Pineapple RTL8187 temperatures

[wolfdale]

I was using reaver today for about an hour and the pineapple had a burn smell to it. I measured temperatures (with the case off) with my IR thermometer and the heat seems to come from the RTL8187 chipset (about 50 degrees celsius) and I couldn't keep my finger on it for more than 2 seconds... I then measured idle temps (i gave ifconfig wlan1 down command) and it was 40 degrees. Measurements were taken with the case off so the temperatures would get higher with the case.

Whats the operational temperature of the chip? Should i be concerned ( plastic burn smell..) about the temperatures?

Thanks in advance.

[Mr-Protocol]

I wouldn't think reaver would cause the chip to heat that much. Have you messed with the TX power at all?

[C3PBRO]

Could somebody tell me how the case off? Im curious about my temps aswell...

[Mr-Protocol]

Could somebody tell me how the case off? Im curious about my temps aswell...

Same as most other things, removed the rubber feet on the bottom, there should be some screws.

[wolfdale]

Didn't touch the txpower. I'll check right now how high it is set by default.

Edit: ouch 27 dbm. I tried lowering it but iwconfig wlan1 txpower 20 isn't working :/

Edited November 16, 2013 by wolfdale

[Mr-Protocol]

That might be why it's getting hot. And odd odors are either a red flag/warning or a bad sign. I don't mess with TX Power so I'm not sure how you can lower it if that command didn't work.

[thesugarat]

Try

iwconfig wlan1 txpower 20dBm

Comes from this thread:

https://forums.hak5.org/index.php?/topic/30748-txpower-woes/?p=231588

Edited November 16, 2013 by thesugarat

[wolfdale]

It shipped with txpower set at 27 dbm. I never messed with it :P My alfa with RTL8187L does get warm also, so maybe its just a hot chip.

Try

iwconfig wlan1 txpower 20dBm

Not working :/

[Mr-Protocol]

It should be unlocked and able to modify.

[thesugarat]

I agree they get hot.... But did you try to bring it down first before changing it?

ifconfig wlan1 down

Then set power

then ifconfig wlan1 up

[wolfdale]

Yep, still nothing.

[thesugarat]

Try 18dBm or other numbers.... It might be an issue with trying to set it to 20.

[wolfdale]

Got it working.

ifconfig wlan1 down

iw reg set IT

ifconfig wlan1 up

Since Italy allows only 20 dbm transmit power, when the interface comes back up its at 20 dbm. I'll test temps now.

Edit: temps are 5 degrees cooler (45) but wash doesn't seem to work correctly with the new regulatory domain.. airodump works fine though.

Maybe Seb or Darren want to hop in and tell us what they think about these temps :)

Edited November 16, 2013 by wolfdale

[Mr-Protocol]

Hmm you may have to down the interface before changing TX Power. Did you try that?

Edit: Nevermind, I just read previous posts.

[Z4ub4d3]

Silly question, but are the antennas connected properly?

[wolfdale]

Yeah, I made sure they were :)

[chriswhat]

wolfdale,

This is how I do it:

1) Connect to your Pineapple via ethernet cable or WiFi

2) SSH into your Pineapple - "ssh root@172.16.42.1"

3) Put wlan1 down - "ifconfig wlan1 down"

4) Set the region to United States - "iw reg set US"

5) Confirm that the region was changed - "iw reg get"

Note: You should see "Country US:"

6) Set wlan1's TX-Power to 20dBm or whatever power level you want - "iwconfig wlan1 txpower 20dBm"

7) Put wlan1 up - "ifconfig wlan1 up"

8) Now confirm the TX-Power change - "iwconfig wlan1"

Edited November 17, 2013 by chriswhat

[wolfdale]

I followed your steps but "iwconfig wlan1 txpower 20dBm" doesn't do anything (txpower stays at 27). It works on your pineapple?

Edited November 17, 2013 by wolfdale

[thesugarat]

Question are you using

iwconfig wlan1 txpower 20

or

iwconfig wlan1 txpower 20dBm

the dBm part is important...

[chriswhat]

Yes, those are the exact steps that I take on my Mk V, and I never have any issues. Not sure why you're having a problem. Make sure wlan1 isn't associated with any access points.

ifconfig wlan1 down
dhclient -r wlan1 

Then complete the steps I gave you above.

[Sebkinne]

Yes, the rtl does get very hot. But it's rated fine for even higher temperatures, so nothing to worry about.

[wolfdale]

Question are you using

iwconfig wlan1 txpower 20

or

iwconfig wlan1 txpower 20dBm

the dBm part is important...

Yeah i specified dBm. I used to do these same steps on my alfa

Yes, those are the exact steps that I take on my Mk V, and I never have any issues. Not sure why you're having a problem. Make sure wlan1 isn't associated with any access points.

ifconfig wlan1 down
dhclient -r wlan1 

Then complete the steps I gave you above.

I get can't find dhclient. I even did a reset of the pineapple today, and still nothing. I'm on firmware version 1.0.1, maybe thats the cause?

Yes, the rtl does get very hot. But it's rated fine for even higher temperatures, so nothing to worry about.

Thanks thats a bit reassuring :)

Edited November 17, 2013 by wolfdale

[Boosted240]

I did

nano /etc/config/wireless

And added the line

option txpower '20'

To wlan0. I also added the line to wlan1 and wlan2 for '22'. wlan1 is the only one that will change. wlan0 and wlan2 (my Alfa) both remained 18 and 27dBm.

I haven't had much luck at all getting tX power to change with the pineapple. I've also tried the process of taking a radio down, changing txpower (with dBm) radio up, and no luck. I tried lots of different numbers. (before I made the changes to the config)

[wolfdale]

Little update on the topic. I know it's probably not neeed but I added a little RAM heatsink on the chip, and now it's not even warm to the touch!

Now it looks really cool :D

http://it.tinypic.com/r/dcgbyo/5

[xrad]

Little update on the topic. I know it's probably not neeed but I added a little RAM heatsink on the chip, and now it's not even warm to the touch!

Now it looks really cool :D

http://it.tinypic.com/r/dcgbyo/5

Very "cool" wolfdale........pun intended.

Great mod.........Thanks....

I need to go find a few heatsinks, no need to up my tx power, but one would think being cooler would extend the life of the product.