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Topic: a special 703n clone: GL-iNet (more storage and internal serial pins)

The content of this topic has been archived between 20 Jun 2017 and 19 Apr 2018. There are no obvious gaps in this topic, but there may still be some posts missing at the end.

http://www.gl-inet.com/

similiar as tp-link wr720n, with 2 eth ports, 58x58x22mm,
but with 8M flash and 64M RAM, and internal serial console pins.

GL.iNet is designed especially for OpenWrt. The PCB board has 5 GPIOs, 2 LEDs, 1 button. The biggest advantage is that we have serial connector soldered on board.  Now you need not to worry about bricking your router when DIY.

(Last edited by atioioio on 7 Dec 2013, 16:28)

Looks interesting.  Where is it available and for how much?

On this router, is the problem fixed that the WR703N has with usb-to-serial connections hanging?

$25 for the power supply, $70 for the device.  Pass.

i'm not sure why it's so expensive there.

in china it's very cheap, about 119  Yuan(~20 US dollars).  similiar as 703n.
include a router and a usb power line,  not include power supply.
i find it just sold on www.taobao.com(china's ebay like web site)

to:lizby
i have no knowledge abou the 703n usb2serial hung problem.
i've just order a gl.inet. i'll try to find that if i can.
i'm interest in intergrate a internal rs232-ttl circuit, make it just like a real cisco router console.

(Last edited by atioioio on 8 Dec 2013, 02:16)

lizby wrote:

$25 for the power supply, $70 for the device.  Pass.


I bought it for $26 free shiping...  from the link in my previous post.
I realy hope that its not a powersupply that i have bought.

rullbandspelare wrote:
lizby wrote:

$25 for the power supply, $70 for the device.  Pass.


I bought it for $26 free shiping...  from the link in my previous post.
I realy hope that its not a powersupply that i have bought.

$26 is a reasonable price, a few cheaper than in china.
i think it's just the bad translation confsed us: "Gl-inet glinet mini wireless router wireless 703n power supply"
it should be "router with free power supply ", as the original package has no power supply.
but i think the power supply is for use in china, 220v 50hz.
PunBB bbcode test
and someone to buy it should comfirm with the shopman.

(Last edited by atioioio on 8 Dec 2013, 16:24)

It seems like the included a us powersupply instead of only the router, so the package contains the psu+router. Not the best title you coul have chosen for your device.
(I asked someone that can read chinese to check it out).

OK, FriedZombie, thanks for getting the Chinese-reader to confirm that it's not just the power supply.  The photos seem to confirm that also.

So, looks good and I ordered one.

The usb serial failure problem for the WR703N is discussed here:
https://forum.openwrt.org/viewtopic.php … 56&p=4

Next question:  does anyone know if the GPIO pins which are brought out (18,19,20,21,22) correspond to any of the chip-supported devices--I2C or Uart2--or would those features have to be bit-banged?

(Last edited by lizby on 8 Dec 2013, 22:36)

According to Squonk's reverse engineering of the Atheros AR9331-AL1A pinouts, documented here -- http://wiki.openwrt.org/toh/tp-link/tl- … 331_pinout -- GPIO's 18-22 have the following functions:

gpio18 I2S_CK, SLIC_CLK
gpio19 I2S_WS, SLIC_FS_OUT
gpio20 I2S_SO, SLIC_FS_IN
gpio21 I2S_MCK, SLIC_DATA_OUT
gpio22 I2S_MICIN, SLIC_DATA_IN

So it looks like i2c or an additional serial port would have to be bit-banged.

According to the "buy" page on website for this device: http://www.gl-inet.com/w/?page_id=285&lang=en it is available via Ebay worldwide and restricted to the U.S.A. market via Amazon:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/321319943626
http://www.amazon.com/Lastin-Garden-con … m_sbs_pc_3

Both pages list the price as $19.99, with Ebay's shipping @ $5.00, and the Amazon fee waved on orders over $35.00.

With many of these clones and cheap Chinese electronic devices, it's rare to see a web page/product support, or even a brand name.

The Ebay page states that it ships with "USB wire, without power supply."  I believe it to be USB Micro socket for the charging port.  There is, of course, a USB "A" female/socket/receptacle for tethering/reverse tethering/USB Mass Storage/webcam, etc.  It's nice that it has TWO RJ-45 ethernet ports, over the TP-Link TL-WR703N's one.

One concern for USB and tethering is the ability to pass the proper current to a smartphone, to, at least, keep the battery voltage level.  It's probably on the USB 2.0 standard, so that would raise doubts.

I've contacted the selller via Ebay.  It seems that it ships with an OpenWRT installation.  The Ebay page had it with 802.11a, but it does not, so the seller's agent corrected that.  When I last looked, the Amazon page claimed it has ye ole' 5Ghz capability...

Back to the GPIO & tech discussion!

(Last edited by Elludium_Q-36 on 13 Feb 2014, 16:22)

I placed an order for one of these on aliexpress when it was first said to be available.  After about 3 weeks, aliexpress cancelled the order, citing questions about the seller's practices. 

Ordered now from ebay.  Hope it works this time.  2 left.

Wonder if the openWrt installed on it has the usb timeout patch?

(Last edited by lizby on 13 Feb 2014, 19:46)

I have one.  I went for the one with 16M of flash; model: 6416.
Here's a picture of the PCB, from e-bay:
GL-iNet PCB
http://i.ebayimg.com/00/s/Njk0WDY2Ng==/ … pC/$_3.JPG

It looks like the serial connector, internal to the case, is a 3 pin header.

Does anyone know how to crack the case?  I can't see of feel screw recess holes, below the info label, on the back, and even peeled back the corners of the glossy paper label.

It seems that OpenWRT installs SUBORDINATE to their firmware.  With the WebGUI UI, it can be confusing, to get back to OpenWRT, after clicking one of their stock firmware links.

It comes with a DDNS that goes back to their website.  I don't care for that and do not see a way to change that.

Also, from the e-bay description: "Automatic firmware update".  I don't like that either, and saw no way to change that.

In failsafe mode , 3 GUI screens are available, cross linked to each other with URI/URLs.  You can graphically upload/upgrade: firmware, U-Boot (bootloader), and ART (Atheros Radio Test).

I'd rather have a pure OpenWRT install.  How much work would that be?  I'm assuming I'd need another U-Boot image...

The case can easily be pried open with a sharp knife and a small flat screwdriver--the top comes off.  It just snaps together, no screws.  I carved a notch in the side with a penknife to bring out a cable from the serial connectors. 

I haven't tried it, but can you not ssh in after you've set a password, wget an openwrt image, and flash it with "sysupgrade -v"?  I don't know how that would handle the wan port.  Or you could build your own.  Try "opkg list_installed" to see what packages are on the system as is.

The installed image would not seem to have the fix for the usb serial lockup: "BARRIER BREAKER (Bleeding Edge, r38451)"

It looks like the price is raising with the demand;)

It was first listed @ $19.99 + $5 shipping, then $19.99 + $6 shipping, now $22.99 + $6 shipping...

Can someone confirm that is has 8 MB Flash + 64 MB SDRAM and/or post more pictures from the PCB (hires top/bottom), box, enclosures with a 703 to compare against?

I'll try to order one, but does someone has another source for it?

Here is the result of running "free" on mine. 

             total         used         free       shared      buffers
Mem:         61548        32060        29488            0         4108
-/+ buffers:              27952        33596
Swap:            0            0            0

(Last edited by lizby on 18 Mar 2014, 02:08)

lizby wrote:

Here is the result of running "free" on mine. 

             total         used         free       shared      buffers
Mem:         61548        32060        29488            0         4108
-/+ buffers:              27952        33596
Swap:            0            0            0

64 MB wink

Now "df" or "cat /proc/mtd" to find out how much Flash you got...

I hadn't provided "df" because it didn't seem informative to me:

df
Filesystem           1K-blocks      Used Available Use% Mounted on
rootfs                     704       524       180  74% /
/dev/root                 6400      6400         0 100% /rom
tmpfs                    30772       240     30532   1% /tmp
/dev/mtdblock3             704       524       180  74% /overlay
overlayfs:/overlay         704       524       180  74% /
tmpfs                      512         0       512   0% /dev

"cat /proc/mtd" is better.

dev:    size   erasesize  name
mtd0: 00020000 00010000 "u-boot"
mtd1: 000f9344 00010000 "kernel"
mtd2: 006d6cbc 00010000 "rootfs"
mtd3: 000b0000 00010000 "rootfs_data"
mtd4: 00010000 00010000 "art"
mtd5: 007d0000 00010000 "firmware"

"firmware" at 7d0000 equals 8192000 bytes.

I've ordered one of the ones said to be 16MB--from Amazon--but it's up to $30 now.

(Now I see that for "df", rom at 6400 may mean 64000k bits, or 8MB--is that correct?)

(Last edited by lizby on 18 Mar 2014, 13:46)

The Amazon one only have 8M, not 16M

lizby wrote:

I hadn't provided "df" because it didn't seem informative to me:

df
Filesystem           1K-blocks      Used Available Use% Mounted on
rootfs                     704       524       180  74% /
/dev/root                 6400      6400         0 100% /rom
tmpfs                    30772       240     30532   1% /tmp
/dev/mtdblock3             704       524       180  74% /overlay
overlayfs:/overlay         704       524       180  74% /
tmpfs                      512         0       512   0% /dev

"cat /proc/mtd" is better.

dev:    size   erasesize  name
mtd0: 00020000 00010000 "u-boot"
mtd1: 000f9344 00010000 "kernel"
mtd2: 006d6cbc 00010000 "rootfs"
mtd3: 000b0000 00010000 "rootfs_data"
mtd4: 00010000 00010000 "art"
mtd5: 007d0000 00010000 "firmware"

"firmware" at 7d0000 equals 8192000 bytes.

I've ordered one of the ones said to be 16MB--from Amazon--but it's up to $30 now.

(Now I see that for "df", rom at 6400 may mean 64000k bits, or 8MB--is that correct?)

The usb problem is fixed in the newest firmware. Still r38451 but usb patch added.

lizby wrote:

The case can easily be pried open with a sharp knife and a small flat screwdriver--the top comes off.  It just snaps together, no screws.  I carved a notch in the side with a penknife to bring out a cable from the serial connectors. 

I haven't tried it, but can you not ssh in after you've set a password, wget an openwrt image, and flash it with "sysupgrade -v"?  I don't know how that would handle the wan port.  Or you could build your own.  Try "opkg list_installed" to see what packages are on the system as is.

The installed image would not seem to have the fix for the usb serial lockup: "BARRIER BREAKER (Bleeding Edge, r38451)"

Yeah,

Elludium_Q-36: 11 wrote:

With many of these clones and cheap Chinese electronic devices, it's rare to see a web page/product support, or even a brand name.
Elludium_Q-36: Thread Post #11

It's a rare thing for a "clone", but these devices have model numbers.

Elludium_Q-36: 13 wrote:

I went for the one with 16M of flash; model: 6416.
Elludium_Q-36: Thread Post 13

Well, there's that well known quote:

Trust, but verify.

I would think that the model number signifies what chips, PCB options and firmware/U-Boot are shipped.  But maybe that's conventional wisdom, in a brave new world.

Perhaps there will be models shipped with an external antenna.  Or, instead of a resistor that needs to be scraped off, they could put a subminiature coaxial switch/connector, like the Hirose MS-156.

Thanks lizby, I'll pry open my case, when I've had less caffeine.

I had accidentally bridged my RNDIS USB interface, which presents as an eth(x), to my lan eth(x).  The seller is very hands on and sent me the firmware.  I have it back up, AND made a firmware backup.

The real problem I have is with the RNDIS connection.  It's not very stable.  OpenWRT has a USB RNDIS package, and I was able to get it shipped, preloaded, for a good price.  However, it keeps rapidly connecting/reconnecting, but no data is passed.  I have a stable connection on my Ubuntu Linux box, but need an upstream ethernet connection.

Of course the REAL problem with RNDIS is MICROSOFT.  It's NOT a CDC compliant protocol, and not very clearly defined, from what I read.  If course, drinkers of the Kool-Aid, follow their recommendations and buy all their products.  I just got this old smart phone because it would go on my carrier, and thought it would be much easier to flash to Android...

I set a SSH password.  At some point, I'll put it it failsafe, and see if I can connect...

Has anybody tried a pure OpenWRT install, WITHOUT the manufacturer's U-Boot, branding, DDNS, Automatic Firmware Upgrade, etcetera?

Let's see...

My model# 6416 has 64M of Ram and 16M of flash.

Looks like the model# 6408 has 64M of Ram and 08M of flash.

Anyone else see a pattern here?

The e-bay model numbers are just 4 numeric digits, but the one I see on Amazon is the: 6408A-N2.

I think it's safe to assume that the first two digits from the left represent the Ram capacity and the next two are for the flash.  Of course, it could just be an incredible coincidence...

I asked the Amazon seller if what he was selling was the 16mb flash version.  He replied that he had contacted the manufacturer, and it was.  I'll see what I get.

(Last edited by lizby on 19 Mar 2014, 01:56)