Intro
Highpower atheros cards with 400mw output power are not uncommon today. Not every board is prepared for such high power cards because they need a lot of power (up to 1W over 3.3V!).
The problem
Some cards will not work properly on a WRAP from pcengines. Highpower cards (400mw) will not be detected after a cold boot on boards produced before 12/05 with 6 electrolytic capacitors (elcos). The cards only work after a 'warm boot' that means you have to boot the system and then reboot it. The simple consequence is that you can see the cards after the coldboot with lspci but you can't use them. To know what board you got look near the CF socket (I only know it for wrap2*) and look for a number 0443 or 0542. The first two numbers stand for the year when they were produced. On November/December 2005 there was the new 8 elco version released so I call this 'after and before 12/05'. This problem belongs to all wrap boards.
BIOS issue
The BIOS upgrade is required to use any wifi card based on the Atheros single chip solution (doesn't matter whether they are 100mW or 400mW). The old BIOS generated a reset pulse that was too short. (note by P Dornier / PC Engines)
Solution
Old boards produced before 12/05
If your 'elcos' are coloured black, be happy you can still can use two high power cards in your "old board" and fix the cold boot problem with a bios update. When your elcos are coloured brown it's not a good idea to put 400mw cards in your board because these elcos are really crappy, the bios update will also work but the elcos are really not made for those cards.
New boards produced after 12/05
If you got a new wrap board with 8 elcos you dont have to worry about anything. These boards got some tweaking for high power cards so you can use two 400mw wifi monsters on one board.
Files
-
wbios111.zip - Please see that README file for upgrade instructions
- ecn013.pdf - Pcengines public information about the changes of the new boards
Pictures
Missing elcos on old board
http://meshnode.org/wiki/images/a/a9/Old-elcos.jpg
Old wrap2c board
http://meshnode.org/wiki/images/b/b2/Old-wrap3.jpg
New wrap2c board
http://meshnode.org/wiki/images/b/be/New-wrap2.jpg
Regards Steffen, www.meshnode.org
WRAP Board bios Upgrade (By XModem Method):-
Step 1:- Get two DB9 Female Connector
Step 2:- Connection Diagram
DB9 Female 1 -------------- DB9 Female 2
Pin No. ----------------------- Pin No.1 and 6-----------------------------4
2 --------------------------------- 3
3 --------------------------------- 2
5 --------------------------------- 5
7 --------------------------------- 8
8 --------------------------------- 7
6 --------------------------------- 1 and 6
Step 3:- Download wbios111.zip from http://www.pcengines.ch/wbios111.zip and unzip the file.
Step 4:- Run Make.bat so it will craete wrap1.rom, wrap1.upd, wrap2.rom, wrap2.upd
Step 5:- for windows users go to Hyper Terminal and create new connection for Example,
Connection Name:- WRAPUP
Connection Using:- Com1 ( what ever serial port no of your computer)
Port Setting:- 2400, 8, None, 1, Xon/Xoff
Step 6:- Connect WRAP Board and Computer through NULL Modem Cable Describe above.
Step 7:- Than power on wrap board, you will see Memory counting.
Step 8:- press S during the memory test. The setup screen will be displayed. Press X, then start X-Modem (1K, CRC)
Step 9:- upload or send file wi (X-Modem 1K , CRC) of e.g. WRAP2.UPD
That is it easiest method to upgared wrape board but nobody explains untill you search........
