Alternate PCI-E / M.2 / NGFF cards

[andypiper]

Following on from a brief comment here…

WiFi reception problem, probably overheating wireless chipset

FWIW: related to the M.2 card suggestion, I have tried a B-key M.2 USB adapter (with a Netgear wifi USB adapter inserted), and a B-Key M.2 SD card adapter (with an SD card inserted), in the modem / WWAN slot and neither seem to be detected by the Pocket Reform - although, I’m not sure whether I would need to manually load modules to drive things in the slot… in the case of the SD card adapter the device itself has LEDs that come on indicating that it is connected in hardware terms. Looking at th…

I have a Quectel EM060K-EA on the way to go in the WWAN slot, but in the meantime I have been trying out some other things.

1. an SD Card adapter

“M.2 Micro SD Card Reader Micro Micro SD SDHC SDXC TF to M2 B Key T-Flash Adapter for Desktop Laptop M.2 NGFF SSD Support 512GB”

It’s a B-keyed card with a micro SD card slot. When plugged in, a red light comes on indicating that it is getting power from the slot; when an SD card is inserted, a green light comes on indicating that it is seen by the adapter at least. Marked as TFNGFFVA2 with a SAGE chip marked S682A16 202244.

Nothing shows up in dmesg or lsusb or lspci or lsblk on the Pocket Reform even though it is all lit enthusiastically.

2. a USB adapter

“Laptop M.2 B Key to Wireless Bluetooth-Compatible WiFi Network Card USB 3.0 SSD NGFF 3042 Converter M2 Key-B WWAN 4G Slot to USB3.0 Adapter”

marked as WK5 V1.1 ADT LINK

There are no LEDs with this one. It has a single USB A socket on the inside of an open square cut out in the board. I’ve tried loading a tiny Netgear / Realtek wifi card into that.

On insertion I’ve seen messages like this in dmesg output

[  189.421594] usb 1-1.4: new high-speed USB device number 5 using xhci-hcd
[  189.522789] usb 1-1.4: New USB device found, idVendor=0846, idProduct=9041, bcdDevice= 2.00
[  189.522813] usb 1-1.4: New USB device strings: Mfr=1, Product=2, SerialNumber=3
[  189.522822] usb 1-1.4: Product: 802.11n WLAN Adapter
[  189.522830] usb 1-1.4: Manufacturer: Realtek
[  189.522837] usb 1-1.4: SerialNumber: 00e04c000001
[  189.614610] usb 1-1.4: can't set config #1, error -71
[  189.710718] usb 1-1.4: USB disconnect, device number 5
[  192.666020] usb 1-1-port4: Cannot enable. Maybe the USB cable is bad?
[  195.434295] usb 1-1-port4: Cannot enable. Maybe the USB cable is bad?
[  195.434458] usb 1-1-port4: attempt power cycle
[  216.915815] hub_port_connect: 12 callbacks suppressed
[  216.915833] usb 1-1-port4: connect-debounce failed

Nothing in lsusb or lspci and it seems to not fully connect. Some searching seems to indicate that this is a protocol error and could be due to power or something else. The USB wifi adapter ends up getting very hot (I know because I took it out afterwards and the metal USB A connector was uncomfortably warm), so I didn’t want to leave it in.

Just wanted to share my experiences with alternative uses of the WWAN slot since these were mentioned elsewhere. Anyone else found devices that work there?

[nanocodebug]

I don’t see a datasheet for that chip - maybe its a pcie to usb chip? an m.2 b-key slot can expose, sata, usb, pcie, among other signals. in the case of the pocket the port is wired for wwan m.2 b-key, no pcie, no sata, it only includes USB, and several other signals for routing audio and sim card to the wwan card.

A custom adapter might be needed to expose the usb signals out of the port - i imagine it could be entirely passive though to a single usb 2.0 port, or fancier to a small usb 2.0 hub with headers.

[minute]

On a related note, I just ordered a few M27612-BU3 from AsiaRF. These are advertised as B-Key WiFi cards with a well supported MediaTek chip. I will report back if these work. Otherwise I can try to make our own WiFi card for B-Key, but need to select a good & available chipset.

[nanocodebug]

Ah for the rk3588 in the pocket, since it doesn’t include onboard WiFi?

[minute]

Not only, but also because the A311D+RTL8822CS combo is pretty undewhelming (max 20-30mbit/s) and also has unexplainable connection stalls from time to time. I already sunk a lot of time into trying to debug that driver, also the driver author helped me, to no avail.

In any case, I got a few of these cards now M27612-BU3 Wi-Fi M.2 B key module 2242 2230 MT7612U 11ac 2x2 867 Mbps

And can report they work perfectly in the WWAN slot of Pocket Reform with the A311D (RCM4-BPi module)! I get almost 200mbit/s in the office, which is the limit of our VDSL connection.

I will now test to see if it works with the i.MX8MPlus.

I’ve compared a bunch of different antenna setups and so far 2x dualband Ezurio/Laird FlexPIFA works best, I’ve got a few on order now from Mouser that should fit in the device better.

[minute]

Here are some pics of the installation of the AsiaRF card and two Laird/Ezurio FlexPIFA antennas in my Pocket Reform with A311D. So far it’s a much better and stable experience than with the stock WiFi on the BPi CM4: minute: "testing asiarf wifi card (with mt7612u chip) in A…" - Mastodon

We will test this in some other public environments, uni etc.

Edit: Antennas are 2x Ezurio EFB2455A3S-20MHF1

[andypiper]

Follow-ups.

I tested two alternate devices yesterday:

1. A (fresh) WK5 V1.1 ADT LINK USB adapter
2. A WK6 V1.0 SD adapter

Both of these appear to work. Some images:

In the case of the USB adapter, I tried it with a Logitech unifying receiver, which worked and showed up successfully in lsusb.

With the SD adapter, I was able to see and mount a 128Gb microSD card (listed as /dev/sda1).

NB you should not hot swap either the M.2 device, or the card/USB device inserted into the device, while the Pocket Reform is powered on. Unhappy times will result.

I have one other wireless card to test, and I’m waiting on an antenna for my modem card still.

[josch]

What are the data transfer rates?

I’d like to see a better wifi card for the a311d in my big reform and i have a couple of free usb ports left to fill but all usb wifi dongles i have owned so far were terrible. I wonder if cards like the MT7612U also exist in a form factor that makes them more easy to attach to a free usb port? The usual usb wifi dongles do not even provide a way to attach an external antenna…

[andypiper]

@josch

What are the data transfer rates?

Ah! This is a great point! I need to go back and check on those, I was doing more basic testing but those are great questions. Will report on that when I can.

[andypiper]

Update here, someone on Mastodon mentioned the Fomu device (tiny FPGA in a USB-port-sized footprint) - I have one in the WK5 USB adapter and it is visible to the OS, although I did update the bootloader installed on the Fomu to 2.0.4 using a USB hub plugged in over USB-C to the side of the Pocket Reform, before getting it working internally.

(that tiny, tiny gold coloured thing with a green LED is the Fomu)

Bus 001 Device 006: ID 1209:5bf0 Generic Fomu PVT running DFU Bootloader v2.0.4

[   15.377360] usb 1-1.4: new full-speed USB device number 6 using xhci-hcd
[   15.485109] usb 1-1.4: New USB device found, idVendor=1209, idProduct=5bf0, bcdDevice= 1.01
[   15.485130] usb 1-1.4: New USB device strings: Mfr=1, Product=2, SerialNumber=0
[   15.485136] usb 1-1.4: Product: Fomu PVT running DFU Bootloader v2.0.4
[   15.485142] usb 1-1.4: Manufacturer: Foosn

[andypiper]

For the MT7612U wifi card from AsiaRF: this works fine, however, requires that the firmware-mediatek package be installed in Debian in order for it to connect to a network. Thanks @minute for the tip on this.

[mtm]

I have an RK3588 on order for my Pocket (from before the upgrade kits were released). I see the recommended WiFi options here, but I’d also love to retain the Bluetooth functionality of the original SoM. Any recommendations for a WiFi/Bluetooth combo option? Or some other way to add Bluetooth internally?

[shigeru]

Hello!

I am wondering with RK3588 at this time, there is no option to have WiFi and WWAN at the same time? Or is there an option to have both?

Thanks.

[minute]

Hi, not yet, but I’m working on a special WiFi/BT board for RK3588 that uses an extra fpc connector on the module, so then the slot will be freed up again. I can’t promise a date yet when this will be ready&well tested.