I asked for and obtained a 1043 whitebox from SamKnows. It has arrived dead, no sys or qss led flashing, only lan switching is working.

I contacted community support and they told me that sh!t happens and they are sending me another unit (I can provide email ticket number if someones think I'm faking).

I have tried to solder the serial connection to play a bit with the unit but even that doesn't work. The cable is ok, it works with other TTL connections. (P.S: I am not supposed to use +3V too, correct?)

Is there anything I could try or should I simply recycle it in the dust bin?

JTAG would still be an option to see if the SoC is still responding. Or checking voltages on the different test points (their name indicates the voltage to expect).

I just completed soldering a FTDI TTL3.3 usb rs232 cable onto my nd1043 and finally got into the autoboot command line.
This was after bricking with operwrt (my own build which was obviously a mistake on my part).

Do you have all leds flashing on and off after power up?

Any guide about that? I really don't know which voltages and which points.

Do you apply 3.3V too to the soldering points or just the rx,tx,gnd?

Only a small blink from the 1,2,3,4.

TP3V3 should provide 3,3 V, TP1V8 should provide 1,8 V. The same system for the other ones.
Serial link just needs to be connected to TX, RX and GND.

I connected the 3.3v also but that may have been a mistake.  When I power the router down, it stays powered up by the serial usb ttl.   

I guess I should disconnect the 3.3v line ! 

Yup, just tried it - serial still works nice.

(Last edited by red6 on 6 Feb 2012, 22:00)

From all the posts I read, I suppose my router is now a fancy footstep.

This morning I have tested the voltage points and they are correct. Can't understand why serial interface is not working.

Are there any other soldering points I could use to get TTL rx and tx? For GND there is another spot I've already found (TP_GND).

If voltages are all fine, I guess the SoC or flash is dead. JTAG would probably help to analyze that.

I am trying to resolder the headers of the serial ports. The previous attempt was a "surface" mounting as the holes are smaller than the diameter of the headers I own and the pits are filled with soldering metal. Is there a way to make a passthru montage that doesn't destroy the board?

I soldered some wires to the pcb, which are then soldered to my desired pinheader. Works fine for me.