Mikrotik RouterBoard 532
There is (still experimental) support for this device:
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Architecture: MIPS Vendor: Mikrotik Bootloader: RouterBoot CPU Speed: 233/333/400 Mhz Flash size: 128 MB RAM: 32-64 MB DDR Ethernet: 1x Korina (with PoE), 2x VIA Rhine Slots: 2x Mini-PCI, 1x CompactFlash, daughterboard connector Serial: 15 pin Sub-D |
Supported Boot Methods
RouterBoot supports various ways for booting, here the common ones:
CompactFlash
For booting from CompactFlash, a first partition of type 0x27 is expected. This partition must not contain any filesystem, but the kernel itself. dd'ing it onto the partition is just fine. Theoretically, the rest of the disk is free for customising, but usually one will put at least one other partition onto the disk, holding the root filesystem. Don't forget to specify the correct value to the root-parameter of the kernel commandline.
Ethernet
RouterBoot supports netboot. To achieve this, follow the instructions and then select Ethernet as boot device inside RouterBoot.
NAND
When selecting NAND as boot device inside RouterBoot, it will - like with CompactFlash - search the first partition for a kernel. But this time it expects a filesystem containing the kernel named "kernel" in the topdir. The filesystem type is yaffs2.
Different Revisions
There are different revisions of RouterBoards on the market. The most significant difference lies in flash memory. While the older ones have up to 64MB NAND flash, the newer boards come with a newer type of NAND flash, having 2k pagesizes and therefore providing up to 128MB storage area.
As NAND technology and the Linux-MTD Project in general are quite young, the difference in flash types has a major influence on handling it. Many utilities do not yet have support for the bigger pagesize, also the commonly used YAFFS filesystem works only with 512bytes pagesize. But YAFFS' successor YAFFS2 finds a remedy.
Onboard Jumpers and Pins
Following is a little collection of knowledge about the connectors on the board.
| labeling | what to do with it |
| J1 | select CPU frequency; according to the handbook, this has no effect and should be done through RouterBoot |
| JP1 | can be read out via GPIO (conflicts with serial port) |
| JP2 | handbook says: "serial port autopower off and software-controlled operation" nobody knows... |
| JP3 | together with JP4 sets the incoming voltage |
| JP4 | set them to 1-2 for 25-56VDC, to 2-3 for 6-22VDC |
| JP5 | together with JP6 switches between PoE and powerjack |
| JP6 | set to 1-2 for Powerjack, to 2-3 for PoE |
| JP7 | handbook says: "PoE standard operation" again, no idea what this is for |
| S1 | reset CPU frequency when pressed at boot time; can be read out via GPIO, again conflicting with serial port |
| S2 | handbook says: "force immediate reboot" (says all i think) |
*Make sure you set JP3/JP4 and JP5/JP6 right, or you will roast your board!*
Device Nodes Needed To Speak With The Hardware
Besides the obvious ones, there are some device nodes not so common on other systems:
| name | type | major | minor | use |
| /dev/cfa | b | 13 | 0 | the internal CompactFlash disk is detected as device /dev/cfa |
| /dev/cfa1 | b | 13 | 1 | |
| /dev/cfa2 | b | 13 | 2 | |
| /dev/cfa3 | b | 13 | 3 | |
| /dev/cfaN | b | 13 | N | |
| /dev/mtd/0 | c | 90 | 0 | these are the corresponding char devices to the mtd block devices below |
| /dev/mtd/0ro | c | 90 | 1 | this is the read-only version of /dev/mtd/0 |
| /dev/mtd/1 | c | 90 | 2 | |
| /dev/mtd/1ro | c | 90 | 3 | |
| /dev/mtd/N | c | 90 | N*2 | |
| /dev/mtd/Nro | c | 90 | N*2+1 | |
| /dev/mtdblock/0 | b | 31 | 0 | this is the first partition on the internal flash |
| /dev/mtdblock/1 | b | 31 | 1 | |
| /dev/mtdblock/N | b | 31 | N |
Additional Information
RouterBoard has its own site!
Mikrotik, the Vendor of RouterBoard
RouterBoard500 User Manual (cached version)
IDT Reference Manual (for programmers) (cached version)
IDT RC32434 datasheet (cached version)
