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Linkstation Mini

LS MINI PCB frontside - high resolution

LS MINI PCB backside - high resolution

Background

Apparently there are two traces that have been interrupted which would allow serial port access.

These traces have been interrupted UNDER a SMD capacitor at position C54. Junker (see Yamasita's article/reference) discovered the way first^[1]. Apparantly the pinheaders from the [SCON-KIT/ PRO quick manual|SCON-KIT/ PRO] can be fit into the case quite easily as well^[2].

Laitr Keiows and johnbock duplicated his efforts^[3]

Method

C54

We need to fix these wires which go under C54:

Method 1: reconstruct the traces (on the backside)

This method requires absolutely no soldering.

Lay a layer of a scotch tape between holes, just not to cover them.

Use a strand of high flexible low oxygen copper wire.

1. thread it through both holes,
2. fix it with a scotch tape on the back side and then
3. cut remainders on the front side, leaving about 2 mm.
4. repeat with the second thread.

Be sure not to shorten anything else.

Holes marked in RED

Use a strand of high flexible low oxygen copper wire, thread it through both holes and fix it with a scotch tape on the back side

Cut remainders on the front side, leaving about 2 mm

Method 2: Bridge the traces (on the frontside)

File:LSMINI-Serialport-c54bridged.jpg

Pinout of Port

Wire colors referenced in table

Pin  Signal Wire Color 1 Transmit (TX) Green 2 Receive (RX) White 3 Power (3.3V)* none 4 Ground (GND) Red

Use a Level Shifter

The serial port signals from the processor are only 3.3V. For proper RS-232 12V signaling, an RS-232 level shifter needs to be added. These are very common in PDA serial cables also, but can be purchased

Models other than KuroPro

If you are attaching a serial header pin onto the main board, you may want to consider: Using the header pin unit with a 90 degree bend, or you might not be able to close the case Soldering it with the pins toward the interior, rather than toward the case. This allows easier access, since if the pins face the case side they would be very close to the metal side. This would make access is so tight that one might end up taking the board out to get plug fitted on the pins.

Build your own LVTTL/RS232 or LVTTL/USB interface

• LVTTL/RS232 - Building a Custom Serial Interface
• LVTTL/USB - Use a Nokia Serial Cable on an ARM9 Linkstation
• LVTTL/USB - Use a cheap phone sync cable with the serial port

Buy your own TTL Level Shifter

• LVTTL/RS232 - MAX232 based from Futurelec - MINIRS2323V
• LVTTL/USB - FTDI chip based cable - TTL-232R-3V3

Usage considerations for the TTL-232R-3V3

TTL-232R-3V3 USB to TTL Serial Converter Cable A very similar TTL/USB converter cable that uses a chip by FTDI (the same chip is used in the SCON-KIT ) can be obtained, but the pinout at the connector end would need to be reassigned: Spec Sheet w/ pinout, wire colors & other info Mouser Part # 895-TTL-232R-3V3 $20.00 Mouser Part # 517-929400-01-04 $0.32

A working/tested pinout/wire-color scheme is: Color Pin Number Signal yellow 1 TXD orange 2 RXD unused 3 VCC black 4 GND

• Solder the 4-pin header to the board. Make sure you don't have shorts.
• You will need to switch wires on the TTL-232R-3V3 cable. Use a sharp object to lift the plastic tabs and carefully pull the wires out. Rearrange them according to the table above (black, empty, orange, yellow, empty, empty) and slide those wires back in. Tape the other wires to make sure they don't short anything.
• When plugging in the cable, make sure black aligns with GND, yellow with TXD, and orange with RXD.
• Connect the USB cable to your computer, start a terminal program with the right settings.
• Turn on the device, you should see output from the bootloader in couple seconds.

Serial Port Output

LS Mini: Serial Port Output - Boot-Log

References

1. ↑ シリアルコンソールのためのパッチ / patches for serial console:LS-WSGL/R1
2. ↑ シリアルコネクタの半田付け / soldering a serial connecter:LS-WSGL/R1
3. ↑ The Buffalo NAS hacking Forums:Serial access possible? YES!