Scans of the daughter board

[KaruroChori]

Are there scans of the daughter board on the tool-head already available online?
I made a quick search, but without a positive outcome.
Worst case scenario I could take some photos.

[consp]

Are there scans of the daughter board on the tool-head already available online?

I've seen them but do not remember where, I think it was on reddit somewhere, might be a good idea to make them.

[KaruroChori]

Not exactly great but I had no easy way to fit external lights and macro lens in there. Still it should be readable.

[g992]

I have dump of eboard, yes, it have custom bootloader, if u need, i can share .bin file (cant attach to message).
If u compile klipper as is top n32 (in stm32 section), mcu just dont booting (:
If u compile for stm32f103, mvu boot ok, but analog perepherials not working.
i just resolder n32 to stm32f103 from bluepill, compile to f103, and all works good

[KaruroChori]

Yes, please, if you can share the bin file it would really help!

[g992]

https://pixeldrain.com/u/X3VDPtNU - .bin file
https://pixeldrain.com/u/dN3EhRWN -.zip with full chip dump (!) 400M .bin inside archive

[KaruroChori]

Thank you!

[Tasshack]

I have dump of eboard, yes, it have custom bootloader, if u need, i can share .bin file (cant attach to message). If u compile klipper as is top n32 (in stm32 section), mcu just dont booting (: If u compile for stm32f103, mvu boot ok, but analog perepherials not working. i just resolder n32 to stm32f103 from bluepill, compile to f103, and all works good

Does the stock firmware works with that after replacing the firmware?

[KaruroChori]

For reference, this is the stock configuration as self reported:

[KaruroChori]

Also for reference, the official SDK
https://github.com/NationsTechCoreLib/N32G455xx/tree/main

[The-Synthax]

There is an external oscillator on the backside of the toolhead board. What is its frequency?

[KaruroChori]

That photo was never taken but the board self reports running at 144MHz (image above)

[The-Synthax]

That photo was never taken but the board self reports running at 144MHz (image above)

The reference clock will be a different frequency, so the text on this oscillator is important for getting this working correctly. The datasheet reports a maximum external clock frequency of 32MHz.

[KaruroChori]

Got it! I am unable to check it for now, and it would probably have to wait next week. If anyone else can, please do that :).

[The-Synthax]

Got it! I am unable to check it for now, and it would probably have to wait next week. If anyone else can, please do that :).

Okay! I don't have a 5M, but I will soon. I maintain a Klipper port for Adventurer 3 on my repo. Don't worry, we'll get this working soon enough, and I plan to add support for adding an RPi to supplement the Allwinner. Hopefully GuppyScreen or even KlipperScreen will work without issue afterward, but will have to see how much RAM those end up taking up.

[alankessler]

There are front and back photos here: https://www.machines-3d.com/en/ad5mad5mpro-extruder-board-xml-856_935_859-6891.html

Full resolution here:
https://www.machines-3d.com/images/Image/EXTRU.png
and
https://www.machines-3d.com/images/Image/EXTRU1.png
Can you see what you need?

[KaruroChori]

@The-Synthax, just in case they got no notification for this.

[The-Synthax]

There are front and back photos here: https://www.machines-3d.com/en/ad5mad5mpro-extruder-board-xml-856_935_859-6891.html

Full resolution here: https://www.machines-3d.com/images/Image/EXTRU.png and https://www.machines-3d.com/images/Image/EXTRU1.png Can you see what you need?

Perfect! Exactly what I need. Thank you!

[MrNRod]

There are front and back photos here: https://www.machines-3d.com/en/ad5mad5mpro-extruder-board-xml-856_935_859-6891.html
Full resolution here: https://www.machines-3d.com/images/Image/EXTRU.png and https://www.machines-3d.com/images/Image/EXTRU1.png Can you see what you need?

Perfect! Exactly what I need. Thank you!

Just so I am clear, is the work you are doing essentially reverse engineering the Daugher Board so we can complie klipper from source for these boards?

I was interested in potential replacing the Allwinner T113-s3 with the -s4 variant since it has twice the built in ram. And unless they hardcoded a memory limit it should work as a drop in. Since I'm more compelled to keep the board mostly stock and don't want to have an external device running klipper.

[The-Synthax]

@MrNRod This should be fine, but you probably need to compile your own kernel for OpenWRT with the s4 in mind and swap it in for the existing one. The rootfs shouldn’t need any changes, as far as I am aware.

Currently I’m only gathering the info I need to get upstream Klipper to run on the tool head period, but as soon as I have a 5M in front of me I’ll get to work figuring out the best way to flash it (with future ease of updates in mind.) I shouldn’t need to do any additional reverse engineering as I believe all of its config/pin table is already available from FlashForge. Should be pretty quick once I get my hands on the thing, ASSUMING time/life/responsibilities permit.

[The-Synthax]

Can anyone point me to where in the init process Klipper is uploaded to the MCU? It's probably someplace incredibly obvious but I seem to be overlooking where this happens.

Edit: Wait... Are we even running upstream Klipper on the mainboard? Or just using FlashForge's?

[cwestpha]

To my understanding, you don't write klipper to the MCU or toolhead PCB outside of firmware updates. Just like mainline. The custom bootloads they use are likely just so they can do end to end updating of the components for firmware updates without having dedicated debug lines for completing this task (like a katapault or software triggered DFU).
Normal init process is SOC communicates to MCU and toolhead MCU using normal klipper comms. Then there is likely a trigger (like a GPIO or something) that triggers flash/reflash mode for firmware updates or they have another entry point to trigger programming). The mods are just laying on top of the SoC, they dont (to my knowledge) modify anything MCU or tool head PCB side.

[The-Synthax]

To my understanding, you don't write klipper to the MCU or toolhead PCB outside of firmware updates. Just like mainline. The custom bootloads they use are likely just so they can do end to end updating of the components for firmware updates without having dedicated debug lines for completing this task (like a katapault or software triggered DFU). Normal init process is SOC communicates to MCU and toolhead MCU using normal klipper comms. Then there is likely a trigger (like a GPIO or something) that triggers flash/reflash mode for firmware updates or they have another entry point to trigger programming). The mods are just laying on top of the SoC, they dont (to my knowledge) modify anything MCU or tool head PCB side.

Generally no, you wouldn’t be writing anything to the MCU outside of an update. That being said, I hadn’t realized that this project doesn’t even install open source firmware on the main board MCU at all. Guess that’ll be something my project does so that we can use the latest version of Klipper and keep things up-to-date.

[KaruroChori]

Klipper, the python part being run on the SoC based on linux is upstream older version.
Klipper the C firmware installed in the MCUs is just what flashforge provided, for which the build configuration and possibly sourcecode modifications have not been shared.

[The-Synthax]

Klipper, the python part being run on the SoC based on linux is upstream older version. Klipper the C firmware installed in the MCUs is just what flashforge provided.

Yeah I’m understanding that. I only noticed this by reading all the init and install scripts and digging through the filesystem and not finding a Klipper binary for the main board MCU.

What got me confused was the mention of the toolhead MCU being the reason we can’t update / have new features, but sounds like that’s not accurate. It’s BOTH MCUs. I’ll get to work on that soon, upstream would be preferred.

[KaruroChori]

Yes there are two MCUs:
one on the mainboard @ https://github.com/g992/flashforge-ad5m-5mpro-research/blob/main/photo/_5m_full_view_marked.png
and the one in the toolhead which is discussed in here :). Sorry for any confusion.