RBM33G - miniPCIe modules and USB devices not detected after RouterOS 7.21+ upgrade

Hardware MikroTik hardware general
1

Hello,

I'm working with several RBM33G boards (revision r2, factory firmware 6.46.8) that have the following hardware installed:

  • R11E-LR8 (LoRa) in miniPCIe slot
  • R11E-LTE6 (LTE) in miniPCIe slot
  • Nordic Semiconductor nRF52840 dongle on USB
  • Silex Technology SX-NEWAH on USB/miniPCIe

On RouterOS 7.12.1, the USB devices were visible via /system/resource/usb/print, I could see the Nordic dongle, the SX-NEWAH, and the R11E-LR8 (which apparently connects via USB). The R11E-LTE6 was never detected on any version.

result of one of the board on 7.12 (also the board were the R11E-LTE6 should have appeared):

/system/resource/usb/print
Columns: DEVICE, VENDOR, NAME, SPEED # DEVICE VENDOR NAME SPEED 
0 1-0 Linux 5.6.3 xhci-hcd xHCI Host Controller 480 
1 1-1 Nordic Semiconductor Open DFU Bootloader 12 
2 2-0 Linux 5.6.3 xhci-hcd xHCI Host Controller 5000 
3 1-2 MikroTik R11e-LR8 12

result of the same board in 7.21:

[user@RouterOS] > /system/routerboard/usb/print

[user@RouterOS] >

After upgrading to 7.21.4 or 7.23.1, /system/routerboard/usb/print returns empty. The modules are physically present and the LTE6 gets warm (so it's powered), but nothing appears in:

  • /system/routerboard/usb/print
  • /system/resource/pci/print
  • /interface/lte/print

Also, /interface/lora/print gives a syntax error on 7.21+, so was LoRa support removed or moved?

details about the board were the command is not working anymore:

/system/routerboard/print
       routerboard: yes        
             model: RBM33G     
          revision: r2         
     serial-number: HEC08STJZ8X
     firmware-type: mt7621L    
  factory-firmware: 6.48.6     
  current-firmware: 7.21.4     
  upgrade-firmware: 7.21.4

And I've also done a /system/routerboard/upgradeon that same board. I am currently trying to put back the 7.12 version, but I'm really struggling to put the board on Netinstall mode and I can't put directly the good packages due to insufficient storage, so if I could resolve the situation while staying on 7.21+ that would be really helpful.

Questions:

  • Is there a known regression in 7.21+ for USB device detection on RBM33G?
  • Does the R11E-LTE6 require a specific slot or additional configuration to be detected?
  • Was LoRa interface support (/interface/lora) removed in recent versions?
2

Hi a jumper on the board switches one USB lane from MiniPCIE to USB A port. Best way to connect more than 2 USB devices would be to use a custom MiniPCIE USB HUB and NOT use the USB A connector. What about the Bluetooth, i think the IoT-Extra package is required for that to work, and that package is not for the MediaTek CPU yet ?

3

Thank you for your answers; you've helped find the solutions. So I've solved it, I don't know if it will help anyone else, but just in case :

R11E-LTE6 not detected: The USB jumper located next to the USB 3.0 port was in its default position (loaded). According to the documentation, removing the jumper switches the USB 2.0 lines to the J10 (central) miniPCIe slot, which is required for cellular modems in that slot. Once removed and after a reboot, lte1 appeared in /interface/lte/print.

R11E-LR8 not detected as LoRa interface: The LoRa interface is no longer under /interface/lora in RouterOS 7.x — it moved to /iot/lora and requires the iot package to be installed. The package is available for mmips architecture and can be found in /system/package/print under available packages. Once enabled and after a reboot, the gateway appeared in /iot/lora/print and can be activated with /iot/lora/enable 0.

USB devices not visible after 7.21+ upgrade: The command changed between versions — it moved from /system/resource/usb/print (7.12.x) to /system/resource/hardware/print (7.21+).