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SIM7600 4G HAT setup notes

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I am trying to get a SIM7600E-H-4G-HAT running on my Raspberry Pi 3B+, but it is not working. Here is what I’ve done so far:

  1. Inserted my SIM-Card, connected the antenna to Main, connected the entire hat via GPIO pins to my Pi without any USB cable connected to that hat. I left the two yellow jumpers factory-default like, centered just as pictured in the manual.
  2. I booted the raspberry, set via raspi-config the serial options as described in the manual (no, then yes).
  3. chmod 777 for sim7600_4G_hat_init and added sh /home/.../sim7600_4G_hat_init to rc.local
  4. Rebooted, installed minicom, started sudo minicom -D /dev/ttyS0 and nothing happens and it does not even react on any keystroke. I even compiled the bcm2835 directory and the phoncecall-demo. When I try to sudo ./Phonecall it says

Failed to get byte count on serial.

Both LEDs shine red permanently. What am I doing wrong?

  
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  • 1
    You are doing wrong to use rc.local if using an operating system with systemd like Raspbian or Ubuntu or arch. Please take note that using /etc/rc.local has limitations due to Compatibility with SysV. We have seen many problems here on this site using it. Following the recommendation of the developers from systemd you should avoid using it. – Ingo Sep 20 ’19 at 22:28
  • Ah let me see. I skimmed your user manual: “SIM7600E-H 4G HAT User Manual, Rev 1.0 – WaveShare 2018jun08”: waveshare.com/w/upload/6/6d/SIM7600E-H-4G-HAT-Manual-EN.pdf and read Section3 “Using with Rpi” specifying the following Rpi to SIM7600 interface: (1) Pin 22 (BCM P6), Power up the module, (2) Pin 07 (BCM P4), Pull high enable flight mode. So I guess the sim7600_4G_hat_init should unitialize pins BCM P6 and BCM P4, among other things. Now what you did the following might have a problem: (3) chmod 777 sim7600_4G_hat_init, / to continue, … – tlfong01 yesterday
  • (4) add to file: “/etc/rc.local filesh” the following bash command: “/home/pi/SIM7600X/sim7600_4G_hat_init”, because (5) as @ingo says /etc/rc/local might not be compatible to your raspbian stretch or buster, (6) Your init program might be out of date and not compatible to your raspbian, (6) Furthermore, your following setup looks OK: (c) sudo apt-get install minicom, (d) minicom -D /dev/ttyS0. But I have two troubleshooting suggestions: / to continue, … – tlfong01 yesterday
  • SUGGESTION ONE:(7) You might like to do the following loopback test: “BEFORE INSERTING SIM7600, short RxD to TxD and make sure minicom can loopback”. SUGGESTION TWO: Do not test SIM7600 in HAT mode but test first in standalone UART serial AT command control SIM7600 mode: (e) set jumeper to “C”, use Win10 terminal emulation program puTTY, me prefer RealTerm, or Rpi terminal emulation program miniCom, me prefer CuteCom to test AT commands. I use RealTerm to send “AT” and recvived “OK” before the real tests. 🙂 / to continue, … – tlfong01 yesterday
  • If both of my suggestions OK, then you go back to try the Rpi HAT mode, which is a bit complicated (with three USB ports for AT mode, GPRS mode, and Debug mode. Cheers. – tlfong01 yesterday
  • SUGGESTION 3 – In standalone mode, press power and hold Power Key for one second to make sure that the network LED blinks once per second, to make sure the SIM7600 is basically working OK. – tlfong01 yesterday
  • And for SIM7600 newbies, the AT command test setup CHEAT SHEET: imgur.com/gallery/Lla5nFh. Cheers. – tlfong01 yesterday
  • I am refreshing my memory of using “etc/systemd/system.conf ” to replace the outdated “/etc/rc.local”. References: (1) imgur.com/SFzMPbc, (2) Rpi3B+ / Rpi4B Watchdog and LM2956 / LM2941 PSU Remote Control Problem raspberrypi.stackexchange.com/questions/99584/…. – tlfong01 5 hours ago
  • Now let me walk through the troubleshooting steps successfully completed so far: (1) Test SIM7600 AT commands in USB to UART mode, using Win10 RealCom. (2) Instead of using /etc/rc.local, tested Rpi4B buster /etc/systemd/system.conf to init a bash script. (3) Next step is to build the “sim7600_4G_hat_init” driver, which the OP seems failed getting to work. I am reading this manual: “How to use the SIM7100 module in Linux V1.0 – SimCom 2014dec30”, using Ubuntu as an example to compile and install driver GobiSerial.tar.gz. / to continue, … – tlfong01 6 mins ago
  • User manual specifies that if the above driver is installed correctly, the following 5 ttyUSB port will be setup: (1) /dev/ttyUSB0-diag port for output developing messages, (2) /dev/ttyUSB1- NMEA port for GPS NMEA data output, (3) /dev/ttyUSB2-AT port for AT commands, (4) /dev/ttyUSB3-Modem port for ppp-dial, (5) /dev/ttyUSB4-audio port, (6) /dev/ttyUSB5-Virtual Net card. I think me newbie should not try all 5 options in one go. Instead I would try /dev/ttyUSB2-AT port for AT commands first.. – tlfong01 just now   Edit   Delete
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How to use the SIM7100 module in Linux V1.0 – Shanghai SimCom 2014dec30
Ubuntu example to compile and install driver GobiSerial.tar.gz

(1) /dev/ttyUSB0-diag port for output developing messages

(2) /dev/ttyUSB1- NMEA port for GPS NMEA data output

(3) /dev/ttyUSB2-AT port for AT commands

(4) /dev/ttyUSB3-Modem port for ppp-dial

(5) /dev/ttyUSB4-audio port

(6) /dev/ttyUSB5-Virtual Net card
Ubuntu example to compile and install driver GobiSerial.tar.gz

lsusb

(1) SIM7100 module will be recognized by Ubuntu via USB interface(vid=1e0e,pid=9001).
(2) Type the command “sudo rmmod usbserial”, some error messages may be prompted, just ignore them.
(5) Copy GobiSerial.tar.gz to home directory and type the command “tar zxvf GobiSerial.tar.gz”
(6) Compile the driver GobiSerial. Type the command “cd GobiSerial && make”,if no error occurs, a file named “GobiSerial.ko” will be generated.
(7) Type the command “sudo modprobe usbserial && sudo insmod GobiSerial.ko” to install the driver.
(8) List the ttyUSBx devices by “ls -l /dev/ttyUSB*”

If /dev/ttyUSB0~5 are available, then device driver is installed successfully!

Notes: there are 6 ports for SIM7100 modules in Linux host.

(2) The USB class ttyUSB2 is the AT-port in SIM7100, so customer should configure the minicom with /dev/ttyUSB2 port.

.END

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