New SXTsq 5 flash issues

39 posts / 0 new

Fri, 08/14/2020 - 17:25

NH6HI

Aloha,
Just picked up a pair of SXTsq 5 to play with and am not able to do the final flash. I get the
BAD GATEWAY
THE PROCESS DID NOT PRODUCE ANY RESPONSE screen like on the other earlier threads.

I've tried both the current stable and the current nightly build (3.20.3.1 / 1710-437)
Device info:
ID # RBSXTsq5HPnD
serial number ends with /025/r2
INTL EU version

Any insight appreciated

Support file attached

Jim NH6HI

Support File Attachment:

supportdata-NOCALL-202008121644.tgz

Fri, 08/14/2020 - 18:51

AE6XE

Jim, ah oh. Something has

Jim, ah oh. Something has changed with recent manufactured devices with the LHG motherboards, which this device has. However, I wouldn't expect the bad gateway error, rather it should flash, then when it reboots, not respond. You may need to do the procedure to scp the image to /tmp and manually do the sysupgrade to get that far?

While the device boots AREDN from RAM and everything looks good, once AREDN is put on the flash it is not booting. I've been looking at this, and ended up taking some tools to an SXT to gain access to the serial console -- I had to destroy the plastic case. (No way to snap it apart :( .) Subsequently, I found out that Mikrotik does not activate the serial console when the bootloader is running and working to load the kernel. ...so we are blind and can't see why there is a failure.

Openwrt releases are also affected, and I started dialog with other developers. So far, no one has figured out what to do.

Anyone considering purchasing a new SXT or LHG device should hold back on purchasing until this problem is solved. Look for a used model.

Joe AE6XE

Fri, 08/14/2020 - 19:20

(Reply to #2) #3

NH6HI

Bummer!

Aloha Joe,
With the same purchase, I got the MikroTik LHG XL 2RBLHG-2nD-XL. Am I going to have the same issue with that too? Well, I'm going to giver a go and let you know.

Wish I had a programming brain like you. I love a challenge but code scrambles my brain!
You would think these manufactures would make life easier for outfits like AREDN but maybe the sales just aren't there. I know I've put quite a few shekels in their pockets in the last couple years.

Jim NH6HI

Mon, 08/17/2020 - 08:51

(Reply to #3) #4

AE6XE

In today's OpenWrt chatter,

In today's OpenWrt chatter, someone submitted a patch that fits our symptoms. I'll prepare test images. cross your fingers...

Joe

Date: Mon, 17 Aug 2020 12:44:13 +0200
From: Thibaut VAR?NE <hacks@slashdirt.org>
To: openwrt-devel@lists.openwrt.org
Subject: [PATCH] ath79: mikrotik: erase firmware on SPI NOR devices
before install

On Mikrotik SPI NOR devices, the firmware partition must be erased when flashing
from stock firmware, otherwise leftover bits (in particular a kernel signature)
can trigger a boot loop.

When booted from initramfs (the only way to install OpenWRT on these devices),
this patch unconditionally erases the firmware partition in the do_upgrade()
stage for all supported SPI NOR devices.

This is forward-ported from ed49d0876 and 20452a8db

Signed-off-by: Thibaut VAR?NE <hacks@slashdirt.org>
---
target/linux/ath79/mikrotik/base-files/lib/upgrade/platform.sh | 2 ++
1 file changed, 2 insertions(+)

diff --git a/target/linux/ath79/mikrotik/base-files/lib/upgrade/platform.sh b/target/linux/ath79/mikrotik/base-files/lib/upgrade/platform.sh
index d79bd03af5..d7fac35708 100644
--- a/target/linux/ath79/mikrotik/base-files/lib/upgrade/platform.sh
+++ b/target/linux/ath79/mikrotik/base-files/lib/upgrade/platform.sh
@@ -38,6 +38,8 @@ platform_do_upgrade() {
platform_do_upgrade_mikrotik_nand "$1"
;;
*)
+ # NOR devices: erase firmware if booted from initramfs
+ [ -z "$(rootfs_type)" ] && mtd erase firmware
default_do_upgrade "$1"
;;
esac
--

Mon, 08/17/2020 - 09:14

(Reply to #4) #5

AB7PA

That sounds promising

Looking forward to what you discover on this. Hopefully it will resolve the boot loop issue we're seeing. Thanks very much, Joe.

Tue, 08/18/2020 - 19:37

(Reply to #5) #6

AE6XE

new images uploaded, please

new images uploaded, please remove the prior, and try these images -- hopefully solving the boot loop:
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/10UW4FLmmvw4jMclruJWD5fzn3xpEDcud...

Joe AE6XE

Fri, 08/14/2020 - 20:13

NH6HI

2.4 good to go

Looks like I dodged the bullet on the LHG. It has a 2019/12/17 date on the box and it took the flash.

Jim NH6HI

Mon, 08/17/2020 - 12:48

AE6XE

Jim, I've discovered your

Jim, I've discovered your device's issue is different. Periodically we see Mikrotik change the string that identifies a model. In your case:

before: "SXTsq 5HPnD"
now: "SXTsq5HPnD"

(the space was removed :) .) I'll get an image available to try shortly. This is why you are getting the "bad gateway address" error.

Joe AE6XE

Mon, 08/17/2020 - 13:10

NH6HI

Mahalo

I'll be happy to do the test on my end. Jim NH6HI

Mon, 08/17/2020 - 20:10

(Reply to #9) #10

AE6XE

Try these test images:

Try these test images:

(link will only be usable until changes pushed into a nightly build.)
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/10UW4FLmmvw4jMclruJWD5fzn3xpEDcud...

Joe AE6XE

Tue, 08/18/2020 - 01:23

(Reply to #10) #11

NH6HI

No joy!

Aloha Joe,
All seemed well till I loaded in the .bin file. Blue power led was on, yellow led next t it was on, last yellow led was blinking, it did a first reset. The yellow led next to the blue blinks and went out. last yellow led blinked a few times and only the blue was left on. Waited 5 minutes but no joy accessing the SXT. Tried a couple times on both units I bought. The "Redirecting to status page comes up then times out. They didn't revert back to the mikrotik software, even with a reset.
Support data file attached for your inspection.

Jim NH6HI

Support File Attachments:

supportdata-NOCALL-202008180009.tgz

Tue, 08/18/2020 - 09:43

(Reply to #11) #12

AE6XE

Jim, suspect that we got

Jim, suspect that we got over one hurdle, there's one more to go. The other symptom of newer devices going into a reboot loop after flashing with AREDN appears to fit the light pattern you are seeing. I should be able to create images tonight with the patch we hope will address.

Joe AE6XE

Tue, 08/18/2020 - 15:56

(Reply to #12) #13

NH6HI

Yep!

That's exactly what's happening. Watching the Ethernet lights on my dumb switch go on and off seems to indicate that.
Aloha & Mahalo for what you do Joe

Jim NH6HI

Wed, 08/19/2020 - 04:59

#14

NH6HI

BINGO!

Aloha Joe,
That was the magic build. It's up and running. I haven't tested everything but it takes a callsign and when that was in, I changed the bandwidth to 10mhz from 5mhz and they both seems to be happy. I have included the support file incase you wanted to check it out.

One question...... will the !!!! UNTESTED HARDWARE !!!! go away with the nightly build or is this something that's going to be around for a while?
73 & Aloha
Jim NH6HI

Support File Attachments:

supportdata-NH6HI-1-SXT2-202008190850.tgz

Wed, 08/19/2020 - 08:15

(Reply to #14) #15

nc8q

Is this the recent 'boot loop' fix mentioned in #6 ?

Reference: https://www.arednmesh.org/comment/15867#comment-15867

May we proceed to purchase Mikrotik LHGs/SXTsqs ?

Chuck

Wed, 08/19/2020 - 08:36

(Reply to #15) #16

AE6XE

Chuck, based on Jim's

Chuck, based on Jim's results, the light in no longer RED. But since we only have one device and one test, I'd move the light to YELLOW, to proceed with caution. it looks GREEN, however.

Joe AE6XE

Wed, 08/19/2020 - 12:59

(Reply to #16) #17

NH6HI

1 device

When you say one device, are you referring to the SXT? I have 2. Or do you mean 1 of 2, the second being the LHG? If .you would like, I can send the file for the 2nd SXT. Jim

Wed, 08/19/2020 - 14:59

(Reply to #17) #18

AE6XE

We're looking for further

We're looking for further testing on devices that have been stuck with the boot-loop problem, to have confidence all these devices are indeed now working. As I recall, I think your 2nd device, an LHG, had already loaded, "dodged the bullet", and did not have these symptoms, presumably was an older manufacture date. If you have and received 2 SXT identical devices, we'll count that as 1 for now.

Wed, 08/19/2020 - 08:37

(Reply to #18) #19

AE6XE

D'oh, one more minor change

D'oh, one more minor change I forgot to make, forthcoming, to remove the untested hardware message.

joe

Wed, 08/19/2020 - 19:17

(Reply to #19) #20

AE6XE

Jim, should be one last try,

Jim, should be one last try, download the images from the prior link. Looking to confirm the untested hardware goes away and all is well.

joe AE6XE

Wed, 08/19/2020 - 23:53

(Reply to #20) #21

NH6HI

This one?

You mean this one? https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/10UW4FLmmvw4jMclruJWD5fzn3xpEDcud...

Thu, 08/20/2020 - 01:34

(Reply to #21) #22

NH6HI

I tried this one

I tried this one, https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/10UW4FLmmvw4jMclruJWD5fzn3xpEDcud
The message is still there. It has always been there from the beginning.

Jim

Thu, 08/20/2020 - 17:21

(Reply to #22) #23

AE6XE

Jim, I reloaded the images

Jim, I reloaded the images and double-checked everything on my end. Re-download from here and give a try:

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/10UW4FLmmvw4jMclruJWD5fzn3xpEDcud...

Joe AE6XE

Thu, 08/20/2020 - 23:16

(Reply to #23) #24

NH6HI

That was the silver bullet

Aloha Joe,
Worked like a silver bullet. Looks good to go. Is this going to be in the next Nightly Build? If so, I'll wait for it to come out to flash the 2nd one
Big Mahalo for what you do!

Jim NH6HI

Image Attachments:

Fri, 08/21/2020 - 08:53

(Reply to #24) #25

AE6XE

Yes, I'll commit the code

Yes, I'll commit the code today and expected to be in nightly build tomorrow.

Joe AE6XE

Sun, 08/23/2020 - 06:51

(Reply to #25) #26

NH6HI

Nightly build

Just re-flashed #2 SXT and with AREDN-1763 and UNTESTED HARDWARE still shows up. Reflashed with the last AE6XE-new-SXT-5c72391 and the message is gone.

Jim NH6HI

Sun, 08/23/2020 - 09:24

#27

AE6XE

My internet has been out

My internet has been out since Friday, and unable to upload changes. Hopefully 1st of the week. Rural area isn't that fast or reliable here :) .

Sun, 08/23/2020 - 09:50

(Reply to #27) #28

nc8q

internet access ia dial-up

Hi, Joe:

My ISP, Earthlink, still offers dial-up access. Does yours?
Of course, you would need a dial-up modem and a home phone device. :-|

Chuck

Sun, 08/23/2020 - 16:23

(Reply to #28) #29

K6CCC

Dial-up

Dial-up yes, but I'm not sure I would want to upload or download multi-megabyte files over dial-up! Until recently my Dad still had dial-up (also from Earthlink). Best he could get was about 24k bps because of the phone line. That comes to almost 6 minutes per Megabyte. OK, I am spoiled with my 225M bps at home.

Mon, 08/24/2020 - 04:28

(Reply to #29) #30

nc8q

Best he could get was about 24k bps because of the phone line.

Jim:
Oh, don't we remember those days.
My son-in-law was a telco lineman and, magically, I ended up with a copper pair good for 48.666 kbps minimum
although I was 18k feet from the C.O.
I have had a cheap ($42/mo) Earthlink re-sale cable modem account since ~2007, served by the local cable company.
This is currently 2/22 Mbps up/down. :-|
My mesh connection is 22/22. ;-)

Recently I began renting a single core connected to the internet through a larger 'tube' than I have at home;
a Linode/Nanode. Perhaps, if Joe would be editing a few text files on a remote server, something of this sort could
speed up the multiple large file transfers.

Chuck

Mon, 08/24/2020 - 04:45

#31

NH6HI

just a thought

Just thinking but can't you upload it through the mesh? Jim NH6HI

Mon, 08/24/2020 - 12:00

(Reply to #31) #32

AE6XE

I'm at QTH 2 in a rural area

I'm at QTH 2 in a rural area -- no mesh around here :( . Now if I was at QTH 1, yes no issue to access over the mesh. I'm hoping when Starlink expands coverage southerly, they will call me up for the beta program in my area -- I'm on the list and getting updates now and then. Internet goes down here every month or every other month. The outage always seem to occur exactly on a Friday, so they never do anything until the next Monday+ :) .

Fri, 10/02/2020 - 18:41

#33

LU4EOU

Hi Joe

Hi Joe

Trying to install firmware to SXTsq 5 and am not able to do the final flash. I get the
BAD GATEWAY
THE PROCESS DID NOT PRODUCE ANY RESPONSE screen like on the other earlier threads.

I've tried both the current stable and the current nightly build (3.20.3.1 / 1837)
Device info:
ID # RBSXTsq5HPnD
serial number ends with /022/r2

thank you for any help and sorry, my English is very bad.

Support File Attachments:

tgz file

Sun, 10/04/2020 - 10:15

(Reply to #33) #34

AE6XE

LU4EOU, this appears to be

LU4EOU, this appears to be the same issue as some of the LHG models in other forum posts. There is a script that runs only at firstboot to create the information about the device in "/etc/board.json". Something has changed and the device id is not found. The data shows the id to be unknown.

"model": {

"id": "unknown",

"name": "MikroTik RouterBOARD RBSXTsq5HPnD"

I'll have some time to look at shortly. Just back to my primary QTH1, after being away for a couple months. After I settle in will take a look.

Joe AE6XE

Sun, 10/04/2020 - 14:01

#35

LU4EOU

seems to be working

Hello Joe
Thank you for your response
Testing with files from Chuck NC8Q, the device seems to be working ok. Send image and tgz file. I look forward to your directions.

Thank you very much

Image Attachments:

Support File Attachments:

supportdata-LU4EOU-sxt-202005161940.tgz

Mon, 10/05/2020 - 18:23

#36

LU4EOU

the next step

Thanks for your help.
The next question, i can upgrade to stable firmware 3.20.3.1 or nightly builds or what I should do?
I'm waiting for your opinion / recommendation
Thank you very much

Mario, LU4EOU

Mon, 10/05/2020 - 19:47

(Reply to #36) #37

nc8q

upgrade to stable firmware 3.20.3.1 or nightly builds

'What should I do?'

I recommend installing the current Nightly Build.
Today it is 1837.
What is the frequency allocation in the 5 GHz band in your country?

Chuck

Mon, 10/05/2020 - 20:03

(Reply to #37) #38

LU4EOU

Ok Chuk

Ok Chuk

I'm going to try the night build #1837.

The frequency allocation here is almost the same as that of United States

Again thank you very much for the help

Mario

Wed, 10/07/2020 - 09:57

(Reply to #38) #39

LU4EOU

Updated to nb #1837

Hi Chuck

Updated firmware to night build #1837 and the device RB-SXT-5HPnD working fine.

Thanks

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