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Topic: Is there any development board for OpenWRT?

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Dear all,

Every once a while someone would ask how to unbrick their routers after unsuccessful flashing, and most answers point to soldering a RS232 port onto the router or some advanced hardware hacking skills.

I am just wondering if I can find a development board (that has all the needed component such as RS232 port) for coding and testing the OpenWRT code?  If so, people will not need to go through all the hassle again just to unbrick the router.

Can someone please give me some pointers?

Thanks very much in advance.

Regards,

Robert

RouterStation Pro has a DB9 connector, though you'll need to buy a null modem cable. Much easier than soldering a custom cable for sure.

Netgear WNDR3700 has a 4pin header for serial console already on the board as well. Just pop the case open and go to town.

Both boards have excellent OpenWrt support. I use a WNDR3700 for OpenWrt development because, aside from messing with the bootloader, it's basically unbrickable.

(Last edited by aport on 31 Aug 2010, 22:17)

I've been selling an OpenWrt-capable device called the Bifferboard since January.  Your 'dev-kit' would involve purchasing the board (choose single or dual-USB version), a PSU and the 'console' cable, which is just a USB-serial converter with the right connector on the end.  There is no soldering or warranty invalidation required if you want to 'hack' the device, since it's supplied with pin-headers already fitted.  We also sell JTAG software for you to restore the bootloader, but not many need that.

Note:  As supplied this is not a router, since it only has a single NIC, but you can add a USB nic if needed.

See http://www.bifferos.com and follow the 'buy' link if interested.

regards,
Biff.

Depends what/how much you want to do with it.

The Routerstation Pro really is a good choice for playing around; it has a fast CPU, plenty of RAM, nice amount of flash and a SD card slot, USB, several GPIOs, JTAG, a DB9 connector (although IIRC you do not need a null modem cable, but a non crossed cable - null modem won't work), gigabit ethernet, a powerful switch chip for experimenting with VLANs.

Plenty of RAM is especially nice since it allows you to tftp boot larger ramdisk images, for e.g. quick testing stuff.

What it doesn't have is WLAN, an enclosure, or a power brick - you have to buy these separate (WLAN is optional). Also, the support by Ubiquiti isn't the best (Better don't expect any from them). But there's of course the Openwrt community.

If you just want to tests some builds without extensive setups, the Bifferboard is the cheaper solution. And it looks like you get much better support by the manufacturer ;-).

KM

robertchanlist wrote:

Every once a while someone would ask how to unbrick their routers after unsuccessful flashing, and most answers point to soldering a RS232 port onto the router or some advanced hardware hacking skills.

Most supported routers/devices come with a built-in serial-console port. To access/connect this serial-console port (3.3V) from a computer, one usually uses a USB/Serial data cable from any cellphone. The most common one is the nokia DKU-5 USB/Serial data cable.

I am just wondering if I can find a development board (that has all the needed component such as RS232 port) for coding and testing the OpenWRT code?

As suggested above, I believe a RouterStation Pro board (US$79 sans WiFi, PSU, and enclosure) is what you are looking for. You will probably end up spending US$100+ to get everything to work with OpenWRT.

For me, a Seagate DockStar (US$39.99 as a whole with PSU) that is now supported under OpenWRT is more than sufficient to develop applications for OpenWRT. Unlike a RouterStation Pro board, this device is based on an ARM chipset clocked @1.2GHz with 128/256MB RAM/NAND (Flash), 1x mini USB2 + 3x regular USB2 ports, and 1x 10/100/1000 RJ45 port. One can connect a USB IP / WiFi / 3G modem dongle to one of its USB ports to turn this device into a NAT/Firewall (3G) WiFi router. If you choose to go with this device, perhaps the posts on HOWTO: install OpenWrt on Seagate Dockstar and Adding Seagate Dockstar to Kirkwood may be of interest for you to read. If you want to turn this device into an inexpensive PBX system, perhaps posts on this Own a FreeSwitch on a Seagate DockStar for $24.99 may help. BTW, if you lurk around, you may even be able to get this device for as little as US$24.99 or even under US$20. Nah, that is an offer one just can't resist! wink

KanjiMonster wrote:

If you just want to tests some builds without extensive setups, the Bifferboard is the cheaper solution. And it looks like you get much better support by the manufacturer ;-).
KM

Well, we try :-).

Concerning Mazi's mention of the Dockstar, it's a very nice bit of kit and cheap, but I think the reason for the OP is that he doesn't want to muck about with DIY, e.g. you can either do all this, or you can just buy this.

regards,
Biff.

bifferos wrote:

you can either do all this

I know some friends have implemented this nice approach.

you can just buy this

AFAIK, the pins on a DockStar serial-console port are thinner than the regular/standard serial-console pins found on most routers supported by OpenWRT. So, this approach won't work and the pins hearder must be replaced.

Thanks so very much for all the suggestions and even detailed analyses of all the options I have.  I appreciate them very much.

So after a brief research on RouterStation Pro and Bifferboard, I found that the former is based on Atheros architecture while the latter is on Intel.  I suppose the code (firmware) written for one architecture will not be able to run on the other?  With OpenWRT, how hard would it be to switch one platform from another (I think OpenWRT is modular in terms of architecture, right?) assuming I use the same Wi-fi module (e.g. Atheros AR7K) on both platform?

Sorry if I used any incorrect wording in my questions.  I am not very familar with hardware stuff, and am learning hard to get my hands dirty.

Regards,

Robert

robertchanlist wrote:

So after a brief research on RouterStation Pro and Bifferboard, I found that the former is based on Atheros architecture while the latter is on Intel.  I suppose the code (firmware) written for one architecture will not be able to run on the other?

Yes and no. On the source level the Linux kernel contains only a small part of architecture specific code; most of it is architecture independent. The same goes for the c library. On the binary level they are of course incompatible (different instruction sets, and different endianess).

robertchanlist wrote:

With OpenWRT, how hard would it be to switch one platform from another (I think OpenWRT is modular in terms of architecture, right?) assuming I use the same Wi-fi module (e.g. Atheros AR7K) on both platform?

It should be doable with some few commands (iirc there are scripts for quickly switching between several targets and keeping the environment).

As long as you do higher level kernel hacking (so no target specific stuff), or working on userspace applications, there should be no problems/differences, although you always might stumble on a bug in e.g. uClibc that is only present on one architecture.

KM

mazilo wrote:
bifferos wrote:

you can either do all this

I know some friends have implemented this nice approach.

you can just buy this

AFAIK, the pins on a DockStar serial-console port are thinner than the regular/standard serial-console pins found on most routers supported by OpenWRT. So, this approach won't work and the pins hearder must be replaced.

I think you misunderstood.  I wasn't suggesting to use my serial cable with the Dockstar, simply indicating that the Bifferboard is a better solution if an off-the-shelf development system is absolutely required, e.g. Bifferboard + our serial cable instead of Dockstar + Some hacking.

If someone wants to start selling pre-modded Dockstars, or even kits that make this easier, then that might change things, of course.

regards,
Biff.

Hi all,

Thanks very much for the suggestions. I have decided to give RouterStation Pro a try to build my own dream OpenWRT.

Can anyone please further help me to select a mini-PCI card/module to go with it (obviously OpenWRT compatability is my first concern)?  I am looking for 802.11N capability and something relatively low-cost (around $20 to $30, therefore the SR71-A is out of my budget).

Any opionions will be highly appreciated.  Thanks.

Regards,

Robert

i don't know how resourceful you are but I went down to our local friendly computor store got and got a free atheros 11a/b/ mini pci card c/w coax and antenna for free from a laptop.
They had them in a junk box...I also got a bunch of Broadcom wifi cards but the atheros one works the best.

john

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