Kitz Forum
Broadband Related => Broadband Hardware => Topic started by: sheddyian on March 16, 2013, 03:04:46 PM
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This mornings wander around the charity shops, and a rummage in the 50p bin at the Cats Protection League, produced these three gems for a grand total of £1.50 :
(https://forum.kitz.co.uk/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fsheddyian.hopto.org%2F50pBargains.jpg&hash=cb7b35307bec706738a441c31d765af308c3c8fa)
No PSU with the HomeHub 3, but I expect I'll find something. Just noticed it says DC 12Volt 1A, but there's no polarity indicated - lets assume it's centre positive, eh? :-\
The BT Homehub is a Type A. Can it be unlocked to do anything useful?
I see it's got a USB port on it, which I understand can be accessed via the network, so assuming the hub actually works and can be configured to co-habitate with my existing modem, at the very least I've got myself a 50p NAS server device if I connect a USB drive.
Ian
ps You can never have enough IEC mains leads! :D
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http://www.psidoc.com/showthread.php/608-How-to-unlock-your-Home-Hub-3A-*Now-With-added-SSH-Unlock*
;)
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Thanks !
It's actually a Home Hub 3 A , but I see that site has info on that too :)
However, I've stumbled at the first hurdle, as none of my 12 volt PSUs have the right sized plug to fit it, so I'll have to do a bit more tinkering first....
Ian
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Thanks !
It's actually a Home Hub 3 A , but I see that site has info on that too :)
However, I've stumbled at the first hurdle, as none of my 12 volt PSUs have the right sized plug to fit it, so I'll have to do a bit more tinkering first....
Ian
Yeah I posted the wrong link in my haste, but I've changed it to the correct one now ;D
I know that the power supply from a home hub type 2 B works ok, but not the type A which is 15 volts.
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Nice :). This is the Home Hub 3 with a Lantiq chipset, whereas the type B has a Broadcom (6361?) chipset. I will be interested how it performs on your local DSLAM/MSAN...
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Nice :). This is the Home Hub 3 with a Lantiq chipset, whereas the type B has a Broadcom (6361?) chipset. I will be interested how it performs on your local DSLAM/MSAN...
That almost sounds ominous, like it's going to be apalling performance? :-\
I'm on a TalkTalk LLU ADSL2+ service, usually get around 20K download (except during my recent bouts of neighbourly REIN).
Although I wasn't intending to use it as a modem as such, I'll certainly give it a go if I can unlock it, and first, if I can find a suitable power supply with a plug that will fit :(
Even on ebay, adaptor plugs are over £10 per set! :'(
I can see I'll be opening up the Home Hub and soldering some wires onto it!
Ian
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Thought :
Does anyone here know the size of the DC power plug required for the BT Home Hub 3 model A ?
Then at least I can order 1 x correct sized plug, instead of an expensive set of adaptors that might not fit anyway.
I've tried to measure the size of the socket, but can't get consistent results.
Ian
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Sorry, it was not my intention to sound ominous. I actually meant that it would be interested to see how it performs compared to a Broadcom chip, as I might end up seeing if I can find one for cheap, so I am interested to hear about your experiences.
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Sorry, it was not my intention to sound ominous. I actually meant that it would be interested to see how it performs compared to a Broadcom chip, as I might end up seeing if I can find one for cheap, so I am interested to hear about your experiences.
It's ok, as I assumed that was what you meant, and should have put a more ironic smiley on my message :)
IF I can get a suitable power supply to it AND it actually works [1] AND I can unlock it for use with TalkTalk, you can be sure I will be posting my results on here ;D
Ian
[1] It was 50p out of a bin in the Cats charity shop, after all.
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In my grotto, I have both a BT HH3.0B and a BT BH3.0. I have been led to believe that the latter is just a BT HH3.0A with different firmware . . .
Looking at the PSU of the BT BH3.0, I see it is marked as follows --
BT Switching Power Supply
Model No: S012NB1200100
P/N: 253371437
Input: 230V~50Hz 300mA
Output: 12.0V==1000mA
For use with BT Home Hub 3.0 Type A
I can confirm that the centre pin is the positive connection on the Hub.
Measuring the PSU plug, to the best of my ability, I make its dimensions to be 12 x 5 x 2.1 mm. (L x Douter x Dinner)
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:thumbs:
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'Different firmware'?
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I can confirm that the centre pin is the positive connection on the Hub.
Measuring the PSU plug, to the best of my ability, I make its dimensions to be 12 x 5 x 2.1 mm. (L x Douter x Dinner)
Thanks!
Suspect I'll solder some wires to the PCB as it's the cheapest option, given that the modem cost me 50p.
There were a number of PSUs in the 50p bin, but all were obviously branded as being unrelated to the HomeHub eg Nokia, Binatone, Ericcson. I had a good rummage!
Ian
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Join your local Freecycle groups around where you live (I belong to six ;) ) www.freecycle.org
These hubs etc are given away regularly for free.
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'Different firmware'?
Hum? ??? I'm not sure if that query is addressed to The Cattery but just in case, I'll try to clarify --
In my grotto, I have both a BT HH3.0B and a BT BH3.0. I have been led to believe that the latter is just a BT HH3.0A with different firmware . . .
- BT HH3.0B == British Telecommunications Home Hub 3.0 Type B
- BT BH3.0 == British Telecommunications Business Hub 3.0
- BT HH3.0A == British Telecommunications Home Hub 3.0 Type A
I am led to believe that the second item in the above list is identical to the third item but with a different firmware image. Firmware that is more appropriate for the business use of the device.
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That was addressed at you, bk. thank you for an excellent response. I must admit that I misread your post; I saw 'BH3.0' as 'HH3.0'.
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BT Switching Power Supply
Model No: S012NB1200100
P/N: 253371437
Input: 230V~50Hz 300mA
Output: 12.0V==1000mA
For use with BT Home Hub 3.0 Type A
I can confirm that the centre pin is the positive connection on the Hub.
Measuring the PSU plug, to the best of my ability, I make its dimensions to be 12 x 5 x 2.1 mm. (L x Douter x Dinner)
Great, thanks for that! I'll go and find / order the correct plug a bit later.
I quite like the idea of having a set of multiple sized adaptors, I've seen several on ebay that include a master power plug on a wire and then 20 - 24 different adaptors that sit over it to provide a multitude of sizes to fit modems, routers, even laptops. But even the ones from China are priced around £12!
Still considering the cost vs the usefulness!
Ian
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- BT HH3.0B == British Telecommunications Home Hub 3.0 Type B
- BT BH3.0 == British Telecommunications Business Hub 3.0
- BT HH3.0A == British Telecommunications Home Hub 3.0 Type A
I am led to believe that the second item in the above list is identical to the third item but with a different firmware image. Firmware that is more appropriate for the business use of the device.
This (attachment) is what my 50p HH 3 says on it's label, wonder which type it is then?
Ian
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This (attachment) is what my 50p HH 3 says on it's label, wonder which type it is then?
From the bold text on the first line of your image, I would humbly suggest that it is one of the third type from my list! ::)
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From the bold text on the first line of your image, I would humbly suggest that it is one of the third type from my list! ::)
I'd misread your list and thought there were two that actually said "Type A" on them! :-[
Ian (who's struggling to find a 5mm DC power jack for sale! They're all the much more popular 5.5mm, which doesn't fit)
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is it not the 5.5 x 2.5mm (as opposed to the more common 5.5 x 2.1mm)? i.e. with a centre pin that is 0.4mm wider? And so far as I know, all models of the BT Hub (Business, and Home ) require 12v DC.
cheers, a
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is it not the 5.5 x 2.5mm (as opposed to the more common 5.5 x 2.1mm)? i.e. with a centre pin that is 0.4mm wider?
It could be, I suppose. When I measured the plug, it was with the use of an ordinary ruler. :-\
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At least for me, the two connectors -- 5.5 x 2.1mm and 5.5 x 2.5mm -- are very hard to distinguish with the naked eye.
It's not intuitive, but the 5.5 x 2.5 plug will fit - albeit with a bit of a wobble - in a 5.5 x 2.1 socket.
However, the connectors won't fit the other way around:
A 5.5 x 2.1mm plug won't fit in a 5.5 x 2.5mm socket. The centre pin of the socket is just too big.
cheers a
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The PSU for my TP-Link modem, and for an old TalkTalk Huawei EchoLife HG520b, won't fit - it's too large, though I couldn't say if it's the outer or inner that's preventing it from plugging in.
Short term, it doesn't matter - I've opened the thing up now, and will be tacking some wires to the pins of the power socket very shortly. I intend to run it from an old PC PSU for the time being while I test it and determine if it's worth keeping.
Ian
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.... or I would be connecting it to an old PC PSU if I had one that actually output something near 12 volts!
Just tried 3 (admittedly old ones, with mechanical mains-voltage on/off switches) and all 3 are giving 10 or 11 volts, rising a little under load but the best I can get is 11.5 volt.
If I'm testing, and potentially reflashing the firmware, on this modem, Id rather have a PSU I can rely on!
:(
Ian
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BTSimonH, PsiDoc and friends found UART points on that device. Nightmare to solder the wires though. Not being the daintiest person, I fried two and gave up! Ended up giving them to a cat charity shop (only joking!)
cheers, a
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The point where the power-supply socket is soldered on the board has fat lugs so it won't be hard to tack a couple of wires on there, especially if it's only going to be temporary.
Meanwhile, having tried all my old mechanical switched PC Power Supplies, and several ATX ones, I've given up with that plan for now - I was intending to find an old but working one and snip one of the Molex plugs off and use the 12volt from that. But only 1 of them was giving 12 volts on the 12volt wires, and that was a brand new one, which I don't want to start cutting up.
So, my forthcoming plans are :
1) Scour some charity shops for 12 volt 1amp wall plug PSUs with any type of plug on them that I can cut off
2) Test all of my growing number of ATX and older PSUs and get rid of the ones that don't output the right voltage!
Ian
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At least for me, the two connectors -- 5.5 x 2.1mm and 5.5 x 2.5mm -- are very hard to distinguish with the naked eye.
I've had another quick grummage in my grotto. Out came the BT BH3.0 with its official PSU labelled for a BT HH3.0A, a Huawei HG612 (3B version with the correct, white, PSU) and an ECI B-FOCuS V-2FUb/I Rev. B with its original PSU.
In terms of plug length, the BT HH3.0A is the longest of them all, then the Huawei and finally the ECI is the shortest.
In terms of plug diameterouter the three were compared by offering them up, end to end and considered both visually & by feel. No difference was noticed.
In terms of plug diameterinner the three were compared visually. That of the BT HH3.0A was clearly of a larger diameter than that of the Huawei HG612.
So my conclusion is that the BT HH3.0A and the BT BH3.0 both take a PSU plug sized as 12 x 5.5 x 2.5 mm. (L x Douter x Dinner)
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A quick scout around the local charity shops again today, and I ended up once more in the Cats Protection League shop.
I got two power adaptors for 50p each.
One is 6 volt, but appears to have the right sized plug on it
The other is 12 volt 1.5 amp and has a very small plug on it.
You see my plan?
However...
Upon getting them home, I now realise
The plug that looks the right size isn't
and
The 12 volt 1.5 Amp PSU is AC not DC. *
Gah!
Ian
* I WAS checking, I rejected two because they were AC. I somehow wasn't paying attention when I picked this one up.
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Well at least the Kitty-shop has received a financial donation from yourself. You could complete that donation circle by re-donating the two PSUs that you have only just purchased! :P
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Well at least the Kitty-shop has received a financial donation from yourself. You could complete that donation circle by re-donating the two PSUs that you have only just purchased! :P
I may have cut the plug off the 12 volt one just before realising it was AC....
I'll put it in the shed. It might be useful for something.
Ian
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Look what I just found in my shed, that I'd forgotten all about :
(https://forum.kitz.co.uk/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fsheddyian.hopto.org%2Fpsu.jpg&hash=48a529e33aebe7bd5c21b26e3876d4284410c948)
Just to insult me a bit more, it was me who wired that DC power plug onto it as a temporary measure some time ago. A DC power plug that is centre positive AND FITS THE BT MODEM!
All this time searching and I had the very thing in my shed all along.
It was originally a power supply for a 12 volt powered Peltier Junction dehumidifier I'd got from a junk shop, that did an admirable job of drying my shed out when the roof had been leaking. But I found that the PSU was a bit under-rated, and ran very hot powering the dehumidifier, so instead I ran it from a car battery with a mains battery charger topping it up all the time as it was running.
I'd later bodged the wires on the PSU so that it could run an old LCD computer monitor that I wanted to test, that wanted a 12volt DC power supply, not mains.
And the plug for that old monitor happens to be the same size one I need for the BT modem/router.
Still, at least I've got something now, and it works (meter says it's outputting 12.4 volt with no load).
Off to try it out ! :flamer:
Ian
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Off to try it out ! :flamer:
I hope it doesn't do what the little picture suggests. ;D
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I might as well have set my hair on fire today, I'm getting old and senile I think.
Forgetting that I had a power supply THAT I'D PUT THE RIGHT PLUG ON
Then :
Having opened up the BT Homehub last week, I've now lost the power button.
Connected it all up, it wants me to change from the default (but unique) password. But I don't know what that is, because the little plastic tab with passwords & keys on wasn't there when I bought it.
Decide to do factory reset, but realise I need MAC address & serial number from the bottom of the foot that the modem sits on. Spend several hours looking for this, as I thought I'd removed it. I hadn't, it was attached to the half-opened modem case all along.
In the process of looking for the foot that wasn't missing, I FOUND MY NEW RASPBERRY PI that I thought was lost in the post. It was attached with an elastic band to another parcel that arrived a week ago, which I hadn't opened yet as I knew what was in it (a mains lead). I hadn't spotted that the one parcel was actually two, elastic banded together by the postman.
In fact, it was THREE parcels as the memory I'd ordered from China a month ago (but wasn't really expecting just yet) was also taped to it all.
I'm going for a cup of tea and a lie down. I daren't do anything technical today, I'll end up setting fire to something or formatting the wrong disk.
Ian
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I prescribe cocoa and an early night. :oldman:
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I'm going for a cup of tea and a lie down. I daren't do anything technical today, I'll end up setting fire to something or formatting the wrong disk.
Look on the bright side. You can blame it all on the Sheddy gremlins. :D
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Well, I may have discovered the reason why this BT Home Hub 3 was on sale for 50p in a cat's charity shop...
It starts up ok, get flashing lights which go steady, and then I can see it's web configuration screen. Was studying that, when the PC suddenly reported that a network cable was unplugged. The lights on the hub had changed colour. It then proceeded to reboot, then go steady, pc detected new device, then lost it and the hub rebooted again.
When I unplugged it it was incredibly hot. It had been powered up for maybe 15 minutes max.
My improvised power supply is outputting 12.3 volts, so I don't think it's my fault it's overheating.
Who'd have thought a 50p modem from a cat's charity shop would cause me so much grief, eh? :D
Ian
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Don't crush it under foot just yet! Somewhere on the board may be points for obtaining UART and/or JTAG connections. A case of (very) patient probing, if you've got the patience!
cheers, a
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I'm not sure I've got the technical expertise for locating UART or JTAG connections!
Also, what would that gain me?
The modem starts working, then crashes after a quite short time (presumably because it's running very hot.
Is that not likely to be a hardware failure rather than firmware (I'm assuming you're thinking I could reflash the firmware using the JTAG?)
Ian
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I'm not sure I've got the technical expertise for locating UART or JTAG connections!
Yeah, course you have :-)
Also, what would that gain me?
It's probably a firmware fault. A pushed f/w upgrade that failed. Those are the same symptoms - repeated rebooting. The device has got some sort of checksum detection routine that forces a reboot if the f/w checksum fails. Hence the re-boot cycling.
The modem starts working, then crashes after a quite short time (presumably because it's running very hot.
The BCM6361 does run very hot. There's quite a hefty heatsink on it. Is it excessively hot in areas of the board other than the CPU? The power regulation is that hot?
Is that not likely to be a hardware failure rather than firmware (I'm assuming you're thinking I could reflash the firmware using the JTAG?)
Or even flash it by UART. That's got a different bootloader to the more usual Broadcom CFE bootloader, iirc, but it's probably got a flash write function in it. First guess though would be a f/w fault. The device probably wouldn't have got to the point of re-booting and twiddling its LEDs if it were a hardware fault.
The NAND is worth a quid or two, if you can get it off intact!
cheers, a
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Ah, but the modem does start up.
The PC saw it, and it's DHCP gave the PC an ip address. I was able to see the configuration screens, look at the help etc via the web interface. (The PC was ONLY connected to the homehub 3 - via a single lan cable, I wasn't getting confused with another network device ;D )
It was running for maybe 15 minutes before it started reboot cycling.
Which is why I concluded a hardware fault.
Several areas of the board were getting very hot - somehwere near the DC power socket, the chip on the back of the board was very hot, and something under the metal screening can (doesn't look like a heatsink) was also very hot. It smelt hot too.
The label definitely says 12 volts, and I was definitely giving it 12 volts :D
I can understand a failed firmware update causing the symptoms you describe - repeated power cycling. But running seemingly ok for a while (albeit only 15 minutes) and then starting to power cycle?
Ian
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Have you tried turning it on and and leaving it and then seeing if the same behaviour occurs? I do recall there being a bug with the Home Hub 3 where it would reboot when one used the web interface.
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I can understand a failed firmware update causing the symptoms you describe - repeated power cycling. But running seemingly ok for a while (albeit only 15 minutes) and then starting to power cycle?
Sorr,y, that does sound bad :-( oh well. Something wrong with the power regulation circuit?
cheers, a
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arobertson545: I'll try powering it up and not accessing it, but the heat & subsequent failure leads me to think it's just faulty.
asbokid: That seems possible, since it's several things that seem to be getting unreasonably hot.
Ah well, it was 50p. I'll take it to the recycle depot!
Was hoping to use the USB as part of a NAS device, especially since it's got a gigabit ethernet port on it. Will keep a look out for more of them :)
Ian
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In my grotto, I have both a BT HH3.0B and a BT BH3.0. I have been led to believe that the latter is just a BT HH3.0A with different firmware . . .
Looking at the PSU of the BT BH3.0, I see it is marked as follows --
BT Switching Power Supply
Model No: S012NB1200100
P/N: 253371437
Input: 230V~50Hz 300mA
Output: 12.0V==1000mA
For use with BT Home Hub 3.0 Type A
I can confirm that the centre pin is the positive connection on the Hub.
Measuring the PSU plug, to the best of my ability, I make its dimensions to be 12 x 5 x 2.1 mm. (L x Douter x Dinner)
Can I just add that the PSU Plug, for a Type A, is different to that used for a Type B!
My HH was not working very well & BT sent me a replacement - the original was a Type A & the replacement is a Type B.