To do/setup list for new Uconsole owners

uConsole
1

Like many others I’m eagerly awaiting the delivery of my Uconsole (Order No. 25XXX Dec 21, 2023) sigh

As I eagerly await the arrival of my Uconsole I’ve been reading various threads and thought it might be a good idea to have a setup list for various issues that can be solved or improvements to Uconsole that others have experienced. I would like others to add any improvements or problems resolved to this thread so we can all have the best Uconsole experience :slight_smile:

Here is what I’ve gathered so far

  1. Poor wifi signal
    sudo sh -c 'echo "dtparam=ant2" >> /boot/config.txt'
    you can check if the command worked with cat /boot/config.txt

Thanks [jutleys] for this fix found in this thread

  1. Low battery charge.
    Some users reported slow charging speed as by default the Uconsole seem to be set to a slow charge speed. Thread here uConsole: How Does Charging Work? - #33 by scyto

The Fix
Create file: /etc/udev/rules.d/99-devterm-charging.rules

KERNEL=="axp20x-battery",
ATTR{constant_charge_current_max}="2500000",
ATTR{constant_charge_current}="2400000"

here’s a canonical one-liner to make it happen from the same thread thanks to user [trisweb]
Run:
echo 'KERNEL=="axp20x-battery", ATTR{constant_charge_current_max}="2200000", ATTR{constant_charge_current}="2000000"' | sudo tee /etc/udev/rules.d/99-uconsole-charging.rules

  1. Batteries
    I’ve seen lots of users ask what is the best battery type for the Uconsole and after lots of research on the topic I believe the batteries below are a good suggestion
    https://www.akkuteile.de/en/xtar-18650-3500mah-3-6v-3-7v-li-ion-battery-protected_100633_1234

Please feel free to add to this thread

16 Likes
2

I don’t know if this was fixed (also waiting on mine) but setup your wifi with raspi-config from the command terminal instead of the desktop so it doesn’t reset your settings every time you run an update

3

What settings are exactly (or they were, not sure), changed? Like SSID, psswd or the dtparam in cfg?

4

I’m not sure about the first one. Neither what it’s supposed to do and whether we’d actually want that. My guess is that it switches between using the motherboard U.FL connector and the CM4 U.FL connector?
Because I connected the antenna to the motherboard and when using this setting, signal quality went down.

before:

Link Quality=58/70  Signal level=-52 dBm

after:

Link Quality=38/70  Signal level=-72 dBm
5

tells the kernel to use the U.FL connector instead of the antenna on the pcb of the cm4.

1 Like
6

I see. But how do you tell the kernel to use the mainboard U.FL connector, then? This command seems to switch between the CM4’s onboard PCB antenna and its own U.FL connector; meanwhile, the uConsole has its own connector on the mainboard PCB that Clockworkpi recommends using.

https://www.jeffgeerling.com/blog/2022/enable-external-antenna-connector-on-raspberry-pi-compute-module-4

7

Uconsole install instructions specify that on cm4 version to install antenna to the cm4 pcb.

8

Same here. Stock setup gives me good wifi on cm4. No need to change anything for better wifi

9

The recommended xtar battery is likely good. But there are many just as good options for much lower prices (5 euro or less) . In any case i run a full battery test on my battery charger to measure real capacity before using in any device

10

I use Samsung batteries; as long as you get genuine ones, these are great and legit.

1 Like
11

The u.fl on the main board is for the a04, A06, r1 cores. The cm4 has no physical access to it on the hardware level.

12

Damn, then it’s an issue in the guide! I’m pretty sure that mine said specifically to use the U.FL on the mainboard, instead of the CM4’s U.FL.
I guess this means I’m using the triangular PCB antenna now, then. Will try popping the external antenna into CM4 and applying that boot flag again to attempt getting better signal reception.

Funny: the PDF guide from GitHub does say to use the connector on the CM4. I’ll update this message when I get home and can check the printed guide.

image
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13

at least in my physical printed manual i have the exact same instruction.

regarding batteries: you should always pay a little more to get protected cells. The knowledge that the battery will not spontanious explode in case you splash a little water on the wrong place while holding the device in your hand should be worth the 10usd markup :slight_smile:

i paid 12eur per cell for XTAR 3500mah incl. shipping in europe from a regular seller while the pure unprotected samsung ones will cost 6eur

1 Like
14

Good point. Thank you. Maybe I should also go for the more expensive cells.

15

Put a piece of foam tape between the flat stick-on wireless antennas and the case.

If you stick them directly on the case, signal strength is poor.

1 Like
16

I find that a nice place to stick the padded tape is on the usb on the left side. You can get a nice curve to going around the cm4

17

For me dtparam=ant2 made things much worse. On CM4 with the antenna connected directly to it.

18

are you using the antenna that came with the uConsole? if so do you have it right on the metal?

19

Yeah, like the setup guide showed. I saw the info about using some buffer, but am reluctant to peel it off again.

I was thinking about using the second ext. plate (with the hole for the G4 audio) to put a proper antenna port at the side. Not sure that’s viable, but a proper antenna would be nice.

20

bunch of people drilled holes or found neat ways to mount a real antenna. that hole would work you’d just have to make it a little bigger. i think the sma connector is .25"