Thu 14 Dec 2006
This post has evolved due to user demand and suggestions into some kind of Guide to Your Fonera, so it now resides on it’s own page: Fonera – Debricking and more! Feel free to comment below.
Thu 14 Dec 2006
This post has evolved due to user demand and suggestions into some kind of Guide to Your Fonera, so it now resides on it’s own page: Fonera – Debricking and more! Feel free to comment below.
December 16th, 2006 at 12:50:35 pm
[...] Update: There’s now a third hack for firmware version 0.7.1 r1. If you’re feeling especially white and nerdy today, check out gelPlog’s instructions on how to recover a bricked Fonera. [...]
December 17th, 2006 at 9:14:40 pm
[...] [...]
December 19th, 2006 at 7:29:44 pm
I bricked my Fonera too, but don’t know how. I didn’t do any firmware update, I was just trying things in the SSH console, and it freezed, and never booted again :(
If I manage to get a MAX232 converter, your instructions will be *very* useful for me. Thanks!
December 20th, 2006 at 6:47:08 pm
Mabe it boots, but not to a point where you could get to it via one of the network interfaces… mine also just kernel panicked somewhere! try serial console to see what’s going on in the first place…
December 22nd, 2006 at 12:34:18 am
Nice article .
One thing is not so clear to me : how can you tell the ip address of la fonera is 192.168.6.100/24 ???
I wonder that la fonera use default 192.168.10.1 as ip addr.
December 22nd, 2006 at 12:45:42 am
I just set it via serial console? See step 3! Afterwards when everything boots well you might also set it via “ifconfig eth0″… Hope that helps…
December 22nd, 2006 at 11:51:43 am
Me dumb . The tty hasn’t an ip address and the command given is to give one !!!
Thanks a lot tiagra.
Bye
December 23rd, 2006 at 2:08:51 am
As level converter (max232) you can use a serial “datacable” for older mobiles. On eBay they cost less than 5 EUR. I’ve used a cable compatible for Siemens M50.
http://search.ebay.de/search/search.dll?satitle=datenkabel+m50
December 23rd, 2006 at 2:49:33 am
right… anything that is capable of adjusting the levels to real rs232 should do. amongst a great selection of mobile phone data cables there should also be a lot of commercial interfaces out there. though, considering the price of a max232 (or equivalent…) it almost doesn’t make sense to buy any of these :) additionally, you didn’t learn anything *gg*
December 28th, 2006 at 3:06:42 pm
unfortnunally http://jauzsi.hu seems to be down :-(
December 28th, 2006 at 7:34:49 pm
It’s work also with a HTTP server ;) It’s easiest to find a HTTP server ;)
The command is now:
RedBoot> load -r -b %{FREEMEMLO} rootfs.squashfs -m HTTP
December 28th, 2006 at 7:36:44 pm
Sorry i didn’t finish my previous post
so the command is:
RedBoot> load -r -b %{FREEMEMLO} rootfs.squashfs -m HTTP -h 192.168.6.2
(192.168.6.2 is the server ip adress)
December 31st, 2006 at 3:42:47 pm
hey, thanx for the hint, i added it to the instructions! tftp is nasty, http is of course a much nicer solution :D
January 3rd, 2007 at 1:53:41 pm
hello, i have Windows installed, where can i do this: ” dd if=fonera_0.7.1.1.fon of=fonera.tar.gz bs=519 skip=1 ” ? That is my Problem !
January 3rd, 2007 at 2:39:06 pm
you have different options: try unixtools for windows, which supposedly includes a “dd.exe”: http://unxutils.sourceforge.net/, use some Linux-LiveCD like http://www.knopper.net/knoppix/ or install Cygwin http://www.cygwin.com/ – anyway, the first hit on google for “dd windows” is this: http://www.chrysocome.net/dd :P
January 5th, 2007 at 3:51:42 am
Hello, thanks to put my hint into your post. I think too that http is a nicer solution for many users ;)
Another precision, the best component to make the link is the MAX3233 because it is in 3.3V ;) (and condensers are include). It’s very hazardous to use a MAX232
January 5th, 2007 at 10:49:12 am
heehee, yes u are right, but i only had a max232 flying around :D it seems to me – due to popular demand – i should post something on serial cables, as many people don’t seem to be able to figure it out themselves? if yyou have some more info on that, feel free to email me, i’d draw some schemes and put it up along with somes lines of description or so…
January 5th, 2007 at 4:51:03 pm
whats with vmlinux???
what if i want to reflash the original fon kernel???
January 5th, 2007 at 8:21:40 pm
asdf: if you’d kindly look into Step 2, you will notice that this IS the original fonera firmware/kernel… my next reaction would have been: “wtf?” :P
January 6th, 2007 at 12:19:59 pm
briks, how did you figure out the right cables to connect to the pins? could you draw a scheme, plz?
January 6th, 2007 at 10:08:22 pm
hmm… i wrote down the colors in the picture, did you see? should be enough to connect it. download the datasheet for the level converter, there is the scheme! anyway, dure to popular request i’ll probably put up a scheme, too – very soon, not now… sorry :) check back…
January 7th, 2007 at 12:15:48 am
Hello, when i send my bricked Box to you, can you recover it? When yes, how much kost it? Thanks
January 7th, 2007 at 12:04:50 pm
Since i couldn’t guarantee ANYthing, i will not touch other boxes for money. As i already stated: I’ll put up further instructions on the serial cable soon, then you should be able to do it yourself. Since have the http-version now, it should be fairly easy. If you can’t do that, i’m afraid you should mess with the box THAT much anyway. Just don’t fuck up the box visibly, then FON will exchange it for free! Just email them to support@fon.com!
January 11th, 2007 at 1:44:56 pm
Hi, I’ve found a way to transfer the rootfs.squashfs without setting up any server, even without working network, just type:
load -r -b %{FREEMEMLO} -m xmodem
now you should see a “C” on the console
then just send the rootfs.squashfs file with the send option (XModem) of your terminal application. I’s kind of slow but you don’t have to go through all the trouble of setting up a server and getting the network running
Blade
January 11th, 2007 at 2:57:00 pm
ok… seems to me i’m forced to make a complete rewrite of this page very soon :)
@DarkBlade: Thankx for your comment, i’ll include it soon. It also means that you can skip setting the IP, right? That would essentially narrow it down to 4 easy steps :)
tnx, martin
January 11th, 2007 at 5:16:45 pm
Yeah, if you use the XModem you don’t need to configure the ip_addr.
There is another thing i’ve noticed while debricking my Fonera. I used a MAX232 converter as described on many Websites but my Fonera didn’t do anything while connected to it. It took me 2 days of trying to find out that I had to wait about 5 sec after powering the fonera, then connect the serial… otherwise it wouldn’t boot. Just wanted to mention that if someone else has the problem of not booting while connected to the serial console.
Blade
January 11th, 2007 at 10:16:28 pm
@DarkBlade
That’s funny, i experienced the same :) Though i narrowed it down to the TX-wire. You can boot with RX connected, then wehn you see the first lines of booting on the terminal you can go ahead to connect the TX. That’s maybe better than waiting some unknown amount of time, because you have to be pretty quick with pressing ctrl+c as far as i remember, right? :) i didn’t mention that as i thought this was due to my crappy serial converter which was actually ust some reused piece of crap from an old GPS project *g* “Glad” that you had the problem, too, i’ll mention it in the next update… :)
.m.
January 14th, 2007 at 12:00:27 am
Ok, folks, I worked in some of your comments. The page is getting longer and longer and I have the impression that it is not very user-friendly anymore :) I tried clearing it up a little by introducing a small table of contents, hopefully that will be enough.
I still didn’t write about the pinouts for the serial stuff, hope to get that done soon. Next stuff to come will be a short summary on how to how to manually approve and apply the patches FON is trying to send to you. Most of it very easy stuff, partly described on other websites already, but since we have started off with the “Complete Guide to Your Fonera” already, i’ll just keep adding stuff as much as my time permits :)
Further comments and help are much appreciated!
January 14th, 2007 at 2:29:44 pm
Selecting and using RS-232 Interface Parts for Your Power Supply Voltages – Maxim/Dallas
http://www.maxim-ic.com/appnotes.cfm/appnote_number/836
Personally I’d recommend MAX3221 which works with 3.0V to 5.5V Vcc. On the other hand, the MAX203/MAX233 use no external components, thus you only need a 20P DIP IC socket and a couple of wires.
+5V Only
MAX202/E family
MAX232/E family
MAX221/E
+3.0V to 5.5V Only
MAX3221/E family
MAX3222/E family
January 14th, 2007 at 9:19:22 pm
Universal (generic) serial data / flash mobile phone cable schematic pinout and signals @ pinouts.ru
http://pinouts.ru/CellularPhonesCables/cell_cable_pinout.shtml
And some cheap replacements to replace MAX232
http://www.mcu99.com/Article/UploadFile/200502/20050220101755305.gif
Please refer to the mobile phone cable scheme above to create the +5V Vcc from DTR/RTS.
January 16th, 2007 at 9:34:27 am
A tiny RS232 adapter using a Maxim’s Max233.
http://www.compsys1.com/workbench/On_top_of_the_Bench/Max233_Adapter/max233_adapter.html
Documents for AD233AK/A232DB(r4)
http://www.compsys1.com/support/docs/
January 16th, 2007 at 4:40:38 pm
hey, FYI, it seems to me i don’t have to write about that stuff any more, thank you very much :)
January 23rd, 2007 at 3:13:56 am
You’re welcome. And to put some final words.
After doing some search, I think the easiest way to make your own cable is to get MAX232 compatible chips like HIN232, ICL232, SP232, etc. Next, I found some schematics which replace the L7805 and two capacitors with only one 5V Zener diode in order to get +5V from DTR/RTS.
Remote control of computer
http://www.cesko.host.sk/girderplugin.htm
“Integrated circuit is supplied directly from computer serial port – from pin RTS. Stabilization of voltage to 5V makes Zener diode D1. It is without limiting resistor, because it used fact, that serial port has current limiting cca 10mA. In first version was used limiting resistor, but there was problem with insufficient voltage in case of notebooks using. In notebooks are signal levels about +/-6V and voltage loss on resistor causes receiving unreliability (same reason is impossibility to use stabilization with circuits of type 7805, which have min. voltage loss about 2V).”
Have fun.
January 23rd, 2007 at 11:28:48 am
Hiya, it seems to me you are mastering from in “RS232 Connection” from “Serial Console University, Computerland” :D I personally like the MAX3222 variant best, as you can skip all the 5V stuff and simply use the 3V VCC pin on the Fonera connector! This is especially usefull for people who want to (have to) use usb2serial adaptors, because there you somestimes don’t even get 5V VCC but only RX/TX and maaaybe handshake. I wonder how i could compile all your information in a proper way into the whole text? I’m already afraid of overloading it with too many detail. For now i just put links to these comments everywhere, hope that helps. Anyway, thanx again, greatly appreciated! :)
.m.
January 26th, 2007 at 12:33:51 pm
Hallo.
I have a an old Nokia8210 serial F/Mbus cable (3 wires Mbus/GND/TXorRX) but I dont know which MAX ttl converter is inside. How can I know (impossible to open)? How to connect? I need some ext power supply?
Also I found some difference in fonera pinout in this tutorial an the one in dd-wrt forum ( http://wiki.openwrt.org/OpenWrtDocs/Hardware/Fon/Fonera#head-f67f402ba755bfd031ad6558b2ced842698f1949 ) , which is the right one?
Thanks in advance
January 26th, 2007 at 2:00:11 pm
hiya,
look at this: http://pinouts.ru/CellularPhones-Nokia/nokia_8210_pinout.shtml i don’t think u need to know more :) though you have to make sure, that you don’t use usb2serial converter or one that outputs 5V to your nokia cable…
about the rx/tx thingy: just test it. the problem is: depending on which way you see it, rx/tx of course are interchangeable. i guess my version was view from the level converter, the others specified the pinout of the fonera itself – though i’m not sure anymore which version is which :) just connect only one cable while booting until you see messages :)
good luck and tnx for the comment…
.m.
January 27th, 2007 at 4:47:45 pm
Thanks for fast reply, I have already see that link, but my doubt is that nokia cable use FMbus protocoll (the same wire for RX or TX this is swithced from one pin to the other if rx or tx is need). Please look at the cable schema here (http://digilander.libero.it/coffeeplease/Nokia/Schema_8210_mbus.jpg) and here (http://digilander.libero.it/coffeeplease//Nokia/Photo_8210.jpg) I don’t think is usable with the 3 wires provided…
February 2nd, 2007 at 9:27:28 pm
As far as i know you didnt break the warrenty by opening the fonera. In law aspects. But the Fon-people might make problems :)
Happy Hacking!
February 6th, 2007 at 5:14:42 pm
Hi , i flashed the fonera for putting the dd-wrt firmware on. ( and preserve the fon wifi ) , but the firware that i putted on seems to have some problem with chilli spot. So i decided to flash it again and put on the newest firmware of fon.. But when i tryed to do it i typed:
cd /tmp
wget http://coppercore.net/~kevin/fon/openwrt-ar531x-2.4-vmlinux-CAMICIA.lzma
mtd -e vmlinux.bin.l7 write openwrt-ar531x-2.4-vmlinux-CAMICIA.lzma vmlinux.bin.l7
reboot
And everything was ok until the fonera didn’t reboot as it should be..
So i tryed to look over tcpdump and it said to me that the fonera has t192.168.1.254 ip so i connected to it with:
telnet ip 9000
and the fonera tells me this:
== Executing boot script in 8.040 seconds – enter ^C to abort
so i thought .. Fiuuu Everything ok.. and i tryed to type Ctrl+C … but … No redboot console , no any menu .. nothing…
i can’t do nothing… ..
PLEASE HELP ME
February 6th, 2007 at 7:49:12 pm
you wanted to flash back to fonera firmware, right? so why are you using some crazy openwrt from unknows sources? use the stuff directly from fon and follow my guide… then everything should be ok…
February 18th, 2007 at 12:28:16 am
Hey guys, have you ever considered using your fonera on another hotspot network like worldspot.net which would be better than fon? I don’t have a fonera, but would like to know if someone ever tried to change the chillispot settings to worldspot.net’s?
That would make a hotspot that would share for everybody, not only the “community”. For bills, worldspot seems to pay 75% instead of fon’s 50%.
Just an idea.
February 18th, 2007 at 1:06:24 am
hey, have you read the terms and conditions of FON? they give it to you for “free” ONLY, if you participate in their system. sorry.
February 21st, 2007 at 8:21:04 am
I have the exact same problem as veke. A few seconds after the fon is turned on I can telnet 192.168.1.254 9000 into it but all it says something like
== Executing boot script in 8.040 seconds – enter ^C to abort
I type ctrl-c but nothing happens. What do I do now? I did have dd-wrt working but I don’t remember the change I made that locked me out of ssh and the web gui console. I hope it’s not bricked for good.
February 21st, 2007 at 6:57:07 pm
i have the same problem as the guy above me, it gives me the whole booting script thing, but I can’t seem to press control c fast enough or something to have any effect.
February 22nd, 2007 at 1:58:50 am
Hmm… one of you is using telnet, the other I don’t know. Maybe CTRL+C over telnet is not supported and/or reserved for special purposes? Maybe your telnet client doesn’t support it? Maybe it requires some different keystroke to actually send a CTRL+C to the remote side as it could actually be used locally, too? I suggest debugging that first. If nothing helps, use serial console with a proper terminal program and it will work. As you are still loading RedBoot without problems, I assume you’d both be able to recover according to the guide. If I press CTRL+C on my console, it terminates my telnet client :P Use serial, that’s a safe bet if everything else fails. Good luck, both of you :)
March 5th, 2007 at 9:03:41 am
ok you gues should know that you don’t have too hit ^C as just waiting will give you the redboot>
March 5th, 2007 at 9:12:33 am
I flashed my ron and ennabled redboot and then flashed it with openwrt and when I talneted to set the pwd for ssh It seid bad pw and I also edited the nework cnfig (using cmd below)
cd /etc/config
vi network
on the 2ed static to dhcp and now It will allow me to connect thru the wlan (erm I see it) and It will not give me an i so I told it 192.168.1.254 :255.255.255.0 ; blank and well as the dns info I can’t connect is there a way to reset it so I can get in thru ssh or telnet or redboot I dont rember what the settings I changed were so (did I f@#& up)
March 5th, 2007 at 10:36:49 pm
I have the same problem as veke and op. After I did:
cd /tmp
wget http://coppercore.net/~kevin/fon/openwrt-ar531x-2.4-vmlinux-CAMICIA.lzma
mtd -e vmlinux.bin.l7 write openwrt-ar531x-2.4-vmlinux-CAMICIA.lzma vmlinux.bin.l7
reboot
It tried to reboot and just the power light has come on. I left it on for quite a while thinking that maybe it would take some time to do what it needed, but now it doesn’t have wan or anything. It just sits there with the power button on and responds to nothing. I really hope I don’t have to go the serial cable route, anyone know stores that sell them or are they web order only?
March 5th, 2007 at 10:38:33 pm
Oh, I also forgot to mention that the reset button does nothing so I cannot even reset it back to the factory firmware like other people in forums have suggested.
March 13th, 2007 at 1:06:47 am
I tested the “iwconfig txpower” thing on my two Foneras. Both have the same firmware but it works only on one of them. The other one ignores this setting. I check it with netstumbler, Fonera #1 got -90dbm with 1mw TX, Fonera #2 got -30dbm. Any idea? Console shows 1mw tx power on both of them. And btw this setting is lost after rebooting.
March 13th, 2007 at 11:58:01 pm
chris: the only thing i can think of, is that your TX is not wired up correctly as you can see boot messages via serial console running, yes? check again, wiring setup is in the datasheet and some guy posted nice links about this some comments above, too. i also once encountered broken serial port on computer and usb2serial adapter. other than that… don’t know :/
.martin
March 15th, 2007 at 5:43:12 am
Thanks for the great rightup. I have set my up using tftp and I have transfered the extracted fw to the router. After it transfers I get the message “Raw file loaded 0×80040800-0×801c07ff, assumed entry at 0×800408″. On the directions it says that the last set of numbers should be 0×80040800. I type fis create rootfs and wait about 5 min for it to finish the reboot by unpluging and by typing reset. The router still won’t fully boot up. Here is a list of my final commands.
RedBoot> ip_addr -h 192.168.0.103 -l 192.168.0.106/24
IP: 192.168.0.106/255.255.255.0, Gateway: 0.0.0.0
Default server: 192.168.0.103
RedBoot> load -r -b %{FREEMEMLO} rootfs.squashfs
Using default protocol (TFTP)
Raw file loaded 0×80040800-0×801c07ff, assumed entry at 0×800408
RedBoot>
RedBoot>
RedBoot> fis create rootfs
An image named ‘rootfs’ exists – continue (y/n)? y
… Erase from 0xa8030000-0xa8730000: ……………………………………
…………………………………………………………….
… Program from 0×80040800-0×801c0800 at 0xa8030000: ……………………
…àErase from 0xa87e0000-0xa87f0000: .
… Programàfrom 0×80ff0000-0×81000000 at 0xa87e0000: .
RedBoot>
Here is what I get on bootup
+PHY ID is 0022:5521
Ethernet eth0: MACàaddress 00:18:84:26:03:68
IP: 0.0.0.0/255.255.255.255, Gateway: 0.0.0.0
Default server: 0.0.0.0
RedBoot(tm)àbootstrap andàdebug environment [ROMRAM]
Non-certified release, version v1.3.0 – builtà16:57:58, Aug 7 2006
Copyright (C) 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004àRed Hat, Inc.
Board: ap51
RAM: 0×80000000-0×81000000, [0x80040450-0x80fe1000] available
FLASH: 0xa8000000 – 0xa87f0000, 128 blocks of 0×00010000 bytesàeach.
== Executing boot script in 1.000 seconds – enterà^C to abort
RedBoot> fis load -l vmlinux.bin.l7
stream version is not supported.
lzma_decode failed. res=1
RedBoot> exec
Now booting linux kernel:
àBase address 0×80030000 Entry 0×80041000
Cmdline :
Can anyone tell me what I am doing wrong?
March 15th, 2007 at 9:31:45 am
hey og style, it looks like the file you uploaded differs from mine! that might have 2 reasons: you used a different version of firmware than I did, or you unpacked it somehow differently and that resulted in different file size – that’s why it starts at the same block but ends at another. As you can see in your boot messages, the line “lzma_decode failed. res=1″ says what happens: your file can’t be decompressed, meaning it is broken :) btw, in my setup the image’s name is “rootfs”, so it seems to me you are trying to put some different firmware on the fonera… now i know what you’re doing wrong: you’re trying to spoil the system? :P
March 15th, 2007 at 3:54:23 pm
I tried it 2x with 7.1.1 and the last post I tried it with 7.2.2. As for decompressing I used “dd if=fonera_0.7.1.1.fon of=fonera.tar.gz bs=519 skip=1″.
March 15th, 2007 at 4:13:10 pm
og: anyway i wonder where i got the vmlinuz stuff… i just downloaded the latest from fon – it seems to be fonera_0.7.1.2.fon (where did u get 7.2.2?!) – cut off the 519 bytes and unpacked the tar.gz. in there i don’t see vmlinuz – i only see rootfs.squashfs amongst other stuff – maybe you’ll try that again? i emailed it to you… good luck.
.m.
March 15th, 2007 at 10:33:01 pm
Sorry about the fw typo it is 7.1.2 and 7.1.1
I have tried it will a different file and It still won’t fully boot. The 1st light wont light up. Here is my cmd line.
RedBoot(tm) bootstrap and debug environment [ROMRAM]58, Aug 7 2006
Non-certified release, version v1.3.0 – built 16:57:58, Aug 7 2006,à2004 Red Hat,àInc.
Copyright (C) 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004 Red Hat, Inc.0000,à[0x80040450-0x80fe1000]àavailable
Board: ap51
RAM: 0×80000000-0×81000000, [0x80040450-0x80fe1000] availables of 0×00010000 bytes each.
FLASH: 0xa8000000 – 0xa87f0000, 128 blocks of 0×00010000 bytes each.seconds – enter ^C to abort
== Executing boot script in 1.000 seconds – enter ^C to abortsà- enter ^C toàabort
^C
RedBoot> ip_addr -h 192.168.0.100 -l 192.168.0.106/24conds – enter ^Executing boot scriptàin 1.00
IP: 192.168.0.106/255.255.255.0, Gateway: 0.0.0.0
0 seconds – enterà^Càtoàabo
Default server: 192.168.0.
== Executing boot script in 0.370 second
RedBoot> fis create rootfs
An image named ‘rootfs’ exists – continue (y/n)? yvmlinux.bin.l7
… Erase from 0xa8030000-0xa8730000: ……………………………………
… Program from 0×80ff0000-0×81000000 at 0xa87e0000: .
RedBoot> reset
+PHY ID is 0022:5521
Ethernet eth0: MAC address 00:18:84:26:03:68
IP: 0.0.0.0/255.255.255.255, Gateway: 0.0.0.0
Default server: 0.0.0.0
RedBoot(tm) bootstrap and debug environment [ROMRAM]
Non-certified release, version v1.3.0 – built 16:57:58, Aug 7 2006
Copyright (C) 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004 Red Hat, Inc.
Board: ap51
RAM: 0×80000000-0×81000000, [0x80040450-0x80fe1000] available
FLASH: 0xa8000000 – 0xa87f0000, 128 blocks of 0×00010000 bytes each.
== Executing boot script in 1.000 seconds – enter ^C to abort
RedBoot> fis load -l vmlinux.bin.l7
stream version is not supported.
lzma_decode failed. res=1
RedBoot> exec
Now booting linux kernel:
Base address 0×80030000 Entry 0×80041000
Cmdline :
Thanks
March 16th, 2007 at 12:17:01 am
I solved my problem with “iwconfig txpower”. My other fonera had an ivalid ntpserver entry at crontab. For some reason it did not work with this setting. Now it works!
March 16th, 2007 at 3:00:22 am
@chris: thanx for the feedback, finally something positive in here :)
@og: unfortunately i already dumped my bootlog, so i can’t compare to mine… maybe someone else can do it… it seems to be sort of a memory error… the new firmware ends at a different block and therefore something else gets scambled – somehow the whole thing needs to be erased and completely restructured. i looked in my demsg where it creates all the new partitions… seems to me all that needs to be recreated, too? sorry, my fonera is running ever since, haven’t gotten much deeper into it, i guess i can’t help you with it :/
good luck, maybe someone else reading these comments can give you a hint. i’d appreciate some feedback in case u manage to solve the issue – i might put it in the instructions if it is a commonly reproduceable problem…
tnx,
martin
March 16th, 2007 at 5:08:01 am
Thanks for all the help. On post #57 where it says “iwconfig txpower” Don’t have to be in a different command other than redboot?
March 16th, 2007 at 8:03:30 pm
I just got my brothers router from him is there a way to dump the software in his and put it on mine?
March 16th, 2007 at 11:09:19 pm
no, but did u try this? http://www.dd-wrt.com/wiki/index.php/LaFonera_Software_Flashing#Reflashing_LaFonera_original_firmware
March 17th, 2007 at 3:56:16 pm
Thanks for the post tiagra. I just tried the link. When I follow all those steps and type exec at the end the router fully boots up. Then when I reboot it gives me error
== Executing boot script in 1.000 seconds – enter ^C to abort
RedBoot> fis load -l vmlinux.bin.l7
No image ‘vmlinux.bin.l7′ found
RedBoot> exec
Can’t execute Linux – invalid entry address
RedBoot>
Thanks
March 17th, 2007 at 4:24:55 pm
Thanks every one for the help. I have found the problem. I was typing vmlinux.bin.17 instead of vmlinux.bin.l7 On the l7 I was using 17. Now it work. Thanks again.
March 17th, 2007 at 4:47:00 pm
FYI for anyone who ran this command on there fon.
cd /tmp
wget http://fonera.info/camicia/openwrt-ar531x-2.4-vmlinux-CAMICIA.lzma
mtd -e vmlinux.bin.l7 write openwrt-ar531x-2.4-vmlinux-CAMICIA.lzma vmlinux.bin.l7
reboot
and now it won’t load up l7 not 17. it is a letter and number not two numbers
March 18th, 2007 at 1:18:44 am
hey managed to follow your tut up to the point where i connect the fon via ethernet, where it goes crazy, just keeps spewing this lot out.
RedBoot> exec
Can’t execute Linux – invalid entry address
RedBoot> /home/lihong/Projects/MR3201A/src/Redboot/ecos/packages/devs/eth/mips/a
r531x/current/src/ae531xecos.c#632:ae531x_poll Bad receive. rxDesc=0×80037d50
cmdsts=0×004e830e
/home/lihong/Projects/MR3201A/src/Redboot/ecos/packages/devs/eth/mips/ar531x/cur
rent/src/ae531xecos.c#632:ae531x_poll Bad receive. rxDesc=0×80037d64 cmdsts=0x
00ee832a
Ethernet came out while i was executing this code
load -r -v -b 0×80041000 vmlinux.bin.l7
I think ive messed up beyond recovery
March 19th, 2007 at 2:22:02 am
I have a problem with telnet. I followed this video tutorial: http://www.gettingpumped.com/users/d…era/fonera.htm. Everything happened according to the video, except the guy in the video got into redboot instantly. I got stuck at that part and I did everything up till that specific part properly. I am not able to telnet into the fon? Can someone guide me? perhaps add me on msn and give me some ideas. i would greatly appreciate it. I also have a bricked fon that i need assistance with. thanks in advance…
March 19th, 2007 at 8:05:17 pm
Hi
Anyone reckon I can load maybe the Siemens firmware into this device, it looks like a PFS file system ?
or maybe the Phillips firmware.
March 23rd, 2007 at 12:11:02 am
i had some errors on xmodem transfer, but as the xmodem protocoll uses crc, they were corrected by resending of packets.
anyhow, thank you a lot for this great howto.
besides, I have one remark for you: even if many companies claim so, and also FON does, the warranty is not voided if you open a device. Even not if there is any seal on the device claiming so. I just love the German law ;-)
March 23rd, 2007 at 12:17:41 am
hey, great that the howto helped you! looking at the latest comments a had the feeling that the world is made of bricked foneras and nothing will ever help again… thanx for your report, it will smooth my dreams :)
.m.
March 26th, 2007 at 6:35:59 pm
Hi tiagra
The reason i am asking if its possible to load other commercial FW onto this devices is plain curiosuty nothing else.
i have dd-wrt installed on my fon and its fine, but wanted to try some other commercial FW for this device.
but it seems it hasn’t ever been done.
March 27th, 2007 at 9:38:17 am
you would need to find a comercial firmware that has been developed for exactly this piece have hardware. at least same CPU etc. then you’d probably have to build your own drivers for missing hardware, which – of course – should be possible in an open-source world. but in the end you’d have your own firmware and not some commercial. as easy as that: as long as no other company manufactures the exact same device with their own commercial firmware, you’ll never be able to do what you sugggested.
April 2nd, 2007 at 1:46:12 pm
tiagra. it seems the fon is the same as
ACCTON MR3201A
FON FON2100A,B,C and F
Edge-Core WA3101
Philips SNR6500
SMC WEBT-G
Siemens Gigaset Wlan repeater 108
see http://wiki.openwrt.org/OpenWrtDocs/Hardware/Fon/Fonera
so i was looking tp ut either the simens or philips firmware on the device.. i just wasn’t sure as the philips seems to be using some other kind of firmware not based on linux.
April 4th, 2007 at 7:24:11 pm
Hi guys,
i had the same problem of veke (February 6th, 2007 at 5:14:42 pm)
i resolved the problem by injecting Ctrl+C code in the Fonera
i wrote a little article on my website see http://www.caouet.org/Fonera_Debriking
April 6th, 2007 at 3:50:59 pm
Hey guys, do I have to make a serial console?
Right now I can connect via ethernet crossover cable, when I telnet to fonera it gives me that “executing boot script enter ^C to abort”.
However, pressing ^C does nothing, it doesn’t bring me to redboot promt.
Here’s my console transcript:
Last login: Fri Apr 6 10:37:13 on ttyp1
Welcome to Darwin!
*******************:~ ethan$ telnet 192.168.1.254 9000
Trying 192.168.1.254…
telnet: connect to address 192.168.1.254: No route to host
telnet: Unable to connect to remote host
*******************:~ ethan$ telnet 192.168.1.254 9000
Trying 192.168.1.254…
Connected to 192.168.1.254.
Escape character is ‘^]’.
== Executing boot script in 8.750 seconds – enter ^C to abort
^C
Connection closed by foreign host.
*******************:~ ethan$
April 6th, 2007 at 5:14:07 pm
Ethan, your telnet client doesn’t support CTRL+C, see comment above yours – it presents a possible solution to your problem.
April 17th, 2007 at 3:25:05 am
No board config data found!
+PHY ID is 0022:5521
… waiting for BOOTP information
Ethernet eth0: MAC address b1:00:34:84:00:04
Can’t get BOOTP info for device!
RedBoot(tm) bootstrap and debug environment [ROMRAM]
Non-certified release, version v1.3.0 – built 16:57:58, Aug 7 2006
Copyright (C) 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004 Red Hat, Inc.
Board: ap51
RAM: 0×80000000-0×81000000, [0x80040450-0x80fe1000] available
FLASH: 0xa8000000 – 0xa87f0000, 128 blocks of 0×00010000 bytes each.
RedBoot>
What the heck happened? I have a serial connection using a DS275 chip. My other Fon runs fine, but this one decided to crap out on me.
April 17th, 2007 at 9:20:10 pm
hi, fo me it was load -r -b %{FREEMEMLO} /rootfs.squashfs -m HTTP -h 192.168.178.34
i got alaway na error when i jus used rootfs.squashfs, the slash / in front of it was necessary for me
April 18th, 2007 at 9:41:45 am
nico: yes, that depends on your webserver i guess… and where exactly you put it there :) anyway, nice that it worked out…
.m.
April 18th, 2007 at 2:30:50 pm
regarding the +5V: finding it in fonera is not a big deal … just use the one that comes directly from the power supply :) works perfect!
June 15th, 2007 at 11:28:55 pm
Hi, I have used a serial port data cable for the Siemens C55, and hooked it up to the Fonera. Everything seems to be working, the console gives output, except the output is made up of all weird characters like boxes, lines, weird letters and stuff. It’s almost as if it is using the wrong ASCII table.
I have tried different baud rates, different parity settings etc… but all i get is other weird characters…
Any ideas?
June 16th, 2007 at 9:05:00 am
Hi Yako, that sounds very much like wrong baudrate to me… what kind of terminal program are you using? maybe even a font issue? :)) though i suppose ALL fonts support 7-bit ASCII… Sorry, I don’t know, can you compare the results with a proper serial adapter and the same software and/or the other way around? Thanx, Martin
June 16th, 2007 at 1:30:41 pm
Hi tiagra,
I have tried PuTTY and HyperTerminal on Windows, and they both give me the same. I also tried minicom on debian on a different PC, but that one doesn’t give me anything, just a blank screen.
I am using a MAX202 chip by the way, and I have quadriple checked that I have connected the Ground, TX and RX correctly to the Fonera.
I don’t have another serial adapter, so I haven’t tested it with other hardware. Any ideas?
Do I maybe need some modifications for the MAX202 chip?
Thanks and regards,
June 16th, 2007 at 2:32:01 pm
Hmm… do you have 100nF capacitors? Are they very close to the chip? Any sources of interference close to the chip? I honestly don’t have the faintest idea what else might be going wrong, if your circuit in general is set up properly…
Sorry,
Martin
June 16th, 2007 at 3:27:17 pm
Well I used a non-official Siemens C55 data cable. It has the MAX202 with capacitors embedded in the D-SUB connector. The wires attached to the PCB have been labeled, I connected those labeled GND, RX and TX to the Fonera.
By the way, I bricked the router using an “ipkg upgrade” mistake, which is of course stupid to do. But I think the thing is booting, as the Internet LED starts blinking after a while, and it stays on if I connect it to my laptop using an ethernet cable. But no telnet, ssh, http or anything.
So I hoped to save it using the serial console, but that might as well be broken… Though the bootloader should work as it tries to bring eth0 up. Is this true?
thanks,
June 16th, 2007 at 8:30:43 pm
Here’s a sample of the output it gives:
http://audiodragon.net/melon/uploads/fonera.txt
By the way, I also tested it with Gtkterm on a Kubuntu machine, same result
June 24th, 2007 at 4:16:11 pm
Well, it appeared I used a wrong cable. The MAX202 didn’t appear to work correctly in the end. So I ordered a DS232 (MAX232 equivalent) including capacitors and soldered my own cable. This worked, so my fonera is functional again! As original fonera with enabled shh, of course.
Thanks for the help though. :)
June 24th, 2007 at 4:52:31 pm
… nice, it seems to me that was my first guess :D good luck, original fonera with ssh enabled is the best anyway :)
.martin
June 25th, 2007 at 7:16:09 pm
Hello,
thanks for mantaining this useful site.
Concerning the TX Power tweak, I was wondering if it is possible to increase it ove 18 dbm instead of decreasing it. Do you think La Fonera could get up to 100mw?
Thanks
June 25th, 2007 at 9:24:21 pm
You’re welcome! Concerning TX-Power: Just try it! If i remember right, the tool won’t let you set values other than mentioned… i guess the Atheros chip itself would need to be flashed to a different firmware, if it is capable of delivering more power at all… Can’t help you with that, though, don’t know ANYthing about the chip’s specifics… :)
.martin
July 6th, 2007 at 12:28:31 am
when happend this “update” from fon?
can you give me some date like nov06 or jan07
for example?
regards ulf
July 6th, 2007 at 10:24:51 pm
puh… i don’t remember. i think it was the update from rev1 to rev2 – look it up on the fon-website when it came out! :) not i have rev3 – which i accepted manually after checking the contents – and haven’t gotten anything else to far… for some months pretty quiet now :))
.martin
August 8th, 2007 at 6:00:53 pm
excuse me guy, i had changed my wiki url.
Now, the available url is : http://wiki.caouet.org/Fonera_Debriking
October 12th, 2007 at 1:19:10 am
I also bricked my fon, by uploading HTTP errors, and trying to flash them instead of the actual vmlinux and root.fs files. I had done a right-click save-as with the HTTP links, which saved an error message, rather than the actual files. Not paying attention, I simply tossed them into my /tftpboot directory, and happily followed the instructions. I didn’t realize this until I got some sort of strange error, and investigated much further.
Some of the links in the instructions I followed at http://uselesshacks.com/?p=23 were out of date. I also substituted some of the initial unix bits to match my environment.
What I do is start up a ping to 192.168.1.254 in one window, and open another window, and start watching the timeouts. Then I power-up my fonera, and wait. When I see that the pings are being answered, I immediately start a telnet at port 9000, which gets me into redboot. Redboot asks me to hit Ctrl-C to abort the startup script, but when I do, the pings stop answering while the thing reboots.
I haven’t seen anything in this messageboard which states a solution. I am hoping that there is a method of hooking up a serial port, and feeding the flash and filesystem information over the serial port.
October 12th, 2007 at 6:21:56 am
hmm… i wonder how you came here? the actual tutorial is ONLY about the serial port solution… see here: http://log.tigerbus.de/?page_id=98
ciao, martin
October 26th, 2007 at 2:29:18 pm
hi, i just bought a serial datacable for the siemens m 50 to connect to my la fonera.
in it there are cables in the following colors: organge white black green blue yellow.
i tried to conect it to my la fonera but it does not work. i used white for rx, organge for tx, black for gnd and red for vcc. how can i find out what the right combination is? thanks
October 26th, 2007 at 5:51:12 pm
hey, you can’t just go by the colors!! the colors are a pure coincidence, as i happened to have this kind of cable flying around! you should look at the pinpout of the M50 connector and check for RX, TX and GND lines! Look here: http://pinouts.ru/CellularPhones-P-W/siemens_c25_s25_pinout.shtml seems like you need 5,6 and 1. Good luck…
.martin
November 5th, 2007 at 10:29:27 pm
How do i debrick my fonera with this http://cgi.ebay.com/MAX232-RS232-Breadboard-Adapter-for-Basic-PIC-68HC-8051_W0QQitemZ260178351441QQihZ016QQcategoryZ4661QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem or and how do i connect the wires to it? Im soooo confused…
January 16th, 2008 at 3:48:17 pm
Hello :
I tried many times can’t “^C” to access Redboot. Do you know any reason ?
thanks !!
February 27th, 2008 at 7:58:08 am
Hello!
I made my fonera successfully working with your instructions… Thank you at all!
I made a discrete interface (non IC, MAX, Dallas, etc.) found on DD-WRT.com, powered by the fonera 3,3V itself.
If you authorize me, I would gladly make a translation of your article in hungarian, and post on my logout.hu site [http://logout.hu/04ahgy]. Of course linking this original page.
I also make some addings, which I send you in english, if you require it. (And why don’t you do that? :D )
If your permission is granted, email me pls! Address: 04ahgy [at] gmail.com
Thank you, and everybody hav the same successes with FONERA, as me!
Bye-bye: HGyu
April 22nd, 2008 at 8:12:13 pm
That picture could be better. Next time, photograph it more from above.
You also could mention pinnumbers somewhere:
1 VCC, 2 GND, 6 TXD, 8 RXD
April 22nd, 2008 at 8:19:57 pm
Maybe you open your eyes next time – the pins are written ON the picture :P And yes… it could be better, but since the whole thing is just a by-product of my own investigations, nothing is perfect….
June 8th, 2010 at 10:48:41 am
Set your own life time easier get the credit loans and all you require.
August 20th, 2010 at 8:50:50 am
Maybe you open your eyes next time – the pins are written ON the picture :P And yes… it could be better, but since the whole thing is just a by-product of my own investigations, nothing is perfect. Thank you very nice article..