Support for Easybox 904 LTE

For Developers
224

Well, the description above works, mostly. You need to retain a symlink to "files" from "files-4.19" when creating the "change from files to files-4.19" commit. Some part of the build system uses the wrong location:

ln -s files-4.19 ./target/linux/lantiq/files

Do this after the "rm -rv ./target/linux/lantiq/files" and before the "git add ...".

Furthermore, the sysupgrade image has a different idea of supported devices than the one from Quallenauge. However, that is just a name change. You can override it by passing the "-F" option to sysupgrade. On top of that, the resulting image comes with significantly fewer bells and whistles than other images posted around here. That may be a good thing. If you want luci, you need to install it. One rather obnoxious thing, though, is the wifi configuration. It does build the following packages if you successfully point it to the extra feeds before, as described after the build instructions:

./bin/targets/lantiq/xrx200/packages/ralink_bin_1.0.0-1_mips_24kc.ipk
./bin/targets/lantiq/xrx200/packages/kmod-ralink_inic_4.19.108+1.0.0-1_mips_24kc.ipk
./bin/packages/mips_24kc/base/wireless-tools_29-6_mips_24kc.ipk

You need to scp those onto the easybox after the sysupgrade and "opkg install" them. Then you have to run "/etc/init.d/rt3883 boot" after each reboot. I will find a way to automate this ...

Another problem is that the darn tft display gets stuck and never switches itself off. Turning it face down does the trick for now. However, I am one step further. Nice.

225

OK thanks

Hmm, it should not bee,
Try to create a start() function in /etc/init.d/rt3883 which link to boot and them enable it.

echo '0' > /sys/class/backlight/fb_ili9341_eb904/bl_power

the red light:

echo '0' > /sys/devices/platform/leds/leds/VGV952CJW33:red:power/brightness

But after a while it goes on i never found a reason.

226 
root@OpenWrt:~# echo '0' > /sys/class/backlight/fb_ili9341_eb904/bl_power
-ash: can't create /sys/class/backlight/fb_ili9341_eb904/bl_power: nonexistent directory

Apparently I'm missing some kernel module.

227

possibly backlight ?
at me:

root@OpenWrt:~# lsmod | grep fb
backlight              16384  1 fbtft
fb                     94208 66 fbtft
fb_ili9341_eb904       16384  1 
fb_sys_fops            16384  1 fbtft
fbtft                  32768  1 fb_ili9341_eb904
font                   20480  1 fb
syscopyarea            16384  1 fbtft
sysfillrect            16384  1 fbtft
sysimgblt              16384  1 fbtft
228

Plonk, thanks a lot for your help, also for sharing the network config!
It saved me quite some hedache because I also wanted to setup WAN over ethernet. Adopting the wan_eth/ethwan_dev part from your config did the trick.

I actually had done so and it had confirmed. However, I am now using Quallenauge's image from August and that works well. Also the display isn't frozen in the startup message.
I don't know whether the first image I tried was defect or whether something went (silently) wrong during flashing.
In the new image, /etc/config/wireless is present like expected (/etc/network/wifi does not exist so I conclude this was a legacy way to config). WiFi works well now and I am figuring out further basics.

For the record: both commands for LED and backlight work for me in the image from August.

I have some more questions about the device I wasn't able to find out so far. These are low priority as I have everything working that I need for now. But if by chance someone happens to know, it would be nice to drop a note (reference/link answers welcome as well):

Are the meanings of all port numbers known? swconfig tells me switch0 has 7 ports and switch1 has 8 ports.
Do I correctly conclude:

Switch0:
0: connection to Switch1
1-3: ?
4: DSL port
5: wifi
6: connection to CPU

Switch1:
0-3: LAN ports
4, 5: ?
6: connection to CPU
7: ?

It would be great to know the meaning of the remaining ports (the ISDN port maybe?).
On the other hand:

root@OpenWrt:~# swconfig dev switch1 help
switch1: rtl8367b(RTL8367B), ports: 8 (cpu @ 5), vlans: 4096
...
root@OpenWrt:~# swconfig dev switch0 help
switch0: eth0(Lantiq XRX200 Switch), ports: 7 (cpu @ 6), vlans: 64
...

Does that mean on Switch1, connection to CPU is port 5? What is 6 then? I concluded CPU would be at port 6 from comparing LuCI info with initial /etc/config/network.
How is the dsl0 device connected to the switches? Or is it kind of independent?
I do not really understand what exactly is the inic device. Is the inic part of etc/config/network required at all?
Sorry if I overlook some obvious source for this info. The thread is long and hard to search.

It would be great to have this info e.g. on the wikipage or somewhere central. What does it take to get edit access in the openwrt wiki? If that's not feasible, what about collecting some info in a github wikipage of Plonks or Quallenauge's fork? IMO, having this forum threat as main source for such info is not sustainable as it gets longer and longer and it's difficult to tell what info is outdated. People likely ask the same questions repeatedly (like me right now^^), further increasing the noise, etc...

229

This. Thank you!

Don't mix Quallenauge's and Plonk's feeds or it won't compile it.

230

try:

/etc/init.d/rt3883 boot

I have no idea what i know is:
The port6 = CPU is standart in Openwrt but it will be interresting what it means.
switch0 is the switch inside the VRX200 SoC, according to Data Sheet it can be 4x100Mbit/s or 2xGbit/s but i have no where comes the eth4 (WAN connector)
I guess that the ports which you drew with ? are not really exist.

The Wifi (rt3883) is connected on it. It is a own SoC which get there own Firmware via LAN, The same like USB but here ethernet.
In combination with tagget VLAN 66 and 71 (all on switch0 port 5)

231

I had an issue with compiling of lcd4linux-eb904-full
and changed the Makefile under

/opt/build/owrt/feeds/eb904x_pkg/utils/lcd4linux-eb904

in:

#
# Copyright (C) 2007-2015 OpenWrt.org
#
# This is free software, licensed under the GNU General Public License v2.
# See /LICENSE for more information.
#

include $(TOPDIR)/rules.mk

PKG_NAME:=lcd4linux
#PKG_REV:=1203
#PKG_REV:=4f027
PKG_REV:=2019-07-19-0b83bb3a
PKG_VERSION:=$(PKG_REV)
#PKG_RELEASE:=4

PKG_SOURCE:=$(PKG_NAME)-$(PKG_VERSION).tar.xz
PKG_SOURCE_URL:=https://sources.openwrt.org/$(PKG_SOURCE)
PKG_SOURCE_VERSION:=$(PKG_REV)
PKG_HASH:=26a3469bce0648b276e2c818add7049685c7f461ea9669d23730dfc3a96d9934

enable "lcd4linux-eb904-full" with menuconfig.

"lcd4linux-2019-07-19-0b83bb3a.tar.xz" must be in "dl" Directory.

Now it works.
Hope this is helpfull.

232

I've modified development script from PlonkBong
and uploaded it here:

https://mega.nz/#F!aFs0xSoZ!hmj4PXfab6QDH9vXMkgxGA

download Build-EB904.tar.gz

working directory is /op/build
put the files that i uploaded here

First change: PREPARE=0
in: PREPARE=1 in the script.

begin with: ./fullowrtbuild-eb904x-master.sh prepare
after that: ./fullowrtbuild-eb904x-master.sh new
and: ./fullowrtbuild-eb904x-master.sh compile

disable in menuconfig at "Target" TP-Link and Netgear
(no idea to automate this)

do the last three steps.

I only tested TeleModemRouterStd-demo.

It's been a long time since I programmed,
so I'm not sure if everything was reasonable.

Special thanks to Plonkbong and Quallenauge for the
time and work you have invested.

1 Like
233

Does anyone wanna share a new persistent build for a try? I use an very old version of Quellenauge atm and maybe find some time for testing if someone is willing to share a ready compiled image.

234

Seconded. Since it's probably a pipe dream to get it as an official target, Is there something akin to a "community build"? Ideally one that can use 19.07 packages?

1 Like
235

Hey, is it possible to flash your image over an old version in my box in openwrt or do I need to use TFTPD-method by pressing and holding reset-button?

I would love if you could build an image with wireguard or newest kernel. Does wifi and luci-wifi-configuration work with your device?

236

hi,
the entry of March 25th is a snapshot with kernel 4.19.108.

https://mega.nz/#F!aFs0xSoZ!hmj4PXfab6QDH9vXMkgxGA

You can try to transfer the sysupgrade to the box with scp
and upgrade the old version with "sysupgrade -F ..." in the
ssh-commandline.
The old image shouldn't be too old either.
Sometimes it does not work the first time.

If it doesn't work, only the way remains
Reset, fullimage and TFTP.

https://app.box.com/s/tjeobifjb8ohj90m5k2u7g1efgq8308y/folder/60284896266

So far, WIFI e.g. Luci-WIFI has not been running as requested.

237

Hi,

I'd like to flash my old EasyBox 904 xDSL with an OpenWRT but before I do that I have three questions I hope you guys can answer:

  1. Will I be able to make a bridge connection with another router? This Vodafone firmware has the WDS mode but it simply doesn't work (despite entering all necessary data WDS mode automatically turns off; maybe because it doesn't ask for a password and wants to work in an open network. Of course it's a no-go for me).
  2. If the answer for the above is 'yes' then where I can find a step-by-step guide how to flash it?
  3. Would I need to flash something else (e.g.: older version of the OpenWRT) before I flash it with the latest provided by @RENErica 5 days ago?

Thanks in advance

238

Although I haven't tried it, the answer is inevitably "no". The wireless driver for this device is very "special", it isn't a linux driver running on the lantiq SOC at all, but the wireless hardware is its own dedicated SOC with its own proprietary (non-linux) OS and only bridged into the lantiq world over a special VLAN. This driver is ancient, very stubborn and buggy - and most of all, barely integrated into OpenWrt. On top of all this, "WDS" isn't a specified standard either, so there is no interoperability between the strategy chosen by the different AP vendors. In case of Linux, this standard would be 4addr, implemented in the nl80211 wireless stack of the linux kernel - but, as mentioned before, the rt3883-iNIC SOC isn't running linux in the first place (there goes your compatibility).

While the EasyBox 904 xDSL has a couple of unique and tempting features, it's also very 'special' to work with, which makes it hard to support and even harder to support well or even just properly. If you want to save yourself a lot of grey hair, do yourself a favour and get an easier and better supported device instead - e.g. the https://openwrt.org/toh/bt/homehub_v5a comes to mind, which sells for under 10 EUR plus shipping from the UK.

239

Thank you for taking the time to answer my questions. Well, I fought once with another stubborn router which initially worked with dd-wrt but then stopped to do so and now will not flash anything at all (even the recovery mode doesn't work anymore). But I gave up on it and because I'm not in a big need at the moment I'll leave that EasyBox 904 as it is - with its original firmware. If I change mind I'll poke you guys with a message here.
Thanks again, keep flashin' your routers and stay safe :wink:

240

Today I uploaded a snapshot from April 28th with stable kernel 4.19.108.

So far I have only dealt with building the image and tested wifi.
Do not use luci wireless configuration or the wifi config break.
All wifi settings must be made in the command line with vi, first the default wifi password.

Use wifi up | down

WPA2 + AES is set as encryption

Wifi is switched on when the box is started in the rc.local. Whether the wifi is active can be tested with a mobile phone, SSID "easybox".

241

I installed the April 28th snapshot (SMP kernel).

Wifi and DSL works (I use a netgear firmware image). Issues:

  1. The speed on my DSL line (100 Mbit) is consitently 80Mbit.
    I got up to 100Mbit with the image I used before (Linked from https://github.com/Quallenauge/Easybox-904-XDSL --> Downloaded from --> https://app.box.com/s/hvqg535dnubt4r2ontpmtodpvt6ydf00/folder/86105189471 The Snapshot from 31.08.2019)

  2. opkg is unable to update. I get error messages like "*** Failed to download the package list from file:///opt/repo_owrt/ss20200424.201404b4/packages/mips_24kc/luci/Packages.gz"
    Is there no opkg path to the repos defined?

Anyway: Thank you for uploading current snap shots! Just like suppenkasper0815 mentioned, I also want to test Wireguard on this Easybox.

242

Hello lokomotivfuehrer,

thanks for the feedback.

Please remember it is not a release rather a snapshot from the development tree.
Have the 80 Mbit been carried out with different tests, at different times,
carried out on different servers?
Maybe a search for your provider and the tuning in the settings can help.

The settings can be found under "Network"> "DSL".
At 100 Mbit I assume that you have VDSL and Annex J.

I think you ran opkg in the commandline.
opkg seems to be looking for the path to the packages on the box.

I changed the file customfeeds.conf to the paths on the web where the images are located.
The file is now there too and wireguard can also be found there.
Download the file and exchange it against /etc/opkg/customfeeds.conf.

Unfortunately I can not test it myself, I would have to reconfigure too much.

An easier way is to install the packages is with luci under "System"> "Software"> "Upload Package".
If the packages are on the local hard drive.

243

Thank you for that fast reply!

  1. It says Annex B. Even when I change it to 'j' in /etc/config/network
    But it was also Annex B with the old version of openwrt.

  2. Yes I ran from the command line. Your opkg points to mediafire. When I put it in the location, it updates the sources from mediafire but does not receive the "Packages" file but a website. The sources are thus filled with something else. Are there no official sources for this CPU?
    Update: I will try these: https://downloads.openwrt.org/snapshots/packages/mips_24kc/