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ericzolf's avatar
ericzolf
Aspirant
Sep 30, 2023

R7800 reboots when Pinebook Pro uses the Wifi in AP mode

Hi,

I recently got a PineBook Pro (aka PBP, from pine64.org) and I have now the issue that each time the PBP uses the Wifi a bit more heavily, the R7800 chokes and reboots.

 

I am ready to admit that the PBP is doing something strange and I reported the issue also there the issue https://forum.pine64.org/showthread.php?tid=18739 but:

  1. this hints at a denial of service weakness in the R7800 which could be used for malign purposes
  2. I'd appreciate some help to debug the issue from the R7800 side, where the logs are absolutely useless, and gone after a reboot. I've discovered https://nighthawk.home/debug.htm but missing documentation on how to use it.

Thanks, Eric

Some more information: I have two R7800 both configured very similarly as AP against the same 3rd party router, latest firmware, and both showing the same behavior. Depending which Wifi is used by the PBP, the corresponding R7800 reboots.

Troubleshooting

14 Replies

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    • ericzolf's avatar
      ericzolf
      Aspirant
      Oct 03, 2023
       
      Kitsap wrote:

      One option would be to consider the Voxel firmware for your R7800s.  Be sure and review the Readme file linked in the banner.

       

      https://www.voxel-firmware.com/Downloads/Voxel/html/index.html

      I didn't know about the Voxel firmware, but I was considering OpenWrt if everything else breaks. What would be the advantages/disadvantages of both, if we arrive to this stage? From what I could find, Voxel, like the stock firmware, is also based on OpenWrt.

      The nearest to a comparison I could find is https://www.snbforums.com/threads/voxel-firmware.50141/post-587447 and it's  already more than 3 years old, so possibly/probably outdated.

      • FURRYe38's avatar
        FURRYe38
        Guru
        Oct 03, 2023

        Voxels WEB GUI is mostly same or similar to NG stock FW. He makes some GUI changes and mostly cosmetic. 

         

        Voxels mostly keeps the backend FW packages more up to date with in the FW and also as more support for some features that NG doesn't support.

         

        I think other draw backs would be that features like Amor and Circle may not work at all with his FW loaded. Not sure if Nighthawk app will either. 

         

        I did load his FW on my R7800 a few years back. With the additional WEB GUI diagnostic plug-in that was supported back then, was really nice. Seem to run well though I didn't test it out for a long time. Just wanted to see if I could get it loaded on and with the plug-in that was brought up. I have data at home that I still have somewhere's regarding that. 

         

        Think in long term, Voxels would be the better option, if your system is not in warranty and this is what you want to keep for a while longer, give it a try. You can always come back to NG stock. 

         

         

    • ericzolf's avatar
      ericzolf
      Aspirant
      Oct 03, 2023
      plemans wrote:

      does it matter if its connected to the 2.4ghz or the 5ghz?

      No, it doesn't. My normal configuration is with "Smart Connect", so both under the same name, and the issue appeared. I split them for troubleshooting, but both cause the reboot.