Anton Posted June 11, 2012 Share Posted June 11, 2012 (edited) Long Story Short, Any one in the UK looking for a cheap alternative to the ALFA Offical UART, buy a CP2102 like this, http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/USB-2-0-to-UART-TTL-6Pin-COM-Module-Converter-Adapter-CP2102-Chip-with-Cable-New-/270994336912?pt=UK_Computing_Parallel_Serial_PS_2&hash=item3f18856c90#ht_2124wt_1163 it work's Hi Guys, Today I ordered just about all the parts i need to start building a WiFi pineapple. The board i am using is the Hornet-UB, the only thing i still need to get is the UART adapter in order to clean flash the board. After reading a few threads here on the forum i am a little confused as to what i need to buy. The only thing i have ever flashed is a psp and new bios to my mother board, and the odd 360 drive. So i am pretty new to this, and don't really know what will work with the hornet-UB and what will not, the Hornet-UB only comes with the boot loader on it, no firmware, if this helps. I know that buying this http://www.alfa.com.tw/in/front/bin/ptdetail.phtml?Part=consoleboard&Category=0 would definitely work, but i can only find these in the states, i am in the UK, Scotland, and would like to get it reasonably fast, and preferably buy it in the UK. I noticed on another thread a few people where suggesting the PL2303 USB UART, but i don't know if this even works, only one person has reported it to be working, Darren tried it but had a wiring complication so he can't confirm it. Also heard some guy's from the UK talking about this one http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/MAX232-MAX3232-RS232-TTL-Converter-Cable-3-3v-5v-/221045177850?pt=UK_BOI_Electrical_Components_Supplies_ET&hash=item337751bdfa#ht_2302wt_1341 but again i don't know if it will work or not. I guess were i really am getting confused is, because i have the Hornet-UB, and it comes only with a boot loader and not firmware, do i need to use a COM Serial Adapter or can i use a USB one. Any suggestions for UART's are welcome. Another question i have is regarding 3G & the ALFA AWUS036H. From what i have read so far, would i be right in saying that i can't use 3G in conjunction with my ALFA AWUS036H for mass death as there is only 1 USB port on the Hornet-UB? could i use a usb splitter? would this effect power going to the ALFA?. TIA, - Anton. Edited June 12, 2012 by Anton Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WatskeBart Posted June 11, 2012 Share Posted June 11, 2012 Regarding the UART. You can order this one, it will work perfectly own one myself ;) No need for RS232 to TTL fiddling while USB to TTL is available Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anton Posted June 11, 2012 Author Share Posted June 11, 2012 Hi WatskeBart, Thanks for the link, i went a head and bought one, for 3 quid, i can't go wrong, i take it you have the Hornet-UB rather than the AP121U, and had to clean flashed it first? is the guides for flashing the boards the same regardless of weather it is a serial port or USB? - Anton Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BagOfNarcissism Posted June 12, 2012 Share Posted June 12, 2012 Regarding the UART. You can order this one, it will work perfectly own one myself ;) No need for RS232 to TTL fiddling while USB to TTL is available Thats the one i used also, worked perfectly. :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anton Posted June 12, 2012 Author Share Posted June 12, 2012 Thats the one i used also, worked perfectly. :-) Thank's for the reply, did you use Mr-Protocol's guide to flash your hornet-ub with your usb adapter? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BagOfNarcissism Posted June 12, 2012 Share Posted June 12, 2012 Thank's for the reply, did you use Mr-Protocol's guide to flash your hornet-ub with your usb adapter? Ya worked an absolute treat, Enjoy :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WatskeBart Posted June 12, 2012 Share Posted June 12, 2012 you have the Hornet-UB rather than the AP121U, and had to clean flashed it first? I have the Hornet-UB but mine was shipped with OpenWRT so i flashed the firmware with web interface. Though i've flashed with serial as well and works perfect ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anton Posted June 12, 2012 Author Share Posted June 12, 2012 I have the Hornet-UB but mine was shipped with OpenWRT so i flashed the firmware with web interface. Though i've flashed with serial as well and works perfect ;) Thank's again for the reply, really appreciate the info. I just this Clean flash (Serial) guide on the wiki, duno weather to follow this or Mr-Protocol's video, i think they will be simular, though the clean flash serial guide doesn't mention anything about putty. - Anton. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr-Protocol Posted June 12, 2012 Share Posted June 12, 2012 Thank's again for the reply, really appreciate the info. I just this Clean flash (Serial) guide on the wiki, duno weather to follow this or Mr-Protocol's video, i think they will be simular, though the clean flash serial guide doesn't mention anything about putty. - Anton. PuTTY is just a means to communicate with the serial port. http://cloud.wifipineapple.com/index.php?flashing Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anton Posted June 12, 2012 Author Share Posted June 12, 2012 PuTTY is just a means to communicate with the serial port. http://cloud.wifipineapple.com/index.php?flashing Thanks for the link Mr-Protocol. - Anton Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
inTheDMZ Posted June 13, 2012 Share Posted June 13, 2012 hi, I have a Alfa AP121u with the stock alfa firmware, i have searched the forums but can't seem to find if this firmware needs a serial flash or not? if i telnet in (using user/pass: root/80546334) and issue uname -a i get "Linux ALFA 2.6.31--LSDK-9.2.0_U10.1020 #2 Tue Apr 3 15:00:06 CST 2012 mips GNU/Linux" and if i log into the web interface i get alfa login (see attached picture) my question is: Can i just scp my upgrade.bin over the /tmp/ and sysupgrade -v -n //tmp/upgrade.bin? or do i need a serial flash. I have tried to access via serial using two different usb-uart cables and double checking all the connections, settings etc and i get nothing in putty. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr-Protocol Posted June 13, 2012 Share Posted June 13, 2012 hi, I have a Alfa AP121u with the stock alfa firmware, i have searched the forums but can't seem to find if this firmware needs a serial flash or not? if i telnet in (using user/pass: root/80546334) and issue uname -a i get "Linux ALFA 2.6.31--LSDK-9.2.0_U10.1020 #2 Tue Apr 3 15:00:06 CST 2012 mips GNU/Linux" and if i log into the web interface i get alfa login (see attached picture) my question is: Can i just scp my upgrade.bin over the /tmp/ and sysupgrade -v -n //tmp/upgrade.bin? or do i need a serial flash. I have tried to access via serial using two different usb-uart cables and double checking all the connections, settings etc and i get nothing in putty. The AP121U has OpenWRT already on it. SCP the upgrade.bin and away you go. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
inTheDMZ Posted June 13, 2012 Share Posted June 13, 2012 I can only get telnet access, does that matter? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr-Protocol Posted June 13, 2012 Share Posted June 13, 2012 I can only get telnet access, does that matter? I can't remember if running passwd will enable ssh, or if you have to start dropbear manually Edit: I think you can just use the built in web upgrade of OpenWRT and use upgrade.bin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
inTheDMZ Posted June 14, 2012 Share Posted June 14, 2012 (edited) I don't what i am doing wrong, i enabled ssh in the web interface as /etc/init.d/dropbear start does not work, then once i had ssh access i couldn't use scp to transfer upgrade.bin, and i could not install scp support as ipkg is 'not found'. I started a apache2 instance with upgrade.bin, and managed to use wget within the routers shell to get upgrade.bin into the /tmp/ folder, then i issued sysupgrade -n -v /tmp/upgrade.bin and the returned -sh: sysupgrade not found. I can't get anything on the serial cable, i have tried 2, both are verified working with the router on these forums. double and triple checked my settings and still nothing, anyone else had this problem? here is exactly what i get in the shell when i try to sysupgrade: sysupgrade -n -v /tmp/upgrade.bin -sh: sysupgrade: not found Edited June 14, 2012 by inTheDMZ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sebkinne Posted June 14, 2012 Share Posted June 14, 2012 I don't what i am doing wrong, i enabled ssh in the web interface as /etc/init.d/dropbear start does not work, then once i had ssh access i couldn't use scp to transfer upgrade.bin, and i could not install scp support as ipkg is 'not found'. I started a apache2 instance with upgrade.bin, and managed to use wget within the routers shell to get upgrade.bin into the /tmp/ folder, then i issued sysupgrade -n -v /tmp/upgrade.bin and the returned -sh: sysupgrade not found. I can't get anything on the serial cable, i have tried 2, both are verified working with the router on these forums. double and triple checked my settings and still nothing, anyone else had this problem? here is exactly what i get in the shell when i try to sysupgrade: sysupgrade -n -v /tmp/upgrade.bin -sh: sysupgrade: not found My guess is that you are not running OpenWRT to do the sysupgrade. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
inTheDMZ Posted June 14, 2012 Share Posted June 14, 2012 its the stock alfa firmware, but i get nothing from the serial cable, i will try again from the serial and see if i can get anything. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anton Posted June 14, 2012 Author Share Posted June 14, 2012 its the stock alfa firmware, but i get nothing from the serial cable, i will try again from the serial and see if i can get anything. What serial adapter are you using? did you make sure it was compatible with the pineapple before you bought it? - Anton Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
inTheDMZ Posted June 14, 2012 Share Posted June 14, 2012 I have two, one which was linked in a thread from ebay, and one that was a freebee from jpgottech, who have previously tested it on the AP121u. still nothing on serial, i can't understand it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anton Posted June 14, 2012 Author Share Posted June 14, 2012 I have two, one which was linked in a thread from ebay, and one that was a freebee from jpgottech, who have previously tested it on the AP121u. still nothing on serial, i can't understand it! Hmm really have no clue, maybe try flashing it on another OS? could be somthing to do with linux. - Anton Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
inTheDMZ Posted June 14, 2012 Share Posted June 14, 2012 yea, i thought that so tried it in windows too, with putty, still the same thing, tried installing drivers, uninstalling drivers, turned off firewall and antivirus just incase it made any difference, and still nothing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anton Posted June 14, 2012 Author Share Posted June 14, 2012 Hmm that's weird man, stupid question but i take it the ap121u is powering on, i mean u can use it normal right? with the stock firmware? have you made sure wires going to serial to the AP121u are correct? maybe the usb port on your computer is not outputting enough power, tried a different usb port? last resort would be to try a different computer :/ just trying to think of possibilities... - Anton Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
inTheDMZ Posted June 14, 2012 Share Posted June 14, 2012 yep, powering on fine, i can telnet and ssh in, but as seb suggested i think it isn't running openwrt, i have tried another usb port, and have tried two laptops. Its a bit of a puzzle, i have even tried different cables from the uart adaptor to the router to make sure it isn't a dodgy cable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anton Posted June 14, 2012 Author Share Posted June 14, 2012 yep, powering on fine, i can telnet and ssh in, but as seb suggested i think it isn't running openwrt, i have tried another usb port, and have tried two laptops. Its a bit of a puzzle, i have even tried different cables from the uart adaptor to the router to make sure it isn't a dodgy cable. Ah, that's weird, does this mean the latest ap121u's are getting shipped without openwrt on them? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
inTheDMZ Posted June 14, 2012 Share Posted June 14, 2012 not sure, i got mine from crucial wifi, and i have a hornet-ub which came with openWRT preinstalled from data alliance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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