Posted: Mon Oct 05, 2015 17:10 Post subject: Re: Question ?
itadu59 wrote:
Hello,
I would like to install the firmware dd-wrt on my ea6400.
But actually and if i understand this topic, this firmware have a problem with the temperature of CPU ?
Thanks for your answer
Best regards
The problem which people are saying with the temperature is as it is operating, the cpu core temp constantly hits above ~78c. I do remember in another thread that due to the paranoia of people using dd-wrt, one dev was going to remove the temp sensor.
These Broadcom chips are said to have an operating rating up to ~130c, I have seen this information from other dual core Broadcom routers.
If you're going to install it, see the instructions for the cfe, as you don't want to be hitting the nvram bug or the 3 reboots going to a brick. Other than itself it is stable and has near-as performance to stock. I am currently running it as a transmission and miniDLNA server on my ea6300v1.
If you're going to use the asus firmware, you can flash it to linux2 and linux whilst dd-wrt will only flash to linux for me for some reason. I would flash it twice to make sure it's on both firmware paths
Mikam wrote:
I'm about to install the dd-wrt firmware now on my router but when following the instructions several pages back I have the first delta when comparing my status against the expected outcome:
Quote:
7 ) FTP your modified CFE with that user
* REMEMBER TO ENABLE BINARY MODE IN FTP. suggestion: Use WinSCP
8 ) telnet into router and run the following commands to flash CFE. Username/Password is your DD-WRT Login information.
*EDIT* (9/29/2015) Username/Password is the information you entered when you first booted DD-WRT.
* DO NOT CUT AND PASTE! Adjust these to match the file link and directory names.
Once done unplug the router. Hold the WPS button while plugging it in. Wait for the LED to blink fast. Release WPS button.
9 ) Go back into DD-WRT, Set back up user and password
After writing the modified cfe and restarting the router while pressing the WPS button then when connecting to the UI via web I get into Linksys UI instead of dd-wrt.....what have I done wrong?
Now the Linksys UI is rotating and asks me to wait forever so no idea how to get the dd-wrt flashed again
After another 30-30-30 attempt I get into a CFE miniWeb Server....can I continue from here and if so how?
I personally haven't used the asus restoration utility with this cfe. But it is possible to flash a firmware with it using this cfe. I cannot remember where the instructions are but a google should bring this up.
I am no expert on this, so I would wait for a response from someone else. But I'm guessing you would hold the wps button for 5 seconds on bootup and download asus restoration utility and flash the trx file of the merlin build for the ea6400 ( a couple of posts back) using that.
According to asus the IP address should be 192.168.1.10， and subnet mask：255.255.255.0
And for the wait forever thing, there is a modified firmware upload page made before dd-wrt was made, possibly like page 20ish, which I might be able to find, people used this to flash another firmware whilst on the waiting bug. Though as you're running the cfe (as you can see the miniWeb server), I'd use the restoration tool
btw, best advice is to make sure no firewall is running, and I haven't tried this method - I would wait for someone else to post back if this is the correct method
Thanks for your detailed instructions here. I also found the information from some other forum about the restoration tool but honestly did not have the slightest idea what firmware I'm allowed to use with that. Unless someone else would give a veto here I will try it later on with your approach.
But to clarify: I do not need to press reset during power on to get into the recovery mode before I can use the tool but instead the wps button? Because when I press the wps button during boot up and release it once the led gets into the nervous mode it always loads the linksys fw whereby a reset (or 30-30-30) gets me into that miniWeb page - thought that this is recovery mode?
Thanks for your detailed instructions here. I also found the information from some other forum about the restoration tool but honestly did not have the slightest idea what firmware I'm allowed to use with that. Unless someone else would give a veto here I will try it later on with your approach.
But to clarify: I do not need to press reset during power on to get into the recovery mode before I can use the tool but instead the wps button? Because when I press the wps button during boot up and release it once the led gets into the nervous mode it always loads the linksys fw whereby a reset (or 30-30-30) gets me into that miniWeb page - thought that this is recovery mode?
Holding the WPS button causes the router to do a factory reset. sorta like doing it from inside the firmware. You do not need to do a 30-30-30 to get into the miniWeb Page either. Just hold the reset button down while plugging it in for a few seconds and it should automatically boot into recovery mode. (Personally I don't let go of the button until I can get the miniweb to load on my pc.) You can then use the miniweb or the asus restoration tool to restore the AsusWRT or even DD-WRT. If this tool doesn't work then go about the TFTP way of restoring the firmware. Once again you can use either DD-WRT or AsusWRT.
As for the issue of you was in DD-WRT and you flashed the custom CFE and then it no longer booted into DD-WRT. That is probably caused by your initial flash going onto linux2 partition instead of linux partition. After flashing AsusWRT for some odd reason DD-WRT Doesn't like the linux2 partition. (As noted in the previous page by someone else). Once you get into any dd-wrt or asuswrt firmware I would suggest flashing both linux and linux2 partitions with the firmware. As per the instruction manual I made. Let me know if this works for you or if you need any other help.
**EDIT**
I just updated the instructions for flashing below. I also got to thinking. since your back into the linux firmware you should be able to just Reflash the DD-WRT initial flash image. After that you can continue with the instructions. Let me know if that works for you please.
Last edited by Devianttwo on Mon Oct 05, 2015 22:46; edited 1 time in total
3 ) do a 30/30/30 with reset button to clear nvram.
4 ) log into DD-WRT. Create a User/Password
5 ) MAKE A BACKUP OF YOUR CFE BY BROWSING TO http://192.18.1.1/backup/cfe.bin
*You will need this if you EVER want to revert back to stock.
6 ) Enable ProFTPD and create a new user (SSHD does not work on the stripped down version)
Code:
-> Services
-> NAS
-> ProFTPD
7 ) FTP your modified CFE with that user
* REMEMBER TO ENABLE BINARY MODE IN FTP. suggestion: Use WinSCP
8 ) telnet into router and run the following commands to flash CFE. Username/Password is your DD-WRT Login information.
*EDIT* (9/29/2015) Username/Password is the information you entered when you first booted DD-WRT.
* DO NOT CUT AND PASTE! Adjust these to match the file link and directory names.
Once done unplug the router. Hold the WPS button while plugging it in. Wait for the LED to blink fast. Release WPS button.
Code:
-----------------------------------------------------
EDIT 10/5/2015
One user had an issue at this point that caused the router to revert back to the linksys firmware. Also was unable to access the webpage as it was stuck on the "Spinning Icon"
In order to fix this do the following
1 ) Download the Asus Recovery Tool: http://support.asus.com/download.aspx?SLanguage=en&m=RT-N16&p=11&s=2&os=30&hashedid=WAa6AQFncrceRBEo
2 ) Download your flavor of Firmware (Look Below for links)
3 ) Manually set your Ip on your computer to the following
9 ) Go back into DD-WRT, Set back up user and password
10 ) Re-Enable ProFTPD same as before.
11 ) FTP Desired EA6400 Firmware that you want (Either DD-WRT or the test version of Merlin for EA6400)
Links:
DD-WRT Latest Builds: ftp://ftp.dd-wrt.com/betas/2015/
Navigate to latest folder
Navigate to the linksys-ea6400 folder
Download the linksys-ea6400-webflash.bin
12 ) Open up Putty (Or any telnet program) and connect to 192.168.1.1
13 ) Flash your new firmware with the following commands:
*EDIT* (9/29/2015) When formatting the linux2 partition it may return an error. This is safe to ignore. It is still writing the firmware.
Code:
mtd write /tmp/temp/link-to-firmware-chosen.bin linux2
(Wait for it to write)
mtd write /tmp/temp/link-to-firmware-chosen.bin linux
erase nvram
reboot
* Once again Make sure to point to the CORRECT File name.
**AFTER THIS IS DONE YOUR ROUTER WILL TAKE A VERY LONG TIME TO REBOOT FOR THE FIRST TIME! IT WILL REBOOT MULTIPLE TIMES AND CAN TAKE 2-15 MINUTES OR MORE!! JUST LEAVE IT ALONE AND GO SMOKE A CIGARETTE OR GET SOMETHING TO DRINK!! **
14 ) Navigate back to http://192.168.1.1 If you see the CFE MiniWeb then Continue to wait. If you see your new firmware then you have successfully flashed to the latest version with the newest CFE files. Configure to how you like it
Side Notes:
1 ) After a factory reset the router will take between 2-15+ Minutes to reboot for the first time. It will also Reboot multiple times. (You can check this with a ping or watching the lights on the router). This is normal. It has something to do with the new CFE.
2 ) After Initial bootup your router will take about 2-3 minutes for a normal reboot. This is normal. Also has something to do with the new CFE.
3 ) If you are having issues with your routers Temperature then this fix is for you.
**UPDATE: 10/6/2015 When Flashing from Asus-WRT Merlin back to DD-WRT **
(Thanks Silent_Swift)
In order to flash from Merlin back to DD-WRT You would want to do the following
1 ) Make sure SSHD Is in fact Enabled.
((Administration->System->Allow SSH))
2 ) SSH Into the router
3 ) Type the following commands in the console
Code:
cd /tmp
**UPDATE THIS COMMAND TO THE LATEST BUILD!**
wget ftp://ftp.dd-wrt.com/betas/2015/09-28-2015-r27858/linksys-ea6400/linksys-ea6400-webflash.bin
mtd-write2 linksys-ea6400-webflash.bin linux
4 ) Unplug the router.
5 ) Hold the WPS Button down on the router and plug it back in
6 ) Wait for the Fast blinking light to start up and release the WPS Button.
**ALWAYS DO A FACTORY DEFAULT RESET WHEN SWITCHING FIRMWARES FROM ONE TYPE TO ANOTHER**
7 ) After words continue to resetup your router.
Last edited by Devianttwo on Tue Oct 06, 2015 22:15; edited 4 times in total
**EDIT**
I just updated the instructions for flashing below. I also got to thinking. since your back into the linux firmware you should be able to just Reflash the DD-WRT initial flash image. After that you can continue with the instructions. Let me know if that works for you please.
The problem here is that I cannot really access the Menu structure in the Linksys UI as it keeps showing this rotating circle all the time (tries to hypnotize me ) after login in. And neither telnet nor ssh are working in this stage.
So did I get it correct that I can use also dd-wrt together with the asus restoration tool? So maybe the initial flash image that I did use in step 2 in the instructions?
After putting the router again to recovery mode I managed to get the Merlin FW uploaded via the recue tool. After some while (as mentioned in instructions) I was able to access the UI. Thanks a lot for the very fast support in this forum.
What would be the next steps (e.g. do I need to flash the second partition manually even if linux2 does not exist here)?
Other question: Where is the Merlin test build maintained as on the Asuswrt-Merlin page I find only Asus router builds?
And in order to go for dd-wrt then I use the mtd write to get dd-wrt build to the linux partitions?
The Asus Merlin firmware doesn't have the mtd-write on the the firmware, xvortex_cfe doesn't have mtd-write too. I'm trying to update the xvortex_cfe_ea6400.bin but I can't find the mtd-write. Did anyone ever update the xvortex_cfe running the Merlin firmware?
After putting the router again to recovery mode I managed to get the Merlin FW uploaded via the recue tool. After some while (as mentioned in instructions) I was able to access the UI. Thanks a lot for the very fast support in this forum.
What would be the next steps (e.g. do I need to flash the second partition manually even if linux2 does not exist here)?
Other question: Where is the Merlin test build maintained as on the Asuswrt-Merlin page I find only Asus router builds?
And in order to go for dd-wrt then I use the mtd write to get dd-wrt build to the linux partitions?
Well, you can flash the firmware twice to make sure it's on both firmware paths. Once your on Asus-Wrt, to flash back to dd-wrt, you need to use the mtd command above. It didn't work for me and I used something called mtd2 or something similar.
To transfer the file, I couldn't use the WinSCP program and uploaded the file on my website and used wget to get the file to the temp directory and then used the mtd-write2 commnad to linux and linux2 (it still flashes if it fails)
-You would have to do the same thing but with the Asus-Wrt firmware to make sure its on both paths
(This is unofficial firmware provided by a user in this thread; which is at his own choice to update - it was published as a test release. Asus-Wrt is not ever to be maintained through a Linksys router as of so-called "features" used on Asus and it's policy. Such as the EZ and Ai-Cloud)
Note to anyone who sees the message, these features won't work on this router (needs serial and other props of the original), so there's no harm being done.
dan368 wrote:
Hello all,
The Asus Merlin firmware doesn't have the mtd-write on the the firmware, xvortex_cfe doesn't have mtd-write too. I'm trying to update the xvortex_cfe_ea6400.bin but I can't find the mtd-write. Did anyone ever update the xvortex_cfe running the Merlin firmware?
Regards
Yes I have moved to dd-wrt from Asus-Wrt and I did have this problem.
It's no longer mtd-write on Asus but something like mtd-write2; I'll google this now and place the command below.
Code:
mtd-write2 firmware.bin linux
mtd-write2 firmware.bin linux2 (didn't flash on mine [b]whilst using asus-wrt[/b], but just do it incase it does do anything. On DD-WRT the layout is different and will flash.)
Wow I learnt more with dd-wrt than I did with my experience of open-wrt
And after I have configured my router with Transmission and miniDLNA on dd-wrt - I'm getting a few disconnections on wifi but not on lan. Not sure if it is part of my configuration or if the router is having a problem?
mtd-write2 firmware.bin linux2 (didn't flash on mine [b]whilst using asus-wrt[/b], but just do it incase it does do anything. On DD-WRT the layout is different and will flash.)
...and once more thanks for your support....managed to get dd-wrt now running on my EA6300v1 (had some issue at first to get the firmware transferred but finally a scp connection did do the trick, sftp and ftp did not work).
One more question: As asuswrt does not seem to support "erase nvram" do I need to do a 30-30-30 afterwards or can I start straight with the configuration?
mtd-write2 firmware.bin linux2 (didn't flash on mine [b]whilst using asus-wrt[/b], but just do it incase it does do anything. On DD-WRT the layout is different and will flash.)
...and once more thanks for your support....managed to get dd-wrt now running on my EA6300v1 (had some issue at first to get the firmware transferred but finally a scp connection did do the trick, sftp and ftp did not work).
One more question: As asuswrt does not seem to support "erase nvram" do I need to do a 30-30-30 afterwards or can I start straight with the configuration?
Um, I'm not so sure about this question.
I did do a erase nvram on mine whilst changing to dd-wrt by doing the boring whole reflash again to make sure asus-wrt was completely off...
I do not know how though, it wouldn't hurt to the flash the firmware again using dd-wrt this time now that it is possible to do the erase nvram.
Well, if you are not experiencing any problems of any sort, then I'd guess it's ok
Anyone who is experiencing the DNS_Probe or disconnections issues, I've figured it out:
An Ad-Block script caused this. I wouldn't recommend running any of them. All other scripts and the optware stuff like miniDLNA and Transmission are working fine
Also at the same time my ISP was facing heavy congestion at evenings again (stupid, Plusnet gateways for not expanding capacity)
I have done some initial tests where the EA6300v1 acts as wireless repeater bridge. For some reason the TX direction is much weaker and tends to short "pauses" during a transmission. The receiving part seems to be much stronger and more robust. Currently the main router is an Asus N56U running on Padavan build and is located one floor above the EA6300. Next step is to verify if a TP-Link WDR4300 would be better here as main router. Also will check if "wireless bridge" (w/o repeater) will be better here.
But all in all the DD-WRT for the EA6300 seems to be already in a pretty good shape and the temps stay below 80 degrees at the moment
After putting the router again to recovery mode I managed to get the Merlin FW uploaded via the recue tool. After some while (as mentioned in instructions) I was able to access the UI. Thanks a lot for the very fast support in this forum.
What would be the next steps (e.g. do I need to flash the second partition manually even if linux2 does not exist here)?
Other question: Where is the Merlin test build maintained as on the Asuswrt-Merlin page I find only Asus router builds?
And in order to go for dd-wrt then I use the mtd write to get dd-wrt build to the linux partitions?
Well, you can flash the firmware twice to make sure it's on both firmware paths. Once your on Asus-Wrt, to flash back to dd-wrt, you need to use the mtd command above. It didn't work for me and I used something called mtd2 or something similar.
To transfer the file, I couldn't use the WinSCP program and uploaded the file on my website and used wget to get the file to the temp directory and then used the mtd-write2 commnad to linux and linux2 (it still flashes if it fails)
-You would have to do the same thing but with the Asus-Wrt firmware to make sure its on both paths
(This is unofficial firmware provided by a user in this thread; which is at his own choice to update - it was published as a test release. Asus-Wrt is not ever to be maintained through a Linksys router as of so-called "features" used on Asus and it's policy. Such as the EZ and Ai-Cloud)
Note to anyone who sees the message, these features won't work on this router (needs serial and other props of the original), so there's no harm being done.
dan368 wrote:
Hello all,
The Asus Merlin firmware doesn't have the mtd-write on the the firmware, xvortex_cfe doesn't have mtd-write too. I'm trying to update the xvortex_cfe_ea6400.bin but I can't find the mtd-write. Did anyone ever update the xvortex_cfe running the Merlin firmware?
Regards
Yes I have moved to dd-wrt from Asus-Wrt and I did have this problem.
It's no longer mtd-write on Asus but something like mtd-write2; I'll google this now and place the command below.
Code:
mtd-write2 firmware.bin linux
mtd-write2 firmware.bin linux2 (didn't flash on mine [b]whilst using asus-wrt[/b], but just do it incase it does do anything. On DD-WRT the layout is different and will flash.)
Wow I learnt more with dd-wrt than I did with my experience of open-wrt
And after I have configured my router with Transmission and miniDLNA on dd-wrt - I'm getting a few disconnections on wifi but not on lan. Not sure if it is part of my configuration or if the router is having a problem?
Thanks for the information about flashing from Asus-WRT Merlin back to DD-WRT. I went ahead and added some instructions on the bottom of my manual to do this. Also I went in and updated my instructions that fix the whole Flashing CFE now reverted back to Linksys and stuck issue. Can you proofread over it and make sure I didn't mess any steps up? Thanks!
For me the instructions look OK, once more big thanks to you and Silent_Swift for your great support. I can also confirm that flashing of linux2 partition fails when having Merlin running.
One additional note for flashing dd-wrt while on Merlin: In case you have the required dd-wrt image already on your PC (or no connection to the internet) you can also upload the image by using scp (ftp and sftp did not work for me).
Just one more question: Can I use what ever image when using the asus recovery tool or do I need to use a modified asus image like the Merlin one? Wonder if recovery tool could directly throw the dd-wrt image to the box? Do not really dare to try this as the router is working fine at current
Update: Managed to set-up a wireless bridge via 5GHz channel resulting in approx. 12 MiB/s (TX) and 8 MiB/s (RX) together with the Asus N56U router....now I'll check the long term stability but transferring 2 bigger files (2GB) in each direction was working without any speed reduction. And temps still below 80 degrees....I'm quite happy now
For me the instructions look OK, once more big thanks to you and Silent_Swift for your great support. I can also confirm that flashing of linux2 partition fails when having Merlin running.
One additional note for flashing dd-wrt while on Merlin: In case you have the required dd-wrt image already on your PC (or no connection to the internet) you can also upload the image by using scp (ftp and sftp did not work for me).
Just one more question: Can I use what ever image when using the asus recovery tool or do I need to use a modified asus image like the Merlin one? Wonder if recovery tool could directly throw the dd-wrt image to the box? Do not really dare to try this as the router is working fine at current
Update: Managed to set-up a wireless bridge via 5GHz channel resulting in approx. 12 MiB/s (TX) and 8 MiB/s (RX) together with the Asus N56U router....now I'll check the long term stability but transferring 2 bigger files (2GB) in each direction was working without any speed reduction. And temps still below 80 degrees....I'm quite happy now
Um, no wonder I couldn't get the firmware to transfer. I couldn't either as I was using ftp. I simply uploaded the file on a site and used wget. The partition layout of Asus-wrt Merlin is that there is no linux2 path, so there is no-where to flash it to - on DD-WRT there is a linux2 path, so do make sure to flash to that also.
Well, I just thought it would be sensible for you to flash the Asus-Wrt image as the tool described on their site flashes the trx files. Reading other forums and the wiki, it is possible to flash .bin files (dd-wrt) so, yeah - should theoretically work. (This wiki post does suggest flashing dd-wrt through the utility on a Asus Router - http://www.dd-wrt.com/wiki/index.php/Asus_WL-520GU )
Devianttwo wrote:
Thanks for the information about flashing from Asus-WRT Merlin back to DD-WRT. I went ahead and added some instructions on the bottom of my manual to do this. Also I went in and updated my instructions that fix the whole Flashing CFE now reverted back to Linksys and stuck issue. Can you proofread over it and make sure I didn't mess any steps up? Thanks!
Yep, seems good
New Flashers - read his guide, it's a 101 to dd-wrt installation on this Linksys Router. Pretty much sums up about 20 pages of this forum - it's on Page 50...
-Side notes below
On a side note, New Build today
I haven't tested it yet, just want to read people's feedback on this post and then see. If it ain't broke; don't fix it analogy
http://www.dd-wrt.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=285707
-Let me stress this out for flashing new firmware from dd-wrt.
Asus-Wrt Merlin build did not have a linux2 path, dd-wrt does. Flashing it to this will work. If using web-gui flash twice to make sure it's on both linux and linux2. The router does partially boot into one path (to be said, from my experiences of it bricking after 3 reboots until this cfe was made and fixed that or changesets), 3 times. Meaning 3 reboots = linux2, 3 reboots = linux etc. (I have not tested this out, but it should be)
-Anyhow, I could just think of a dual boot project lol
Remember, when writing the firmware on dd-wrt, it is no longer mtd-write2 firmware.bin linux (this is for Asus Merlin firmware) but back to mtd write firmware.bin linux
Asus-Wrt mtd layout:
Silent_Swift wrote:
My output from the Merlin firmware is quite similar from the dd-wrt firmware:
So what is the correct procedure to (for example), move back to dd-wrt firmware using xvortex cfe? I am guessing I should flash it from the miniweb server that starts up at bootup? Or flash it using the command to linux path? I read one post a page back stating that you couldn't flash it from the web gui.
DD-Wrt mtd layout:
ghoffman wrote:
the mtd tools report an error with unlocking, but the tools do erase and write to mtd. so be careful.
you should check your mtd structure with this command:
One question: When I was flashing the firmware to linux and linux2 on dd-wrt I got error message like "cannot unlock linux/linux2) but still it did something...is that normal behavior?
(stupid, Plusnet gateways for not expanding capacity)
