February 21, 2010 at 20:38Bleeding ASUS WL 500G Premium
Habré already had a couple of articles about a very good WL 500G Premium router from ASUS.
The device has a good potential - quite a quick Broadcom BCM4704 processor, 32 MB of RAM, two USB ports (albeit with low bandwidth). The Wi-Fi module, the limit of which is 54Mbps when using 802.11g, let us down. But for a laptop, netbook, communicator and other mobile devices is enough.
This filling simply required more proper use than ASUS programmers wanted. Therefore, both modifications of the native firmware (firmware from Oleg`a oleg.wl500g.info ) and completely new projects (DD-WRT www.dd-wrt.com ) were created.
The possibility of connecting an external hard drive via the USB interface and installing a torrent client (Transmission, rtorrent), which would unload the big brother and sleep at night in complete silence, turned out to be very popular.
All these operations were done (another article can be written about this) and a kind of seedbox was obtained, which coped very well with its duties.
... the number of distributed torrents did not exceed 150 pieces. With so many distributions, the router began to slow down noticeably, the presence of a swap on the hard drive did not save the situation. Therefore, it was decided to add RAM to this wonderful piece of hardware.
The reason for this was the article www.wl500g.info/showthread.php?t=7048which was written by Oleg, the author of the firmware of the same name, as well as the subsequent discussion by its forum participants www.wl500g.info/showthread.php?t=7523 .
After reading this topic for a couple of days, I reconciled myself to the loss of the router (because you always need to be prepared for the worst) and proceeded to search for the required chips for the upgrade.
For this operation, only chips suitable for the following conditions were suitable:
1) DDR 1 chips with a frequency of 333mhz or higher (it is desirable that the chip works stably with a Cl2 delay of 333Mhz).
2) The internal organization of the chip should be 32M x 16 (read as 32 megaswords for 16 bits).
3) Chip case 66-PIN TSOP
The list of tested chips and memory modules from which they were removed can also be found on the already mentioned forum www.wl500g.info/showpost.php?p=122252&postcount=630
A couple of days later, a 256Mb DIMM PC3200 module with the marking Hynix HYMD532646CP6J-D43 was found and Hynix HY5DU121622CTP-D43 chips.
For transplantation were used:
So, we disassemble our router. To do this, it is enough to unstick the rubber legs at the bottom. Under them are 4 screws. We unscrew them and remove the cover. The board is mounted on four rails and you can remove it simply by prying it with your finger. Do not forget to disconnect the Wi-Fi waveguide before this. In the photo at the bottom right, we see a metal plate. This is a cover that protects the circuits connecting the processor and RAM from electromagnetic interference.
Using a screwdriver, the cover can be easily removed.
Under it are two Samsung RAM chips (there are also options with Hynix and Winbond), a processor, and a flash memory of 8 megabytes in which the firmware is stored. For the convenience of subsequent manipulations, I would recommend removing the crosspiece by cutting it with wire cutters near the ribs that go around the perimeter.
On the other side of the board, for the same shielding, a rectangular piece of foil is glued, which must be carefully removed. Under it are the tracks of the address lines with current-limiting resistors.
Before replacing the memory, it will be necessary to solder a 33 Ohm resistor into an empty place under the number R43. This will enable the address line A12 to address all 128 megabytes of memory that we install. A resistor of this denomination and size can be removed from the same DDR module that became the donor of the chips, or from faulty IDE hard drives, or simply bought in a radio parts store.
So, the resistor is soldered.
Let's start replacing the chips. The chips are soldered by refractory lead-free solder. In my case, the solder began to "swim" at 420 degrees, according to the station indicator. We apply flux to the chip terminals - a little. Gently warm the legs on both sides and remove the chip with tweezers.
In the absence of a soldering station, you can use a 60-watt soldering iron with a flat tip. In this case, it will be necessary to thread the thread under the leads and, warming them with a soldering iron, until the solder melts, gently pull it, soldering first one side of the chip, and then the other.
Repeat the operation for another chip.
Next, using the tape to remove the solder, remove the remnants of the old solder. To do this, just put the tape on top of the remaining solder and warm it through the tape with a soldering iron.
The photo is not mine, but the process is clear
The tape is woven from thin copper veins and impregnated with flux, it will draw solder into itself. The site, which is saturated with solder, is cut off and discarded. As a result, we get clean contact pads.
Next, we apply flux to them, and with the help of a soldering iron we apply solder LC-60, it is not so refractory and it is much easier to work with it. This will eliminate the non-solder that could occur if you leave the old refractory solder. The result should be well-tinned contacts.
Guided by the key, we impose the chip on the board.
And we pass a thin soldering iron on each leg, forcing the solder to melt under it and press it to the contact area. The same operation for another chip.
Having disappeared everything, we take cotton buds, alcohol and wipe the traces of flux on the circuit board and between the legs of the chips. Along the way, we examine for the presence of “snot”, i.e. unwanted connection of neighboring chip legs that could result from an inaccurate soldering iron touch, trembling hands and other terrestrial and extraterrestrial factors. We also examine for possible non-drinking, i.e. not high-quality contact of the output and the circuit board pad.
If everything is in order, wait until the alcohol dries and turn on the device. With a job well done, the router boots immediately: the “Power” indicator lights up and after 5-10 seconds “Air”.
If you turned on the device, and the Power indicator is off and Air is dim, this indicates that the router did not boot. The reason for this, as a rule, is not drinking (once again, go over each leg with a soldering iron), or “snot” (take a magnifying glass or a lens, a table lamp and carefully examine the places of soldering) to remove excess, use a tape and a soldering iron.
After successfully loading the router, go to its console via telnet or ssh and enter commands that will enable the software addressing of all 128 megabytes. We reboot the router. And with the help of the command we see the available amount of RAM. At the moment, after such an upgrade, the router is successfully coping with the distribution of 213 torrents without visible slowdowns.
PS In the same way, you can increase the amount of RAM in the ASUS WL500G Premium v2 and D-Link 320 routers. But they have only one chip inside, so you can only increase it to 64 megabytes.
The device has a good potential - quite a quick Broadcom BCM4704 processor, 32 MB of RAM, two USB ports (albeit with low bandwidth). The Wi-Fi module, the limit of which is 54Mbps when using 802.11g, let us down. But for a laptop, netbook, communicator and other mobile devices is enough.
This filling simply required more proper use than ASUS programmers wanted. Therefore, both modifications of the native firmware (firmware from Oleg`a oleg.wl500g.info ) and completely new projects (DD-WRT www.dd-wrt.com ) were created.
The possibility of connecting an external hard drive via the USB interface and installing a torrent client (Transmission, rtorrent), which would unload the big brother and sleep at night in complete silence, turned out to be very popular.
All these operations were done (another article can be written about this) and a kind of seedbox was obtained, which coped very well with its duties.
... the number of distributed torrents did not exceed 150 pieces. With so many distributions, the router began to slow down noticeably, the presence of a swap on the hard drive did not save the situation. Therefore, it was decided to add RAM to this wonderful piece of hardware.
The reason for this was the article www.wl500g.info/showthread.php?t=7048which was written by Oleg, the author of the firmware of the same name, as well as the subsequent discussion by its forum participants www.wl500g.info/showthread.php?t=7523 .
After reading this topic for a couple of days, I reconciled myself to the loss of the router (because you always need to be prepared for the worst) and proceeded to search for the required chips for the upgrade.
For this operation, only chips suitable for the following conditions were suitable:
1) DDR 1 chips with a frequency of 333mhz or higher (it is desirable that the chip works stably with a Cl2 delay of 333Mhz).
2) The internal organization of the chip should be 32M x 16 (read as 32 megaswords for 16 bits).
3) Chip case 66-PIN TSOP
The list of tested chips and memory modules from which they were removed can also be found on the already mentioned forum www.wl500g.info/showpost.php?p=122252&postcount=630
A couple of days later, a 256Mb DIMM PC3200 module with the marking Hynix HYMD532646CP6J-D43 was found and Hynix HY5DU121622CTP-D43 chips.
For transplantation were used:
- Soldering station with soldering iron and hairdryer Lukey 852D + Fan
- Flux for soldering electronic components F-2000
- Solder LC-60
- Solder removal tape (a very useful thing, it allows you to quickly and easily remove excess solder and clean up the bloopers after soldering)
- Isopropyl alcohol. To remove flux residues after soldering
- Cotton buds for ease of use of alcohol
- A lot of patience
So, we disassemble our router. To do this, it is enough to unstick the rubber legs at the bottom. Under them are 4 screws. We unscrew them and remove the cover. The board is mounted on four rails and you can remove it simply by prying it with your finger. Do not forget to disconnect the Wi-Fi waveguide before this. In the photo at the bottom right, we see a metal plate. This is a cover that protects the circuits connecting the processor and RAM from electromagnetic interference.
Using a screwdriver, the cover can be easily removed.
Under it are two Samsung RAM chips (there are also options with Hynix and Winbond), a processor, and a flash memory of 8 megabytes in which the firmware is stored. For the convenience of subsequent manipulations, I would recommend removing the crosspiece by cutting it with wire cutters near the ribs that go around the perimeter.
On the other side of the board, for the same shielding, a rectangular piece of foil is glued, which must be carefully removed. Under it are the tracks of the address lines with current-limiting resistors.
Before replacing the memory, it will be necessary to solder a 33 Ohm resistor into an empty place under the number R43. This will enable the address line A12 to address all 128 megabytes of memory that we install. A resistor of this denomination and size can be removed from the same DDR module that became the donor of the chips, or from faulty IDE hard drives, or simply bought in a radio parts store.
So, the resistor is soldered.
Let's start replacing the chips. The chips are soldered by refractory lead-free solder. In my case, the solder began to "swim" at 420 degrees, according to the station indicator. We apply flux to the chip terminals - a little. Gently warm the legs on both sides and remove the chip with tweezers.
In the absence of a soldering station, you can use a 60-watt soldering iron with a flat tip. In this case, it will be necessary to thread the thread under the leads and, warming them with a soldering iron, until the solder melts, gently pull it, soldering first one side of the chip, and then the other.
Repeat the operation for another chip.
Next, using the tape to remove the solder, remove the remnants of the old solder. To do this, just put the tape on top of the remaining solder and warm it through the tape with a soldering iron.
The photo is not mine, but the process is clear
The tape is woven from thin copper veins and impregnated with flux, it will draw solder into itself. The site, which is saturated with solder, is cut off and discarded. As a result, we get clean contact pads.
Next, we apply flux to them, and with the help of a soldering iron we apply solder LC-60, it is not so refractory and it is much easier to work with it. This will eliminate the non-solder that could occur if you leave the old refractory solder. The result should be well-tinned contacts.
Guided by the key, we impose the chip on the board.
And we pass a thin soldering iron on each leg, forcing the solder to melt under it and press it to the contact area. The same operation for another chip.
Having disappeared everything, we take cotton buds, alcohol and wipe the traces of flux on the circuit board and between the legs of the chips. Along the way, we examine for the presence of “snot”, i.e. unwanted connection of neighboring chip legs that could result from an inaccurate soldering iron touch, trembling hands and other terrestrial and extraterrestrial factors. We also examine for possible non-drinking, i.e. not high-quality contact of the output and the circuit board pad.
If everything is in order, wait until the alcohol dries and turn on the device. With a job well done, the router boots immediately: the “Power” indicator lights up and after 5-10 seconds “Air”.
If you turned on the device, and the Power indicator is off and Air is dim, this indicates that the router did not boot. The reason for this, as a rule, is not drinking (once again, go over each leg with a soldering iron), or “snot” (take a magnifying glass or a lens, a table lamp and carefully examine the places of soldering) to remove excess, use a tape and a soldering iron.
After successfully loading the router, go to its console via telnet or ssh and enter commands that will enable the software addressing of all 128 megabytes. We reboot the router. And with the help of the command we see the available amount of RAM. At the moment, after such an upgrade, the router is successfully coping with the distribution of 213 torrents without visible slowdowns.
nvram set sdram_init=0x0011
nvram set sdram_config=0x0062
nvram commit
rebootfreePS In the same way, you can increase the amount of RAM in the ASUS WL500G Premium v2 and D-Link 320 routers. But they have only one chip inside, so you can only increase it to 64 megabytes.