Support for ZTE MF286D

For Developers
1

Hi

Would there be any support/planned development going forward for the ZTE MF286D? I believe this is qualcomm based unit (stand to be corrected mind you) but also is at a relatively cheap price point for an LTE Cat12 device compared to other offerings from other vendors (who are charging sometimes double if not more for similar capability hardware).
The factory installed firmware on the unit is very poor and feature sparse and as a user of OpenWRT over the years it would be great to see it implemented on this device.

1 Like
2

Open it up, and make sure.
If the device is sold in US, there should be photos on the fccid.io site.

Specific device support is usually added/contributed by the device owner(s).

3

See https://github.com/CHKDSK88/openwrt-1/tree/zte_mf286d . Not fully supported yet, problem with leds etc.

4

I’ve done a bit more research since posting, came across a WIP :sunglasses:

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5

Half way there :slight_smile:

6

It's ready:

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7

I compiled a custom image with USB-storage and vfat kernel modules and nand-utils for easier backing up of the NAND-partitions. I also included luci and luci-proto-modemmanager there. I downloaded the image to RAM over TFTP, booted from there, just so I could test that the LTE-connection and everything works before I mess with the flash; sure enough, after a brief test I couldn't find anything to complain about and the LTE-connection performed admirably.

I'll have to give it a proper shake tomorrow, but so far all looks good to me.

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8

If you look at one of the available zte framework updates, it has openwrt images inside:

Capture

9

What about it? The router originally runs a ZTE-customized version of Chaos Calmer, but why do you believe that matters?

10

To find the magic to trick the web interface into loading openwrt via firmware update instead of having to open the unit and flash via tftp.

The mf283+ enters tftp recovery mode by holding WPS and reset while powering on: https://gitce.net/mirrors/openwrt/commit/59d065c9f81c4d1a89464d071134a50529449f34

I'm going to see if the same applies for the mf286d

11

Anyone else seeing something akin to the following in their logs and the LTE-connection ceasing to work?
Thu Apr 21 02:15:46 2022 daemon.debug [2104]: transaction 0xb aborted, but message is not abortable

I've only been playing with the modem for a couple of days randomly, so I haven't yet figured out any pattern. A full reboot seems to be the only fix for getting it back up again.

12

Hello,
any chance to flash this on a ZTE MF289D ?

13

You might have more luck, by trying to load initramfs image from MF289F and seeing what happens, but given ZTE's "great" naming tradition, this might be entirely different hardware.

14

This topic was intended for adding support for this specific device.
Since official 22.03 images are available now, I will set a timer for this topic to close.

Please open new topics for any open issues with this device.

Thanks! :slight_smile:

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15

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