AREDN gurus, this newby is stuck. So I'm attempting to flash a Rocket M5 -- my third experience in doing this (it does get easier). The unit accepted the downgrade to AirOS to 5.5.10, and the U-Boot test gave me two GREENs. All is well. I call up the file AREDN-3.16.1.1-ubnt-rocket-m-squashfs-factory.bin and upload to AirOS, which returns an error message: "Firmware image check failed. Error Code -6" I re-downloaded the files several times -- same result. I even re-flashed the unit back up to 5.6 and then flashed again downgrading to 5.5. Same result. Any guesses please?
David Ahrendts, KK6DA, Los Angeles
David Ahrendts, KK6DA, Los Angeles
Joe AE6XE
A -6 error code isn't from the boot loader its from the GUI. U-Boot has nothing to do with this.
On quick glance this sounds like this may be an XW M5 Rocket which we do not currently support under the 3.16.1.1 release (have to be using the latest release candidate for rocket XW support)
Now, thanks to Orv, W6BI, I have successfully installed this file (which must be familiar to you): AREDN-AE6XE-olsrd-gps-ubnt-rocket-m-xwsquashfs-factory.bin
Successsful flash to the AREDN program,
Located in Los Feliz and I think I do have LOS to Verdugo.
Now I have a new problem: I've sucessfully given the program a new working name and password, but something got confused with the PW, so I've locked myself out. What's recommended reset procedure or password retireve?
David A., KK6DA
I see the issue of XW firmware (a different chipset in your hardware rev) was identified. my comments were related to the situation of using the 'tftp' method as I read the post to quickly.
Your QTH is only 8.4 miles to Verdugo with a clear north-south line. With a Rocket, what kind of antenna are you using? The rocketdish will certainly do the trick. You could connect into a sector out to 40+ miles with that. At 8.4 miles distance you could get a 50+Mpbs link with a Nanobridge 5G25 for 1/3 the price, and easier to install. Something to consider is putting a 5Ghz sector on the rocket to cover LA area. Looks like you have some height that other hams blocked line-of-sight to Verdugo could then hop though you.
Joe AE6XE
I just picked up an AirMax M5 Rocket (XW firmware build/test date of 7-28-16 ) and was able to downgrade it to 5.5 .10 AirOS just fine but both the AREDN 3.16.1.1 and AREDN 3.17.1.0RC1 failed with the same error code as mentioned by the OP. I was able to get the nightly build of AREDN-develop-171-69937359-ubnt-rocket-m-xw-squashfs-factory.bin to load ok. I have yet to try and connect to other nodes in my area and since I'm new to MESH I wanted to know if this would cause problems or am I supposed to keep "dev" devices of the network?
If the later when is there going to be an allowed on the network version released?
Edit... I found the AREDN 3.17.1.0RC1 "XW" for the M5 Rocket as it was also listed alongside the PowerBeam PBE-M5-400 towards the bottom of the release candidates webpage page which caused me to miss it at first since it was not listed with the other Rocket devices.
Thanks
Mike
W6MJS
Using the "Nightly Build" images comes with the understanding that we are actively making changes and at points in time some new features may not have been tested very much and there will be unknowns, possibly other broken features.
A "Release Candidate" has had sufficient testing that we think it is ready to release, but we want everyone to stress test in many different environments to be sure. As of today, I would consider the build #171 better than the RC version for the Rocket XW. (Not necessarily true of all models.)
There are a lot of people running the Rocket XW in production use on the RC images for 9 months or more. There are probably a dozen Rocket XWs on the ocmesh.org network here in SoCal and I see the stability comparable to nodes and other devices running 3.16.1.1, except for one configuration scenario that you will not encounter when there are RF links established to the device.
Joe AE6XE