Hi Squonk,
I managed to connect to my Hame A15 via telnet and I have the mtd_write utility.

Concerning RAM, i think it has 16MB; this is the result of "cat /proc/meminfo":

# cat /proc/meminfo
MemTotal:        13832 kB
MemFree:          1060 kB
Buffers:           844 kB
Cached:           4020 kB
SwapCached:          0 kB
Active:           5436 kB
Inactive:         1148 kB
SwapTotal:           0 kB
SwapFree:            0 kB
Dirty:               0 kB
Writeback:           0 kB
AnonPages:        1748 kB
Mapped:           1712 kB
Slab:             3768 kB
SReclaimable:      628 kB
SUnreclaim:       3140 kB
PageTables:        176 kB
NFS_Unstable:        0 kB
Bounce:              0 kB
CommitLimit:      6916 kB
Committed_AS:     3592 kB
VmallocTotal:  1048404 kB
VmallocUsed:      2176 kB
VmallocChunk:  1045200 kB

@cacodemon79
I do not have such device , but to go further please provide:
1. MDT structure cat /proc/mtd
2. Memory usage free
3. Loaded modules lsmod
4. Photos of PCB

TO DO FIRST THING: backup all MTD partitions, possibly with the method provided above.

To me, it looks like it is feasible, but I won't try without being ready to solder console wires!

Why are you reluctant to do this? Is it because you have zero soldering experience, no tools, no time?

For the first time working on a device, a crash is very common. Hopefully, most of the time, it can be debricked using either the console or an SPI Flash programming tools and a little more involved soldering. In the worst cases, JTAG access is required, especially if there is no SPI Flash device.

Let's suppose that it is possibile to install openwrt firmware on my Hame A15.

Before going on, I would like to know if after installing MPR-A1 openwrt trunk firmware on my A15, the 3G usb connection (and sharing) will work, because this is the main reason I'm using this 3G router with factory firmware.

Maybe of your interest:

@anton

Can you tak a look on your desoldered board and verify if pins B13 and B14 ar connected to any path at the second side of PCB ?

B = second row counting from the left top corner
13, 14 column counting from the left top corner

No, the I2C_SCLK and I2C_SD pads are not going anywhere: they have no connected via, so they don't go on any other layer

No I2C!

@bertc3p0: Many thanks!

Unfortunately, not many GPIOs are available

To complete @anton.rad research, here are my findings from the picture with the unsoldered RT5350:

• I confirm his GPIO8 and GPIO22-26

• his "???" is WLAN_LED_N, so not a GPIO

• the unmounted component above GPIO22 2x capacitors is LDOSEL, no GPIO

• the 2 horizontal resistors between GPIO23 and GPIO24 are TXD2/RXD2, aka the console, easier to reach on the console pads

• GPIO3-6 are used for the SPI Flash bus

• the only purpose of all these resistors is to provide the default bootstrap options to the CPU upon RESET (see datasheet section 1.4 for details)

• only Ethernet PHY port 0 is routed, port 1-4 are not routed

• Only 1 single RF antenna is routed, no diversity antenna

• USB is routed

• SDRAM is routed

• I2C is not routed

• JTAG is not fully routed: only GPIO17 (JTAG_TDO), GPIO20 (JTAG_TCLK) and GPIO21 (JTAG_TRST_N) are routed

• GPIO0 is routed

• From the picture, it is not possible to tell the purpose of GPIO0/17/20/21, but they are probably related to the button/LEDs, as the USB 5V DC/DC or Ethernet 1.8V DC/DC enable pins do not seem to be driven by any GPIO

help!

For those who would like to upgrade mini router with 32M RAM without soldering.

http://my-embedded.blogspot.com/2014/01/mini-usb-portable-3g4g-router-rt5350f.html

Many thanks for Martin4Android who make first trial and provide information.

@pratanczuk,

Thank you for your write-up.  In the update-from-ftp process, shouldn't the following line:

mtd_write write /tmp/firmware.img Kernel

actually be:

mtd_write write /tmp/mini.bin Kernel

Hi . I have got a new WiFi 3g router from Ebay. It"s own firmware was replaced by original Hame, but it works very bad. Tried to upgrade to OpenWRT (https://github.com/JiapengLi/OpenWrt-RT5350/blob/master/mpr-a1/mpr-a1-16m-luci-usb-mjpg.bin)
After wifi up it doesn"t work LUCI ( bad gateway)
My device has a EM63A165TS-5G EtronTech but it shows only 16 Mb ( this chip has 32 onboard)
here are photoes
http://4pda.ru/forum/dl/post/4075620/DSCF6084.JPG
http://4pda.ru/forum/dl/post/4075620/DSCF6084.JPG

and this is Log

Board: Ralink APSoC DRAM: 16 MB
relocate_code Pointer at: 80fb4000
******************************
Software System Reset Occurred
******************************
spi_wait_nsec: 42
spi device id: ef 40 16 0 0 (40160000)
find flash: W25Q32BV
raspi_read: from:30000 len:1000
.*** Warning - bad CRC, using default environment

============================================
Ralink UBoot Version: 3.6.0.0
--------------------------------------------
ASIC 5350_MP (Port5<->None)
DRAM_CONF_FROM: Boot-Strapping
DRAM_TYPE: SDRAM
DRAM_SIZE: 128 Mbits
DRAM_WIDTH: 16 bits
DRAM_TOTAL_WIDTH: 16 bits
TOTAL_MEMORY_SIZE: 16 MBytes
Flash component: SPI Flash
Date:Apr 11 2013 Time:00:10:51
============================================
icache: sets:256, ways:4, linesz:32 ,total:32768
dcache: sets:128, ways:4, linesz:32 ,total:16384

##### The CPU freq = 360 MHZ ####
estimate memory size =16 Mbytes

Could you explain me  why my device cannot see 32 Mb?
Thanks

(Last edited by xapuk on 25 Jan 2014, 14:48)

I get a 404 error when trying to access your pictures.

Could you post them somewhere else, please?

Are you sure that you have a 32MB SDRAM chip on board? Without the pictures, I can't tell.

Then, there is a bootstrap option to hardware the SDRAM size with 2 pull-up/down resistors that should be mounted correctly.

Don't expect Luci to work reliably with only 16MB RAM.

Ok Here are my pictures.
I know You- you  have released several patches to OpenWrt for hame mpr-A1 ))
I could not find any image of such mainboard , like in my router.
I am ready to do all you say, ready for all kinds of experiments, because I said GoodBye  to my router.
http://www.imageup.ru/img185/1638565/dscf6085.jpg
http://www.imageup.ru/img190/1638575/dscf6084.jpg
I am bad in soldering of such little things like smd resistors, but , if any I will try.
I am VERY weak in Linux, that is why OpenWRT only through HELP

On the RT5350F, the 2 bootstrap pins that determine the DRAM size are EPHY_LED2_N (GPIO#24, ball L4) and EPHY_LED3_N (GPIO#25, ball M1). The first one is at the 4th column, 4th row from the chip bottom left corner, the second one is at the 1st column, 3rd row from the same chip corner, so they are both located near the bottom left corner (or at least bottom) of the chip.

But your pictures are not good enough to see where the traces are going underneath the chip, try to take pictures  with bright natural light, a stand and focus on the chip bottom left corner.

But this will require very fine soldering, anyway!

Good, here are new pictures , better than previous:
http://imageup.ru/s1639014
http://imageup.ru/s1639015
http://imageup.ru/s1639018
http://imageup.ru/s1639019
http://imageup.ru/s1639025
http://imageup.ru/s1639026
http://imageup.ru/s1639035
http://imageup.ru/s1639036
http://imageup.ru/s1639041
Could you sign those resistors I need to moove? I have not changed memory module, it came from Ebay in  this condition you can see now.I have only killed original firmware ( it was like here http://www.dd-wrt.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?p=782470)
It works with original Hame firmware  but I have reconnect every 3-5 minutes if I use modem for Internet
And also it can work as repeater.
Ethernet port is inactivated ( activity was  signed only during firmware update via fttpd )
I understand my single way is OpenWRT , but first of all I need to discover my 32 Mb of memory onboard.
I think the last picture (http://imageup.ru/s1639041) is enough to choose resistors I need?

Unfortunately, I can't open the device (Hame A15 - http://www.hametech.com/html/product/view2-27-50.html) to take some photos of PCB. I can't find any point through which it's possible to open the device. It seems to be sealed.

Concerning the other information, this is the result:

- mtd_write utility is available

# cat /proc/meminfo
MemTotal:        13832 kB
MemFree:           872 kB
Buffers:           904 kB
Cached:           3696 kB
SwapCached:          0 kB
Active:           4620 kB
Inactive:         2100 kB
SwapTotal:           0 kB
SwapFree:            0 kB
Dirty:               0 kB
Writeback:           0 kB
AnonPages:        2148 kB
Mapped:           1704 kB
Slab:             3804 kB
SReclaimable:      608 kB
SUnreclaim:       3196 kB
PageTables:        188 kB
NFS_Unstable:        0 kB
Bounce:              0 kB
CommitLimit:      6916 kB
Committed_AS:     4064 kB
VmallocTotal:  1048404 kB
VmallocUsed:      2176 kB
VmallocChunk:  1045200 kB

# cat /proc/mtd
dev:    size   erasesize  name
mtd0: 00400000 00010000 "ALL"
mtd1: 00030000 00010000 "Bootloader"
mtd2: 00010000 00010000 "Config"
mtd3: 00010000 00010000 "Factory"
mtd4: 000c282a 00010000 "Kernel"
mtd5: 002ed7d6 00010000 "RootFS"
mtd6: 003b0000 00010000 "Kernel_RootFS"

# free
                   total          used          free       shared      buffers
Mem:        13832        12976          856                0           904
Swap:              0                0              0
Total:        13832        12976          856

# lsmod
Module                     Size  Used by    Tainted: P
usbserial               23776       6
rt2860v2_ap     1148144       0
ohci_hcd               13072        0
ehci_hcd               30256        0
ipheth                     6272       0

Any idea?

@pratanczuk, wanted to say thanks again for this. I received my 16MB version last night and had no issues getting openwrt running on it using your instructions.

Quick question regarding the firmware you provided.

Did you use the patch/instructions from here: https://github.com/JiapengLi/OpenWrt-RT5350?

Is the patch even needed anymore?

I see this post here: https://github.com/JiapengLi/OpenWrt-HiLink-HLK-RM04

@JiapengLi's uboot provided in your tutorial has a TFTP server recovery method correct? I thought I saw that somewhere last night.

Thanks

You should have used my link above to get a 32 MB version...

No it is already included in the BB trunk for months now.

Thanks for the reply. Yeah, I was a little too anxious and order before your post. Oh well, can't really complain too much about a $10 openwrt router.

Regarding my uboot TFTP recovery question, I found the below statement. I'm assuming the IP Addresses below is referring to the TFTP server/client addresses used for recovery. Can someone point me to the basic instructions for using TFTP recovery incase I mess up (which is fairly high odds). I'll search but figured I'll ask incase someone has it handy.

(Last edited by King0fK0ng on 7 Feb 2014, 19:25)

I have recently upgraded to OpenWRT with the FW from JiapengLi (https://github.com/JiapengLi/OpenWrt-RT5350) for 32MB version since my Hame A1-L8 has EtronTEch EM63A165 (32MB) module. Luci works without problems.
Now I try to add packages using opkg, but I get the error:

"Packages for XXXXX found, but incompatible with the architectures configured"

This is the content of /etc/opkg.conf
----------------------------------------------

src/gz barrier_breaker http://downloads.openwrt.org/snapshots/trunk/ramips/packages
dest root /
dest ram /tmp
lists_dir ext /var/opkg-lists
option overlay_root /overlay

This is the output for /proc/cpuinfo
-------------------------------------------
root@OpenWrt:~# cat /proc/cpuinfo
system type             : Ralink RT5350 id:1 rev:3
machine                 : HAME MPR-A1
processor               : 0
cpu model               : MIPS 24KEc V4.12
BogoMIPS                : 239.61
wait instruction        : yes
microsecond timers      : yes
tlb_entries             : 32
extra interrupt vector  : yes
hardware watchpoint     : yes, count: 4, address/irw mask: [0x0000, 0x02b0, 0x0e60, 0x0a00]
ASEs implemented        : mips16 dsp
shadow register sets    : 1
kscratch registers      : 0
core                    : 0
VCED exceptions         : not available
VCEI exceptions         : not available

I am trying to install usb-modeswitch which is not included in the fw package. I tried manually from http://downloads.openwrt.org/snapshots/trunk/ramips/packages/ with "tar xzvf", but when started usbmode it says:

"usbmode: can't resolve symbol 'blobmsg_add_json_from_file' in lib 'usbmode'."

Does it means I will need to build the usbmode by myself to make it work? I would like to avoid that.

Thanks.

(Last edited by marijan.matic on 9 Feb 2014, 00:36)

hi, I received yesterday the white one with 16 MB and used your howto to brick the device.

it starts (blinking red) and then stopps with simply red light

no DHCP, no ping, nothing

is TFTP debrick is available for this device?

(Last edited by gently on 14 Feb 2014, 14:02)

@gently

Nice to know that it can be used even for bricking

More serious, such led sequence means that you router probably is runing.
Have you set on PC ip (for example 192.168.100.1 ) and mask (255.255.255.0) correctly ?
Have you tried to telnet or ping to 192.168.100.1 ?

If it really stuck because of ..., look for solder, three wires and usb/uart adapter.

hey everybody,
would someone please help me,
I'm trying to connect through serial pins, in my HAME MPR A1, I used to cables, one with PL2302 and the other with CH341, none of them worked, they both show the same strange unreadable symbols, i tried different speeds and nothing!
i made sure the ground is well connected!
is there something I'm missing, or some mod i can do to make it work ?

In case anyone is curious. I've taken apart another tiny HAME product, the A3 (this is a plug-in version rather than battery powered). It shares some of the same chips:
SoC: Ralink RT5350F
Flash: Winbond 25Q32FVSIG (likely 4MB)
DRAM:ETrontech EM639165TS-6G (likely 16MB)

Here's a link to the teardown details and photos:
http://www.goodrobot.com/wiki/wiki:hamea3

Also created a separate thread in case anyone would like to discuss HAME A3 router further:
https://forum.openwrt.org/viewtopic.php?id=49229

Alan

(Last edited by GoodRobot on 26 Feb 2014, 15:29)