Posted: Sun Sep 08, 2013 21:26 Post subject: F7D8301 installation "instructions" (Sep 8, 2013)
How I DD-WRT'd my Belkin F7D8301 v1 (F7D8301v1 for the search engines...)
This post is just to help anyone else who purchased this inexpensive router and doesn't want to wade through this terribly outdated thread (that should definitely be archived and established anew). These are, of course, my own steps and are no guarantee of success for anyone else. I admittedly half-assed it since I wasn't particularly worried about a $30 router and the time it'd take to read this thread (and associated/requisite threads) was worth much more to me elsewhere. HOWEVER I am a veteran geek, and generally know what I'm doing at all times, in addition to having already carefully read through many forums here a few years ago regarding a previous router... so consider that before proceeding.
Preparation (original "OEM" firmware)
Complete a basic wired-network setup
(Plug everything in, connect your computer via ethernet to one of the downstream ports of the router, and pull a DHCP address. Honestly if you have any trouble with this quasi-step, then you should stop altogether and request a geekier friend to help you. Just show them this post, they'll see it's no skin off their back.)
Verify your IP address is 192.168.2.x and the gateway's is 192.168.2.1
(I'm reasonably sure this has been a constant for this router since its release)
Use a web browser to connect to the router's web-admin console at the gateway's IP (192.168.2.1)
Perform a factory settings reset
Wait a few minutes; reconnect to 192.168.2.1; verify any previous custom settings are reset
Perform a 30/30/30 "hard reset"
At this point you should DEFINITELY spent 5 solid minutes reading the official ddwrt writeup about the 30/30/30 reset. BUT I'll include the steps here because I hate when people writing "instructions" just throw you to someone else's instructions.
With the unit powered on, press and hold the reset button on back of unit for 30 seconds
Without releasing the reset button, unplug the unit and hold reset for another 30 seconds
Plug the unit back in STILL holding the reset button a final 30 seconds
Wait a minute then get back on your computer and renew your DHCP lease ("renew your IP")
Pull up the web-admin console (still at 192.168.2.1)
Don't do anything here. Just verify the router's functioning for good-times' sake.
Initial flashing (old, 'mini' ddwrt firmware)
The very first post of this thread (direct link) links to a 3.3 MB file named dd-wrt.v24-15030_NEWD-2_K2.6_mini.bin
Download it (make sure it's the 'mini' one, not the 'big' one)
Here is the direct link: http://www.dd-wrt.com/phpBB2/download.php?id=15994
Note that this is a very old firmware, and was actually for the f7d4301.
But hang tough. We're getting there.
Connect to the router's "CFE miniWeb Server" (using these steps...)
Unplug your router's power cord (from either side, really)
Press and hold the 'WPS' button on the router, THEN plug it back in
Wait 10 seconds, while STILL holding the WPS button down
Release the button and return to your computer
Use a web browser to (again) connect to the router at the gateway's IP (192.168.2.1)
NOTE!!! Instead of the web-admin console we previously saw, the wps button thing we just did enabled this special console.
NOTE, also, that the correct name of this console is "CFE miniWeb Server" but the first post in this thread actually refers to it as "mini CFE webserver" which was enough to destroy my efforts to effectively google it prior to trying. (Just sayin'...) I've attached an image of this page so you can verify you are there.
Click the Browse button and select the 'mini' firmware you just downloaded
Cross your fingers and click the Upload button
DO NOTHING FOR AT LEAST FIVE MINUTES. IN FACT, TEN MINUTES IS BETTER.
This is very important. (See, the text is bold!)
Once again, perform a 30/30/30 hard reset
This is also important. (Not quite as important, but enough for bolding!)
Final flashing (new, 'big' ddwrt firmware)
Return to your computer and, again, renew your DHCP lease
NOTE you now have an IP of 192.168.1.x and the gateway is at 192.168.1.1
Why? Because this thread was too big a mess for me to want to deal with, so I googled and found that other thread which was only a few months old, and that was good enough for me.
Yet again, use a web browser to connect to the router's web-admin console at the gateway's NEW IP (192.168.1.1)
Verify the console is now powered by DD-WRT (albeit an old version)
Almost certainly you'll be asked to set ddwrt's administration profile (username & password), so do that
Very probably you only have wireless wl0 (at 2.4ghz) and are missing wl1. Somewhere it also probably says you are running an F7D4301v1 instead of F7D8301v1.
Click the 'Administration' tab at the top, then the 'Firmware Upgrade' sub-tab
From the pop-up menu, I personally selected the option to reset default settings
Click the Choose File button and select the new "big" firmware you just downloaded
Cross your fingers and click the Upgrade button
DO NOTHING FOR AT LEAST FIVE MINUTES. IN FACT, TEN MINUTES IS BETTER.
This is very important. (See, the text is bold!)
That's it. I did NOT do another 30/30/30 reset, though I'm sure someone around here would recommend you should, for reasons I don't pretend to understand.
Hopefully this helps, clears up confusion, or saves someone time.
I would like to thank the people on this forum and especially this thread for the info. I bought a Belkin F7D4301UK on the strength of what I read here and have installed DD-WRT and so far I am pretty pleased with what I have, for £22 off ebay brand new I have a dual band N plus gigabit wireless router / AP which seems to be performing well.
Ultimately I hope to use the WAP as a crude NAS to stream media to my tablet. I have this up and running and am running the Samba module, I have had some success with a 250 Gb USB drive and can access it fine.
I can stream music and download files but am having a bit of trouble with the streaming of movies, wireless is connected at 65 mbps which i believe is the max for this connection (Nexus 7 doesn't do 5 GHz afaik)
I am suspicious that the issue is the Belkin USB connection and have read it can only manage 2 Mbps which is probably not enough for video and is a long way short of USB2 capability, can anyone verify this or offer any advice on whether I can improve the performance of the USB connection?
wireless interfaces never come up with builds past 21676 on my 8301 v1.. what happened? _________________ DD-WRT w/ Superchannel, Ubiquiti RS Pro @800Mhz, Ubiquiti SR71-A a/n,g/n
Hi all, I've successfully flashed my F7D8301 v1 using the method jasonbuechler describes above (great tutorial, thanks very much!).
I have the Belkin attached to a modem for my internet connection. When the Belkin had the stock firmware on it, it was connecting to the internet no problem. Now I've flashed the DD-WRT f/w onto it I can't connect to the net through the Belkin but I can if I just plug my pc into the modem. Can anyone tell me what settings I need to change on the Belkin to get it to connect to the net please?
I just purchased F7D4301, which is the latest recommended big version?
I tried few but I couldn't get the 2.4GHz to work.
I installed Tomato and it worked great but it will be a pain to migrate all my configuration from the old router to the new one. _________________ Netgear R9000 main router
RAX80 as AP
Does anyone have info on the CFE? His with DEADBEEF is a little confusing, not to mention Mac address shows up in frequencies of 3,2,0 as opposed to the 4,1,3 that he claims.
Posted: Wed Nov 27, 2013 20:55 Post subject: Re: F7D8301 installation "instructions" (Sep 8, 20
jasonbuechler wrote:
How I DD-WRT'd my Belkin F7D8301 v1 (F7D8301v1 for the search engines...)
These instructions are great! They should be published somewhere. I did have some issues, but they were probably more my boneheadedness/noobieness.
1) When I first got my F7D8301, the part number on the status page stated F7D4301. Does everyone's appear like this. Belkin's tech support (kind of an oxymoron) said it was bad. Returned and ordered from a completely different place. Guess what!? New one also says F7D4301! Just used it anyway.
2) At first, I could not contact CFE on router. I don't think CFE provides DHCP, so I had to force IP addr on my PC. That got me to connect to CFE. I had to remove this after the mini loaded, so DHCP would give me my new number.
3) Took a few tries to load mini firmware with CFE. As soon as the load started, the browser would get lost. I read to use IE instead of Firefox. This didn't seem to do anything for me, but it might have been part of the solution. The big culprit seemed to be that I was using a laptop and the wireless would stay connected to the old wireless, and this would confuse the loader somehow. Disabling wireless made the load complete successfully.
4) Thought I bricked the router because the DHCP worked like the old Belkin, and the web server wouldn't come up. Turns out when you say 30/30/30, that means 30/30/30, not 25/28/27. I had tried counting, but must have not given enough time. Once I did a good reset with a clock, the dd-wrt page came right up.
The device is now listed as both F7D4301 & F7D8301
The new firmware is beautiful! It seem so much more professional than the original. Belkin should just sell a router with enough bootloader to simply load dd-wrt or tomato. Now where is that donate button?
Pretty sure I bricked my router but I was wondering if any of you had some thoughts on how to bring my router back to life. My head is swimming reading about serial cables and telnet, so I though before I went that route I would see if maybe I was missing something a little simpler.
As of right now, my F7D4301v1 router has no lights. When powered up, I don't see any wireless SID's coming from it either. Seems completely unresponsive. I can't connect to (or ping) 192.168.1.1 or 192.168.2.1.
I was able to get DD-WRT mini (dd-wrt.v24-21061_NEWD-2_K2.6_mini.bin) flashed without a problem. This is where I should have stopped, but I wanted to see what Tomato could do for me so I moved onto flashing that.
I used the DD-WRT GUI (administration > firmware upgrade) to flash Tomato (tomato-K26USB-1.28.RT-MIPSR2-114-Big-VPN.trx). Choose file > upgrade > wait 300 second countdown. I didn't select "Reset to Default Settings", which may have been mistake #2.
After the 300 sec countdown, I refreshed my browser. Mistake #3. I should have waited at least 10 min. Router light was a solid green. I ASSumed everything was good to go. From here, browser asked me for credentials. ID/PWD combo I set in DD-WRT didn't work. Other combinations of admin/password didn't work either, so of course I simply rebooted the router. Not a 30/30/30, mind you. Just unplugged it and plugged it back in. Mistake #4.
So here I sit. Tried 30/30/30 multiple times, using reset and WPS button. Tried the 10 second WPS reboot. Tried to get back into the CME. Nothing. Router seems completely dead.
How I DD-WRT'd my Belkin F7D8301 v1 (F7D8301v1 for the search engines...)
I need help, I think I bricked my device.
This isn't my first time using custom firmware, but this is the first time I've run into a problem.
I have a F7D4302v1 and for some reason (me being tired, stupid search results) I ended up in this thread.
I flashed dd-wrt.v24-21061_NEWD-2_K2.6_mini_f7d4302.bin and everything was working.
The dd-wrt site showed the newest big firmware as dd-wrt.v24-21061_NEWD-2_K2.6_big.bin
Trying to be to smart I went to ftp://ftp.dd-wrt.com/others/eko/BrainSlayer-V24-preSP2/2013/12-24-2013-r23204/broadcom_K26/ and flashed dd-wrt.v24-23204_NEWD-2_K2.6_big.bin
Now I can't get into the router. Tried a 30/30/30 and got nothing. The light on the top isn't even turning on. Is it bricked? Any ideas?
EDIT:
FYI, fixed it.
Managed to get it to ping TTL=100 and pull up the firmware upload webpage (forget the name). Trick was one of the mentioned methods in the FAQ in this section. I held the reset button in while plugging in the power and continued to hold it while attempting to upload the firmware.
Tried multiple times on Win7 to upload through tftp and web browser and it wouldn't work. Tried uploading it in Win7 Safe Mode, that didn't work. Even tried booting to Ubuntu from USB disk and doing the same, and even that didn't work. Eventually I ended up back in Win7 and somehow it decided to finally upload via the web browser.
I think the big firmware didn't take when I tried to uploaded it, probably nothing wrong with it.
Posted: Wed Jan 01, 2014 12:03 Post subject: Update firmware for F7D4301 v1
Hello guys..
Have anyone already tried the latest firmware of 2013 ( dd-wrt.v24-23204_NEWD-2_K3.x_big.bin ) on this model? I'm stuck with 21061 (K2.6) release for now.. and the major problem is the lack of SSH console access and HTTPS web-gui access..
Any chance to be able to upload it successfully and see this latest version working, also through the web-gui?
Thanks you in advance, I'd really appreciate an help, those reference threads are so big..
Posted: Tue Jan 07, 2014 6:04 Post subject: i think i bricked, help please
Heya, i think i bricked my router, can someone help me? Here is what i did when trying to get ddwrt...
I went on 192.168.1.1 and did a factory reset. Then did a 30 30 30 but no CFE server.
Repeated 3 more times and still no CFE. So I did another factory reset and update filmware via belkin interface with mini file for f7d4301v1 found on http://www.dd-wrt.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=78042&post.... The thing uploaded and ran for 300 secs. Came up to blank screen and 192.168.1.1 no longer loads an interface. I then tried to ping 192.168.1.1 on cmd but no response.
Can anyone help me with this problem and give me the correction directions to get ddwrt on this router?
