PCIe only modems?

Yes. As mentioned before it errors out on finding the x55.mbm file. All my flash operations that were successful were all done on Windows.

If you are sure your firmware is gone you can try the Lenovo firmware. However I’d recommend waiting and seeing if Silvia has a way to flash then since it may not be possible to downgrade from R03A03 to anything before A01R07 which may be required as you supposedly can’t directly upgrade the old AP firmware to the new version.

@TrashJager

Got the idea to run a live Ubuntu 24 desktop,and this modem in Ubuntu live shows same as in Debina,
The inbuilt mhi-pci-generic shows as the firmware for the modem but there is no driver listed.
I had to build and install the Quectel pcie_mhi driver for it to show an actual driver. The mhi_q
So where Im going is,pretty sure the firmware is hosed…This is a unit from AliX.
Wish QFirehose would work under linux. Am pretty much out of options.
I can not get the modem/pcie card to pass correctly to a QME/KVM Windows 10 host on Debian host. It is in an iommu group with many other devices.
Think the only possible option for this modem is the manual EDL mode were you jump a couple pins,then you still need a usb hosted device. I think,this is irrelevant even on the pcie only modem, the EDL should stilol work.
Not positive.

Sounds about right. When I ran Ubuntu server to try and compile the driver I initially had a AT serial port which did work and respond to AT. It was named something_AT. I forgot what exactly it was named.

The two pins on the back never triggered EDL. I shorted them with a tiny wire and electrical tape and the device acted like normal. Not sure if I need to remove the jumper after boot or short it during boot. If that’s the case then it will be too difficult.

On a positive note you should be able to flash it. As shown by the existence of the mhi_BHI port. You can try running Windows 10 PE or a variant of it and use QFLASH with the Quectel mhihost pcie driver for Windows. Windows PE is basically Windows to go but cut down. I haven’t been able to brick my modem completely while forcing the wrong firmware down.

If we aren’t able to flash the modem with new or old official firmware then go return the modem as defective. The two modems I got from Aliexpress both ran out the box but with hiccups. Later on I figured out the hiccups weren’t the fault of the firmware but the dialer GUI I used. Instead of directly specifying the apn like VZWINTERNET to quectel-cm, You would select the apn that already exists on the sim based on the index. So for my Verizon sim it was -n 3 for the VZWINTERNET APN. This made it dial first try every time instead of dial for the next 5 minutes and maybe connect.

Thank You for the idea about Windows 10 PE…I do remember this Windows PE now that you mentioned it. Ill try and flash the modem this way, If i cant get it to flash Ill do a return,I think I have 90 dsays.
Im curious what kind of DL & UL speeds you are getting… There are so many variables, for sure.
Also,if you look at iamromulan , githiub,then his RM520N-GL project,look at code page,scroll about to the bottom,He gives explanation ,with photos! of how to enter EDL mode this way, You have to have a sled you can see the rear pins,which is kind of rare. I am not sure what setup he had in his photos.
I only have the single pcie to M.2 card,i got rid of all my excess,about twom months ago,cleaning house.
Thanks again.

@Bean.Wang-Q
@silvia

Can you tell me the correct boot sequence for Linux for the RM520N-GLAP?
And or also the correct Linux command to reboot the RM520N-GLAP correctly?

I’ve flashed an AP with AA firmware on windows and QFirehose but I had to manually enter EDL mode and edit an xml file in the firehose directory.

USB sled used: Dual-Q 5G2PHY Quectel 5Gnr Ethernet PHY adapter design for RM520N RM50 – 4G discount

Board only:

See below…

It didn’t turn out like I wanted though. Pretty much bricked until I get the correct firmware.

Also for those of you up to a challenge you can buy a modified AP variant that’s been converted into an AA model. As far as I can tell it involved flashing the QuecOpen firmware (OCPU_Firmware) (Arixolink firmware for example) as it seems to be able to flash on both AA and AP. I’m not sure if any hardware modifications were done but that was what I was trying to figure out in the post I linked above.
Here you go:

Comes modded AP comes with the board/enclosure

Try the Lenovo firmware above. Problem is QMUX 0x46 shows when you try to dial. The Lenovo firmware is so far the only one I found to flash and actually run. I just tried flashing the Arixolink firmware and it doesn’t boot.

@iamromulan @TrashJager

Just wanted to share. Am sure someone has thought of this long before me,BUT.
Regardless what device you have your module in, you could buy an m2. b-key extension ribbon and access the under pins easily. If you were going to be messing with these modules quite a bit the thing to do would be solder your two small short lengths of wire to the module connector plate and short the wires when needed at boot up.
Here is an, a & e ribbon to e adapter cable for reference.



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Don’t try flashing the GLAP, me and @TrashJager are stuck in AP mode

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To clarify we are stuck in CFUN 5 which means factory mode / CEFS wiped. I have backups but they cannot be restored.

It is recommended to stay on the default APR01A03 unless you have specific issues that are bad enough to risk a soft-brick.

Same for the Lenovo firmware which will lock your card completely and prevent further booting of any non Lenovo firmware. The Lenovo firmware itself will attach to a network but will fail DHCP with QMUX error 0x46

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