[Turnblade]

Hello my loverly peeps. I'm a super noob.(I bricked my first try because I got impatient and misunderstood some basic things in the peacock thread.) Oh joy.

I think I'm ready to try again, but I'd like to double check. I have a Netgear WNDR3400 v1 that has never been flashed.

I plan on following the wiki instructions to flash the 35452 version of the firmware (dd-wrt.v24-35452_NEWD-2_K2.6_mini-WNDR3400.chk)

and then upgrade to the big version of the same build (dd-wrt.v24-35452_NEWD-2_K2.6_big-nv64k.bin) because the wiki says to use a big or mega nv64 to attain use of the USB port, but it also says lots of stuff that scares me away from anything mega. Heh.

Is this a sound plan? Am I missing anything obvious? Am I going to brick another router? Did I accidentally not read something, heaven forbid?

Help a girl out, will ya?

A big shout out to Scootch, who seems to have tried out every build on this router possible. It's your posts that helped me decide which build to use.

[Dr_K]

I stopped using K2.6 quite awhile ago, so no input there.

I can not comment on that particular initial flash as the one I used is no longer publicly available

Currently I'm running dd-wrt.v3.0-r35531_mega-nv64k (03/26/18 ) on my WNDR3400v1 located @ https://download1.dd-wrt.com/dd-wrtv2/downloads/betas/2018/03-26-2018-r35531/broadcom_K3X/dd-wrt.v24-35531_NEWD-2_K3.x_mega-nv64k.bin

wiki now says to only use trailered builds? "should" be ok but I personally never tried it after initial flash..(as original guides suggested not to & to stick with "nv64k" builds)

Just a note...this and all K3 builds fill the flash so there is no room for a jffs2 partition....but you have a USB port so you can create your own (which is better & more stable anyways)

I did not flash a K2.6 mini of same build # first, but wiki now says to do so, so it should not hurt.

Though currently using as an AP, I also tested this build as a Gateway for awhile

That router likes you to give it time...after flashes & resets

Not mentioned any longer in wiki...but I usually follow the old school approach when flashing that router...

1: 30/30/30......wait 5-10 min.....pull power cord....wait at lest 10 sec....repower....wait till amber power light turns green

2: flash firmware....wait 5-10 min.....pull power cord....wait at lest 10 sec....repower....wait till amber power light turns green

3: repeat step 1...

4: DO NOT rush it....it is good practice to do this after every flash

I've had a bad experience flashing with "Reset to Defaults" checked once on that router....so I wouldn't...

It is safe to perform a mvram erase on builds after 4/18 or erase nvram on builds prior on that route, many claim it resets to defaults better....ONLY through SSH or telnet

As far as your question "Am I going to brick another router?"......maybe/probably at some point....that's the risk we all take here

Usually it is never truly "bricked", as most times it can easily be recovered by one of several methods

All the above is my opinion & experience's....take or leave what you want

[jwh7]

[Dr_K]

[Turnblade]

Well, globs of flying excrement. I hate it when I spend a whole bunch of time on a thing and it turns out to be mostly useless.

So, let me clarify here:

-Even though the Wiki says to use k26, I should not do that. Or at least I shouldn't do that with a recent one....how recent is "recent"?

-jwh7 you said "I'd suggest using a k3x build, and it is advised to use the trailed build to go from k26 to k3x. nv64k" I have not flashed the router yet, so do I start with a k26 for the initial firmware flash or not?

-I'm apparently researching the builds wrong because I went over all the newest ones named "new build..." that had someone who had tried it on my same model router. 35452 seemed to be the newest one without issues. Did I miss something? Should I be reading all the comments about other routers? How would that help me?

-The wiki page I'm using is this: https://wiki.dd-wrt.com/wiki/index.php/Netgear_WNDR3400 This is the wiki you're all referring to, right?

-What is this trac website that I keep seeing links to? Every time I follow the posted link it seems to have nothing to do with the topic it was posted on. Perhaps my brain is just not fluent enough in tech talk to get this.

-The Peacock thread has recommended builds on it, but all the k26 ones are really really old and don't have my router name in it like the wiki says it should. Should I be picking a k3x from the peacock thread to do the initial flash?

Sorry for all the questions. Like I said, I'm a super noob. Hopefully I can get un-lost soon.

I'm planning to use this router as an AP.

Thank you both for responding.

[jwh7]

[Turnblade]

[Turnblade]

[Nuor]

I've had DD-WRT v24-sp2 (06/07/14) stdkong - build 22000M on one of these for years it has worked fine as a bridge but maybe it is time to switch to a post krack build. But then I don't know if switch from kong to 3.x is safe.

[jwh7]

Ugh...I hate that show

[Dr_K]

I don't think I'm visible here....so I'm gonna chat out loud to myself

All this chatter made me look at the build folder with r35531..for the 3rd time now today...the one I autolinked to....did I mention that I currently use & tested it in different ways..oh yes...for comming up on a year now...or that I've been running dd-wrt on that router for around 10 years...

Anyhow....something strange...

The trailered build...WNDR3400.chk..is smaller than
The nv64k.bin??

Often times in the past this was the opposite as the trailered build contains extra header info...

Which is also the reason...for longer than not... it was said to avoid it unless specifically needed as the extra byts could tend to push the size over the limits of the flash...causing a "brick"

I wounder what it is missing??

Anyhow...carry on...

[Dr_K]

Oh....and r17990 was truly a solid build...all variants

Not that I was asked...but

If I was to pick another initial flash fron stock again...it would be a mini build from that era....

That was back when the devs cared about that unit....and actually tested it

Just my thoughts...

[Turnblade]

[Turnblade]

One more thing. After the initial flash with a .chk file, do I use .bin after that forever more?

[Dr_K]