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--- projects:routers:tp-link:tl-wr703n [2015/10/05 00:11] – [Increase flash memory] admin
+++ projects:routers:tp-link:tl-wr703n [2024/09/04 23:12] (current) – [Information and links] admin
@@ Line 2: / Line 2: @@
   * Version 1.6
+This page has some information how to upgrade the ram and flash memory of a TP-LINK TL-WR703N router.
 ==== Initial installation ====
 Installed via web menu (default username and password are: admin), (following [[http://wiki.xinchejian.com/wiki/Install_OpenWRT_on_TPlink_WR703N|this advise]]): [[http://downloads.openwrt.org/snapshots/trunk/ar71xx/openwrt-ar71xx-generic-tl-wr703n-v1-squashfs-factory.bin]], wait at least 5 minutes for this to complete.\\
@@ Line 22: / Line 23: @@
   mtd write openwrt-ar71xx-generic-tl-wr703n-v1-squashfs-sysupgrade.bin firmware
   reboot
-After the reboot all your settings are gone, so repeat steps from above: connect with telnet, set password, and change ip address.\\ Check logread for the system messages:
+After the reboot all your settings are gone, so repeat steps from above: connect with telnet, set password, and change ip address.\\ Type logread to see system messages:
 <hidden><code bash>
 root@OpenWrt:~# logread
@@ Line 146: / Line 147: @@
 ==== Increase ram memory ====
 The original ram memory chip (Zentel A3S56D40FTP-G5) has a size of 4MB. To verify this, the free command should give you roughly this amount. To get an exact value, use the following command:
-  dmesg | more
+  cat /proc/meminfo | grep MemTotal
-And find this hex number: 0x01000000, which is in decimal 4MB.\\ \\ Now remove power from the device and remove the original ram chip. I used an extremely thin sheet of metal which slides between the pads and the pins while heating them with the soldering iron. Remove extra tin with solder wick. Solder the new chip in location. The best method I found so far is to use a 0.4mm tip. While pressing from above with the soldering iron feed small amounts of tin to each pin. If accidentally too much tin has been supplied and there is a short circuit, remove the excessive tin with solder wick.\\ \\
+And find this hex number: 4096 kB, which is 4MB.\\ \\ Now remove power from the device and remove the original ram chip. I used an extremely thin sheet of metal which slides between the pads and the pins while heating them with the soldering iron. Remove extra tin with solder wick. Solder the new chip in location. The best method I found so far is to use a 0.4mm tip. While pressing from above with the soldering iron feed small amounts of tin to each pin. If accidentally too much tin has been supplied and there is a short circuit, remove the excessive tin with solder wick.\\ \\
-After upgrading the ram memory chip (Micron MT46V32M16P) it should be 16MB in total. The output from dmesg is 0x04000000 which is correctly 16MB.
+After upgrading the ram memory chip (Micron MT46V32M16P) it should be 16MB in total. The output from /proc/meminfo | grep MemTotal is now four times more, 16MB.
 ==== Increase flash memory ====
-Before removing the flash memory, first make a backup of the art partition and the u-boot partition. Once done, you can use the following script to build an image for the larger memory.
+Before removing the flash memory, first make a backup of the art partition and the u-boot partition. The art partition holds parameters for your wifi hardware. U-boot partition holds parameters for your Ethernet MAC address and hardware revision number.
+=== Backing up u-boot and art partitions ===
+Logon to your TL-WR703N with ssh and issue following commands:
+  cat /dev/mtd0 > /tmp/mtd0.0x00000000.backup_u-boot.bin
+  cat /dev/mtd4 > /tmp/mtd4.0x003f0000.backup_art.bin
+Then exit and copy the two files to your system with:
+  scp root@IPADDRESS:/tmp/mtd0.0x00000000.backup_u-boot.bin .
+  scp root@IPADDRESS:/tmp/mtd4.0x003f0000.backup_art.bin .
+While you are at it, also download the newest firmware from openwrt and u-boot which has better support for larger memory. See the script from below where to find these files.
+=== Removing the old flash chip ===
+Unsolder the 8-pin flash chip from the back of the board. Remove excessive solder with wick. Then search for your replacement chip:
+  * w25q128 (Which has 16MB instead of 4MB) See [[https://forum.openwrt.org/viewtopic.php?pid=183882#p183882|here]] for other references to this chip.
+=== Creating a flash binary for the new chip ===
+Once done, you can use the following script to build an image for the larger memory.
 <code bash>
 #!/bin/sh
@@ Line 194: / Line 210: @@
 exit
 fi
-#   Create a 16MB file with 0xff in it (OSX has problems with sed and null characters, so use perl instead):
 echo "This script creates an image ready to flash onto the TL-WR703N..."
+#   Create a 16MB file with 0xff in it (OSX has problems with sed and null characters, so use perl instead):
 echo "  1. creating an empty 16MB image filled with 0xFF..."
 rm $outf
@@ Line 220: / Line 236: @@
 </code>
-Electrically upgrading the flash memory requires to have a compatible chip. I planned to upgrade with this chip:
+=== Flashing with buspirate ===
-  * w25q128 (16MB instead of 4) See [[https://forum.openwrt.org/viewtopic.php?pid=183882#p183882|here]] for other references to this chip.
+Use your [[http://www.flashrom.org/Bus_Pirate|Bus Pirate]]. If the buspirate is accessible on /dev/ttyUSB0, use following command:
+  flashrom -p buspirate_spi:dev=/dev/ttyUSB0,pullups=on,spispeed=1M -w wr703n_image_16MB.bin
+If ttyUSB0 is not correct, find out with following command which device it should be:
+  dmesg | grep -A 4 Pirate | grep tty
-I try to program this chip before soldering it onto the board. For this I decided to use a JTAG interface. Many interfaces exist, I have two, an openmoko debug board v3 and a [[http://www.tiaowiki.com/w/TIAO_USB_Multi_Protocol_Adapter_User%27s_Manual|Tiao usb jtag interface]]. Both use a ftdi2232 interface chip, but from a different generation.
+=== Flashing with JTAG ===
+If you have no buspirate at hand, you can also flash via JTAG. You can use several different JTAG interfaces with flashrom. I tried it with two, an openmoko debug board v3 and a [[http://www.tiaowiki.com/w/TIAO_USB_Multi_Protocol_Adapter_User%27s_Manual|Tiao usb jtag interface]]. Both use a ftdi2232 interface chip, but from a different generation.
-For the system to recognize the interface please read more [[software:linux:jtag|here]]. To actually read from and write to the eeprom, use [[http://flashrom.org/FT2232SPI_Programmer|flashrom]] which depends on libftdi.
+For the system to recognize the interface please read more [[software:linux:jtag|here]]. To actually write to the eeprom, use [[http://flashrom.org/FT2232SPI_Programmer|flashrom]] which depends on libftdi.
-As an alternative to flash with flashrom -and probably easier to handle- is to use your [[http://dangerousprototypes.com/docs/Bus_Pirate|Bus Pirate]].
+==== Connecting after flashing ====
+After the chip has been soldered onto the board and powered on, connect with telnet:
+  telnet 192.168.1.1
+Then set a password for root:
+  passwd
+Now it is possible to connect with ssh:
+  ssh root@192.168.1.1
 ===== Network configurations =====
   * [[http://wiki.openwrt.org/doc/recipes/bridgedclient]] Bridged Client
@@ Line 278: / Line 305: @@
 </code>
 ===== Information and links =====
-  * [[http://squonk42.github.com/TL-WR703N/|Complete schematic diagram of the TL-WR703N]] Including circuit board layout
+  * [[https://squonk42.github.io/TL-WR703N/|Complete schematic diagram of the TL-WR703N]] Including circuit board layout
   * [[http://wiki.openwrt.org/toh/tp-link/tl-wr703n]] Main openwrt page about TL-WR703N
   * [[http://wiki.openwrt.org/doc/howto/clientmode]] Explanation with images of different client modes

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