TP-Link EAP245 v1 is AC1750 Wireless Dual Band Gigabit Ceiling Mount Access Point:
- CPU: QCA9563-AL3A MIPS 74kc v5.0 @775MHz with 2.4GHz wifi
- RAM: 128MiB M14D1G1664A-2.5B @650MHz
- Flash: 16MiB 25Q128CSIG SPI NOR
- Wifi 5Ghz: QCA9880-BR4A 5 GHz wifi ath10k
- Gigabit Eth: AR8033-AL1A 1 gigabit lan port (802.3at PoE)
Runs with original TP-Link broken U-Boot. Note that kernel partition is bigger than factory
As in TP-Link Kernel GPL sources, code from U-Boot is bundled in Linux kernel to fix initialization of ethernet port. This code is enabled with EAP245_V1_FACTORY_UBOOT.
Modern Linux Kernel with device tree. It requires a U-Boot upgrade to support uImage and fix ethernet initialization. [https://github.com/j-d-r/u-boot-QCA956x/releases]
Factory firmwares are signed, signature is verified when upgrading by software. The only way to update is to solder a serial port, and flash the image with U-boot.
Serial port can be soldered on PCB J3, pins are TXD, RXD, GND, VCC. PCB line close to header are missing resistors R225 (TXD), R237 (RXD), R230 (RXD voltage divider). R225 and R237 can be replaced by wires, and R230 (voltage divider) must be left open.
WITHOUT RESISTOR, THERE IS NO PROTECTION. USE 3.3V MAX, AND PLUG TXD TO SERIAL PORT RX FIRST.
Original U-Boot is broken, environment variables are not corresponding to board, kernel parameters must be ignored, it miss ethernet SGMII port initialization on normal boot. It boot on a ELF kernel with separate kernel and root partitions.
Tested release [https://github.com/j-d-r/u-boot-QCA956x/releases]
IT'S A RISKY PROCEDURE IF SOMETHING GOES WRONG YOU WILL HAVE TO UNSOLDIER AND REPROGRAM FLASH CHIP.
ath> setenv ipaddr XXX.XXX.XXX.XXX (optional 192.168.1.1 by default)
ath> setenv serverip XXX.XXX.XXX.XXX (optional 192.168.1.10 by default)
ath> tftp 0x80800000 u-boot.bin
ath> erase 0x9f000000 +0x2000
ath> cp.b $fileaddr 0x9f000000 $filesize
ath> reset
When U-Boot is loading, hold C-B to break.
TAKE CARE NONE OF THE U-BOOT ENVIRONMENT VARARIABLES CORRESPOND TO THE BOARD. Partitions in bootargs and tftp flash command are BROKEN.
ath> setenv ipaddr XXX.XXX.XXX.XXX (optional 192.168.1.1 by default)
ath> setenv serverip XXX.XXX.XXX.XXX (optional 192.168.1.10 by default)
ath> tftp 0x80800000 openwrt-ar71xx-generic-eap245-v1-squashfs-sysupgrade.bin
ath> erase 0x9f040000 +0xd80000
ath> cp.b $fileaddr 0x9f040000 $filesize
u-boot> tftpboot 0x80800000 openwrt-ath79-generic-tplink-eap245-v1-squashfs-sysupgrade.bin
u-boot> erase 0x9f040000 +$filesize
u-boot> cp.b $fileaddr 0x9f040000 $filesize
u-boot> setenv bootcmd bootm 0x9f040000
u-boot> saveenv
This port has been refused upstream due to soldering and broken U-Boot.