[conspire] (forw) Re: Converting a Linksys WRT54G version (something) to OpenWrt

[Rick Moen]

----- Forwarded message from Rick Moen <rick at linuxmafia.com> -----

Date: Mon, 29 Aug 2011 18:26:10 -0700
From: Rick Moen <rick at linuxmafia.com>
To: Kai <indigo.kai at gmail.com>
Subject: Re: Converting a Linksys WRT54G version (something) to OpenWrt
Organization: If you lived here, you'd be $HOME already.

Quoting Kai (indigo.kai at gmail.com):

> Hiya Rick,  I managed to get online with the Ubuntu 10.10 machine.  I
> found a couple of routers on the OPEN WRT site and wanted to make sure
> the info I had was good.
> 
> DLINK DIR-600
> There are (at least) three versions of this router: A1, B1 and B2. A1
> has been rebranded as the frys.com FR-54RTR. The FR-54RTR is a close
> enough match that it can be flashed with the A1's firmware from
> D-Link: "
> I was thinking of calling fry's and seeing if the had the "rebranded" FR-54RTR".
> 
> I am also thinking of trying to find this one.
> D-Link DIR-615
> NOTE: ONLY revision C1 and C2 Backfire are fully supported yet.
> CPU Atheros , RAM 32  Flash 4mb  network 4x1  gigabyte no USB YES, Serial YES
> 
> what do you think?  - Kai

Looks reasonably good (Atheros wireless, 4 MB RAM), with some problems
in limited areas.  Searching on 'fr-54rtr openwrt' finds this forum
thread.  Watch out for old posting dates, which could involve
now-obsolete branches of OpenWrt:

https://forum.openwrt.org/viewtopic.php?pid=103396

I see from about a year ago:

  Thanks.

  Actually tried the backfire RC-3 code over the weekend. Appeared much
  more stable. Will try MTU if needed.

  I did appear to have a problem passing broadcast traffic too/from
  wireless <> LAN port daisy chained to my primary router.

  Basically, the 54RTR was just acting as an AP. No DHCP, etc. Hosts have
  no problem talking routed to Internet off BEFSR81, but can't pass
  broadcast traffic and thus can't find each other over netbios "browser"
  name resolution. Need to do more testing, but the same configuration
  works fine on the D-link firmware. Do I have to define an uplink or
  trunk port in OpenWRT or something to pass broadcasts or support
  multiple MAC addresses coming in on a LAN port?

 Host <wire> BEFSR81 <wire> FR-54RTR <wireless> Host
 
  The other potential use I have for these is as range extenders like the
  WRE54G type to routers not supporting WDS. Anybody got OpenWRT working
  as a extender/repeater to a non WDS router like the 2Wire ones?

  All the guides/posts I found are for OpenWRT-OpenWRT WDS configs.



It also seems like it would probably be _fantastically_ inexpensive at
Fry's.  A lot of places are talking about it being priced at $12!  
Hard to beat that, even as just a possible solution.

This post (from May, 2010) is on
https://secure.dslreports.com/forum/r24241554-Equipment-DLink-DIR-600-A1-or-Fry-s-FR-54RTR-WiFi-Router-for-V~start=20 

  Basically, I just downloaded a copy of OpenWRT SVN trunk source code,
  configured using 'make menuconfig' to select packages/options I need,
  compiled using make, and then using the DLink GUI to flash the binary
  OpenWRT firmware file
  (openwrt-ar71xx-generic-dir-600-a1-squashfs-factory.bin). The subsequent
  upgrade can be done through telnet and/or ssh using sysupgrade utility
  with this OpenWRT firmware file:
  openwrt-ar71xx-generic-dir-600-a1-squashfs-sysupgrade.bin. Note: Lately,
  I notice OpenWRT seemed to have disabled RESET function on its firmware.
  So, if you have misconfigured your device while it is running on an
  OpenWRT firmware, there is no way to perform a factory reset to recover
  the unit unless you can have an access to its shell. This means you will
  need either to reflash it with an OpenWRT firmware through the DLink WEB
  GUI (requires pressing reset pin for about 20 seconds while the device
  is powering up) or use a serial-console cable to boot into its shell to
  make the necessary changes to recover the unit.

So, apparently, the files to get for OpenWrt 10.03 'backfire' (current
stable release) are in http://downloads.openwrt.org/backfire/10.03/ar71xx/

http://downloads.openwrt.org/backfire/10.03/ar71xx/openwrt-ar71xx-dir-600-a1-squashfs-factory.bin
http://downloads.openwrt.org/backfire/10.03/ar71xx/openwrt-ar71xx-dir-600-a1-squashfs-sysupgrade.bin




----- End forwarded message -----