Guidance on ART concerns for Chinese Xiaomi AX3600

Hardware Questions and Recommendations
1

Hello all

I am very new to OpenWRT and to the Xiaomi AX3600, so please excuse any mistakes in my understanding.

I recently bought a very cheap Chinese version of the AX3600 from eBay. It came pre-flashed with the international (global) firmware. I have not had any problems running the global firmware so far.

I am now looking at installing OpenWRT, but after some reading I am concerned about the ART partition and how it may affect performance once I am no longer running the stock firmware.

As I understand it, although the router is now running the global firmware, the ART partition is still set for the Chinese region. From what I have read, this means that transmit power and available 5 GHz channels will be limited under OpenWRT, because the ath11k driver will read the ART data and not rely only on the country settings configured in OpenWRT.

I have read this post: https://oded.dev/2020/11/30/AX3600-1/

As far as I can tell, this focuses on changing the country setting in the bdata partition, not modifying the ART partition itself. My concern is that this will not resolve the problem when using OpenWRT, since the ART partition will still impose its limitations.

From what I have also read, the stock firmware (especially on Chinese models) tends to run a little "spicy" in terms of transmit power and is not strictly compliant with local regulations. In a way this is nice for coverage, but I understand that OpenWRT will strictly obey whatever is in the ART partition, which is why I want to understand the correct way to patch it if needed.

I would like to understand how to properly patch the ART partition, if that is the correct solution to achieve full transmit power and full channel availability in OpenWRT. So far I have not found a clear and simple guide for this.

I am completely new to this level of modification and would really need things explained step by step, in plain language.

Could anyone point me to:

  • A reliable guide or resource for patching the ART partition on the AX3600
  • The safest way to back up the ART partition before making any changes
  • Examples from users who have successfully done this and tested it with OpenWRT

I would also like to confirm if my understanding is correct that simply changing the country in bdata is not enough when using OpenWRT.

Thanks very much to anyone who can help. I really want to make sure I do this correctly and avoid damaging the device.

2

Does not exist, will not exist, it's a proprietary format by QCA.

3

OK, thank you for that. I did not know that. That now begs the question is that due to it being impossible from a technical point of view or more a legality issue?

4

Both.

There is no documentation for the format, respectively only under NDA.

Changing it does void the certification, making operating the device illegal.

1 Like
5

Thank you, that explains a lot.