Adding Support for Aruba AP135

hurricos · January 22, 2022, 1:51am

The device is based on the "Avanta" Marvell 88F6560 SoC (Feroceon core, but using DDR3 and clocked way higher).

The SoC is kwbootable: https://forum.doozan.com/read.php?2,78499,116214#msg-116214

User @winnt5 produced this u-boot build for a similar, Avanta-based device: https://github.com/msdos03/avanta-uboot-f660

DSA: It should be compatible with existing Marvell DSA drivers, but the right device tree will need to be crafted for it: https://forum.doozan.com/read.php?2,78499,126779#msg-126779

A dump of flash from my AP-135: https://paste.c-net.org/ImbecileHauser

winnt5 · February 6, 2022, 1:24am

Not really. The DSA driver don't work with 88f6560 internal switch yet. I'm using the old mvsw61xx driver in my openwrt. But aruba ap135 uses an external switch, definately compatible with DSA driver.
Please post the output of 'print' and 'help' command in the U-Boot.

ilker · February 19, 2022, 8:57pm

hi,

aruba ap-135 hardware very nice. suitable hardware for openwrt. let's solve this problem help me

88F6560 cpu support Aruba AP-135 U-Boot.bin can you share pls

marvell u-boot MX25L12845EMI-10G support file shared pls ? I can't find this image

Installing U-Boot

Note that the stock bootloader on this device does not allow for unsigned kernels to boot, so replacing the bootloader is required for OpenWrt support on this device. Sadly at this time the only way to do this is via directly writing to the SPI Flash. The custom U-Boot for this device can be downloaded from Aruba AP-135 U-Boot.bin and extracted from the latest release .tar.gz file.

It is HIGHLY recommend that before doing anything, you take a full backup of the SPI Flash.

To flash the SPI NOR, a 16 pin Test Clip is recommended. One such example is the Pomona Electronics 5252. Note you will need to manually wire up said test clip to a flashing tool or device, such as a Raspberry Pi.

Generic Process

If you are not using flashrom, then you will need to do the following with whatever tool you are using:

Create a full dump of the SPI Flash, and store it in a safe place
Erase and Clear 0x0-0x3ffff on the SPI Flash
Flash U-Boot to 0x0
Proceed to the OpenWrt Install Procedure

Installing OpenWrt

Note that installing OpenWrt requires that you have installed the custom U-Boot first.

Wire up the Aruba AP-135 to an Ethernet port on your computer, and set that port to a static IP of 192.168.1.101
Start a TFTP server on your computer, and in your tftp root copy your OpenWrt sysupgrade.bin file to firmware.bin
Power on the AP-135, and hold the reset button on the back. Continue to hold it until you see both wireless LEDs blink red.
At this point, the AP will download and install OpenWrt. Watch the console to confirm OpenWrt has been flashed then reboot. If you do not have console access, wait 5 minutes before power cycling the device.
You should now have OpenWrt installed on the device!

default original boot

APBoot 1.2.8.1 (build 34939)
Built: 2012-08-17 at 12:54:18

Model: AP-13x
CPU:   88F6560 A0 (DDR3)
Clock: CPU 1600MHz, L2 533MHz, SysClock 533MHz, TClock 200MHz
DRAM:  256MB 
POST1: passed
Flash: 16 MB
Power: 802.3af POE
LAN:   done
PHY:   done
PEX 0: RC, link up, x1
       bus.dev fn venID devID class  rev    MBAR0    MBAR1    MBAR2    MBAR3
       00.00   00  11ab  6560 00005   02 f1000000 00000000 00000000 00000000
       00.01   00  168c  0030 00002   01 90000000 00000000 00000000 00000000
PEX 1: RC, link up, x1
       bus.dev fn venID devID class  rev    MBAR0    MBAR1    MBAR2    MBAR3
       01.00   00  11ab  6500 00005   02 f1000000 00000000 00000000 00000000
       01.01   00  168c  0030 00002   01 94000000 00000000 00000000 00000000
Net:   eth0, eth1
Radio: ar9390#0, ar9390#1

Hit <Enter> to stop autoboot:  0

tmomas · February 20, 2022, 10:42am

Sounds basically like the installation instructions for https://openwrt.org/toh/aruba/ap-105

winnt5 · February 27, 2022, 1:51am

I don't have any files of this device. You know, I just port openwrt snapshot to f660 and hgg420n. Because I don't have it. You can look here to get source code.

ilker · February 27, 2022, 10:14am

thankyou. I will keep you informed of developments.

It's nice to share information.

winnt5 via OpenWrt Forum <mail@forum.openwrt.org>, 27 Şub 2022 Paz, 05:01 tarihinde şunu yazdı:

ilker · March 5, 2022, 7:47pm

Hi ,
Marvell 88F6560 u-boot source code build nor flash pls. Marvell ARMADA SoC family of embedded processors open source platforms I don't know how to compile. Anyone have knowledge on this?

open source tar link shared

winnt5 · March 18, 2022, 10:16am

Have a look in parent Makefile and trace it to the final build command(s)

ilker · August 1, 2022, 10:51am

I don't know about this. I need help.

hurricos · May 7, 2023, 3:14am

What I've run up against so far in porting the AP-135 is that:

kwboot does not work
there's no bootm
we could use go as we've done with the AP105/AP175, however ...
- compiling a raw zImage to boot here gives me a data abort, with $PC set 2 words / 8 bytes after the first branch. Truncating the zImage to right after that first branch still creates the same error, whereas truncating it one word more removes it -- thus I'm forced to assume the error is caused by the branch itself, which would seem to suggest that we're not allowed to run the 'b' instruction somehow.

Here's the rasm2 output of the zImage:

# rasm2 -D -B -a arm -b 32 -c arm -f zImage
0x00000000   4                 0000a0e1  mov r0, r0
0x00000004   4                 0000a0e1  mov r0, r0
0x00000008   4                 0000a0e1  mov r0, r0
0x0000000c   4                 0000a0e1  mov r0, r0
0x00000010   4                 0000a0e1  mov r0, r0
0x00000014   4                 0000a0e1  mov r0, r0
0x00000018   4                 0000a0e1  mov r0, r0
0x0000001c   4                 0000a0e1  mov r0, r0
0x00000020   4                 050000ea  b 0x3c
0x00000024   4                 18286f01  invalid
0x00000028   4                 00000000  andeq r0, r0, r0
0x0000002c   4                 f8bb4700  strdeq fp, ip, [r7], -0xb8

.... this corresponding to arch/arm/boot/compressed/head.S's .start section, of course.

The zImage causing this crash is available here: https://downloads.laboratoryb.org/ap135/openwrt-avanta-generic-aruba_ap-135-initramfs-uImage (disregard the name: it's a zImage)