Just want to share something i needed to do to get the E52C working. Hope it helps.
Radxa E52C with OpenWrt/LEDE
This guide covers some of the common issues and solutions i got to when working with the Radxa E52C.
Common Issues
1. Network Connectivity: Gets IP but No Services (SSH/HTTP)
Symptoms:
- Device gets IP address from DHCP
- Responds to ping (ICMP)
- SSH and HTTP services don’t respond
Root Cause:
This is often caused by bootloader configuration issues. The low-level network stack works (allowing ICMP/ping responses), but higher-level TCP services fail to start properly.
Solution:
A complete system reflash is typically required:
The serial console needs putty on windows or coolterm on mac. Do not use others they all fail subtly. Use 1500000 as the speed on Putty. On coolterm you need to escape the ansi codes too.
identify the com port with device manager on windows and ls /dev/tty.*
# If you have serial console access:
# 1. Download a fresh image
cd ~
wget debian or led image.
# 2. Uncompress it
unxz XXX.img.xz
# 3. Flash the entire image to the eMMC
sudo dd if=xxx.img of=/dev/mmcblk0 bs=4M status=progress
sync
# 4. Reboot
sudo reboot
2. Accessing the Debug Console
For Mac Users:
- Connect USB-C cable to the debug port (marked UART or Debug)
- Identify the device:
ls /dev/tty.* # Look for something like /dev/tty.usbserial-10 - Connect with coolterm. i could not get screen or minicom to work fully.
For Windows Users:
- Install drivers for CH340/CH341 USB-to-Serial adapter
- Use PuTTY with the following settings:
- Connection type: Serial
- Serial line: COMx (check Device Manager)
- Speed: 115200
- Data bits: 8
- Stop bits: 1
- Parity: None
- Flow control: None
3. Installing Flippy OpenWrt on eMMC
Preparation:
- Download the appropriate image:
https://github.com/ophub/flippy-openwrt-actions/releases/download/OpenWrt_lede_save_2024.12/xz.img.gz
Flashing Process (from working OpenWrt/LEDE on SD card):
# 1. Check storage devices
lsblk
# 2. Unmount the eMMC partitions if mounted
umount /mnt/mmcblk1p1
umount /mnt/mmcblk1p2
umount /mnt/mmcblk1p3
# 3. Wipe the beginning of the eMMC
dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/mmcblk1 bs=1M count=10
sync
# 4. Write the image (this command is useful as you don't need to unpack)
gzip -dc /path/to/openwrt_rk3588s_e52c_*.img.gz | dd of=/dev/mmcblk1 bs=1M
sync
# 5. Power off and remove the SD card
poweroff
4. LuCI Web Interface Not Working
Symptoms:
- OpenWrt is running and networking works
- Web interface (LuCI) is not accessible
-
uhttpdservice shows as running but doesn’t bind to ports
Root Cause:
SSL initialization errors causing uhttpd to crash in a loop.
Solution:
Disable HTTPS temporarily:
# Edit the uhttpd config
vi /etc/config/uhttpd
# Comment out or remove these lines:
# list listen_https 0.0.0.0:443
# list listen_https [::]:443
# Save and restart
/etc/init.d/uhttpd restart
5. USB Storage Issues
Symptoms:
Error: EXT4-fs (sda2): couldn't mount RDWR because of unsupported optional features (10000)
Root Cause:
The ext4 filesystem on USB storage was created with newer features that OpenWrt doesn’t support.
Solution:
Reformat with compatible options:
# Backup data first if needed
mkdir -p /mnt/sda2_temp
mount -o ro /dev/sda2 /mnt/sda2_temp
mkdir -p /tmp/backup
cp -a /mnt/sda2_temp/* /tmp/backup/
# Format with compatible options
mke2fs -t ext4 -O ^metadata_csum,^64bit /dev/sda2
# Mount and restore data
mkdir -p /mnt/sda2
mount /dev/sda2 /mnt/sda2
cp -a /tmp/backup/* /mnt/sda2/
# Configure fstab
block detect | uci import fstab
uci set fstab.@mount[-1].enabled='1'
uci commit fstab
