Tag Archives: BCM56548

Meraki MS410 hardware overview

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The Meraki MS410 series switches (codename “Wolfcastle”) offer 16 or 32 1000Mbit SFP ports, 10G SFP+ uplink ports, two HiGig2 (QSFP+) stacking ports, and a Gigabit Ethernet management port.

Meraki MS410-16 internal view

Meraki MS410-16 internal view

The MS410 was discontinued in September 2024, and is too old to support secure boot.

Here is a quick summary of the MS410-16 specs:

  • Broadcom BCM56548 (A0) ASIC
  • Broadcom BCM54285C1KFBG QSGMII Octal Gigabit PHY
  • Broadcom BCM82752A3KFSBG PHY
  • 16MB of SPI flash (MX25L12805D)
  • 1GB DDR3 RAM (SK Hynix H5TC4G63EFR; soldered, ECC, PDF datasheet)
  • 1024MB NAND flash (Micron MT29F8G08ABACAWP; PDF datasheet)
  • MA-PWR-250WAC (identical to PWR-C2-250WAC)

The UART header in the MS410-16 is J2 and follows the standard Meraki UART pinout (1: 3.3V Vcc, 2: Tx, 3: Rx, 4: GND) at 115200 baud.

Broadcom BCM56548A0KFSBLG

Unlike the MS420-24 and MS425-16, the MS410-16 is not a cut-down version of the MS410-32 with fewer PHYs and SFP cages. As the BCM56548 supports only 24 ports, we can speculate that the MS410-32 may use two stacked internally.

The MS410 is quite rare on the used market, and I am not aware of any MS410-32 available for a reasonable price. If you have one and are interested in donating it, claimed status does not matter, please reach out!

Unlike the MS350, MS420, and MS425, the management plane in the MS410 is not a discrete CPU but is integrated into the StrataXGS ASIC, similar to the MS210/225/250 series. The MS410 runs the same firmware release (switch-arm) as the MS210/MS225/MS250 series.

As the CPU is integrated into the switch ASIC, there are no devices present on the PCI(e) bus.

The Broadcom SDK series implements the packet engine in userspace, using the GPL-licensed linux_kernel_bde and linux_user_bde kernel modules to interface with the ASIC. In the Meraki firmware, the packet engine is a component of the userspace click daemon, which loads the bcm_click shared object during click router initialisation.

The stock Meraki boot process uses U-Boot on SPI to load a “bootkernel” (also from SPI), which then initializes NAND and using kexec boots the main firmware. The firmware layout follows the standard Meraki practice of having A/B firmware images: bootkernel1, bootkernel2, part.safe, part.old.

The firmware layout on SPI is:

0x000000-0x100000 : "uboot"
0x100000-0x800000 : "bootkernel1"
0x800000-0xf00000 : "bootkernel2"

The MS410 design predates Cisco Aikido secure boot, and therefore the firmware is not signed. Unlike recent Meraki products, U-Boot on the MS410 is not compiled with ENV_IS_NOWHERE, as we can see from the bad CRC, using default environment line below:

Press Ctrl-C to run Shmoo ..... skipped
Restoring Shmoo parameters from flash ..... done
Running simple memory test ..... OK
DeepSleep wakeup: ddr init bypassed 3
Enabling DDR ECC reporting
clear_ddr: OK
Enabling DDR ECC correction
DDR Interface Ready
DRAM:  1 GiB
WARNING: Caches not enabled
NAND:   Micron MT29F8G08ABACA, blocks per lun: 1000 lun count: 1
256 KiB blocks, 4 KiB pages, 27B OOB, 8-bit
NAND:   chipsize 1024 MiB
SF: Detected MX25L12805D with page size 64 KiB, total 16 MiB
*** Warning - bad CRC, using default environment

By default no U-Boot environment is present on SPI NOR, so U-Boot uses the environment compiled into the binary, which has bootdelay=0 and thus you cannot interrupt the automatic boot.

However, if you create a valid environment at 0xc0000 with a positive bootdelay, then you can interrupt U-Boot and obtain a shell. 0xc0000 is the default offset for storing the U-Boot environment on this generation of Broadcom switching ASICs, which Meraki has not modified.

Ghidra disassembly of U-Boot binary showing environment read offset; Meraki have not provided the U-Boot source code for the MS410.

Networking is functional in U-Boot, so it is possible to boot arbitrary payloads via tftpboot.

Similar to the MS250, the two 40mm system fans in the MS410 are controlled by an onsemi adt7475 (PDF datasheet). The MS410 fans have a Meraki part number: MA-FAN-16K (P/N 680-36010) and contain the Delta FFB0412UHN-C (PDF datasheet). These are identical to the Cisco FAN-T1, which can be purchased for considerably less than the Meraki branded part.

The MS410 accepts two hot-swap power supplies (model MA-PWR-250WAC, P/N 640-20010), which in my units are Delta model DPS-250AB-86 with 12V/20.83A output. Note that the MA-PWR-250WAC is physically and electrically compatible with PWR-C2-250WAC. Higher wattage power supplies like the PWR-C2-640WAC and PWR-C2-1025WAC will also power the MS410.

Idle power consumption:
MS410-16: 35W
MS410-32: Unknown

Meraki have chosen to EoL all of their Broadcom based switches. Being a Broadcom design, the MS410 was axed from the product portfolio on 2024-09-28. The MS410 will continue to receive limited software support from Meraki until Q3 2029.

The GPL source code for the MS410 was requested from Meraki in March 2025, and at the time of writing Meraki has not provided any of the requested source code or an ETA on when they will comply.

Model Meraki Board Part number
MS410-16 Wolfcastle 600-44010
MS410-32 Wolfcastle 600-44020

Meraki MS350 hardware overview

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The Meraki MS350 (MS350-24 and MS350-48) series switches offer 24 or 48 ports of Gigabit Ethernet. The MS350-24X offers 16 ports of Gigabit Ethernet, and 8 ports of multi-Gigabit (1/2.5/5/10G) Ethernet. All models have four SFP/SFP+ uplink ports, a dedicated remote management port, and stacking capabilities via QSFP. Today we will be looking at the MS350-48 and MS350-24X models specifically.

MS350-48LP from Meraki’s datasheet

Here is a quick summary of the MS350 specs:

  • Intel Atom C2358 CPU (2C/2T, 1.74GHz)
  • 2GB DDR3 ECC RAM (SODIMM, Unigen U25U7210N8FD-BDD-CCHF1)
  • 16MB SPI flash, 2GB NAND flash (TSOP48 NAND on motherboard, USB via Phison)
  • MS350-24X: 30 Network interfaces (16 Gigabit Ethernet, 8 mGig Ethernet, 4 SFP+, 2 QSFP stacking)
  • MS350-48: 54 Network interfaces (48 Gigabit Ethernet, 4 SFP+, 2 QSFP stacking)
  • MS350-24X: MA-PWR-1025WAC
  • MS350-48: MA-PWR-250WAC (identical to PWR-C2-250WAC)

The MS350 RAM can be upgraded: the 4GB (HMT351A7CFR8C) and 8GB (HMT41GA7MFR8C) PC3-12800E SODIMMs have been confirmed to work. Non-ECC SODIMMs are not compatible.

Model Codename Part number
MS350-24 (P) BigPony 600-36010 (P: 600-36020)
MS350-48 (LP/FP) BigPony 600-36030 (LP: 600-36040, FP: 600-36050)
MS350-24X Clydesdale 600-48010

The MS350-48 uses the Broadcom BCM56547 (A0) ASIC, with BCM84740 PHYs. The MS350-24X uses the Broadcom BCM56546 (B0) ASIC, with BCM82578 and Aquantia AQR405 PHYs. PoE versions of the switch use the Broadcom BCM59121 PSE controller.

MS350-48:

00:00.0 Host bridge: Intel Corporation Atom processor C2000 SoC Transaction Router (rev 02)
00:01.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation Atom processor C2000 PCIe Root Port 1 (rev 02)
00:03.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation Atom processor C2000 PCIe Root Port 3 (rev 02)
00:0b.0 Co-processor: Intel Corporation Atom processor C2000 QAT (rev 02)
00:0e.0 Host bridge: Intel Corporation Atom processor C2000 RAS (rev 02)
00:0f.0 IOMMU: Intel Corporation Atom processor C2000 RCEC (rev 02)
00:13.0 System peripheral: Intel Corporation Atom processor C2000 SMBus 2.0 (rev 02)
00:14.0 Ethernet controller: Intel Corporation Ethernet Connection I354 (rev 03)
00:14.1 Ethernet controller: Intel Corporation Ethernet Connection I354 1.0 GbE Backplane (rev 03)
00:14.2 Ethernet controller: Intel Corporation Ethernet Connection I354 (rev 03)
00:14.3 Ethernet controller: Intel Corporation Ethernet Connection I354 (rev 03)
00:1f.0 ISA bridge: Intel Corporation Atom processor C2000 PCU (rev 02)
00:1f.3 SMBus: Intel Corporation Atom processor C2000 PCU SMBus (rev 02)
01:00.0 Ethernet controller: Broadcom Inc. and subsidiaries Device b547 (rev 01)
01:00.1 Ethernet controller: Broadcom Inc. and subsidiaries Device b547 (rev 01)

MS350-24X:

00:00.0 Host bridge: Intel Corporation Atom processor C2000 SoC Transaction Router (rev 02)
00:01.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation Atom processor C2000 PCIe Root Port 1 (rev 02)
00:03.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation Atom processor C2000 PCIe Root Port 3 (rev 02)
00:0b.0 Co-processor: Intel Corporation Atom processor C2000 QAT (rev 02)
00:0e.0 Host bridge: Intel Corporation Atom processor C2000 RAS (rev 02)
00:0f.0 IOMMU: Intel Corporation Atom processor C2000 RCEC (rev 02)
00:13.0 System peripheral: Intel Corporation Atom processor C2000 SMBus 2.0 (rev 02)
00:14.0 Ethernet controller: Intel Corporation Ethernet Connection I354 (rev 03)
00:14.1 Ethernet controller: Intel Corporation Ethernet Connection I354 1.0 GbE Backplane (rev 03)
00:14.2 Ethernet controller: Intel Corporation Ethernet Connection I354 1.0 GbE Backplane (rev 03)
00:14.3 Ethernet controller: Intel Corporation Ethernet Connection I354 1.0 GbE Backplane (rev 03)
00:1f.0 ISA bridge: Intel Corporation Atom processor C2000 PCU (rev 02)
00:1f.3 SMBus: Intel Corporation Atom processor C2000 PCU SMBus (rev 02)
01:00.0 Ethernet controller: Broadcom Inc. and subsidiaries Device b546 (rev 11)

Both models have the same USB devices present:

Bus 001 Device 002: ID 8087:07db
Bus 001 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002
Bus 001 Device 003: ID 13fe:5200

MS350-24X and MS350-48 both use coreboot as the bootloader, although the MS350-24X model has a different build. In both cases, the ROM has the following layout:

00000000:00010000 reserved
00010000:0070ffff bk1
00710000:00dfffff bk2
00e00000:00ffffff coreboot

The cbfs contains the following:

FMAP REGION: COREBOOT
ms350-24x_w25q128.bin: 16384 kB, bootblocksize 1024, romsize 16777216, offset 0xe10000
alignment: 64 bytes, architecture: x86

Name                           Offset     Type           Size   Comp
cmos_layout.bin                0xe10000   cmos_layout      1396 none
fallback/romstage              0xe105c0   (unknown)       21624 none
fallback/ramstage              0xe15a80   (unknown)       49421 none
fallback/payload               0xe21c00   simple elf      23042 none
config                         0xe27640   raw              4676 none
revision                       0xe288c0   raw               566 none
(empty)                        0xe28b40   null          1209432 none
mrc.cache                      0xf4ffc0   mrc_cache       65536 none
cpu_microcode_blob.bin         0xf60000   microcode       84992 none
(empty)                        0xf74c40   null            45912 none
fsp.bin                        0xf7ffc0   fsp            389120 none
(empty)                        0xfdf000   null           134040 none

coreboot was built with an ELF payload (miles) which by default loads and jumps into the bootkernel FIT image located at 0x10000. A secondary bootkernel exists on flash at offset 0x710000.

This is very similar to the MX84 as they are both based on the same Rangeley platform.

The entire MS350 series is based on the Intel Atom C2000 series CPU, which Meraki also used in the MX84. Sadly, the MS350 also suffers from the AVR54 errata, as the C2358 in both the MS350-48 and MS350-24X is the B0 revision.

LPC_CLK is exposed on pin 1 of J35, with R3635 carrying 3.3V (MS350-48 and MS350-24X). Therefore, you can add a 100 Ohm resistor between R3635 and pin 1 to pull up the LPC clock. Just be sure to use an “extended-life” resistor for the modification, you wouldn’t want to compromise the MTBF of your Meraki product with anything sub-par 😉

100 Ohm resistor to pull up LPC clock (MS350-24X)

If you wish to flash your MS350, you will need to remove or socket the SOIC8 SPI flash (SK_U1).

This is because there are other devices powered by the +3.3V voltage rail used by SPI flash, which interferes with your ability to read/write the contents of flash. I prefer the Wieson G6179-10 SOIC8 socket (available from Adafruit). People outside the US will probably find it easier to desolder the flash and use a SOIC8 socket with prototype wires, as the G6179-10 is difficult to obtain for a reasonable price.

The UART header is J31 on both the MS350-48 and MS350-24X and follows the standard Meraki UART pinout (1: VCC, 2: Tx, 3: Rx, 4: GND)

Similar to the MS210/225 series, the Broadcom SDK implements the packet engine in userspace, using the linux_kernel_bde and linux_user_bde kernel modules to interface with the ASIC. In the Meraki firmware, the packet engine is a component of the userspace click daemon, which loads the bcm_click shared object during click router initialisation.

Idle power consumption:

  • MS350-24: 45W
  • MS350-24P: 57W
  • MS350-48: 54W
  • MS350-24X: 96W

GPL source code for the MS350 was requested from Meraki in July 2023. At the time of writing, they have not provided any. I will update this post with links to the source code when it is provided.