[spikey1973]

Hey guys (and girls),

currently i am running dd-wrt version 30949 on my tp-link tl-wr1043nd v3 router.

I wasn't to keen on flashing my router when it was new, loss of warranty, but since i did some other destructive actions on the case (casing only!) i felt that warranty was lost anyways and since i wanted to run my cyberghost vpn subscription directly from the router i felt it was time for dd-wrt.

but after configuring the vpn we found the vpn not running. EGC suggested to basically start from scratch with the latest build and although i don't really understand most of what is going on around here, i feel that that is indeed a good start in diagnosing the issue.

so i want to re-flash the router and for this i have some specific questions on this. I feel like i must apologize in advance though, as most of these questions have probably been answered once or twice in the past. unfortunately i am in the middle of some series exams, so i don't really have the time to dive in to the deep, although i'd rather do that then study for these exams to be honoust. In hind side i should've waited till after the exams but the damage has been done.

So i ask these questions to be answered by will people who have this knowledge at hand, i do not ask anyone to do my research for me (unless you are really really bored and have nothing else to do and doing this task might prevent you from robbing a local liquor store, in which case, please do)

*TL;DR:

specific questions:

1) if i want to flash dd-wrt over dd-wrt, can i still use the factory to dd-wrt.bin file? or should i use another? (also found tplink_tl-wr1043nd-v3.bin but i guess that is the factory file?)

2) what is the latest stable build for this router? i only found beta builds, is there also a non beta? the latest i found was 37305, but i am not sure the latest is also the best.

3) on suggestion of EGC here i should research, if i can telnet into my router and do: nvram erase & reboot to clean up before i flash, as a warning was made for chance of bricking when this is not allowed for this router model.

i am sincerely great full for any and all the help supplied.

[ian5142]

Hello and welcome to the forums.

Have you read the following:
https://wiki.dd-wrt.com/wiki/index.php/Index:FAQ

All DD-WRT builds since about 2010 are beta. If you are not comfortable using a beta build, don't use DD-WRT, simple as that. One build can be good, the next 10 builds can brick your router. It is best to just watch the forums, in particular the New Build threads such as this one for the latest BS (BrainSlayer) build: https://forum.dd-wrt.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=319909

1. This section explains the files: https://wiki.dd-wrt.com/wiki/index.php/Index:FAQ#Where_do_I_download_firmware.3F

Factory-to-ddwrt is used to go from TP-Link firmware to DD-WRT
Factory-to-ddwrt-US is the same but for the US version
tplink_tl-wr1043nd-v3.bin - used to upgrade dd-wrt
tplink_tl-wr1043nd-v3-US.bin - same as above but for US version.

US version - if the unit was bought in the US.

2. Answered above.

3. I would suggest just using the DD-WRT GUI reset to Factory defaults option. If after you do that the router asks you to set a username and password, you are fine. Do this especially because you are upgrading from a very old build ( > 6 months old).

[spikey1973]

Thank you for answering all my questions, much appreciated.

this first issue got sorted, which also got me a lot further on the road of solving the original question.

but for this i will create a new topic.

again. much appreciated!

kind greats matt