I recently purchased a new TPlink CPE210 and can not successfully install the AREDN software. I have done numerous Ubiquiti devices without issue. I first tried the preferred method, and it seemed to program, but it finally got into a loop where the ethernet port would enable and disable and I was unable to acquire an IP address. So I tried the alternate method which uses the Tiny PXE Sever, which seemed to work but ended with same result. I thought I had bricked the device, so I downloaded the TPLink factory image from TPLink, and used the Tiny PXE server to program it. Now I can log in using the standard 192.168.0.254 IP address and access the PharOS web interface just like it was from the factory. I have tried to program the the last official release as well as daily builds with no luck. I have tried these processes at least 4 times and have been able to recover the factory software everytime, so I am assuming the programming is working.
I have verified my hardware is V2.
I have the correct software downloaded
I have been able to recover the factory software over and over, but cannot get AREDN software to work.
Before I spend any more time on this, has anyone programmed a CPE210 recently?
The model number is on the unit is CPE210(US) V2.8 The PharOS software says the model is a CPE210 V2.
I have a CPE220 coming and I would like to make sure it will work.
Any ideas?
Glenn WA3LAB
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TPLink CPE210 will not program
Fri, 11/08/2019 - 17:19
#1
TPLink CPE210 will not program
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I have a cpe210v2 donated and thanks to WB8LEA for support. It had a very old image on it. I just now did a sysupgrade to the 1190 current nightly build image. All went well and it it is live.
Joe AE6XE
Thank you for your response. Could there be an issue with me uploading the factory version?
Glenn
Sometimes it can be tricky with timing. Also, I generally use a dumb switch between the computer and the node. This way the tftpd/dhcp/bootp server and the computer always see the ethernet link up. If it's down/up during the process, can be problematic. Then the tplink is powered on and ensure success in talking with the computer. Once I see the recovery.bin is sent, then I stop the tftpd server and wait 3 or 4 minutes before touching anything, and watch the lights to see a typical AREDN boot sequence.
Joe AE6XE
I am curious as to the hardware version of your CPE210? Mine says Model CPE210(US) Ver:2.8 . I monitored the ethernet port during the program cycle and I see all the blocks transfer and acknowledged, and then the unit goes into the loop dispaying all LEDs and then turning off all LEDs and enabling port for 3 seconds, then repeats. I found some references to some this type of behavior on the AREDN Facebook pages dated October 18, 2019. I have re-programmed the device with TPLinks factory software(PharOS?) and 45 seconds after the last packet the port comes alive and I am able to log into PharOS. I am fairly confident the unit is being programmed, however there may be an incompatibility with Ver 2.8 hardware. The mystery remains as to why your unit programmed, unless it is an older hardware revision?
If there is any way I can gather any information to help find the issue, please let me know. You helped me connect a serial port to my damaged Nanostaion, and I was able to repair the unit. As always, thank you for you time and help.
73,
Glenn WA3LAB
Glenn, This could be the issue, should have caught that before. My device on the label is "CPE210(US) Ver:2.0". Can you boot your device with any firmware and telnet/ssh into the node, and do the following command?
The output would look something like this (the prompt will show at the end, no linefeed):
What does it return? There are hardcoded strings built into the firmware images that have to be compatible with the device's vendor flash settings, or the bootloader won't write it to flash. The current strings in the code to create the firmware images:
It's likely this string on your device in the vendor flash partition is different. Let me know what that is to push into the code. Hopefully, there aren't any other hardware changes, if so there will be more changes to get everything working.
Joe AE6XE
Sorry got sidetracked. I had to go into the PharOS management to enable SSH login, then I was able to login. I used the password and username I had setup in PharOS. I entered the command
dd if=/dev/mtd2 bs=1 skip=4360 count=64 2>/dev/null | head -n 1
It responded with:
-sh: Cannot create dev/null : Permission denied
-sh: dd not found
-sh: head not found
I noticed you were logged as root. My linux is very rusty(mostly raspberry Pi stuff). Is that the problem?
Glenn
try:
cat /dev/mtd2 | strings
or if that doesn't work, just do
cat /dev/mtd2
Then, scroll back through all the output, until you can see the string we are looking for.
Joe AE6XE
the input file /dev/mtd2 doesn't exist. I went to the directory and found mtd0 and mtdblock0, mtdblock1, etc up to mtdblock6.
I used cat mtdblock2 | grep CPE210 and found the string as
CPE210(TP-LINK | US | N300-2 | 55530000):2.0
So it is the same string as you have, but in a different file.
Glenn WA3LAB
Glenn, are there spaces in the string you found? This would case it to not match up. If this string exactly matches the code snippet string, then this issue does not explain the symptoms. We'd revert back to loading the image to find the break down. (Did you try to upload in Pharos OS? Been a while, use the factory aredn image and rename to recovery.bin, then upload in the Pharos UI, trying to recall.)
Unfortunately the string is exactly like the code snippet...No spaces. I have tried programming through PharOS. Same result. I just received a CPE220 V3 and it programmed first time through PharOS. Other than the power setting (limits to 25dbm), it seems to work fine.
Glenn
There is a chance its a V3.1 device. See if you can find the strings below or something similar
CPE210(TP-LINK|EU|N300-2|45550000):3.1
CPE210(TP-LINK|UN|N300-2|00000000):3.1
CPE210(TP-LINK|US|N300-2|55530000):3.1
I did a search through all the files in the dev directory that are called mtdblock0 through mtd0block6 for the string CPE210 and here are the results. I don't really know what I'm looking for, but here it is.
Glenn WA3LAB
Please test using the stock Openwrt binary for the device on the ath79 branch located here
https://downloads.openwrt.org/snapshots/targets/ath79/generic/
Let me know if it will boot with it.
I downloaded tplink_cpe210-v2-squashfs-factory.bin and programed it from the PharOS system console, and it appears to boot OK. Switched from static to DHCP on the pc and got an IP address of 192.168.1.30. Looks good so far.
Glenn
That is good as it indicates that your device is supported.
To connect with it you will need to ssh to 192.168.1.1
I suggest using scp to copy the aredn sysupgrade image for the device to /tmp on the device and then install the image using
sysupgrade -v -n -F /tmp/imagename
Let me know it that works.
That broke it. I did a sysupgrade to the 1190 current nightly build image and for a second it looked like a normal program cycle, but then it went into the cycling mode as before. I left it sit for about 10 minutes and then cycled power just in case, but no success. So I reloaded the openWRT image for now.
Glenn
From the Openwrt image, do a "dmesg" and attach/paste back here. While the vendor image may work on both, there may be some hardware differences between 2.0 and 2.8. We can compare this information between our devices to see what we find.
Joe AE6XE
I hope I did this correctly.
I used Tiny PXE server to flash each version, and I used the FACTORY version, NOT the upgrade.
Results:
1. openWrt 18.06.5 Goes into loop, no access
2. openWrt 19.07.0 Boots, DHCP active, can login via SSH
3. AREDN 3.19 Goes into loop, no access
Glenn
Your dmesg shows the flash chip is "en25qh64". My device shows the flash chip is "gd25qh64". I have found this new flash chip definition is added in openwrt 19.07 branch, but does not exist in the 18.06.x branch the AREDN nightly build is currently based on. We are currently upgrading to this openwrt 19.07 branch and will inherit the needed update.
Here is a bleeding edge AREDN image to test, link below. If this solves the issue, then we are days away from getting this in the nightly build.
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/17Dm8c9Vs8oFBU9sxD3jnW43JNLKQmB3i...
Note, installing packages is not available on these image, would be available when in the nightly build.
Joe AE6XE
Was this issue resolved? I recently purchased a CPE210 v 2.8 and i cannot get the initial firmware to load. I have tried both versions as listed. The web updtae and the pxe method to no avail. Any suggestions? Thank you. Barney
YOU GUYS ROCK!!!
I took a little extra time to complete the configuration to make sure everything else is good. So far so good. I attached a picture
Thanks Joe and KK4ZUZ, I don't even know your name. I'll be watching for the new nightly build to check it out. Thanks again.
73,
Glenn WA3LAB
Great. I am glad its working for you :)
As Joe said it will be fully supported once we change to 19.07 build of openwrt which is currently undergoing testing.
Regards
Andrew (KK4ZUZ)
KK4ZUZ is Andrew, the development team's TP-Link all star!
I too have been struggling with the '2.8' CPE210 recently purchased from Amazon. Just downloaded the image and loaded it on via tftp (aredn-ae6xe-19.07-1272c57-r10675-5e1864da33-cpe210-v2-factory). Thanks everyone and Glen/Orv for the heads up.
73
Chad
KA7HAK