Posted: Mon Jun 16, 2014 10:20 Post subject: WRT54GL & Chromecast
I'm running "DD-WRT v24-sp2 (10/10/09) std - build 13064" on a Linksys WRT54GL v1.1. I believe that is the latest available version for this router.
I've been quite happy with the earlier version I was running for several years, but upgraded the firmware as the first step in troubleshooting why I can't get a Chromecast dongle operating. Post-upgrade everything is still running fine, but still no joy with Chromecast.
Running the Chromecast app on my mobile phone has it seeing the dongle OK, but the recurring problem is that when trying to set up the dongle I keep getting the message: "Could not connect to your Chromecast". After a very detailed exchange with Google/Chromecast support they assure me it is a router configuration problem.
With the Chromecast device being so popular I'm hoping someone here has been successful with the same setup as me – WRT54GL & DD-WRT v24-sp2 (10/10/09) std build 13064.
Would very much appreciate any router configuration suggestions to get this working.
Start with a forum recommended build. See the four broadcom forum announcements. _________________ SIG:
I'm trying to teach you to fish, not give you a fish. If you just want a fish, wait for a fisherman who hands them out. I'm more of a fishing instructor.
LOM: "If you show that you have not bothered to read the forum announcements or to follow the advices in them then the level of help available for you will drop substantially, also known as Murrkf's law.."
Having once been in IT support myself (I've been retired several years now) I quite understand how annoying it is when people don't read the information you have provided before asking questions. And much as I hate to criticise anyone who is providing a great product with extensive support, I have to say this: I can't imagine anything that could be done to make it more difficult for a visitor to find the CORRECT bin file to upgrade an EXISTING DD-WRT installation.
Now before you jump all over me...
My previous version was installed on my WRT54GL v1.1 several years ago. I followed instructions to the letter and never had a problem with the installation. Subsequently I installed DD-WRT on the routers of a number of clients, again without any problems.
So this time all I wanted to do was upgrade my version. I go to DD-WRT.com and there, staring me in the face on the right-hand side, is a link to "Router Database", with the explanation "To obtain the matching version for your router please use the Router Database".
Sounds good to me. I type WRT54GL into the search field, and there it is. Click the result and I've got a list of suitable files.
Now I know this is a 4 MB router and one of the things I do recall from all those years ago is that I can use a Standard installation, don't have to worry about minis or micros or whatever. And there is what appears to be the perfect candidate: dd-wrt.v24_std_generic.bin. The date is 2009-10-10, which is later than my version.
So all should be good. I have no reason to think that I need to go in and scour the forums to see if I really should be using the recommendation that was presented to me by the Router Database.
I upgraded to the new version from within the DD-WRT browser interface, Administration --> Firmware Upgrade. No problems, seems to have gone quite OK.
Now the only reason I discovered that this is probably NOT OK, was that I subsequently went into the forum looking for assistance with getting Chromecast working. And being a good little ex-IT person I skimmed the first three announcements, didn't fancy sitting there reading all of the Peacock thread, so printed it out, all 22 pages of it. Then I posted my Chromecast question and went off to dinner – after which I sat down and read that horrendously long Peacock story.
OK, in the third Announcement in the Broadcom forum you do explain why the Router Database is not the place to look, but that's a bit late for anyone like me who, as I said, was looking for the latest file and had no reason to doubt the database or go into a discussion area.
Now I'm probably getting a bit slow in my advancing years, but I still don't see anywhere in your "Announcement: Firmware Recommendations - Still 14929 - 09/15/13" post that tells me clearly what file I SHOULD be using for my WRT54GL v1.1, or where I should get it from, or what I should do about the upgrade I've just completed with the "not recommended" bin file.
Please don't react too cruelly. I'm only going to all this trouble because I have great admiration for your product and efforts, and I'm sure there must be a lot of other people who will get caught in exactly the same way I did. Many of them will probably never become aware of it.
