Asus 4G-AX56 not yet supported

Tilator · August 29, 2024, 8:14am

I got Luci up and running. I installed different packages for WWAN and got this:

ls /dev
bus        mtd0ro     mtd6       mtdblock3  pts        ttyS12     ttyS9
console    mtd1       mtd6ro     mtdblock4  random     ttyS13     ttyUSB0
fd         mtd1ro     mtd7       mtdblock5  shm        ttyS14     ttyUSB1
full       mtd2       mtd7ro     mtdblock6  stderr     ttyS15     ttyUSB2
gpiochip0  mtd2ro     mtd8       mtdblock7  stdin      ttyS2      ttyUSB3
gpiochip1  mtd3       mtd8ro     mtdblock8  stdout     ttyS3      ubi_ctrl
gpiochip2  mtd3ro     mtd9       mtdblock9  tty        ttyS4      urandom
hwrng      mtd4       mtd9ro     null       ttyS0      ttyS5      watchdog
kmsg       mtd4ro     mtdblock0  port       ttyS1      ttyS6      watchdog0
log        mtd5       mtdblock1  ppp        ttyS10     ttyS7      zero
mtd0       mtd5ro     mtdblock2  ptmx       ttyS11     ttyS8

ttyUSB0 - ttyUSB3

WLAN seems to work too.

Tilator · August 30, 2024, 7:48am

Now the modem seems to have drivers installed:

`root@OpenWrt:~# cat /sys/kernel/debug/usb/devices

T:  Bus=01 Lev=00 Prnt=00 Port=00 Cnt=00 Dev#=  1 Spd=480  MxCh= 2
B:  Alloc=  0/800 us ( 0%), #Int=  0, #Iso=  0
D:  Ver= 2.00 Cls=09(hub  ) Sub=00 Prot=01 MxPS=64 #Cfgs=  1
P:  Vendor=1d6b ProdID=0002 Rev= 6.06
S:  Manufacturer=Linux 6.6.47 xhci-hcd
S:  Product=xHCI Host Controller
S:  SerialNumber=1e1c0000.xhci
C:* #Ifs= 1 Cfg#= 1 Atr=e0 MxPwr=  0mA
I:* If#= 0 Alt= 0 #EPs= 1 Cls=09(hub  ) Sub=00 Prot=00 Driver=hub
E:  Ad=81(I) Atr=03(Int.) MxPS=   4 Ivl=256ms

T:  Bus=01 Lev=01 Prnt=01 Port=00 Cnt=01 Dev#=  2 Spd=480  MxCh= 0
D:  Ver= 2.00 Cls=00(>ifc ) Sub=00 Prot=00 MxPS=64 #Cfgs=  1
P:  Vendor=2cb7 ProdID=0a05 Rev= 4.04
S:  Manufacturer=Fibocom
S:  Product=FG621 Module
S:  SerialNumber=0123456789ABCDEF
C:* #Ifs= 6 Cfg#= 1 Atr=c0 MxPwr=500mA
A:  FirstIf#= 0 IfCount= 2 Cls=02(comm.) Sub=0d Prot=00
I:* If#= 0 Alt= 0 #EPs= 1 Cls=02(comm.) Sub=0d Prot=00 Driver=cdc_ncm
E:  Ad=82(I) Atr=03(Int.) MxPS=  16 Ivl=32ms
I:  If#= 1 Alt= 0 #EPs= 0 Cls=0a(data ) Sub=00 Prot=01 Driver=cdc_ncm
I:* If#= 1 Alt= 1 #EPs= 2 Cls=0a(data ) Sub=00 Prot=01 Driver=cdc_ncm
E:  Ad=81(I) Atr=02(Bulk) MxPS= 512 Ivl=0ms
E:  Ad=01(O) Atr=02(Bulk) MxPS= 512 Ivl=0ms
I:* If#= 2 Alt= 0 #EPs= 2 Cls=ff(vend.) Sub=00 Prot=00 Driver=option
E:  Ad=83(I) Atr=02(Bulk) MxPS= 512 Ivl=0ms
E:  Ad=02(O) Atr=02(Bulk) MxPS= 512 Ivl=0ms
I:* If#= 3 Alt= 0 #EPs= 2 Cls=ff(vend.) Sub=00 Prot=00 Driver=option
E:  Ad=84(I) Atr=02(Bulk) MxPS= 512 Ivl=0ms
E:  Ad=03(O) Atr=02(Bulk) MxPS= 512 Ivl=0ms
I:* If#= 4 Alt= 0 #EPs= 2 Cls=ff(vend.) Sub=00 Prot=00 Driver=option
E:  Ad=85(I) Atr=02(Bulk) MxPS= 512 Ivl=0ms
E:  Ad=04(O) Atr=02(Bulk) MxPS= 512 Ivl=0ms
I:* If#= 5 Alt= 0 #EPs= 2 Cls=ff(vend.) Sub=00 Prot=00 Driver=option
E:  Ad=86(I) Atr=02(Bulk) MxPS= 512 Ivl=0ms
E:  Ad=05(O) Atr=02(Bulk) MxPS= 512 Ivl=0ms
`

and it responds from ttyUSB0:

root@OpenWrt:~# picocom /dev/ttyUSB0
picocom v3.1

port is        : /dev/ttyUSB0
flowcontrol    : none
baudrate is    : 9600
parity is      : none
databits are   : 8
stopbits are   : 1
escape is      : C-a
local echo is  : no
noinit is      : no
noreset is     : no
hangup is      : no
nolock is      : no
send_cmd is    : sz -vv
receive_cmd is : rz -vv -E
imap is        :
omap is        :
emap is        : crcrlf,delbs,
logfile is     : none
initstring     : none
exit_after is  : not set
exit is        : no

Type [C-a] [C-h] to see available commands
Terminal ready
at
OK
AT+MSMPD=1
OK
AT+MSMPD=0
OK
AT+MSMPD=1
OK
AT+CSCLK=1
OK
[ 2960.285599] usb 1-1: USB disconnect, device number 3
[ 2960.290831] cdc_ncm 1-1:1.0 usb0: unregister 'cdc_ncm' usb-1e1c0000.xhci-1, CDC NCM (NO ZLP)
[ 2960.370457] option1 ttyUSB0: GSM modem (1-port) converter now disconnected from ttyUSB0

FATAL: [ 2960.378945] option 1-1:1.2: device disconnected
read zero bytes [ 2960.385061] option1 ttyUSB1: GSM modem (1-port) converter now disconnected from ttyUSB1
from port
term_[ 2960.393857] option 1-1:1.3: device disconnected
exitfunc: reset [ 2960.400312] option1 ttyUSB2: GSM modem (1-port) converter now disconnected from ttyUSB2
failed for dev U[ 2960.409240] option 1-1:1.4: device disconnected
NKNOWN: Not a tt[ 2960.415663] option1 ttyUSB3: GSM modem (1-port) converter now disconnected from ttyUSB3

until I sent it command to enable sleep

AT commands found in the manual: https://fcc.report/FCC-ID/ZMOFG621LA/5157334.pdf

So - what should I do next?

brada4 · August 30, 2024, 7:53am

One would be to try modemmanager to autodetect the modem, and then add respective netif addons to configure it
E.g. this for other type of modems (yours has completely different vendor command subset)
https://openwrt.org/docs/guide-user/network/wan/wwan/ltedongle

frollic · August 30, 2024, 8:04am

you kind of going in the wrong direction ...

getting an installable image should have higher priority, than having the modem up and running in (I assume) initramfs mode.

IMHO

Tilator · August 30, 2024, 8:07am

I know, but I'm just doing what I can

I'm trying to find ot if it is doable at all. I don't know how to make a totally new image.

brada4 · August 30, 2024, 8:20am

You can make image even without wifi and detect hardware again.
At least AX53U is easily re-flashed via OEM recovery, ymmv with new device.

Tilator · August 30, 2024, 8:41am

Does Asus recovery work even if U-Boot is corrupt?

brada4 · August 30, 2024, 8:47am

Nope, router side of recovery is in uboot, and sometimes gets confused by OpenWRT partitions.

Tilator · August 30, 2024, 8:59am

Does installing OpenWRT overwrite U-Boot or does it use the original one?

frollic · August 30, 2024, 9:09am

openwrt usually doesn't ship with U-Boot.

Tilator · August 30, 2024, 9:13am

OK. Is RT-AX53U image one of those without U-Boot?

I really think, basic functionality for this 4G-AX56 takes only

-original U-Boot (to take the whole 512MB RAM in use)
-original device tree (to add at least the one missing network connector)
-RT-AX53U kernel and everything on top of that.

How can this be done?

frollic · August 30, 2024, 9:22am

since openwrt doesn't supply the boot loader, it have to be extracted from an existing vendor image, for the device you're trying to flash.
if the git commit nor wiki page mention cutting and appending files using dd, it doesn't.

this is the tricky part

someone had already initiated the work though, but abandoned it, https://github.com/openwrt/openwrt/pull/11021 is untouched since Aug 2023.

if you click the 2nd tab - Commits, it'll show you all the "build" changes required for device support (assuming they're correct).

you could also try sending an email to the submitter.

Tilator · August 30, 2024, 9:45am

OK. That's new for me. I didn't know there was that project already.

brada4 · August 30, 2024, 12:06pm

Asus has nice diagnostic SSH connection (same user/password as web UI) where you can dump all the partitions you want.

Tilator · August 30, 2024, 12:48pm

If there only was some place to but a dump since there is not any physical USB port in it.

I have not had time to look if the web UI allows network disk to be mounted. Or if mounting is allowed from console.

frollic · August 30, 2024, 12:50pm

dump them from the initramfs, then send/retrieve them using scp ...?

brada4 · August 30, 2024, 12:51pm

You need to pipe tar file of dd-d partitions via ssh.

Tilator · August 30, 2024, 1:22pm

Yes. SCP or SSH will do.

There seems to be file:

root      root         12288 Aug 30 16:18 ./sys/firmware/fdt

It sounds very much like fdt file. Is there any need for something else what can only be found by dumping whole MTD partition and mounting it somewhere else?

brada4 · August 30, 2024, 1:49pm

You can transfer all oem partitions and binwalk -e -M them, maybe gives some additional idea about ports leds modems etc.

Tilator · August 30, 2024, 1:55pm

My goal was to use this device as a "home automation gateway" to control a summer cottage remotedly.

Network seems to already work using AX53U OpenWRT version and if I only can make modem work and the device to boot automatelly, it will be enough. Working LED's are not essential in the first place for this usage.

I have same kind of automation already working in our home on RT-AX53U router having OpenWRT. The rest is PHP scripts. Unfortunatelly this 4G-AX56 does not have PHP installed. It could be used having the original FW if there was PHP.