Some experiences w/ WRT54GS v2 and https and tftp questions

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8megsisplenty
DD-WRT Novice


Joined: 16 Jan 2021
Posts: 4

PostPosted: Sun Jan 17, 2021 23:12    Post subject: Some experiences w/ WRT54GS v2 and https and tftp questions Reply with quote
Hello. I've been installing dd-wrt on an old WRT54GS v2.0 (8M flash / 32M RAM) and wanted to share some experiences.

Install and https

As instructed on the router's wiki page (Linksys_WRT54GS_v2.0), I upgraded the firmware to latest Linksys factory firmware, but then decided to install the beta dd-wrt (v3.0-r40559) mentioned by the Router Database instead of build 14929 from the wiki. At the moment I figured the beta was newer, so go with that. I uploaded the r40559 mini via the gui and everything went fine. The router booted up with dd-wrt. I was able to get sshd working but not https working, but gui worked fine with just http. I upgraded to the r40559 mega and that worked fine too.

Some time later I noticed a new beta r44715 (11-03-2020) on the Router Db page. Upgraded to that, but then the gui did not start. I did a reset to factory settings and started configuring from scratch. I am now running v3.0-r44715 std (11/03/20) on it with the out-of-the-box services, plus ssh. There appears to be plenty of ram left when running.

Looks like this worked for me even though I went straight to a beta instead of using the initial flash build first.

Anyone have https working on a WRT54GS (v2)? I did not find info on this and not quite sure if it's a router specific issue.

tftp attempt

I also tried to flash via tftp to learn how to use that method, but had no luck. I used the tftp shipped with Fedora Core 31. I used the following steps to flash the same firmware running on the router.
1) Run 'ping 192.168.1.1' and see it respond with ttl=64
2) Run 'tftp 192.168.1.1' and enter following at the prompt
binary
rexmt 1
timeout 60
trace
put dd-wrt.v24_std_generic.bin <-- same firmware as on router
3) Immediately power cycle the router
4) Saw ping ttl=100, which as I understand it is the value set by the bootloader instead of linux (64).
5) tftp reports the following
Quote:
sent WRQ <file=dd-wrt.v24_std_generic.bin, mode=octet>
sent WRQ <file=dd-wrt.v24_std_generic.bin, mode=octet>
sent WRQ <file=dd-wrt.v24_std_generic.bin, mode=octet>
sent WRQ <file=dd-wrt.v24_std_generic.bin, mode=octet>
sent WRQ <file=dd-wrt.v24_std_generic.bin, mode=octet>
received ACK <block=0>
sent DATA <block=1, 512 bytes>
received ERROR <code=4, msg=code pattern incorrect>
Error code 4: code pattern incorrect


I then power cycle the router and hold reset until the power led no longer blinks. Boots the dd-wrt firmware and router is recovered.

Am I doing this wrong? Does the filename matter? I'd like to know how to flash via tftp as a backup method.

Also, which latest beta have people had good experience on the WRT54GS models? And is reverting back to Linksys firmware as easy as uploading from the dd-wrt upgrade page?

Thanks.
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tedm
DD-WRT Guru


Joined: 13 Mar 2009
Posts: 554

PostPosted: Mon Jan 18, 2021 19:30    Post subject: Reply with quote
The forum is giving me grief quoting so I can't do it but I'm only going to address your last questions

First this is a good training router it is easy to revert to factory. Second it has slow wifi and slow CPU so if you brick it no loss it has little production value anymore.

Try the following - load the latest build 45454 mini and see if the GUI starts. If so then put a password into it and then load the mega build 45454 and DO NOT factory reset during the load. If that starts then telnet in and start the GUI manually (httpd -p 80)

If that starts than disable all services (including dhcp) and reboot and see if the GUI starts. If so then you can selectively enable services you want and reboot each time. Sooner or later as you do this you will exceed free ram on startup and the GUI won't start. That's normal on a low-free-ram router.

The original linksys firmware is likely full of security holes, don't run it on a production router unless you want the crackers to turn your router into a mule
8megsisplenty
DD-WRT Novice


Joined: 16 Jan 2021
Posts: 4

PostPosted: Sun Jan 24, 2021 7:03    Post subject: Reply with quote
I managed to tftp both the Linksys firmware as well as build 14929 dd-wrt.v24_mini_wrt54gs.bin. Looks like builds after 14929 do not work with tftp.

I tried build 45454 but it soft bricked for me. But was able to recover via tftp.

Sticking with 44715 for now.
Dwarden
DD-WRT Novice


Joined: 26 Jan 2009
Posts: 20

PostPosted: Sun Jan 24, 2021 14:37    Post subject: Reply with quote
it seems WRT54GS/GL got issue with newer firmware past 44715
i tried mini/std|spec 45420, 45493 both failing to update from 44715 std spec

will test later that today's 45563
8megsisplenty
DD-WRT Novice


Joined: 16 Jan 2021
Posts: 4

PostPosted: Mon Jan 25, 2021 3:58    Post subject: Reply with quote
So I'm back on "DD-WRT v3.0-r44715 mega (11/03/20)", but now the radio won't turn on.
I have wireless mode set to AP, security setup with a shared key, but the Sys-Info page says: "Radio is Off"
I don't see router from any wifi device.
From CLI 'wl' says: "->wl driver adapter not found"
Also tried enabling/disabling "Radio Scheduling".

I'll try a non-mega version of 44715. I was able to get radio working from that build in an earlier install.
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