BPI-R4 Pro design with MT7988, update version for BPI-R4, any good idea?

Banana Pi Router design BPI-R4/BPI-R4 Pro(MT7988)
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Absolutely true! To be honest, I am absolutelly :ok: with the 8GB on board, BUT:

  • I would like to have an option to change the emmc whenever bad block appear or needs of an bigger capacity - as I already have 256GB emmc chips and I am not able to use them :disappointed:
  • Installation of any OS on the emmc will be much easier - it is not really big challenge whenever you know what to do, butā€¦

What about at least 2 more sfp+ net-ifs? What would it needs?

  • :question: 9k MTU - does it really do not needs any hw changes and only sw changes are required?
  • :ok: rss/lro is available already
  • :question: more powerfull cpu - does there is any available/usable
  • :question: more pciEx lines?
  • :question: other dependencies?

edit: added question to the 9k MTUā€¦

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R4Pro is same SoC so it has same count of pcie lanes but it is basicly switchable by a gpio between slots. But i have not tried it yet,still try to get networking working on mxl switch.

The question is why is a more powerful cpu neededā€¦where is the bottleneck?

Btw. The schematic does not match the board i haveā€¦both sfp/10g-phy combo ports are realized with an ethmux

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ā€œbasicly switchable by a gpio between slotsā€

ā†’ I understand it (was not aware since now) :slightly_smiling_face::

grafik
grafik736Ɨ512 60.8 KB

I did not need more cpu power ā€¦ did not want more power consumption.

I would like to see more small wifi 7 modules (dreams are allowed? :face_with_peeking_eye:)

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I assume, that with MTU at 9k will be more efficient in the high performance tasks on sfp? Does it is possible that 2k MTU causes avg load on all 4 cpu cores to 70% and therefore limit the performance of writing data through sfp port?

Does there will be still enough cpu power in cases like fe:

  • primary server functions nfs, samba, tftp, iSCSI for disc-less stations on SFP and even ETH ports
  • using RJ45 ports with both of the sfp ports in case of night backups, rsyncing or something like that?
  • managing of raid5/6/10 arrays, including re-shaping, re-checking on background, and also working in degraded mode?

Thanks a lot for opinion of anyone :slight_smile:

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Hello! Popping in here because I would like to know about a potential release dateā€¦

Currently I am using an ONT from my ISP that plugs in via SFP but my DrayTek router is being a bit of an issue - and a bottleneck. So I am very much looking forward for this board.

Is there any availability ETA or something? This, with OpenWrt, seems like a perfect fit for what I need.

Thanks!

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There are some issues that need to be fixed in hardware and software before it is usable. I cannot recommend the R4Pro at this time.

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If the R4Pro isnā€™t really ready and should be avoided for now, what would be a suitable choice of mainboard instead? I purchased a Turris Omnia several years ago and it was a good unit at that time, just looking for something updated to serve the same purpose. Thanks!

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It depends on your needsā€¦i use a bpi-r3 as main router with debian userspace

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Hello Frank! I get you are working on it with mediatek (looking at your repo). Do you mind sharing what are these hardware/software issues?

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i have a really early board, i guess most of the issues are known so far and are fixed when the board comes into saleā€¦it is not really relevant at this time for end-usersā€¦you only need to wait some hardware iterations and software development before getting such board except you also want to TEST and DEVELOPING (at linux driver level, not userspace) itā€¦it is not for using in production environment yet

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I would like ask why it is not possible use 12V, 19V and on PRO version even 24V on every power source connector?

As I am using bpi-r4 as a nas, I am using 12V power source, and I am thinking why it is not possible to use 12V on the VH-2-pin connector?

image

It would be nice:

  • to have possibility of using every voltage on every connector
  • if power source connectors should automatically switch on order: VH-2PIN => USB Type-C => DCIN

Than it would be possible to use internal power source and even battery as backup and on different voltages.

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Does it should be possible to add more leds to monitor activity of:

  • every single sfp
  • every single minipciEx
  • every single m.2?

And then, what about using of PIN header to be able to ā€œre-directā€ any led signals to the external led connected to?

It should work like this:

  • shorters will connect the signal pins to the internal leds by default
  • another external led should be connected to the signal pin instead of shorter
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The pin-header is for gpio,you cannot short any othr output to it. That would require a led headerā€¦that is no bad ideaā€¦so instead of soldering leds,add a pin header for it where per default a led stripe is plugged which can be removed and replaced by cables with leds to route them to a case.

Iā€™m not sure it mpcie and m.2 have generic ā€œactivityā€ pinsā€¦afaik sfps do not have them.

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Just an idea, adding many leds with a few wires:

PCA9685 16-Channel LED Driver Board Module - I2C Bus PWM Controller Development Board for Electronic Projects https://a.aliexpress.com/_Ex7gFTk

Or

https://a.aliexpress.com/_ExIYCKO

Only requires 2 gpio pins (supporting i2c), instead of many.

Even can control the brightness (pwm) in the hardware.

Add CONFIG_PWM_PCA9685=y to your kernel config.

Edit:

It should add a gpiochip with 16 gpioā€™s.

Or even could use MCP23017 module

https://a.aliexpress.com/_EuI0zgI

Also supported in linux as pinctrl

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Just as You say, I did not meant to use the existing GPIO header, I mean using another header (or just pro-longed the gpio one) just for the leds.

Using the led header with the leds inserted in it is also good idea, and it could save some space :+1:

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There are led boards like this but only 1 color and it could be done smaller.

But we should create separate topic for this.

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My goal was not discuss here the accessories for the board, but changes for the next version of the board which could be benefitial. I can see on-board leds usefull for those who are using original-like case for their projects.

For me are all on-board leds which I am not able to replace for the external ones nothing more than another problem to solve.

I need my own case which have to be much bigger than the original one (more than 30x30x30 cm), and now I have to de-solder all on-board leds and replace them by cable or connectors to be able to connect external leds in front of the case.

I believe that this details are important for everyone who could use any bpi board (not only bpi-r4) for their business projects instead of the home ones.

I am NOT manufacturer with his own business yet, but I am working on it and building my own product right now. Therefore I have important question for @sinovoip : Does the manufacturer wants selling BPI products to home individuals or also for manufacturers for their business? What is the primary target for bpi products?

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surely one can call them ? no ? email ?

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I sent email already month ago, without no response yet.

edit: I have to say sorry to bpi team, Now i found the responsse in the junk folder, but the response was just:

We will designing a new product BPI-R4 PRO, you can check details here:
https://docs.banana-pi.org/en/BPI-R4_Pro/BananaPi_BPI-R4_Pro