RBmAP2nD not booting from initramfs

Installing and Using OpenWrt
1

I'm trying to install OpenWRT on a Mikrotik RBmAP2nD, which is supported as ar71xx target.

In line with the wiki, I'm using TinyPXE to boot the openwrt-19.07.8-ar71xx-mikrotik-rb-nor-flash-16M-initramfs-kernel.bin image. TinyPXE shows a DHCPd:ACK followed by a TFTPd DoReadFile indicating the initramfs image has been uploaded to the device.

However, after this, nothing seems to happen. I have set my ethernet to a static 192.168.1.10, trying to ping/ssh OpenWRT on 192.168.1.1 but the device won't respond. Also when trying DHCP, the device won't give me a lease. I've tried both ports, and also tried older builds on the initramfs image (19.07.2 and 18.06.1). After a power cycle, the device will boot RouterOS again.

The device is running RouterOS v7. Could it be this has an updated RouterBOOT bootloader that somehow interferes with OpenWRT initramfs images? I can't seem to find a different reason for this device not booting...

2

I have this exact behaviour on an RBmAP2nD running firmware v6.47.10, did you ever get it sorted?
I was wondering whether the initramfs size is too big for the bootloader, it is 5.8MB

3

Yes and no... Turns out, there is a RBmAP2nD and a RBmAP2n (non-D). The D-model is supported by OpenWRT, the non-D isn't. Unfortunately, Mikrotik's documentation acts as if the non-D model doesn't exist, so it took me a while to realize I was having a non-supported device.

The D-model uses a QCA9533 SoC, the non-D a AR9331 SoC. That SoC is supported by OpenWRT, but a new device would have to be added. Given the age and limitations of the device (64MB RAM) I'm not sure if that still makes sense to do.

4

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