r11e-lte dead?

plani · Thu Aug 26, 2021 11:59 am

Hi all,
after the SIM-card finally arrived I wanted to start to configure my LtAP mini..... and failed. I configured an APN but I have no LTE-Interface anywhere. I unscrewed the LtAP mini and saw that one antenna connector was not connected. Tried with SIM in slot1, slot2 and no sim....no sucess. Even removing the r11e and inserting it again makes no change. Here is what I get:

[admin@MikroTik] > /interface lte print         
Flags: X - disabled, R - running 
[admin@MikroTik] > /interface lte apn print 
Flags: * - default 
 0 * name="default" apn="internet.telekom" use-peer-dns=yes 
     add-default-route=yes default-route-distance=2 authentication=pap 
     user="t-mobile" password="tm" 
[admin@MikroTik] > /interface lte set [find] apn-profiles=default 
[admin@MikroTik] > /interface lte print                           
Flags: X - disabled, R - running 
[admin@MikroTik] >

My conclusion is: Either the r11e-lte is dead, or I need to "activate" it somehow.

Anyone can tell me what to do?

Cheers
plani

sindy · Thu Aug 26, 2021 12:28 pm

That's bad as even without SIM, the LTE modem is normally detected and reports that no SIM is inserted. The maximum possible harm coming from disconnection of one antenna could be damage of the RF Tx amplifier, but that would require presence of SIM, so no issue here. And fried Tx amplifier would not prevent the device from being detected by RouterOS, so it must be something else.

What's the RouterOS version on the LtAP?

plani · Thu Aug 26, 2021 2:19 pm

Hi Sindy,

I'm not sure, but I believe I already saw the LTE device last week. So there is a Risk that when I inserted the SIM card for testing today, that I might have fried something, also I believe that is unlikely. So let's hope it is something else.

Regarding the ROS version, I upgraded to 6.48 two days ago and downgraded to 6.46.8 again earlier today, hoping that might help. By the way, this is one of the only two Mikrotikdevices I bought pre-used and did a netinstall after receiving it, in order to access it.

[admin@MikroTik] /file> /system routerboard print                      
       routerboard: yes
        board-name: LtAP mini LTE kit
             model: RB912R-2nD
          revision: r3
     serial-number: D5########D5
     firmware-type: qca9531L
  factory-firmware: 6.44.6
  current-firmware: 6.48.3
  upgrade-firmware: 6.46.8

The packages installed are:

[admin@MikroTik] > /system package print  
Flags: X - disabled 
 #   NAME                    VERSION                    SCHEDULED              
 0   routeros-mipsbe         6.46.8                                            
 1   system                  6.46.8                                            
 2 X ipv6                    6.46.8                                            
 3   wireless                6.46.8                                            
 4   hotspot                 6.46.8                                            
 5   mpls                    6.46.8                                            
 6   routing                 6.46.8                                            
 7   ppp                     6.46.8                                            
 8   dhcp                    6.46.8                                            
 9   security                6.46.8                                            
10   advanced-tools          6.46.8

Looking at firmware I only get as far as:

[admin@MikroTik] > /interface lte info lte1 once
no such item

which is actually quite logical, as the is no LTE1 device available.

Any idea before I have to go and buy another r11e-lte?
Cheers
plani

sindy · Thu Aug 26, 2021 3:52 pm

I'd start from 6.47.10, I hazily remember 6.46.x still had some issues with LTE modems and especially with upgrading them. What has made you choose 6.46.8 in particular, given that 6.47.10 has been the long-term release since a couple of weeks ago?

What does /system resource usb print detail show?

Do you happen to have any other device with mini-PCIe slot to test the modem in it?

plani · Thu Aug 26, 2021 6:49 pm

Unfortunately no other device to test the r11e / mini-PCIe. Regarding the RouterOS version, there was no specific reason for that version I took. BUt what makes it even more strange now is that I tried to update the ROS but it somehow doesn't show anything properly, meaning the Versions presented don't match those I updated to. So I did the following:

[admin@MikroTik] > /system package update set channel=stable
[admin@MikroTik] > /system package update check-for-updates
            channel: stable
  installed-version: 6.46.8
     latest-version: 6.48.4
             status: New version is available

[admin@MikroTik] > /system package update download
            channel: stable
  installed-version: 6.46.8
     latest-version: 6.48.4
             status: Downloaded, please reboot router to upgrade it

[admin@MikroTik] > /system reboot
Reboot, yes? [y/N]: 
y
system will reboot shortly

This still shows

MikroTik RouterOS 6.46.8 (c) 1999-2020

after reboot, although it should state 6.48.4.

Even a:

[admin@MikroTik] > /system routerboard upgrade
Do you really want to upgrade firmware? [y/n] 
y
17:37:23 echo: system,info,critical Firmware upgraded successfully, please reboot for changes to take effect!
[admin@MikroTik] > 
[admin@MikroTik] > /system reboot             
Reboot, yes? [y/N]: 
y
system will reboot shortly

makes no change. So maybe I should first somehow get the correct RouterOS Version running, especially when assuming that 6.46.x might have LTE issues. But what is going wrong.

plani · Thu Aug 26, 2021 7:08 pm

Additional try: Changing the update-channel to "long-term" which would result in RouterOS Version 6.47.10: Ends in a loop of blinking LEDs in a repeated manner for over 15 minutes.

plani · Thu Aug 26, 2021 10:00 pm

SOLVED everything.....at least everything relating to this thread. After approx. 2 hours of running various netinstall versions in various orders during different states of the LtAP netboot process I finally have an LtAP mini running RouterOS 6.47.10. And *drums* I have a lte1 interface. *applaus* And after configuring the default apn and adding the PIN I was connected through the LTE interface.

For further reference, here is the not very helpful solution: Keeping poking in the dark around netboot and netinstall. I'm sorry, but there is now 'HowTo' as this procedure is not reproducible, at least not with this LtAP mini.

thanks @sindy , I now hope to come back to the other thread on the weekend and try to configure the AP-with-LTE-Failover-WAN-Configuration.

sindy · Fri Aug 27, 2021 10:31 am

Weird, I've written a post but I apparently haven't submitted it as it is not here. So trying again for reference, although you've alreday found another method to cut your way through. And the part regarding LTE firmware is still important.

In the Mikrotik-specific vernacular, "firmware" is another name for the bootloader. The bootloader file is part of the RouterOS package you download, but when you reboot the router with the RouterOS package downloaded, only RouterOS itself (the linux kernel, applications and the UI) gets upgraded unless some error is encountered during the pre-upgrade check, but the bootloader remains there just as a file. To actually upgrade the bootloader from that file into the corresponding place in the flash memory, you have to use /system routerboard upgrade; the new bootloader is then actually used once you reboot the router again.

To learn why the RouterOS version did not change after rebooting the router with the new package downloaded, you have to see the log right after the reboot, before the information scrolls away from the log buffer. /log print is the command.

To make things even more confusing, the software for the LTE modem itself is also called "firmware", but it is upgraded totally separately from RouterOS. And to make things more complicated, the firmware upgrade can only be downloaded via the LTE modem itself. Don't do this using anything older than 6.47.x - I've killed a brand new R11e-LTE6 last summer by upgrading it in 6.45.9 and the issue has been fixed somewhere in 6.46.x.
First, check whether a new LTE firmware is available:
/interface lte firmware-upgrade lte1 upgrade=no
If a newer version exists, take measures that the power wouldn't fail for a couple of minutes (in case of LtAP in particular, the most convenient way is to power it from a USB powerbank via the MicroUSB), and then repeat the command with upgrade=yes.

Apparently, there used to be some issue with LTE modem detection by RouterOS with older LTE firmware versions.

r11e-lte dead? [SOLVED]

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