So after much hassle. I finally got it to work. Real, touch and go situation.
1.) Flashed router from 1.02 to 1.09 (from trendnet's website)
2.) Downloaded the webflash.bin file (URL above) and flashed using that.
3.) after a lot of messing around with the 30/30/30 resets ... now I have it stable enough so at least it boots every time.
Unresolved Problems:
1.) TEW-828DRU has 3 bands or whatever. 2.4GHz + 5.0 GHz and another 5.0 GHz (I think). However, I only see 2. Problem is that there is an open wifi access point which I cannot seem to shutoff. It's called "dd-wrt". Maybe my hunch is about the 3 NICs is wrong but it doesn't matter - how do i shutoff that that default DD-WRT open Access Point??
NOTE that I did manage to put passwords and wpa2 encryption on the two NICs which were visible to me.
2.) The WAN connection never works for me. Note that I'm trying to get my TEW to connect like a regular computer to my DIR-868L (running fresh-tomato).
I have an ancient DIR-655L and I've connected it up using the exact same cable as the TEW-828DRU and it works. So clearly this is something i'm not doing properly in the TEW-828DRU because I cannot believe that this would be broken.
Oh dear ... so in trying to fix the problem, I tried to reflash and now i'm in a stuck state.
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I power on the router (TEW-828DRU)
- continuous ping to 192.168.10.1 (default IP address for Trendnet).
- Wait about 12 seconds and issue a "curl http://192.168.0.1/" and I get the following output.
(I can do this using a regular web browser we as well but it's easier to post this text).
Oh dear ... so in trying to fix the problem, I tried to reflash and now i'm in a stuck state.
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I power on the router (TEW-828DRU)
- continuous ping to 192.168.10.1 (default IP address for Trendnet).
- Wait about 12 seconds and issue a "curl http://192.168.0.1/" and I get the following output.
(I can do this using a regular web browser we as well but it's easier to post this text).
- I've tried many times to upload using the web page but the website simply doesn't stay alive long enough. I even tried doing this using CURL and whilst it's possible that it worked, i dont get any output so it's difficult to know.
- Decided to try and use the TFTP option to upload the file and whilst I can make it upload because i've got the timing down to an art ... TFTP is UDP so i *guess* it uploaded okay. The output looks good at least.
C:\>tftp -i 192.168.10.1 PUT ddwrt-tew-828dru-webflash-r44236.bin code.bin
Transfer successful: 14200852 bytes in 20 seconds(s), 710042 bytes/s
- Waited 5 minutes (the forum post says 2 mins with a hard reset) and reboot. Nothing.
- Did the whole thing again i.e. TFTP upload, this time used the WPS reset (i.e. the ARM processor reset). Nothing.
- Did the whole thing again i.e. TFTP upload, this time used the 30/30/30 reset (i.e. the one NOT advised for ARM). Nothing.
- I am at exactly the same spot I was before I tried to upload the firmware using CURL and later using TFTP.
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What I would love to do is upload a BASIC firmware flash except that the DD-WRT directory doesn't have anything except the WEBFLASH.
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I waited a few days and today I see a new firmware version but the net result is the exact same, i.e. i'm still stuck in the CFE miniWeb Server - emergency firmware upload page.
I would love to get a BASIC firmware. Something like this but it's from a differnet router (DLINK 868L)
ftp://ftp.dd-wrt.com/betas/2020/08-22-2020-r44236/dlink-dir868l-reva/
1.) dir868a-webflash.bin
2.) factory-to-ddwrt.bin <---- I would like something like this for my router (TRENDNET TEW-828DRU) because I think that's how i get out of this hole.
The feeling that I have is that I'm stuck in a FW upload mode. So emergency upload or whatever. And whilst I've mastered the art of uploading stuff to the router, what I NOW NEED TO DO is to make it boot from the firmware.
Going to read that page of yours ... but if you know the answer to this then I think i have a fighting chance.
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1.) power up router ... wait ~12 seconds
2.) CFE webserver and tftp server comes up for ~2-3 seconds.
3.) Quickly upload something using TFTP. No one is that fast on a website (maybe curl might work but it didn't for me).
Result: router will typically auto-reboot and then keep rebooting about every 2-3 minutes. Basically a failed boot.
SCENARIO 2:
1.) power up router ... wait ~12 seconds
2.) CFE webserver and tftp server comes up for ~2-3 seconds.
3.) Quickly upload the factory-to-ddwrt.bin from the tew-824dru router ... this will make the CFE webserver sit there waiting for you.
4.) Open up a web browser and upload whatever firmware.
Result: it will tell you that the firmware has successfully uploaded, go for a reboot, etc etc.
Router will reboot every 2-3 minutes, same as before. Basically a failed boot.
SCENARIO 3.
1.) power up router ... wait ~12 seconds
2.) CFE webserver and tftp server comes up for ~2-3 seconds.
3.) Quickly upload the factory firmware and wait for the reboot.
Result: it will upload successfully using TFTP, router will then get stuck in the same boot process as earlier. Basically a failed boot.
Below are all of the factory firmware I could find from the internet and I think i've tried them all. Maybe out of boredom, i missed one but not likely.
2015-03-06 16:39 9,289,748 TEW-828DRU_v1.0.2.0.bin
2015-05-22 04:43 9,400,340 TEW-828DRU_v1.0.4.0.bin
2015-08-25 18:23 10,289,172 TEW-828DRU_v1.0.5.0.bin
2015-10-19 03:43 13,860,884 TEW-828DRU_v1.0.6.0.bin
2018-03-01 17:41 13,885,460 TEW-828DRU_v1.0.7.2.bin
2018-07-26 11:52 13,881,364 TEW-828DRU_v1.0.8.1.bin
2020-01-22 11:44 13,983,764 TEW-828DRU_v1.0.8.2.bin
2020-04-30 20:29 13,987,860 TEW-828DRU_v1.0.9.0.bin
BTW, I don't think i'm totally bricked my router because it does "boot" to the CFE webserver. I just don't know how to get out of this failed-boot-loop. Is my assumption true or am i just wasting my time?
1.) Is there a special filename I should be using as the detination when uploading using TFTP?
2.) Is there something else I can try, e.g. openwrt?
I forgot to say that there's so many builds from DD-WRT but nothing gives me the confidence that it will behave any different than what i've already tried.
Crucial worry is that i'm trying builds that have supposedly succeeded (according to the forum anyway) but they don't work for me.
Is there a post flash reset? I tried a couple but it didn't change the outcome. I'm always booting to the CFE miniweb server and then timeouts until the new boot.
Here's my ping -t (but i'm constanting checking other IP addresses as well, e.g. .1.1 and .0.1
Trying to upload using the emergency firmware upload is very difficult in my opinion. Apparently some people have managed it but i have no idea how.
I thought I was on to a winner with my TFTP efforts but one poster gave me the impression that TFTP uploads are not the same as CFE-web uploads.
So this is an attempt to help anyone is slow like me at mouse clicks.
1.) Download curl (if you're running MACOS or LINUX you most likely already have it). Windows people can google "curl for windows" or go here: https://curl.haxx.se/windows/
2.) Download the firmware you want to get upload to the CFE server (a bit obvious but anyway).
3.) Turn off the router, put a watch or clock or something in front of you with seconds.
4.) Disconnect everything except a single LAN (not WAN) cable to the back of the unit.
5.) Make sure your IP address is statically assigned 192.168.10.XX (where XX is anything except 0, 1, or 255... basic networking). I like to multi-bind ... even windows will let you do this.
6.) Start a ping -t 192.168.10.1 (I like do do a whole bunch of them cos it's annoying trying to find what IP the router is currently at). You can do something like this from a batch file.
7.) Plug in the router and make a note of the time (in your mind)... after about 12 seconds be on the lookout for a successful ping. The moment that happens run the curl command to upload the file.
If you did it correctly then you will see lots of blinking on the ethernet port connected to the computer. And then it will it stop. And you will get the following (or similar) output. This is what you would have seen on your browser had you managed to upload successfully -- except that this is the RAW html output.
<HTML><BODY>
<pre>Receive file size=14733380<br><font face=Arial size=5>Upload completed. System is going to reboot.<br>Please wait a few moments.</font></pre><!-- Recive file size=0 bytes--><a href=/>Continue</a></BODY></HTML>
C:\TFTP-Root>
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Hopefully you have a successful flash ... if you're like me ... then you're still trying to figure out what went wrong.
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The whole point of this post is to say that you can use CURL and here's how.
Seems like only a console output might shed some light into this.
Any idea how to get this CONSOLE OUTPUT? The back of the router only has a USB point which i expect is purely for storage. I don't has a serial port on this thing.
Many devices sport a connector on their PCB or provide the possibility to solder one.
Maybe someone in this forum already opened the device and knows how to proceed.
