mk4guidecleanflashserial

Mark IV Clean Flash over Serial (UART)

   

Attention!

DO NOT USE ON BATTERY POWER!

Always use the AC Adaptor.

Why you would want to clean flash

  -Because you somehow bricked your pineapple
  -You have a new Hornet-UB (Hornet-UB only has the bootloader, no OpenWRT)

Where to connect the UART

To open the Pineapple/Jasager/AP121U, you will need to remove the 2 rubber stoppers on the bottom of the device to reveal 2 screws. Remove the 2 screws and you should be able to wiggle it apart.

UART Adaptors

There are many USB/Serial to UART adapters out there. The author of the video below (Mr-Protocol) used the Alfa Console Board. Any 3.3v capable UART adapter should work. Check the adapter specifications before buying. You can also buy a UART Adaptor from the Hakshop.

If you are not using the Alfa Console Board, You only need to hook up the TX, RX, GND pins to your UART adapter. <font color=redDO NOT hook up the VDD pin to your adapter.

Hardware Used

  Alfa Console Board Or any USB-UART 3.3v Adapter
  Serial Cable from PC to Alfa Console Board (If you are using a serial port on PC and the Alfa Console Board)
  Ethernet Cable
  AC Power Adapter
  WiFi Pineapple (AP121U)(Hornet-UB PCB)

For non-Alfa Console Board hookup

UART RX Pin —– Hornet TX Pin

UART TX Pin —– Hornet RX Pin

UART GND Pin —– Hornet GND Pin

(Take note of the cross between RX-TX)

DO NOT plug in the voltage pin.

Depending on how the UART manufacturer labeled TX and RX, you may need to swap them if you don't see data in your terminal session.

Software Tools (Windows)

  -tftpd32
  -WinSCP
  -PuTTY or your favorite serial terminal.
  -Hornet-UB Factory Firmware (Files)
  -Latest Mark IV Firmware

Software Tools (Linux/*buntu)

  -tftpgui - Simple tftp server. Make sure you have the correct Python dependencies installed for the one you download. Read the readme file to   understand how to use it. Extract tftpgui, then extract factoryFiles.tar to the tftpgui/tftproot/ directory. sudo python tftpgui –nogui
  -scp
  -Minicom or your favorite serial terminal. Read the man page for setting baud and other options. sudo minicom -w -s
  -Hornet-UB Factory Firmware (Files)
  -Latest Mark IV Firmware

Instructions

Setup

  -Download Hornet-UB Factory Firmware (Files))
  -Extract the factory files and set up a tftp server (tftpgui, tftpd32, etc.) that points to the files.
  -Setup your computer to allow scp. For Windows: WinSCP
  -Connect to your pineapple through serial. Serial Settings: 115200 baud, 8 data bits, no parity, 1 stop bit, no flow control
  -Connect via the pineapples PoE/LAN port (the one closest to the power plug) with your computer's IP set to 192.168.2.11

  -