I have just got myself a A13-OLINUXINO-WIFI board with 7inch touch screen. I'm new to working with this kit so have started out just seeing the basics of what it can do, i've put the android 800x480 image on the board and the touch screen it all works perfectly.
The problem im having now is working out an issue with the wifi im not sure if it is a hardware or software issue. the board connects for a while then disconnects then reconnects and so on.
Any help and advice would be much appreciated.
I have the same problem and I think it's a hardware problem.
The WiFi module warms up!
Are you running Android or Linux? FWIW, I experienced this behavior before disabling the power save and standby functionality in the kernel.
agustin_nrtk glad im not the only one on the hard ware side of things i'm looking at possable cooling techniques will post when i work something out.
jwischka i'm running android, i'm looking into adjusting the kernel, any recomendations on best programs would be much apeciated
thanks for both your replies
Are you sure it's not Android causing it? It really does sound to be the cause.
John
I think it is android causing the problem, im looking at differant ways to sort out the issue.
Hey guys,
We've been hearing about this problem but strange enough this WIFI disconnects never happen over here (and we have a number of A13 boards connected almost always).
@agustin_nrtk - the warming is normal, considering the number of PCB layers and the dimensions
Best regards,
Lub/OLIMEX
I've been doing a bit of research and found that there is an issue with some android devices and the BT Home Hub 3, which happens to be the one I have, if anyone else has the disconection issue with BT Home Hub 3 I'd be intrested to hear about it and if anyone has sorted it out. my next plan is to see if the wifi from my A13 will conect to my phone and run through that if it does i know its he Home Hub3
Hi I'm having the same problem. I use the debian image provided by Olimex. I didn't have this problem before, the WIFI was working great, but suddenly start happening.
Any solution yet?
Still trying to sort this problem will post solution anf fix as soon as
Hi All ,
I'm planning to buy A13-OLINUXINO-WIFI board for my development / learning purpose. After going through this thread , I find that this board has WIFI issues and it also does not have ethenet . Is there any alternative to for connecting to internet with board ?
Also is there any other issues with this board ?
Please let me know all your reviews and comments .
I count 3 people with issue out of thousands A13-WIFI users, is this a problem? they may have WIFI router incompatibility or software issue or power supply issue
Quote from: olimex on July 17, 2013, 04:06:00 PM
I count 3 people with issue out of thousands A13-WIFI users, is this a problem? they may have WIFI router incompatibility or software issue or power supply issue
I experienced the issues with 3 different routers, so I suspect that's not the problem. Again, to me it seemed like there might be an issue with waking from power save, as the problems disappeared when I disabled that in the kernel - but honestly I didn't spend any real time trying to figure out what the problem was, especially after disabling power save fixed it.
Personally, I would be much more concerned about the high rate of dropped packets on the wireless adapter, and the low throughput issues in general.
Same issue here tried on both Debian and Android with multiple AP.
I Hope it's just a software issue...
Quote from: Clem on July 17, 2013, 07:33:43 PM
Same issue here tried on both Debian and Android with multiple AP.
I Hope it's just a software issue...
Clem - you might try the fix at the bottom of this page (http://linux-sunxi.org/Wifi) and see if it works for you, if you're not running a kernel with power save disabled by default.
Thanks but that's not solving the issue.
I have same issue with a new A13 board +WiFi. First working properly, and 1-2 minutes later if I use the wireless, the connection is broken. And some seconds (30-40) later connecting again till the first bigger load. That is not a question, HW problem. Tomorrow I will check a little bit deeper the WiFi board. The trouble is same under Android and Debian.
Have you made 100% certain it is not power save? It is with the default Android, for sure.
John
I playing with it right now. But under debian same. After 10 sec connection, just disconnect. For me the important is under Debian. I hope that is not a hw error but right now, I´m sure. But maybe tomorrow not ;D
If I have some results, will post that.
(sorry for my english...)
First the connection disappears randomly and after a while if you try to debug through UART port you get a message like this:
hub 2-1:1.0: unable to enumerate usb device on port X
Finally Wi-Fi stops to show any signs of life. Just letting you know guys the experience I had with the board.
Regards
it would be great when you report these issues to clarify which software image you are using, with the image on our wiki which we distribute we never encounter such behavior
Great - so first thing is to use that image and report what occurs.
John
I'm using the image provided on the wiki. Debian Linux 3.0.76
Quote from: Clem on July 19, 2013, 02:29:42 PM
I'm using the image provided on the wiki. Debian Linux 3.0.76
Have you tried a different image - say, mine?
This one ? https://www.olimex.com/forum/index.php?topic=537.0
Not yet, I'll try this week end.
Quote from: Clem on July 19, 2013, 02:44:11 PM
This one ? https://www.olimex.com/forum/index.php?topic=537.0
Not yet, I'll try this week end.
That's the one. FYI there is a version 19 beta at the very end of the thread, but it is a beta, and has a couple of known bugs... but at least it would help to see if that fixes your wifi problems.
Quote from: Clem on July 19, 2013, 02:29:42 PM
I'm using the image provided on the wiki. Debian Linux 3.0.76
That's not the official Olimex image is it?
What happens with the official one?
John
For me it is a same problem with WiFi. Original Olimex advanced debian image (3.0.52+). Right now I made a new SD card with this image. Without any change (only the 800x480 bin) I checked the syslog.
I builded a female header to the WiFi board. Now is possible to disconnect. If I connect again see the error in syslog.
log:
kernel: usb 2-1.4: new high speed device number 56 using sw-ehci
debian mtp probe: bus: 2, device:56 was not an MTP device
kernel: USB disconnect, device number 56
kernel: unable to enumerate USB device on port 4
???
I haven´t any idea why...
What is really stupid to me, the ethernet adapter also not working properly. The ASIX driver crying many times and this is brake the connection and holding for 10-20 seconds.
debian kernel: asix 2-1.3:1.0: eth2: asix_rx_fixup() Bad RX length / Bad header length
And mostly the board restarting if I try to doing one update upgrade. But at the downloading time I never arrived to the install point. Yesterday I get this board and all issue still from the first minute. Brrrr.
If it's failing with Olimex recommended image then at last they have the data they asked for and can try to provide a fix I expect.
Over to them...
John
Quote from: olimex on July 19, 2013, 08:13:48 AM
it would be great when you report these issues to clarify which software image you are using, with the image on our wiki which we distribute we never encounter such behavior
Please allow me to help you out there.
Here's the output of
ifconfig -a I got after a few minutes of trying to do an apt-get update
lo Link encap:Local Loopback
LOOPBACK MTU:16436 Metric:1
RX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
TX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
collisions:0 txqueuelen:0
RX bytes:0 (0.0 B) TX bytes:0 (0.0 B)
tunl0 Link encap:IPIP Tunnel HWaddr
NOARP MTU:1480 Metric:1
RX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
TX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
collisions:0 txqueuelen:0
RX bytes:0 (0.0 B) TX bytes:0 (0.0 B)
wlan7 Link encap:Ethernet HWaddr 44:33:4c:62:93:84
inet addr:192.168.1.39 Bcast:192.168.1.255 Mask:255.255.255.0
UP BROADCAST RUNNING MULTICAST MTU:1500 Metric:1
RX packets:1158 errors:0 dropped:6716 overruns:0 frame:0
TX packets:406 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000
RX bytes:566756 (553.4 KiB) TX bytes:39962 (39.0 KiB)The board is an A13 OLinuXino-Wifi that I received in the post ths morning. The Debian is the one that came on the micro-SD card that came preloaded from Olimex and the power supply is the 5V 2A one that they sell.
The (open) wifi router is approximately 10 feet from the board and can be reached with my Galaxy-Tab2 showing 3 bars out of 4 for WiFi strength.
[updated on Saturday, after playing around with adding a RTL8192cu wifi dongle to another USB port - same issue: dropped packets ]
Just a thought. I've noticed that uname -a reports
Linux Debian 3.0.52+ However there seem to be very few modules listed in /lib/modules/3.0.52+ The only wireless networking one being bcm4330.ko Whereas under the 3.0.42+ tree there is one for the rtl8187 which seems to be the device used by the on-board Wifi.
And what you mean with help? :) I have same ifconfig output many times like yours. And many times the connection was broken and errors like one message before... After a whole day playing now mostly only errors. I also have a original SD card and I have a lot with other images too. Everywhere same issue from the first minutes. Android too. I will order tomorrow a other board `cause I want to work and test. Some days and I can check the other board too.
Edit:
I tested if I comment the auto lines in /etc/network/interfaces than no more enumerate problem. But still can´t connect to a network.
"iwlist wlan6 scanning" found nothing
If I try to connect to a essid with iwconfig (iwconfig wlan6 essid MYSSID) answers "operation not permitted" he? Till now I tested about 5 linux image without any change. I tested with different supply too. If I try to make a apt-get update, upgrade the board restarting mostly after 1-2 minute work. I think something really wrong.
That was all one hw issue. I resoldered first the 2 ram BGA. But the problem was same. And now I resoldered the A13 too. Now everything fine. I hade a lot of restart. If I started X than the board was just every time froozen. Now with the same SD card without change everything running fine.
Its been a while since i was working on the a13, still got the problem with the wifi. I started fresh this is what happened, i have the 7" touch screen on the A13-OLINUXINO-WIFI board with the android 800x480 image on it. the wifi connected and stayed conected until i connected to the play store and the wifi cut out i'm going to try a few things this week to narrow down the issue, but i'm still stumped any help would be appeciated i am a beginer trying to learn.
I still think it's a hardware problem, no one reported a correct operation.
Did you fully disable all power save?
John
Hi,
We are still seeing issues with the wifi for A13 allwinner wifi board using the debian image. We have diabled the power save. I did not see a fix posted yet, any one found a way around ? Also is this wifi router specific ? We are thinking of deploying this to customer sites and we cannot dictate what routers they might have. Is this is bad board (in terms of varied wifi) to begin with ?
Thanks
Masen
What issues? What happens? Think and gather actual data. No-one seems to know if this is software (which it may well be) or hardware. I doubt it's hardware as it's a very ordinary device.
If you can't figure out how to get data I think it may be worthwhile to join the linux-sunxi list and ask how to go about debugging it.
Also, does it work under Android, with it's annoying (for this) powersave etc full off? Because if it does then you know it's a software problem.
Apparently Olimex don't see it, so that doesn't help us choose between hardware/software.
If this were an issue for me I'd try to set up more than one board in more than one physical location with different PSUs, routers etc and see if every one always failed, hoping to get clues.
Also, as USB wifi boards are crazily cheap I'd try some others.
John
I wish this issue would be solved... I am having the same issue. I am running the suggested Debian Image from an SD card... Android Image is also onboard on the chip memory. I am having the exact same problem... wifi connects... as soon as any traffic starts to travel through the wifi, the connection fails and I must reboot to get it back. The time is so short, I cannot even apt-get update, much less apt-get upgrade. This is very very frustrating! I checked in the /etc/modprobe.d/*.conf files and the recommended power mgmnt entries were already in place...
Suggestions... Please!
edit...
OK, I adjusted the security settings on my Cisco router and now it works! Turns out my router was kicking my board out of the network for packet flooding...
Thanks for posting that - someone else may find it helpful!
John
Hello
Same over here, wifi module gets really hot and stops working normally (reconnecting all time).
I completely disconnected the board (only connected to VGA display) from power supply (12VDC 1500mA) and battery, waited 'till the wifi module cooled down and restarted everything.
System is playing streaming audio overnight without any problems and wifi module isn't hot anymore.
Started a few times the http://speedtest.telenet.be to generate some intense traffic, the module warms up in a very short time and the wifi connection problems starts immediately.
As an absolute SOC newbie I have no idea what can cause this strange behavior but I'm sure there are some smart people here who can solve this annoying problem.
I have a A20 board runnig seamless and hope I can do the same with the A13 in a place where it's impossible to place a wired Ethernet connection.
Thanks in advance
Michel
Quote from: Clem on July 17, 2013, 08:31:54 PM
Thanks but that's not solving the issue.
Hello I've the same problem actually the WIFI connection works but as soon as you try to do an apt-get upgrade or install in other words to fetch data from the web. The WIFI is disconnected.
I think it's because the WIFI PCB becomes too warm. Personaly I can't stand the finger above it.
I try to make an apt-get upgrade by blowing on it and put the board on a cool room about 20°C with air flow.
And it's work.
I had the same WIFI issue (dropping and coming back constantly after a few minutes) on my debian image, and for me blacklisting the rtl8192cu module did the trick. This module produced a kernel Oops on boot, yet was still loaded later on. Now only the 8192cu module comes up, and the connection is perfect even under heavy load.
This is not on the official Olimex image, mine's a debian running in NAND from linux-sunxi 3.4.79, but the issue may be the same on the official image ?
Hi everybody!!
Hi have the same problem with the wifi. The chip is very hot and after a lot of minutes the wifi disconnect, and wakes up just after one reboot.
I'v the last A13_debian_34_75_WIFI_RALINK_GCC_GPIO_X_I2C_100KHz_UVC_TS_FTDI_video_release_9.7z on two same boards with the same problem!
With the NAND android... it's the same!!
HW problem!?!?!?!
What i can do to solve the issue?
Bye
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(Per gli amici italiani)
Ciao a tutti!!
Ho lo stesso problema cin il WIFI. Il chip è bollente e dopo qualche minuto il wifi si disconnette e si riconnette solo dopo un reboot.
Ho l'ultima distribuzione A13_debian_34_75_WIFI_RALINK_GCC_GPIO_X_I2C_100KHz_UVC_TS_FTDI_video_release_9.7z su due schede identiche ed hanno entrambe lo stesso problema!
Con Android sulla NAND... è lo stesso.
Come posso risolvere il problema/rottura di palle!?
Ciao
Brand new A13 wifi board with debian image. Wifi runs until you start to downolad data (e.g. install imagemagic with aptitude) the wifi signal strength then drops and the wifi disconnects. When you go back to the wifi access point locater the one you were using is no longer visible. When you select it using the hidden access point function it watns you to re-entering the password for the access point.
Cured with a reboot but then it starts again the next time you do something more with the wifi then ssh to the machine for a terminal session.
Does anybody have a fix or a way to use a usb dongle to access wifi connectivity. I have a client project that needs WiFi and if it doesn't work the Olimex A13 board goes in the bin and we use a Gumstix or a BeagleBone. No time to waste on faulty hardware/software.
Just as an update I have the 8192cu.conf mod in place, a heatsink on the wifi chip and a fan blowing on the heatsink. Still dies in the same way.
If you plug in an Edimax (like the EW-7811UN) it will work without any changes with the last releases. Like all Ethernet chips, it gets warm, but it dissipates the heat through the USB casing. Just use ifconfig -a to find the new wlanx and change the /etc/network/interfaces file (and comment out the onboard wlanx).
If your problem was really the hardware, you should be able to work with this.
Not wanting to be a pain but I bought a board from Olimex with WiFi pre installed, loaded their standard image. I expect it to work. I don't expect to have to waste client time trying to find workarounds.
Exactly !
The WIFI on my 2nd A13-OlinuXino-WIFI board does not work properly either.
This is my 2nd board because the first broke due a mysterious USB hardware problem,
possibly started by the WiFi module ? (Even after unsoldering the module,
the USB subsystem remained utterly broken).
I build my own SD card image according to the instructions on the Olimex site:
http://olimex.wordpress.com/2014/01/15/building-debian-linux-bootable-sd-card-with-hardware-accelerated-video-decoding-and-kernel-3-4-for-a13-olinuxino/
BUT:
1. The WIFI module gets HOT!? I don't remember this happening on my 1st
board, when it was still working.
2. The connection breaks in the middle of an apt-get install, and is
the module is useless afterwards, unless I reboot!
Even ping does not work anymore (hangs), even though ping works correctly
before I start the apt-get install (of course).
In another post in this forum, this problem was magically "solved" by using
the Release 9 official image from Olimex (according to Michel De Meester),
but that does not say what was wrong in the first place.
So, to test this, I replaced the contents of my SD card with that official image
(again) and tested it. SAME PROBLEM.
Furthermore, as I mentioned, this is my 2nd board.
I had no such WIFI problems then, even though I used the same images.
During boot, with the "official" image Release 9, I still get the following bunch of
error messages:
ehci_irq: port change detect
[ 2.769029] ehci_irq: port change detect
<3>usb 2-1.4: device descriptor read/all, error -71
[ 2.800664] usb 2-1.4: device descriptor read/all, error -71
<3>hub 2-1:1.0: cannot disable port 4 (err = -71)
[ 2.814737] hub 2-1:1.0: cannot disable port 4 (err = -71)
ehci_irq: port change detect
[ 2.822837] ehci_irq: port change detect
<3>hub 2-1:1.0: cannot reset port 4 (err = -71)
[ 2.835062] hub 2-1:1.0: cannot reset port 4 (err = -71)
<3>hub 2-1:1.0: cannot reset port 4 (err = -71)
[ 2.848687] hub 2-1:1.0: cannot reset port 4 (err = -71)
<3>hub 2-1:1.0: cannot reset port 4 (err = -71)
[ 2.862313] hub 2-1:1.0: cannot reset port 4 (err = -71)
<3>hub 2-1:1.0: cannot reset port 4 (err = -71)
[ 2.875935] hub 2-1:1.0: cannot reset port 4 (err = -71)
<3>hub 2-1:1.0: cannot reset port 4 (err = -71)
[ 2.889561] hub 2-1:1.0: cannot reset port 4 (err = -71)
<3>hub 2-1:1.0: Cannot enable port 4. Maybe the USB cable is bad?
[ 2.900789] hub 2-1:1.0: Cannot enable port 4. Maybe the USB cable is bad?
<3>hub 2-1:1.0: cannot disable port 4 (err = -71)
[ 2.916233] hub 2-1:1.0: cannot disable port 4 (err = -71)
<3>hub 2-1:1.0: cannot reset port 4 (err = -71)
[ 2.930064] hub 2-1:1.0: cannot reset port 4 (err = -71)
<3>hub 2-1:1.0: cannot reset port 4 (err = -71)
[ 2.943684] hub 2-1:1.0: cannot reset port 4 (err = -71)
<3>hub 2-1:1.0: cannot reset port 4 (err = -71)
[ 2.957312] hub 2-1:1.0: cannot reset port 4 (err = -71)
<3>hub 2-1:1.0: cannot reset port 4 (err = -71)
[ 2.970934] hub 2-1:1.0: cannot reset port 4 (err = -71)
<3>hub 2-1:1.0: cannot reset port 4 (err = -71)
[ 2.984560] hub 2-1:1.0: cannot reset port 4 (err = -71)
<3>hub 2-1:1.0: Cannot enable port 4. Maybe the USB cable is bad?
[ 2.995783] hub 2-1:1.0: Cannot enable port 4. Maybe the USB cable is bad?
<3>hub 2-1:1.0: cannot disable port 4 (err = -71)
[ 3.011235] hub 2-1:1.0: cannot disable port 4 (err = -71)
<3>hub 2-1:1.0: cannot reset port 4 (err = -71)
[ 3.025063] hub 2-1:1.0: cannot reset port 4 (err = -71)
<3>hub 2-1:1.0: cannot reset port 4 (err = -71)
[ 3.038684] hub 2-1:1.0: cannot reset port 4 (err = -71)
<3>hub 2-1:1.0: cannot reset port 4 (err = -71)
[ 3.052310] hub 2-1:1.0: cannot reset port 4 (err = -71)
<3>hub 2-1:1.0: cannot reset port 4 (err = -71)
[ 3.065935] hub 2-1:1.0: cannot reset port 4 (err = -71)
<3>hub 2-1:1.0: cannot reset port 4 (err = -71)
[ 3.079560] hub 2-1:1.0: cannot reset port 4 (err = -71)
<3>hub 2-1:1.0: Cannot enable port 4. Maybe the USB cable is bad?
[ 3.090789] hub 2-1:1.0: Cannot enable port 4. Maybe the USB cable is bad?
<3>hub 2-1:1.0: cannot disable port 4 (err = -71)
[ 3.106233] hub 2-1:1.0: cannot disable port 4 (err = -71)
<3>hub 2-1:1.0: unable to enumerate USB device on port 4
[ 3.116767] hub 2-1:1.0: unable to enumerate USB device on port 4
<3>hub 2-1:1.0: cannot disable port 4 (err = -71)
[ 3.131233] hub 2-1:1.0: cannot disable port 4 (err = -71)
<3>hub 2-1:1.0: hub_port_status failed (err = -71)
[ 3.145322] hub 2-1:1.0: hub_port_status failed (err = -71)
<6>usb 2-1: USB disconnect, device number 2
[ 3.154843] usb 2-1: USB disconnect, device number 2
<6>usb 2-1: new high-speed USB device number 7 using sw-ehci
[ 3.439272] usb 2-1: new high-speed USB device number 7 using sw-ehci
<6>[mmc-msg] mmc 0 detect change, present 1
[ 3.592765] [mmc-msg] mmc 0 detect change, present 1
<6>hub 2-1:1.0: USB hub found
[ 3.628831] hub 2-1:1.0: USB hub found
<6>hub 2-1:1.0: 4 ports detected
[ 3.646854] hub 2-1:1.0: 4 ports detected
And of course, the result from lsusb -t shows that port 4 is the rtl8192cu
root@a13-OLinuXino:~# lsusb -t
/: Bus 03.Port 1: Dev 1, Class=root_hub, Driver=sw-ohci/1p, 12M
/: Bus 02.Port 1: Dev 1, Class=root_hub, Driver=sw-ehci/1p, 480M
|__ Port 1: Dev 7, If 0, Class=hub, Driver=hub/4p, 480M
|__ Port 4: Dev 8, If 0, Class=vend., Driver=rtl8192cu, 480M
/: Bus 01.Port 1: Dev 1, Class=root_hub, Driver=sw_hcd_host0/1p, 480M
Hello,
Quote from: diracsbracket on April 14, 2014, 06:13:54 AM
In another post in this forum, this problem was magically "solved" by using
the Release 9 official image from Olimex (according to Michel De Meester),
but that does not say what was wrong in the first place.
<bad English mode>
After updating to the latest debian release I also took the board at home where it seemed to be working fine, didn't try it at work anymore.
I'm not sure it's the new release or other wifi network that solved the problem, I'm even not sure the problem was solved at all, but I was able to do the apt-get update at home.
Because all my spare time goes to taming the saxophone, I didn't have the chance to check everything thoroughly, and probably I won't have time before July.
I'll keep you posted
Michel
</bad English mode>
Hi Michel,
Thanks for the update.
I am certain it is not related to my WiFi router, because as I mentioned,
this is my 2nd board. The first board worked alright, well, until the
USB subsystem gave up that is.
A quick update, to inform you about how the problem with my WiFi downloads seems to
have been resolved.
I re-did everything from the start to create an SD image as , as I did before,
according to:
http://olimex.wordpress.com/2014/01/15/building-debian-linux-bootable-sd-card-with-hardware-accelerated-video-decoding-and-kernel-3-4-for-a13-olinuxino/ (http://olimex.wordpress.com/2014/01/15/building-debian-linux-bootable-sd-card-with-hardware-accelerated-video-decoding-and-kernel-3-4-for-a13-olinuxino/)
Note that the syntax for building u-boot has changed somehow in the latest github Linux-sunxi:
You must now use:
make CROSS_COMPILE=arm-linux-gnueabihf- A13-OLinuXino_config
make CROSS_COMPILE=arm-linux-gnueabihf-
For the rest, I did exactly the same as always, except that this time, I checked the WiFi support in the menuconfig settings, after checking out the nice Vinifr tutorial:
http://linuxembeded.blogspot.com.br/2014/04/configuring-wifi-module-rtl8188cu.html (http://linuxembeded.blogspot.com.br/2014/04/configuring-wifi-module-rtl8188cu.html)
Device Drivers -->
- Network device support -->
- Wireless LAN --> <M> Realtek RTL8192CU/RTL8188CU USB Wireless Network Adapter
My .config settings apparently did not have the above setting somehow ...? So I enabled it as described above.
After completing the whole SD card build process and booting the target, I launched the same apt-get install that resulted in my WiFi interface failure yesterday, and this time, it succeeded.
Fingers crossed...
The module still gets quite hot though, even despite the fact that my router is 2m away from the board...
In retrospect, the problems of interrupted downloads may also have been due to SD card corruption and that's maybe why during the download, the system crashed. Really restarting from the beginning (delete all partitions, recreating them and reformatting using dd) may have solved the problem.
Hello,
Quote from: diracsbracket on April 15, 2014, 08:04:40 AM
A quick update, to inform you about how the problem with my WiFi downloads seems to
have been resolved.
I re-did everything from the start to create an SD image as , as I did before,
according to:
As I already mentioned, I don't have any spare time for the moment........
Is there any change you could put the new working SDcard image somewhere so I can download and test it...? ;)
Tanks in advance
Michel
Hi all,
Just a quick note about my findings regarding the issue. I also experienced the same symptoms as many other users described in their posts:
- The WiFi would be unreliable and disconnect after a while;
- The WiFi would disconnect right away when the connection is heavily loaded (e.g. FTPing large files);
- The chip on the miniboard would become very hot.
I experimented for a while. Cut out the miniboard and connected it with wires, so I can have easier access to it. Put a little heatsink on the chip. That made the connection work a little longer, but eventually even the heatsink would become too hot to hold and the connection would be lost. Then I started keeping the heatsink cold by spraying liquid air on it. For as long as I could keep it cold the connection would hold. Then it would go away...
Then I soldered an USB connector to the wires coming from the board and connected an USB dongle which I had bought long ago from eBay (Olimex sells the same under the code MOD-WIFI-R5370). Et voila! My WiFi worked perfectly. And is still working.
So I think that the few lucky us just got a defective WiFi chip on the miniboard. Not very unusual. I have had problems with cheap Chinese WiFi dongles many times before. Generally this is why I buy 2 or 3 every time I need one. From different vendors, of course. When buying from eBay I am paying for 3 devices the same price as for 1 from a local store. True, some are total junk, but still many of them work. So if they are good - then I get some extra. If these are bad - I am not sorry to throw them away...
Anyway, IMHO setting dedicated connector on the board just for the WiFi is a waste of a perfectly good general purpose USB port. It would have been much better if the board had 4 USB ports and any of us could plug-in whatever he pleases.
If Olimex guys bother to read the forum at all, I would note that it would have been a very good idea to sell some of their boards as separate products. For example they do sell the WiFi board, same as soldered to the so called A13-OLinuXino-WIFI (55 euro) under the code MOD-WIFI-RTL8188 for only 7.95. And it has USB connector to it (which could be unsoldered) and then connected to a 45 euro A13-OLinuXino-WIFI. Not that I would call that big savings, but it's just weird. If they could just put 4 male pins where the WiFi is soldered and then sell the WiFi module separately with a female connector - this would have made more sense.
On the same note - if anyone is reading this - I wouldn't mind purchasing some of the LCD adapter boards - the ones that come both with 4.3" and 7" displays. I have a bunch of 7" displays laying around and would be happy to put them to some use. The interface is the same, I already checked.
Well, that's it. Hope I helped some of you. Good luck!
Hey vik,
Thank you for the input on the subject. We are following the forum closely and doing tests constantly. Each design and board has multiple board revisions and when we can we improve the design. However, we have sold a number of A13 boards and most of the people are satisfied with the wifi quality. The few cases that have had problems seem not related to the Olimex design.
It seems a lot of people tend to be surprised by temperatures in electronics. It is quite normal for wifi modules (among other parts) to run at a bit higher temperature.
Regarding the following part:
QuoteIf Olimex guys bother to read the forum at all, I would note that it would heve been a very good idea to sell some of their boards as separate products. For example they do sell the WiFi board, same as soldered to the so called A13-OLinuXino-WIFI (55 euro) under the code MOD-WIFI-RTL8188 for only 7.95. And it has USB connector to it (which could be unsoldered) and then connected to a 45 euro A13-OLinuXino-WIFI. Not that I would call that big savings, but it's just weird. If they could just put 4 male pins where the WiFi is soldered and then sell the WiFi module separately with a female connector - this would have made more sense.
We have the A13-OLinuXino board without Wifi and with 4 USB ports (it also lacks NAND, but people can solder own one or skip Android at all). It is the base A13 board: https://www.olimex.com/Products/OLinuXino/A13/A13-OLinuXino/open-source-hardware (https://www.olimex.com/Products/OLinuXino/A13/A13-OLinuXino/open-source-hardware). The A13 micro also might be a good choice for such a case: https://www.olimex.com/Products/OLinuXino/A13/A13-OLinuXino-MICRO/open-source-hardware (https://www.olimex.com/Products/OLinuXino/A13/A13-OLinuXino-MICRO/open-source-hardware).
That being said all feedback is welcome and we are happy that more people are participating in the forums and we try to listen to peoples advice and point of view.
Best regards,
Lub/OLIMEX
Hi LubOlimex,
Thanks for the fast response. Yes, it seems like I will go with the base board, I got the WiFi board just so I can evaluate the high-end product first. I really don't need the NAND with Android. Nor do I need the on-board WiFi. For connectivity we can use a WiFi dongle or an USB to Ethernet adaptor. Both work fine.
I want to clarify that in my case the overheating was the real problem. I am not surprised at all at the heat generated by the WiFi modules as I have used quite a few of them. But the one that came with the board clearly had a faulty chip. I am not blaming Olimex for that. Shit happens. As I said, the moment I put a tested and working USB WiFi dongle it all worked perfectly. So for all those who, like me, have experienced a problem with the WiFi - my advice is - just replace the miniboard. Use a standard off-the-shelf USB dongle, or if you really want to have it onboard - buy an MOD-WIFI-RTL8188 and solder it back.
Generally I can only congratulate Olimex for the good job. I got my order delivered in 4 days overseas and the packaging and the overall quality were very good. The prices are also very competitive, as I have a wide range of similar boards and I am able to compare. So I consider the problem with the WiFi to be very minor.
I will also confirm debian and 8192cu the chip gets VERY VERY hot and drops connection! I cant even install a single package from the internet without problems.
the only way i get it back is by a reboot into Android and e2fsck /dev/block/mmcblk0p2 and then reboot.
if i could find a metal heatsink small enough i would mount it on the chip to solve these problems,
I was wondering how USB works at 3.3v?
Ive had my A13 for around 28 hours now and like it apart from this really annoying problem...
also I have noted my ram is not reporting 512mb but
MemTotal: 135384 kB
I have semi resolved my heat issues with the wi-fi as i have used an alan-key and masking tape wrapped around the metal to prevent contact with other components, I think I will remove the wifi module and add a right angle usb socket and put other wifi dongle on the A13
Regards
i have same issue with wifi onbord module. run very hot and lost connection . Power level too high?
I am also experiencing the same issues. I have just purchased A13-OLINUXINO-WIFI with SD card containing preinstalled Debian. The wifi module becomes very hot and stops working as long as you try transfer even a bit. No mater what you do over wifi, besides simple ssh browsing, triggers the problem. I tried the following:
* Cloning a git branch - wifi died
* Installing vim with apt-get - wifi died
* Connected through VNC, had a few clicks - wifi died
* Started the browser, googled random thing - wifi died
Olimex, in fact this is very disappointing. On your website you advertise this board as "industrial grade" and even mention temperature amplitudes that it will work into. In your presentation on Saturday you made me choose you over other manufacturers with promises for an easy start - well, facing basic issues such as internet connectivity is a great hassle and definitely far from the "easy start".
Hi,
I'm trying to solve the problem of the Wifi connection with the A13-Olinuxino board.
The info on: http://linux-sunxi.org/Wifi#8192cu is useless. According to the web:
To fix the problem create a file /etc/modprobe.d/8192cu.conf with the following contents:
options 8192cu rtw_power_mgnt=0 rtw_enusbss=0
However, this configuration is already set Olinuxino.
Then, I tried to change the Debian image. I used your link:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B-bAEPML8fwlRHN4UzhrWVhzQms/edit?usp=sharing (https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B-bAEPML8fwlRHN4UzhrWVhzQms/edit?usp=sharing).
I downloaded the file. Then, unzipped the file with 7Zip. After this, I wrote the image on the SD memory.
Nevertheless, The problem persists.
On Android, the board is unable to connect with my wifi network.
I've probed Olinuxino with four different wifi networks, but the same problem.
I'm sure that I'm not the only one with wifi connection problems.So,What is the workaround for this problem?
Hello All,
It's been a while since I spent some time over here.
I have some spare time and am going to restart my A13 project, is there already a solution for the wifi module disconnecting from the network al the time?
Thanks in advance.
Michel
One additional data point. I've recently received an A13 direct ordered from Olimex, put the Debian image downloaded directly from Olimex onto a MicroSD, and I'm experiencing the same problems: the wifi chip heats up very hot, and I can transfer very litte data (a few hundred KB using apt-get) before the connection stops working. Removing and re-adding the 8192cu module gets it working, briefly, again.
I like the board so far, but an untrustworthy wireless card is a bit of a black eye.
Maybe that image is setting wrong voltage somewhere? Who made the image and what voltages does it set I wonder?
People have made mistakes before around that, such as mixing parts of cubieboard & cubietruck.
If you're lucky it simply doesn't work at all but if unlucky then it "works" - sort of - and then later you find maybe things like hot chips.
As I recall it's u-boot in these images that sets the volts and it uses data specific to the board design but it's quite easy to have wrong values.
Similar issues with memory timings/etc e.g. LIME2 is not same as LIME.
John
Hi John,
Just looking at my A13 board, there's what appears to be a 3V/5V set of jumper pads near the wifi module, fixed at 5V. On the wifi daughter board, at the very bottom, there's a 3V/5V jumper pad set that's also fixed at 5V. So it appears that both are set for 5V, for what it's worth.
Regards,
Alec
Dear all,
After read all of pages, I finally think about something... I write today because as you, I have this connection problem that crashes wifi as soon as the data stream increases. First I wanted to know exactly when it failed to caractérize the fault. In fact, my connection to the console over SSH worked perfectly but, as you, when I tryed an "apt-get update", the wifi crashed.
I first thank about a bottle neck (that is the track to follow I think). Then, I tryed to download a piece by limiting the transfert rate : wget --limit-rate http://... . (If my theory of bottle neck is correct, low rates should work). I started with 1ko/s transfert rate a download a 11Mo file. And it succed. Then I increased the rate to 2ko/s and 5ko/s. At 5ko/s it failed.
After validating this bottle-neck theory, I tried to check first what I could. I found that the speed of usb port was not the same for each.
cat /sys/bus/usb/devices/usb1/speed -> 480
cat /sys/bus/usb/devices/usb2/speed -> 480
cat /sys/bus/usb/devices/usb3/speed -> 12
Even if I don't really know what is the port used by the wifi dongle, I would imagine that a limitation could be possible.
In order to get arround this, I thought about unsolder the wifi dongle, solder an USB plug and try it on the port usb1.
That is what I did and It works now as expected. Here is a console extract where I downloaded a file that crashed previously :
root@a13-OLinuXino:~# wget https://nodejs.org/dist/v4.2.1/node-v4.2.1-linux-x86.tar.gz
--2015-10-15 19:07:00-- https://nodejs.org/dist/v4.2.1/node-v4.2.1-linux-x86.tar.gz
Resolving nodejs.org (nodejs.org)... 104.20.23.46, 104.20.22.46, 2400:cb00:2048:1::6814:162e, ...
Connecting to nodejs.org (nodejs.org)|104.20.23.46|:443... connected.
HTTP request sent, awaiting response... 200 OK
Length: 11231892 (11M) [application/gzip]
Saving to: `node-v4.2.1-linux-x86.tar.gz.1'
100%[==========================================================>] 11,231,892 719K/s in 16s
We can see here that 11Mo @ 700Ko/sec works perfectly.
I have now an usb port less but I have wifi... so, please, if you can help me to find out how to set correctly the usb speed it could be great.