I bought RAK833-EVB (LoRa concentrator with WiFi OpenWRT board) before finding documentation for it. I was under assumption that software would be available to use it as a fully functional gateway since the hardware is very similar to DYI Outdoor, RAK7258.
Now, when I started playing with it, I can’t find any support documents showing how to make it work as a gateway - it shows only how to run simple tests. Seems like a waste of money and resources if I can’t do more with it.
Could you add support for this board to run the same gateway software as on DYI Outdoor and indoor gateways? It should not be a big effort to do since hardware differences that affect software look very minor. Or, could you publish the source code, so I could do the adaptations myself?
I’m not completely clear on the difference between USB and SPI versions. Does the USB version require an external host computer to run packet forwarder and the SPI version runs the Packet Forwarder on RAK833-EVB standalone? If this is the case than, yes, I’d prefer to use the SPI version for single board gateway.
I see now. Actually, they both needn’t an external host computer.
The SPI or USB interface is the connect way between RAK833 module and MT7628 board.
RAK833-EVB is an USB interface, so you should use the compiled binary i mentioned above.
Hi @Fomi
Firmware tab does not exist - there is only tab for MT7628 Firmware and RPi Firmware. MT7628 Firmware tab shows image that has SPI in the file name. Is this the one to use? Will it use SPI interface instead of USB?
Do the board jumper settings change between SPI and USB versions? If so, how?
When I was previously working on this EVB, I flashed it with the image for the DYI gateway, thinking that it would be compatible with EVB. Now, I’m not able to get the initial BIOS options to reflash it with other firmware. I only get login, but the default credentials for OpenWRT (root, no password) don’t work. How do I recover this EVB?
I’m sorry for late reply because of the holiday in China.
RAK833 supports both of SPI and USB interface, and you can use SPI or USB on EVB board. This firmware is only for SPI, but if you need a USB version firmware, i can supply soon.
About the last question, can you confirm that the bootloader of EVB board works fine or not?
Thanks, @Fomi.
About my last question, the bootloader works fine since the application is loaded. The problem was that the prompt for image reflash was not printed out, but pressing “2” quickly anyway allowed me to reload it. So, I resolved it. The new image (SPI version) works great. I just had to create a new global_conf.json for the US frequencies (the default one was for EU).
I believe I have the same or similar unit labeled EVK-RAK833 with v1.1 under that. I was able to load the firmware (thank you for that), but can’t seem to get the concentrator connected. I am able to use the unit when connected to an rPi via a USB cable but hoping if I understand correctly, that the 7628AN board can handle the connectivity to TheThingsNetwork instead of using an rPi when connected via client WIFI. I’m assuming there is a different pinout on the board pinout headers, but can’t seem to find the correct combo. I’ve searched the internet and unable to determine if this is the case. When using the Mediatek board with the WIFI module, is this possible and if so, what is the pinout on the board itself?
This is what Amazon shows I ordered “RAKWireless RAK833 EVB Kit Mini PCIe LoRa Gateway SX1301 Concentrator Module and Router AP Module RAK634 Kit, SPI&USB Industrial Grade”.
