[LEDE-DEV] Devolo dLAN pro 500 Wireless+ and PLC (Power-line communication not Programmable logic controller)

[Guenther Kelleter]

Hi Denis

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Lede-dev [mailto:lede-dev-bounces at lists.infradead.org] On Behalf Of
> Denis 'GNUtoo' Carikli
> Sent: Sunday, February 26, 2017 1:19 PM
> To: lede-dev at lists.infradead.org
> Subject: [LEDE-DEV] Devolo dLAN pro 500 Wireless+ and PLC (Power-line
> communication not Programmable logic controller)
> 
> Hi,
> 
> I have a Devolo dLAN pro 500 Wireless+, which, has an "AR7400 PLC in PHY
> mode" according to the following commit:
> > 02984a6e09 ar71xx: add support for the devolo dLAN pro 500 Wireless+
> If I understand well the code/platform-data below, it should appear on
> eth0:
> > /* GMAC0 is connected to a AR7400 PLC in PHY mode */
> > ath79_init_mac(ath79_eth0_data.mac_addr, wifi_mac, 2);
> > ath79_eth0_data.phy_if_mode = PHY_INTERFACE_MODE_RGMII;
> > ath79_eth0_pll_data.pll_1000 = 0x0e000000;
> > ath79_eth0_data.speed = SPEED_1000;
> > ath79_eth0_data.duplex = DUPLEX_FULL;
> > ath79_register_eth(0);
> 
> How can I use the powerline functionality?
> - I've compiled an image with the plc-utils
> - I find now way to talk to the AR7400:
>   - amptool finds nothing and exits:
>   # amptool -i eth0 -Iar
>   eth0 00:B0:52:00:00:01 Request Version Information
>   eth0 00:B0:52:00:00:01 Fetch Device Attributes
>   eth0 00:B0:52:00:00:01 Device Identity
>   - Running plcID with the following command shows the same frame:
>   # plcID -i eth0 -v
> 
> - I also tried removing eth0 from the br-lan bridge but the command
>   line PLC identification tools mentioned above didn't have more
>   success.
> 
> - According to blog posts like this one, the PLC should respond to
>   PLC identification tools:
>   http://www.fredericb.info/2016/02/powerline-plc-support-in-openwrt-for-
> d.html
> 
> - Should I look for the chip datasheet in order to understand in what
>   state/mode it is in from its wiring and from the PCB pictures[1]?

You need a firmware image and a PIB (config blob) for the AR7400. Unfortunately we're not allowed to redistribute these firmware images for legal reasons. So currently it cannot be officially supported.

After booting the chip isn't powered up. There are 2 gpio connected to the AR7400:
Gpio13: chip power
Gpio17: dLAN LED power.

If you had the firmware and PIB you could use ampboot or amphost to boot the AR7400 after setting gpio13 to 1.
Of course the original devolo firmware contains PLC firmware and PIB;-)

Günther

> 
> References:
> -----------
> [1] Due to safety reasons, I don't want to open the device often, to
>     limit the probability of fatal accidents. I however took pictures
>     of its internals and, there might be two flash chips and two
>     different kind of RAM chips.
> 
> Denis.
> 
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