Debian/OpenWrt - built-in NAND flash - Promwad-ThinClient/Depo Sky A60/AK-Systems AK1100 and AK-systems IP-Plug

DO NOT FLASH OTHER DEVICES! This UBI only for specific NAND flash (Samsung NAND 1GiB 3,3V 8-bit, Manufacturer ID: 0xec, Chip ID: 0xd3)


1) Debian (rootfs via debootstrap, systemd logs in ram)
Link (images and howto)



2) OpenWRT with official OpenWRT kernel (kmod packages are working)
(official openwrt kernel config for kirkwood without HIGHMEM, therefore only 768Mb RAM visible)
Link (images and howto)



3) Original FW and sources (u-boot and kernel)
(debian 6 based with XFCE, root password: nosoup4u, user password: secret)
Link
mirrors: (1, 2)


Work/dont work:
+serial
+ethernet
+usb
+mini pci-e
+sound (and buzzer connected to sound codec) (in openwrt need custom kmods - you can use debian if you need sound)
+video (in openwrt need custom kmods + kernel patches - you can use debian if you need video)



_______________________________________________________________________________________________
Additional links:
My experience
topic in which we are working whit FDT (dtb/dts) (usb, pci-e,...)
topic with latest kirkwood kernel (you can use this kernel with this openwrt, but you will need unpack and put modules in the right folder, and sometimes there will be kmod dependency errors when installing packages (errors do not affect anything))





===========================================================================================
If you want to compile OpeWRT by yourself, there is an excellent instruction, very detailed and with a description of many nuances (but for make custom images need skills).
or,
if you dont have skills are satisfied with everything by default, we will create uImage and rootfs for our device based on firmware from similar device, like in this my article (from my web site):

https://debianlive.ru/2025/02/depo-sky-a60-ak-systems-ak1100-%d0%bd%d0%b0-openwrt-%d0%ba%d0%b0%d0%ba-%d0%bb%d0%b5%d0%bd%d0%b8%d0%b2%d0%b0%d1%8f-%d0%bd%d0%b5%d0%b4%d0%be%d1%81%d0%b1%d0%be%d1%80%d0%ba%d0%b0-%d1%81%d1%82%d0%b0/



Edited 60 time(s). Last edit at 10/07/2025 12:29PM by cmp18.

cmp18,

Do you have any instruction for people to do it on their own? or at least the log of how did you do it?

-bodhi
===========================
Forum Wiki
bodhi's corner (buy bodhi a beer)

cmp18,

Thanks for 'howto' and OpenWrt build!

Unfortunately i got ECC error in NAND blocks at mtd2 (rootfs):

[    1.582382] ubi0: attaching mtd2
[    1.585798] ecc_sw_hamming_correct: uncorrectable ECC error
[    1.591403] ubi0 warning: 0xc04c5004: error -74 (ECC error) while reading 64 bytes from PEB 0:0, read only 64 bytes, retry
[    1.602995] ecc_sw_hamming_correct: uncorrectable ECC error
[    1.608598] ubi0 warning: 0xc04c5004: error -74 (ECC error) while reading 64 bytes from PEB 0:0, read only 64 bytes, retry
[    1.619790] ecc_sw_hamming_correct: uncorrectable ECC error
[    1.625395] ubi0 warning: 0xc04c5004: error -74 (ECC error) while reading 64 bytes from PEB 0:0, read only 64 bytes, retry
[    1.636592] ecc_sw_hamming_correct: uncorrectable ECC error
[    1.642197] ubi0 error: 0xc04c503c: error -74 (ECC error) while reading 64 bytes from PEB 0:0, read 64 bytes

bad blocks table:

Marvell>> nand bad

Device 0 bad blocks:
  003a0000
  00600000
  067e0000
  08f00000
  0d0c0000
  14200000
  33e00000
  37860000
  39cc0000

log in attach


another one Thin Client is ordered)

bodhi,

I updated the first post.




MM,

badblocks are normal, even on new NAND there may be about 20 badblocks (and this is not a manufacturing defect).
badblocks in the rootfs (UBIFS) are not critical (UBIFS was specially made for NAND and knows how to work with badblocks). so don't worry about bad blocks in the rootfs.

But you have another problem - there are blocks in the kernel partition:
003a0000 (3801088) = at 3712 KiB (at 3,625 MiB)
00600000 (6291456) = at 6144 KiB (at 6 MiB)

This is critical, but it can also be fixed.
(by creating bad partition, like this:
0M-1M U-Boot
1M-10M badblocks
10M-20M kernel
20M-..M rootfs)


To do this, flash THIS device according to THESE instructions so that everything works:


connect to the u-boot console, and execute the commands:

setenv serverip 192.168.10.1; setenv ipaddr 192.168.10.10; nand erase.chip;

mw.b 0x06400000 00 0x100000
tftp 0x06400000 thinclient-u-boot.kwb
nand write 0x06400000 0x0 0x100000

tftp 0x06400000 uImage5.15.167-1
nand write.e 0x06400000 0xA00000 0xA00000

tftp 0x06400000 ow23.05.5.ubi
nand write.e 0x06400000 0x1400000 0xA00000

reset

(there will be a double start for setting default envs)


terminate boot, and enter the commands to u-boot console:

set x_bootcmd_kernel_rcvr; set x_bootargs_root_rcvr; set bootcmd_rcvr;

setenv serverip 192.168.10.1; setenv ipaddr 192.168.10.10;

set bootcmd 'setenv bootargs ${x_bootargs} ${x_bootargs_root}; run x_bootcmd_kernel; bootm 0x6400000;'

set x_bootargs console=ttyS0,115200 loglevel=9 mtdparts=orion_nand:1M(U-Boot),9M(badblocks),10M(uImage),-(ubipart) earlyprintk=serial

set x_bootargs_root ubi.mtd=3 ubi.block=0,rootfs root=/dev/ubiblock0_0

set x_bootcmd_kernel nand read.e 0x06400000 0xA00000 0xA00000

saveenv; reset;

Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 12/24/2024 04:35AM by cmp18.

cmp18,

thanks so much!

BusyBox v1.36.1 (2024-09-23 12:34:46 UTC) built-in shell (ash)

  _______                     ________        __
 |       |.-----.-----.-----.|  |  |  |.----.|  |_
 |   -   ||  _  |  -__|     ||  |  |  ||   _||   _|
 |_______||   __|_____|__|__||________||__|  |____|
          |__| W I R E L E S S   F R E E D O M
 -----------------------------------------------------
 OpenWrt 23.05.5, r24106-10cc5fcd00
 -----------------------------------------------------
root@OpenWrt:/#

+1 OpenWrt box is Up)



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/24/2024 12:02PM by MM.

MM

cool)

more about ecc errors: it also sometimes happens that ecc errors appear when partitions are partially overwritten from uboot (for example, only the kernel, or only rootfs), so, it would be good to erase full nand chip first before flashing anything from uboot (as written at the beginning of the instructions)

cmp18, great work!

I also successfully completed my device.
However, there is a question.
Is it possible to enable support for mini PCIe slot?

Now is no output in lspci and dmesg for pcie cards in lspci and dmesg.

Mikele25,

With promwad thin client everything depends on dtb. we are trying to make usb work in this topic. maybe, we also will fix pci-e.
however, several new dtbs have already been released after these openwrt builds, but I doubt that pci-e has worked with them.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/23/2025 02:01AM by cmp18.

cmp18

Thanks for answer.

Please more info about USB.

Quote
we are trying to make usb work in this topic

What did you mean by that?

In my device, after install kmod-usb and other fs modules, i can view usb flash, i.e sda1, and mount it.

This look as usb worked. Or no?

cmp18

Oh, i find in topic from your post, what problem with USB.
Confirm, i also viewed that power problem in dmesg log.

Mikele25,

yes, there is a problem with usb power - only low-power devices work (the power is controlled by the usb hub driver via the hub's i2c)

See the working thread for new DTBs.

https://forum.doozan.com/read.php?2,138540,138937#msg-138937

-bodhi
===========================
Forum Wiki
bodhi's corner (buy bodhi a beer)



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/23/2025 02:44PM by bodhi.

cmp18,

NAND params of IP-PLUG:

NAND device: Manufacturer ID: 0xec, Chip ID: 0xd3 (Samsung NAND 1GiB 3,3V 8-bit)
Scanning device for bad blocks
Bad eraseblock 2960 at 0x000017200000
Bad eraseblock 3222 at 0x0000192c0000
Bad eraseblock 3977 at 0x00001f120000
Bad eraseblock 4088 at 0x00001ff00000
Using static partition definition
Creating 4 MTD partitions on "nand_mtd":
0x000000000000-0x000000100000 : "u-boot"
0x000000100000-0x000000500000 : "uImage"
0x000000500000-0x000013100000 : "rootfs"
0x000013100000-0x000040000000 : "auxfs"
UBI: attaching mtd2 to ubi0
UBI: physical eraseblock size:   131072 bytes (128 KiB)
UBI: logical eraseblock size:    129024 bytes
UBI: smallest flash I/O unit:    2048
UBI: sub-page size:              512
UBI: VID header offset:          512 (aligned 512)
UBI: data offset:                2048
UBI: attached mtd2 to ubi0
UBI: MTD device name:            "rootfs"
UBI: MTD device size:            300 MiB
UBI: number of good PEBs:        2400
UBI: number of bad PEBs:         0
UBI: max. allowed volumes:       128
UBI: wear-leveling threshold:    4096
UBI: number of internal volumes: 1
UBI: number of user volumes:     1
UBI: available PEBs:             0
UBI: total number of reserved PEBs: 2400
UBI: number of PEBs reserved for bad PEB handling: 24
UBI: max/mean erase counter: 3/1
UBI: image sequence number: 1823311101

it's the same Samsung chip

your build of OpenWrt working fine

IP-plug LE: no usb, no pcie => no problems)



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 02/01/2025 10:20AM by MM.

MM,

yes, you are right, manufacturer id/chip id/size are same, and block/page/subpage size information from stock output (from you post) same too.
(added this device model to the first post)



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/31/2025 09:08AM by cmp18.

does it have a luci web interface?

Vadim_Boev Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> does it have a luci web interface?


yes,
see howto

ps: thanks for the stock firmware and sources)

cmp18 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Vadim_Boev Wrote:
> -------------------------------------------------------
> > does it have a luci web interface?
>
>
> yes,
> see howto
>
> ps: thanks for the stock firmware and sources)
>

Wow, were you able to figure it out thanks to the source code that I posted?

tell me, what size USB flash drive is needed? 8 / 16 / 32 / 64 GB ?

> -------------------------------------------------------
> Vadim_Boev Wrote:
>
> -------------------------------------------------------

> Wow, were you able to figure it out thanks to the
> source code that I posted?

stock firmware and source code were useful for us for FDT (dtb/dts) created by bodhi in the other topic.
but this openwrt build is possible because the openwrt project supports soc kirkwood.

> tell me, what size USB flash drive is needed? 8 /
> 16 / 32 / 64 GB ?

USB flash drive is not required. openwrt is flashed into internal nand flash (1Gb)

debian added.
openwrt updated.

cmp18,

  _______                     ________        __
 |       |.-----.-----.-----.|  |  |  |.----.|  |_
 |   -   ||  _  |  -__|     ||  |  |  ||   _||   _|
 |_______||   __|_____|__|__||________||__|  |____|
          |__| W I R E L E S S   F R E E D O M
 -----------------------------------------------------
 OpenWrt 24.10.0, r28427-6df0e3d02a

a big thanks!

cmp18,

Some dude is selling thin clients with your openwrt build 23 for $15, you got famous)

MM Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> cmp18,
>
> Some dude is selling thin clients with your
> openwrt build 23 for $15, you got famous)

lol, can you post link here?)

cmp18,

Hello.
I tried your Debian image, 6.13 kernel based.
Unfortunately, PCIe and USB are not working completely.(
No one device (mouse, kb, flash) not defined, even with powered USB hub.
In dmesg and lsusb outputs only internal hub info.

Also, I checked one more time the device working with stock Debian6 firmware.
Worked fine, and even WiFi worked with old Atheros mPCIe card.
More new Intel AC7260 viewed by lspci, but it doesn't work (most likely driver needed).

Mikele25 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> cmp18,
>
> Hello.
> I tried your Debian image, 6.13 kernel based.
> Unfortunately, PCIe and USB are not working
> completely.(
> No one device (mouse, kb, flash) not defined, even
> with powered USB hub.
> In dmesg and lsusb outputs only internal hub
> info.

I have already stopped checking problems with usb, because with bodhi kernel and dtb - usb partially or completely does not work.
perhaps the situation will change (a little) with a different kernel/different dtb (all dts/dtb - in our topic, all kernels - in bodhi topic).
also you can try debian 12 with 6.1 kernel build, but I doubt that anything will change.


> More new Intel AC7260 viewed by lspci, but it
> doesn't work (most likely driver needed).

is the firmware-iwlwifi package installed? (needed for you wifi card)
is wpa suplicant or a network manager installed? (easiest way - to install network-manager and run nmtui).

and show
dmes -l err

cmp18,

IMHO, today best solution - your OpenWRT build with original kernel.
This solution has already been sold), as MM wrote.
Of course, because this is cheap and powerfull router for vpn and more.

As i see it, MM continues to test new ideas from bodhi.
May be, something is will work out.

cmp 18,

I removed the link to avoid advertising


Some dude...[/url]



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/10/2025 10:44PM by MM.

MM.

Quote
Some dude...

Coooool )

MM Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> cmp 18,
>
> Some
> dude...[/url]

bad. he raised price three times from the original lot.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/10/2025 11:53PM by cmp18.

cmp 18,

I removed the link to avoid advertising

Hi all
What kind of cable need to connect between promwad & pc ? Try to connect rs232-rs232 (9pin both sides) and no connection
need usb uart ttl serial?