www.nslu2-linux.org/wiki/HowTo/AddASerialPort
http://ar7-firmware.berlios.de/
http://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&q= ... arch&meta=

[markybrooknow]

From the above info:-

Pinout of the J2 serial port (taken from left to right) as shown on above serial.jpg photo above

Pin 1 3.3V (pin 1 has a white stripe next to it)
Pin 2 RXD (from serial terminal program to NSLU2)
Pin 3 TXD (from NSLU2 to serial terminal program)
Pin 4 GND

Can anyone confirm this is the correct pinout for the router serial connections?
Thanks Chief.

[biro]

From the above info:-

Pinout of the J2 serial port (taken from left to right) as shown on above serial.jpg photo above

Pin 1 3.3V (pin 1 has a white stripe next to it)
Pin 2 RXD (from serial terminal program to NSLU2)
Pin 3 TXD (from NSLU2 to serial terminal program)
Pin 4 GND

Can anyone confirm this is the correct pinout for the router serial connections?
Thanks Chief.

Pin 2 and 3 are reversed on the SWAMR
Pin 1 3.3V out ( used to power TTL to RS 232 converter )
Pin 2 TX ( Data output from SWAMR to PC via level converter)
Pin 3 RX ( Data from PC to SWAMR via level converser)
Pin 4 Gnd

NEVER connect direct to PC will not work and Could prenatally damage Router.
MUST use a 3.3V TTL to RS232 signal converter to match signal levels and to invert them ( RS232 uses negative logic )
Router 0V is logic 0 which is + (5 to 12 V) on PC
Router +3.3V is logic 1 which is - (5 to 12V) on PC

The circuit diagram for the one I built is the one shown here http://www.nslu2-linux.org/wiki/HowTo/AddASerialPort
Wasnt till after I built it I noticed Pin2 and Pin3 ( on the router side ) need to be reversed for the SWAMR.


For most 'bricks' it should be possible to get the PCTool to connect without the serial cable just tried on mine and if click the "Retrieve/Assign IP address" 5 to 6 seconds after powering the Router Should be able to hit the window first time ( If windows is setup to show "Network connected" then as soon as it shows "connected" then click the 'button' )

[markybrooknow]

Thanks Biro
The PCtool works with TCP/IP set to manual address but crashes and doesn't complete firmware upload. So I gues I'll be making the lead as you detail.

[adamski]

Hi Chief/Biro

First off, thanks for all the help you've given. It's much appeciated

Have been able to connect to router with pctool, the only difference being that the only ip address that is recognised is 192.168.100.1

I've uploaded the firmware/fs contained in the pctool and have rebooted, but still otherwise have a non communicating box that will not go to 192.168.1.1.

Am I missing something here?

Cheers
Adam

[thechief]

A number of questions:
1. Which version of the PCTool are you using? You should be using the Safecom version. The IP address of 192.168.100.1 seems suspect to me!

2. In which order are you sending the files to the router? Try reversing them. Sometimes it takes a few attempts!

3. If nothing else works, try one of the older Safecom firmware images (e.g., V1 or V2).

[adamski]

firstly, to answer your questions.

1. Using version 2.1 downloaded from safecom site
2. downloaded fs then kernel

(still had to do these in the 192.168.100 subnet)

then...


I now have the WLAN lit up!!

Changed my ip address to 192.168.1.3

and i can telnet to the router and sign on.

I try to sign in through the web interface , the screen comes up, enter user id and password, then i get "Internal Communication error. Exiting."

It doesn't look like DHCP is working either.

[Shotokan101]

Adamski - have you tried a full factory reset after the upgrade ?

[adamski]

I'm in!!!!

Now I've got to find something else to prop open the door

Many thanks to everyone for all your help!

Now to try that original firmware upgade again........

[Shotokan101]

Did you have to do anything different or just keep trying ?