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Rocket M5 XW

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N8NQH
N8NQH's picture
Rocket M5 XW
any word on when a flash might be available for the XW?

It's getting increasingly  difficult to find these new  (and even used) that are XM.

Tim
AE6XE
AE6XE's picture
Conrad's "The Man" tackling
Conrad's "The Man" tackling the XW issue.  This is at the top of the AREDN to-do list and very timely.    The rest of us are providing moral support and contributing to the bounty:  https://www.bountysource.com/issues/12898488-nanostation-m5-loco-xw-lose... .
 
KE2N
KE2N's picture
rocket vs loco

According to that bountysource link, this problem does not affect
"M5 High-Power XW devices"
which I suppose means the Rocket M5 XW
or is that incorrect?
 

AE6XE
AE6XE's picture
I can directly attest to the
I can directly attest to the fact that the failure exists on a Rocket M5 XW--I've reproduced it at least 10 times.      It's only the NanoStation M5 XW which is unaffected.   This NSM5-XW device has a different chip for the network ports--it has an internal switch chip--1 cpu port with 2 external ports on a switch.   All the other XW devices are 2 direct cpu ports exhibiting the problem.   
N8NQH
N8NQH's picture
still good news though
I'm glad to hear it's still "on the list"... and that's all I needed to know.

Thanks.
KG6JEI
Now that HAMCOM in Texas is
Now that HAMCOM in Texas is over and 3.16.1.0 is out the door, I think I'm done being the communications coordinator on events for a couple months (until the next one starts up) and my employer is not threatening to send me to the middle of nowhere it can move back up on the priority list.

So yep still there, just only so much of me to go around  :)

PS: Sorry haven't acknowledged some of your emails been a hectic month for me.
 
N8NQH
N8NQH's picture
(No subject)
Ai6bx
Any updates?
Any breakthroughs or updates on a flash for the Rocket M5 XW? I was getting ready to deploy a RocketDish M5 this weekend only to be halted in my tracks when I realized my M5 was the XW version.

Thanks,

Keith - AI6BX
K6AH
K6AH's picture
still working on it
I can tell you this has our attention. It's pretty much the only thing we're working on. Andre, K6AH
NE1CU
NE1CU's picture
I have a Rocket M5 XW also. 
I have a Rocket M5 XW also.  I downgraded original firmware 5.6 to 5.5, ran the U-Boot Test and received Good/Good.  When I try to flash to AREDN from AirOS I get "Firmware image check failed. Error code: -6".  I tried current release and the beta under experimentals.  Same result.  Is this the issue others are having or something else?

Thank you,
Ken
K6AH
K6AH's picture
What were the exact file
What were the exact file names of the AREDN firmware you loaded?
 
AE6XE
AE6XE's picture
Rocket GPS is XM
There is an option and hardware is out there with the Rocket M5 GPS device today.  It does not have the XW issue.

We have been putting in some debug code to help validate what we think we know.   We are finding variations in the chipset configuration between different XW devices.   One of the issues is that the symptom on the Rocket XW does not show up very often, like days and weeks timeframe to appear.   On the NS Loco M5  XW it can show up in hours.

Hence if you have easy access (on your roof), you might only need to power cycle it every few weeks when the port locks up to use the Rocket XW.  Not a good idea at a remote tower site.  The image is located with the nightly builds recently made available.   

We may be soliciting everyone's help at some point to zero in on a fix and scale up to get debug data or test the fix.  Waiting weeks for the symptom to trigger is problematic.

Joe AE6XE
AE6XE
AE6XE's picture
...and to avoid any confusion
...and to avoid any confusion, the nightly builds do not have any XW debug or other code to date that are working towards a fix of the XW symptoms.  These "in work" code changes go through a code review process before going into the nightly builds -- to catch issues early in the process.   When/If assistance is asked from the community to test on XW devices and give feedback, the images will be made available.  This may not necessarily be provided with the Nightly build process, TBD.
KE6UPI
Syslog Server
Hello Joe, Would a syslog server help to catch the logs of the XW units? I had to send a NSM5 XW in for a RMA. (Not do to Aredn) When it gets back I would be happy to setup a public syslog server to catch the logs. 

Let me know, David
KE6UPI
AE6XE
AE6XE's picture
Good thought, we'll discuss
Good thought, we'll discuss in our next team meeting.   This might give us a flood of data to look through and match up.   We just need the specific device details and last few lines when there is a hit.
KE6UPI
I haven't built a syslog
I haven't built a syslog server in a long time. But we should be able to set it up so each log has a login to separate each unit.

David
kg6kco
In case anyone needs some
In case anyone needs some Rocket M5s that are likely to be XM, I just ordered a couple from this guy. Will report back if they're any good or not. http://www.ebay.com/itm/152233916032?_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649
AE6XE
AE6XE's picture
In case anyone missed other
In case anyone missed other forum posts.  The nightly builds do work with the XW hardware including the Rocket M5 XW.   While we don't consider this version production quality yet, if you do have a rocket XW collecting dust, try installing the AREDN nightly build version to give feedback so we can get it to release quality.

Joe AE6XE
k1ky
k1ky's picture
Nightly builds working good so far on RKM5XW and NSM5XW
I have 4 Rocket M5XW units and a Nanostation M5XW that I have been faithfully loading the nightly builds and in operation on our Southmesh network.  The latest 149 build has included a nice "Return Home" feature by clicking on the AREDN logo will take you back to your "Home Node" (Equiv. to typing in localnode:8080 in your browser) - sure saves some steps!  I have not noticed any issues with the ethernet port so far. Thank you AREDN development team for implementing this feature!

Left click - return to home unit in same window/tab.  Right click - open up new Tab with "home" node.

 
KQ9P
KQ9P's picture
Just installed nightly build
Just installed nightly build on a new Rocket M5 XW, seems to be working fine...
KC7ZDM
Trying to flash a Rocket M5

Trying to flash a Rocket M5 and got the firmware image check failed code -6 error. Looking at this thread, haven't seen any update since January 2017. SSH'ing into the node the prompt shows XW.v5.5.10-u2.  If I use the nightly build version of code and things go south, can I revert the version?

BTW, I did use the utility, backed up the partition, backleveled the software and got the error trying to load the AREN software for AREDN-3.16.1.1-ubnt-nano-m-squashfs-factory.bin.

AE6XE
AE6XE's picture
KC7ZDM,
KC7ZDM,

The error is expected loading the nono-m-squashfs-factory.bin image.  The AREDN firmware for the Rocket M5 XW device is included in the current  3.17.1.0RC1 (Release candidate):  

Factory image (to upload from AirOS UI) or tftp method:  http://downloads.aredn.org/firmware/ubnt/AREDN-3.17.1.0RC1-ubnt-rocket-m...

Joe AE6XE
KC7ZDM
Thank you Gentlemen! I loaded

Thank you Gentlemen! I loaded the release candidate and it's all configured. Comm testing comes next, but the node itself is flashed and configured.

I'm guessing there is no sysupgrade firmware version to load as I did with the other three nodes, correct?

Thanks again! I really appreciate the help!

k1ky
k1ky's picture
Use the Rocket XW sysupgrade
I see from your error that you were attempting to load Nanostation Factory code.
You need the rocketxw sysupgrade code.  It should go like a champ with 3.17.1.0RC1
 
KC7ZDM
Thank you Gentlemen! I loaded
Thank you Gentlemen! I loaded the release candidate and it's all configured. Comm testing comes next, but the node itself is flashed and configured.

I'm guessing there is no sysupgrade firmware version to load as I did with the other three nodes, correct?

Thanks again! I really appreciate the help!
KC7ZDM
ORC1 Sysupgrade issue with Rocket XW

I tried to update my Rocket XW from ORC1 factory to ORC1 sysupgrade and ran into a problem. First, the update doesn't behave at the UI like the others I've flashed to 3.16.1.1 in that one picks the firmware to upload, uploads it, then tells the node to apply it. In this case it uploaded it and immediately started to apply it and bricked. I ended up with light 1 green, light 3 red, and unable to ping the node. Powering off and back on didn't help. 

The good thing that happened is that I learned how to use tftp to recover the node. I have to say that holding a paper clip on the reset button with one hand while plugging in an RJ-54 into the POE port of the power injector with the other is an interesting exercise!  

Figuring that I must have done something wrong I did it again, got the same behavior and it's bricked again so now I have to recover it. Again.

Am I indeed doing something wrong or is there a bug in the sysupgrade ORC1?

I also got carried away flashing an airRouter and forgot to run the test program first. Oops! I'm going to try to apply the 5.5 AirOS to it, but if you have any additional information on that I'd love to hear it.

OK, off to recovering my Rocket XW!

Rich
KC7ZDM
 

AE6XE
AE6XE's picture
KC7ZDM,     Can you clarify
KC7ZDM,     Can you clarify the starting point and confirm the appropriate packaged image of AREDN is used?:

Start from AirOS:   upload and only use the 'factory' image of the AREDN firmware.
Start from AREDN:   upload and only use the 'sysupgrade' image
tftp:  only use the 'factory' image

If you are running AREDN 3.17.1.0RC1 and uploaded the sysupgrade image, it should work, but the end result would be the same as the starting point (with keep settings).  

Joe AE6XE
KC7ZDM
Here are the steps I used to

Here are the steps I used to upgrade and recover:

I flashed the Rocket XW node last week with AREDN-3.17.1.0RC1-ubnt-rocket-m-xw-squashfs-factory.bin. Realized this week that I hadn't applied the sysupgrade software (hadn't checked last week to see if it existed as I took the link from a post to me in this thread). Since it did, last night I applied AREDN-3.17.1.0RC1-ubnt-rocket-m-squashfs-sysupgrade.bin and it bricked. That's where things were different.

Normally one uploads the bin file and get's a prompt to apply it. If it fails to upload then you don't apply it. Must be a change to the UI with the ORC1 release.

When recovering the node, which I have now done for the second time, I executed:

tftp -i 192.168.1.20 put AREDN-3.17.1.0RC1-ubnt-rocket-m-xw-squashfs-factory.bin and the node was recovered. I've now reconfigured. Didn't lose much because I really hadn't done anything with the node yet.

I'm unclear on a point: are you saying the sysupgrade isn't needed? That doesn't seem right or AREDN wouldn't have put it out there, right?

Cheers!

K5DLQ
K5DLQ's picture
You need to be careful on the
You need to be careful on the firmware files that you are using.
You correctly loaded the ...rocket-m-xw-squash-factory.bin when loading from AirOS.  (You were done after that.)

FROM THIS POINT ON, for this node... USE the "sysupgrade" version for any future update.

if you decide to apply another version of AREDN, (which there is no later one from the one you just loaded, btw), you need to use the ...rocket-m-xw-squash
fs-sysupgrade.bin.  It appears that you loaded the non-xw version, which, obviously, would not work on an XW device.

hope that clears it up.
KC7ZDM
Download page shows a sysupgrade version

After reading your comment I went back to the download page, clicked the ORC1 link, and scrolled up tio the row that calls out PowerBeam and Rocket M5 (XW). That shows a sysupgrade version. I copied the link: http://downloads.aredn.org/firmware/ubnt/AREDN-3.17.1.0RC1-ubnt-rocket-m-xw-squashfs-sysupgrade.bin. If that's an incorrect version then shouldn't it be taken down off the page? I'm having trouble figuring out where I went wrong.

I very much appreciate all the help you guys have given me on this. 

Do you have any ideas on my AirRouter HP? I most definatly messed up on that. I got carried away and flashed it before checking it with the U-Boot test program. Oops!  I've successfully tftp'd AirOS 6 to it, but the DHCP server isn't working. I tried tftp-ing the XM 5.5 firmware but never got a successful completion message.

AE6XE
AE6XE's picture
KC7ZDM,    only tftp the
KC7ZDM,    only tftp the factory image to your node. configure it with callsign, channel settings, etc.  Do not upload any further firmware images, it is complete and ready to use.  

For the AirRouter, tftp the AirOS firmware.  If it is not functional, and you are sure the right AirOS frimware was uploaded, then it may be bricked to the point it requires a special procedure.     This procedure has been tested on an AirRouter:   http://bloodhound.aredn.org/products/AREDN/wiki/HowTo/Unbrick 

Joe AE6XE
KC7ZDM
AirRouter HP Unbricking

Thanks for the link! I'm wondering if this shouldn't be moved to another thread, but I'll ask my question here anyhow. I don't have all I need for this yet, but do you think this AdaFruit cable will do the trick? I do have some Pi's and have been longing for a reason to buy the cute little 7" touchscreen and display case (plus another Pi wouldn't come amiss!). Not that I need another one but this might be just the excuse I needed. Here's the link:

https://www.adafruit.com/product/954

Besides, I love AdaFruit. I've never had better customer service anywhere and their tutorials are top-notch. I also have a couple of Windows 10 laptops including a Surface Pro 4 that I could "make do" with if I just had to. :)  All kidding aside, I love my Surface! It boots Windows 10 so fast I never use sleep or hibernate. I just shut down and boot up when I want to use it next. 15 seconds max. The SSD and I7 combination doesn't hurt a bit.

AE6XE
AE6XE's picture
Yes, this adafruit cable
Yes, this adafruit cable would work.   On the Pi, it already has pins with a TTL serial port, just need jumpers to the mesh node serial port (one of the pictures shows this in use in the unbrick instructions).   This cable can be used with a Pi, but is a redundant capability.  This cable or simiiar is needed on a laptop.

Joe AE6XE
KC7ZDM
5 volt to 3 volt?
Just a thought... If I go from my laptop usb port, do I need to convert voltage to 3 volt for the AirRouter? I should check the voltage output from the Pi as well on USB... that has to be 5 volts too, although the Pi is a 3 volt board.
WU2S
WU2S's picture
Yes, this is the same
Yes, this is the same cable that I have used to restore several nodes to working order.

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