Hello everyone, i have a TL-WR1043ND V1 that had problems with the power section and stopped working. I took the whole power section out by desoldering every component. Now i'm running it with a dc-dc converter injecting 3.3v in the 3v3 test point. Wifi works, but ethernet switch doesn't. I can't figure out why the rtl8366rb at first estabilish a link when i plug the cable, but then suddenly drops it.

I know that few people here tried to run a router this way, but this can be useful to quickly revive a router with a faulty power section. Suggestions are welcome!

(Last edited by arny91 on 14 Jan 2016, 11:00)

3.3V is just one voltage, which gets generated. There are usually also 12V (not sure if that is just raw input voltage or regulated), 5V and 1.8V. If you have ripped off all voltage converter parts, then you need to provide those voltages yourself for proper operation.

Hello and tnx for the reply MBS. 12V is just the starting point, nothing on the board uses that voltage. 1.8v is converted from 3.3v by an EH13A (AMS1117) regulator, and 2.6v for the ram are converted, always from 3.3v, with a 8850-BEHA. As you can see from the pic, i didn't remove the regulators. Other voltages are converted somehow and are present on the board (except the 5v for the usb power). The RTL8366RB uses both 1.8v and 3.3v, seems like the former is not present on it. This evening i tried to remove the smd components surrounding the EH13A, didn't get anything but lost the wifi. It worked again by soldering back c562, c568 and l46. That's all for now.

I was wondering: is it possible to bypass the switch and wire the cpu ethernet lanes directly to the transformer of the wan port?

I correct myself, from the RTL8366SR datasheet (the chip is actually a RTL8366RB, but it should be the same). page 81:

DVDDIO, AVDDH, and SVDDH Supply Referenced to DGND, AGND and SGND: Min GND-0.3 Max +3.63 V
DVDDL, AVDDL, SVDDL, and PLLVDDL Supply Referenced to DGND, AGND, SGND, and PLLGND Min GND-0.3 Max +1.32 V
SVDDT Supply Reference to SGND Min GND-0.3 Max +1.65 V (serdes is for fiber and not used on this device, please correct if i'm wrong)
Digital Input Voltage Min GND-0.3 Max VDDIO+0.3 V

It doesn't use 1.8v!

I measure 1,18v on the pin 1 (avddl) and 3.3v on pin 2 (avddh). So it seems that both low and high voltages are present and in the range. Can't understand why the port led turns on, but there's no dialog with any device.

References:

http://hands.com/~lkcl/eoma/router/rtl8 … 071022.pdf

pages 21, 46, 81.