[jrosetto]

Would it be possible to use a hex editor and compare the buffalo firmware with the dd-wrt firmware to figure out why it is not accepting the firmware through the gui?

I have one coming in the mail and I'm reluctant to crack open a brand new router...

[stealthdave]

After a week of futzing and configuring, I finally got DD-WRT installed on my Buffalo WXR-1900DHP! Many thanks to @ludacrisvp for forging the way on this effort! I thought I'd do my part and post a condensed version of the steps I needed to flash to DD-WRT.

STEP 0 - EQUIPMENT
Before you can start, you need some equipment:

• A philips-head or standard-head screw driver
  
• A small torx head screw driver (sorry, not sure what size)
  
• A spudger (a thin standard-head screw driver can do in a pinch)
  
• USB-TTY Serial adapter like this one
  
• An internet connected computer that you can install software and drivers on (i.e., not your company-issued laptop!) and an ethernet connection
  

STEP 1 - OPEN THE ROUTER

• Use the philips- or standard-head screw driver to remove the base stand of the router.
  
• This will reveal two more tiny Torx-head screws in the base. Remove them with the torx screw driver
  
• Using the spudger, carefully pry the top off of the router.
  

STEP 2 - SERIAL CONNECTION
Once opened, you should see the 4-pin serial port header pictured here:
[img]http://www.dd-wrt.com/nxt/wiki/lib/exe/fetch.php?media=hardware:buffalo:wxr1900.jpg[/img]
(Image from the DD-WRT Hardware Wiki)

• Connect the leads from the USB-TTY Serial adapter to the 4-pin header using the diagram in the picture above.
  
• Connect the USB cable to your computer. Install any necessary hardware drivers for the serial cable. (Links below)
  
• Run a terminal program like PuTTY for Windows or screen for *NIX systems and connect to your serial port. PuTTY Tutorial for Windows / screen tutorial for Linux/Mac OS X
  
• TURN ON YOUR ROUTER!
  

You should see the boot up process happening on your router. If you don't see any text on the screen, check the connection of your serial cable to the 4-pin header and try again.

STEP 3 - DOWNLOAD FIRMWARE AND INSTALL TFTP SERVER

• Install a TFTP server on your computer - examples (but NOT endorsements!):
  
  
  
  • Open TFTP Server (Win)
    
  • TFTP32 (Win)
    
  • Free Front-End for built-in Mac OS X server
    
  
  
• Download OpenWRT firmware and copy it to your TFTP server folder. Rename it to openwrt.trx for convenience.
  
• Download an old version of DD-WRT (factory-to-dd-wrt.bin) and copy it to your TFTP server folder. Rename it to firmware.ram for convenience.
  

STEP 4 - INSTALL OPENWRT FIRMWARE VIA CFE

• Connect your computer's ethernet to one of the router's LAN ports.
  
• MANUALLY set your computer's IP address to 192.168.11.2! (I was unable to get a DHCP address, but manually setting the address worked for me.)
  
• With the serial cable connected and the terminal app from Step 2 running, start (or restart) your router.
  
• As soon as you turn it on, start pressing CTRL-C until you get the CFE> prompt.
  
• ***** POINT OF NO RETURN! *****
  You are about to BRICK your router!
  
• Follow @ludacrisvp's flashing instructions:
  

  Code:

  CFE> flash -noheader 192.168.11.2:firmware_.ram nflash1.trx Reading 192.168.11.2:firmware_.ram: Done. 28705040 bytes read Programming...done. 28705040 bytes written *** command status = 0 CFE> flash -noheader 192.168.11.2:firmware_.ram nflash1.trx_recovery Reading 192.168.11.2:firmware_.ram: Done. 28705040 bytes read Programming...done. 28705040 bytes written *** command status = 0 fw is broken blinking led 2

  
  
• Flash openwrt:
  

  Code:

  CFE> flash -noheader 192.168.11.2:openwrt.trx nflash1.trx Reading 192.168.11.2:openwrt.trx: Done. 7602176 bytes read Programming...done. 7602176 bytes written *** command status = 0 CFE> go

  
  

STEP 5 - UPDATE OPENWRT TO DD-WRT

• Download an old version of buffalo-wxr-1900-dhp-webflash.bin
  
• If it's not already, connect your router's WAN port to the internet
  
• Install the OpenWRT gui:
  

  Code:

  # opkg update # opkg install luci

  
  
• Turn DHCP network assignments back on for your computer (instead of the manually set 192.168.11.2 address from earlier)
  
• Go to the OpenWRT web interface at http://192.168.1.1. You should not need any login credentials, but if you do, try using "password".
  
• In the navigation, go to System -> Backup / Flash Firmware
  
• Install the buffalo-wxr-1900-dhp-webflash.bin downloaded earlier and restart the router
  
• BOOM! You have DD-WRT! But you're not done yet...
  

STEP 6 - UPDATE DD-WRT TO LATEST

• Download the most recent version of buffalo-wxr-1900-dhp-webflash.bin (09-28-2015-r27858 at the time of this writing)
  
• Go to the DD-WRT web interface at http://192.168.1.1
  
• In the navigation, go to Administration -> Firmware Upgrade
  
• Install the LATEST version of buffalo-wxr-1900-dhp-webflash.bin that you just downloaded and restart
  

Okay, NOW you're done!

That was a lot of work! But it's totally worth it! For those of you who have gone through this process, please look this post over and make sure I didn't make any stupid mistakes!

Thanks again to @ludacrisvp, @59vw and everyone else who contributed to this thread!

(But mostly to @ludacrisvp; who I've shamelessly copy-and-pasted from for this post.)

[ludacrisvp]

I did give that a shot. They are different in the header section. I tried adjusting it to match the buffalo firmware but there must be more to it than this now. So I believe there must be a CRC32 / checksum calculation somewhere in the file as well which gets invalidated.

[Rmattp]

Thanks for the write-up stealthdave.

Anyone know if the dd-wrt flash actually uses the hardware vs software for routing/switching?

I'm assuming that it does as its part of the NXT program but I figure I ask.

[almot]

What Serial Port and TFTP Server settings should I use? I'm getting garbage on my terminal screen.
Thank you.

[ludacrisvp]

TFTP doesn't really have "settings" to adjust that I've ever seen.

For serial use speed 115200 leave other settings at default.
Check your connections if you are still getting garbage in.

[almot]

Thank you. I'll try it tomorrow.

[it2911]

@stealthdave
Thank you for your report.

@ludacrisvp
Hi. Could you can use SSH? My SSH is disable. I try to set webcam in my 1900wrt

[elizle]

I have a somewhat related question. I have the wxr-1900dphd and I'm really at a loss for words at how lacking the NXT firmware is. Do I need to get a serial connection wired up to mine, or should I be able to just flash it since it is technically already running DD-WRT?

If this is off topic, feel free to remove my post and I will create a new one.

Thanks.

[elizle]

I just went for it. For anyone wondering. On the wxr-1900dphd, which is the version that ships with DD-WRT NXT, you can just flash the webflash version from NXT. It's working flawlessly now.

[ludacrisvp]

[YosemiteSam]

[tmoore4748]

Okay, weird one on this router: I've followed all of the steps to the letter (must've read the walk-thru at least ten times), and now I have no web interface. I've tried command line with PuTTY, was able to login, but I'm stuck at the older version of DD-WRT, unable to flash from it to the newer version with no web interface. Basically, I'ms tuck unable to do Step 6 of stealthdave's walk-thru (thanks again for building that, you're a lifesaver!). Anyone got any ideas? I've killed and restarted httpd at least a dozen times, done the "killall" command and restarted all, and I'm still stuck. I end up at a page that redirects to LuCi every time I type in the normal router address (192.168.1.1), but it's an unloadable page according to my browser (and, yes, I've cleared my browser cache at least twenty times to be sure that wasn't it); the address that's loaded is http://192.168.1.1/cgi-bin/luci. Current lights on are the power and internet, with a white light on power and pinkish light on internet. Also, I know the router is working, because that's what's handling traffic for me right now to this page. So, at a minimum, flashing to the newer dd-wrt would be a perfect, elegant solution


EDIT: Okay, now I really feel dumb, because I figured out the elegant solution by using another browser that I hadn't cleared the cache of, after clearing the cache. So, call me a little slow. I'm too used to one mentality at home, and another at work, that often the tech support ideas don't really coincide.

[mstarr68]

[mstarr68]