Archer A7 V5 Recovery Tips

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CTEC
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Joined: 10 Dec 2015
Posts: 93

PostPosted: Mon May 31, 2021 19:21    Post subject: Archer A7 V5 Recovery Tips Reply with quote
Original thread: https://forum.dd-wrt.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=320057

Wiki: https://wiki.dd-wrt.com/wiki/index.php/TP_Link_Archer_A7v5

I want to add a few details in case some people become don't know what to do when they can't TFTP back to stock.

1. Use a gigabit ethernet adapter. A USB ethernet 10/100 adapter only uploads at 10 Mbps during the last 4 seconds of the TFTP time frame, which then never works since file never transfers completely. It had always timed out of the 8 second frame. A gigabit ethernet adapter completes TFTP within 1-2 seconds.

2. I couldn't flash back to stock via TFTP. I was stuck with "bad trx header" problem in TFTP until I tried the factory openwrt image with the corrected file name. See original thread for specifics. If you still wish to flash back to stock after flashing OpenWRT, it will work. Somehow the way how DD-WRT partitions Archer A7 V5 makes stock firmware incompatible via TFTP.
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Alozaros
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PostPosted: Mon May 31, 2021 21:01    Post subject: Reply with quote
Have you tried, with a switch in-between...?
In fact, those USB Ethernet adapters are always full with surprises...use a normal one, ether on laptop or any other, but not USB....
For the record, my old Lenovo laptop has a 10/100Mbit Ethernet and never had issues with TFTP...fingers cross, ive done it to a various routers...so far...

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TP-Link WR740Nv1 ---DD-WRT 55179 WAP
TP-Link WR1043NDv2 -DD-WRT 55303 Gateway/DoT,Forced DNS,Ad-Block,Firewall,x4VLAN,VPN
TP-Link WR1043NDv2 -Gargoyle OS 1.15.x AP,DNS,QoS,Quotas
Qualcomm-Atheros
Netgear XR500 --DD-WRT 55460 Gateway/DoH,Forced DNS,AP Isolation,4VLAN,Ad-Block,Firewall,Vanilla
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CTEC
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Joined: 10 Dec 2015
Posts: 93

PostPosted: Tue Jun 01, 2021 1:15    Post subject: Reply with quote
Laptops these days don't have USB ports, so I used a USB Ethernet adapter. What's a "normal one"?

I used a common ASIX USB 2.0 ethernet adapter that is compatible with Nintendo Wii and out of box support in many OS distributions.

I think adding a switch would make a recovery setup more complicated than it needs to be.
Alozaros
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Joined: 16 Nov 2015
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Location: UK, London, just across the river..

PostPosted: Tue Jun 01, 2021 9:35    Post subject: Reply with quote
CTEC wrote:
Laptops these days don't have USB ports, so I used a USB Ethernet adapter. What's a "normal one"?

I used a common ASIX USB 2.0 ethernet adapter that is compatible with Nintendo Wii and out of box support in many OS distributions.

I think adding a switch would make a recovery setup more complicated than it needs to be.


I guess you meant laptops don't have a LAN ports...
Sadly i i've seen laptops with LAN ports all around, but yep some cheap, so called laptops, as well MAC's don't have a LAN ports and this is a shame...and thos will not work well...
Usually there a complains of mac's TFTP compatibility ...so try a normal laptop or computer that has a LAN port...
Switch in-between does not complicate the task , it actually makes it easier...as this is one of the recommended ways to avoid incompatibility...

_________________
Atheros
TP-Link WR740Nv1 ---DD-WRT 55179 WAP
TP-Link WR1043NDv2 -DD-WRT 55303 Gateway/DoT,Forced DNS,Ad-Block,Firewall,x4VLAN,VPN
TP-Link WR1043NDv2 -Gargoyle OS 1.15.x AP,DNS,QoS,Quotas
Qualcomm-Atheros
Netgear XR500 --DD-WRT 55460 Gateway/DoH,Forced DNS,AP Isolation,4VLAN,Ad-Block,Firewall,Vanilla
Netgear R7800 --DD-WRT 55460 Gateway/DoT,AD-Block,Forced DNS,AP&Net Isolation,x3VLAN,Firewall,Vanilla
Netgear R9000 --DD-WRT 55363 Gateway/DoT,AD-Block,AP Isolation,Firewall,Forced DNS,x2VLAN,Vanilla
Broadcom
Netgear R7000 --DD-WRT 55460 Gateway/SmartDNS/DoH,AD-Block,Firewall,Forced DNS,x3VLAN,VPN
NOT USING 5Ghz ANYWHERE
------------------------------------------------------
Stubby DNS over TLS I DNSCrypt v2 by mac913


Last edited by Alozaros on Tue Jun 01, 2021 17:09; edited 1 time in total
kernel-panic69
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PostPosted: Tue Jun 01, 2021 15:03    Post subject: Reply with quote
That is usually because Windows' networking is garbage; however, a simple un-managed switch may help regardless of OS. Is this TFTP issue with anticipation window of 1024 configured, and if on Windows, is this with tftpd32 4.52 32-bit?
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CTEC
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Joined: 10 Dec 2015
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PostPosted: Tue Jun 01, 2021 23:57    Post subject: Reply with quote
Yes, Windows is garbage, especially in networking.

The issue is the handshake negotiation which takes 4 seconds (half time used in 8 second TFTP time frame). TFTPD64 and TFTPD32 produced same results for me though people tend to use the older 32-bit version. I set the USB 2.0 ASIX adapter to full 100 only in its device properties, but that didn't help at all.
Alozaros
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Joined: 16 Nov 2015
Posts: 6410
Location: UK, London, just across the river..

PostPosted: Wed Jun 02, 2021 7:57    Post subject: Reply with quote
kernel-panic69 wrote:
That is usually because Windows' networking is garbage; however, a simple un-managed switch may help regardless of OS. Is this TFTP issue with anticipation window of 1024 configured, and if on Windows, is this with tftpd32 4.52 32-bit?


CTEC did you do TFTP anticipation window of 1024 as KP-69 suggested ?
Do you want the old version of TFTP32, the one i have...if you believe in superstitious stuff...
I've a windows 7 and TFTP works ok, i also've Win 10 and it was working fine ...i haven't tried it since the new crap Win 10 update that happened...to be precise...
Are you sure the firmware name is correct...as this its vital too....i still believe its your USB adapter, not happy with TFTP...but its just me..it may be the Archer...or DDWRT on this particular router..
Of topic, i have one of my 1043v2 (ive many of those) that requires a switch...none of the others requires it...pure mystery...or misery... all the same v2.1 Rolling Eyes

p.s. i do TFTP quite often on my Netgear routers..."often" Razz Razz Razz ok, once in a while...

_________________
Atheros
TP-Link WR740Nv1 ---DD-WRT 55179 WAP
TP-Link WR1043NDv2 -DD-WRT 55303 Gateway/DoT,Forced DNS,Ad-Block,Firewall,x4VLAN,VPN
TP-Link WR1043NDv2 -Gargoyle OS 1.15.x AP,DNS,QoS,Quotas
Qualcomm-Atheros
Netgear XR500 --DD-WRT 55460 Gateway/DoH,Forced DNS,AP Isolation,4VLAN,Ad-Block,Firewall,Vanilla
Netgear R7800 --DD-WRT 55460 Gateway/DoT,AD-Block,Forced DNS,AP&Net Isolation,x3VLAN,Firewall,Vanilla
Netgear R9000 --DD-WRT 55363 Gateway/DoT,AD-Block,AP Isolation,Firewall,Forced DNS,x2VLAN,Vanilla
Broadcom
Netgear R7000 --DD-WRT 55460 Gateway/SmartDNS/DoH,AD-Block,Firewall,Forced DNS,x3VLAN,VPN
NOT USING 5Ghz ANYWHERE
------------------------------------------------------
Stubby DNS over TLS I DNSCrypt v2 by mac913
CTEC
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Joined: 10 Dec 2015
Posts: 93

PostPosted: Wed Jun 02, 2021 16:34    Post subject: Reply with quote
I already recovered the router. I'm just sharing my results since I was unable to search for the answer. Who knew that 10/100 Mbps USB adapter is the problem when no one mentions it? Who knew about not able to go back to stock firmware from DD-WRT?

Perhaps a suggestion is to save or restore an old Windows computer for TFTP. Just make sure the WAN port is disconnected.
kernel-panic69
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PostPosted: Wed Jun 02, 2021 18:21    Post subject: Reply with quote
The wiki doesn't say anything about returning to stock via DD-WRT webUI, it only mentions TFTP. Logical deduction: You can't return to stock from the DD-WRT webUI. Even OpenWRT requires TFTP back to stock:

https://openwrt.org/toh/tp-link/archer_a7_v5

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CTEC
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Joined: 10 Dec 2015
Posts: 93

PostPosted: Wed Jun 02, 2021 22:09    Post subject: Reply with quote
You can't go from OpenWRT to DD-WRT. That's what started my recovery journey.

From there, I went back to stock after a working TFTP setup. However, when I tried out DD-WRT after flashing back to stock, I did not like it compared to OpenWRT as it has been a while since I tried DD-WRT on Atheros (MIPS) hardware. DD-WRT's kernel is highly outdated (still on v3). I didn't realize Atheros support was very behind compared to the work done in Broadcom hardware.

I decided to go back to stock from DD-WRT via TFTP again, but now this time, the router received TFTP stock recovery image and still booted to DD-WRT for unknown reasons, skipping and dismissing the entire TFTP process. I was too lazy to wire a TX/RX serial setup to read the console output though I think problem is similar or equal to "bad trx header" problem that occurs in a live DD-WRT environment.

Searched the web and found nothing.

Finally, I decided to try the factory OpenWRT flash, and that finally worked to overwrite DD-WRT.

I made this thread to alert users out there in case they were to encounter the same problems that I did.
WR8FLUX
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Joined: 05 Jun 2021
Posts: 1

PostPosted: Sun Jun 06, 2021 0:14    Post subject: Re: Archer A7 V5 Recovery Tips Reply with quote
CTEC wrote:
Original thread: https://forum.dd-wrt.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=320057

Wiki: https://wiki.dd-wrt.com/wiki/index.php/TP_Link_Archer_A7v5

I want to add a few details in case some people become don't know what to do when they can't TFTP back to stock.

1. Use a gigabit ethernet adapter. A USB ethernet 10/100 adapter only uploads at 10 Mbps during the last 4 seconds of the TFTP time frame, which then never works since file never transfers completely. It had always timed out of the 8 second frame. A gigabit ethernet adapter completes TFTP within 1-2 seconds.

2. I couldn't flash back to stock via TFTP. I was stuck with "bad trx header" problem in TFTP until I tried the factory openwrt image with the corrected file name. See original thread for specifics. If you still wish to flash back to stock after flashing OpenWRT, it will work. Somehow the way how DD-WRT partitions Archer A7 V5 makes stock firmware incompatible via TFTP.


After reading the Wiki about reverting to Stock Firmware of Archer C7 v5, I was hesitant at first but having a look on youtube where someone used TFTP to flash back v2 I decided to give it a crack.
I used the oldest possible Archer C7 v5(US)firmware dated back from 2018 found in TP-Link archives, renamed it to ArcherC7v5_tp_recovery.bin, followed TFTP instructions on WIKI and successfully flashed back to
TP-Link Archer C7 v5 (US) firmware. Ugraded to newest C7 firmware through Web GUI afterwards and now have a fully functioning C7 with newest TP-Link firmware.
I did use a normal J5create JUE125 USB 2.0 Ethernet Adapter for Windows 10/100 Mbps and had no timeout issues. I did use that as well when originally flashing DD-WRT firmware.
Important I think is to makes sure you follow proper instructions :-)The reset button only needs to be held until the Light with the 2 Arrows on right hand side of the Archer C7 lights up!!! Just about 5 seconds Smile Hope this helps anyone stuck unable to revert back to Stock Firmware!!!
Shai-Hulud
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Joined: 24 Oct 2007
Posts: 25

PostPosted: Sun Feb 13, 2022 19:51    Post subject: Reply with quote
I'll second what WR8FLUX has said about recovery. There is no direct method to downgrade to OEM firmware from DD-WRT. The only method that works that I can find is to use TFTP to get OpenWRT on the router and then use TFTP again to get the OEM firmware on it.

As much as I like DD-WRT, this router doesn't work well with it. That's not a criticism of DD-WRT and it's team of amazing developers. I've tried 5 different DD-WRT versions spanning 2018 to present. I can't find one version with which this router performs well and doesn't drop connections, stalls and stutters on file transfers. If you have a TP-Link Archer A7, you might want to weigh the cost of your time finding a version of DD-WRT that works well on this router versus the benefits.

Admittedly, I didn't not thoroughly research this router in relation to third party firmware before putting DD-WRT on it. Now that I've spent a week looking for answers trying to make this work I've found several posts that demonstrate people wanting to go back to OEM.
raincity
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Joined: 15 Feb 2012
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PostPosted: Tue Apr 19, 2022 1:06    Post subject: TP-Link Archer A7 V5 OpenWRT to DD-WRT - Success! Reply with quote
I'm adding this for those who have tried everything else with no success. Please post here if this works for you too. (Or if it doesn't.) My apologies if these steps or something similar are listed somewhere in the forum.

After spending hours trying to move from OpenWRT to TP-Link factory FW with the intention of loading DD-WRT, and having OpenWRT stubbornly remain on the router no matter what was tried I finally was successful loading DD-WRT using an unorthodox method. At this point I was just throwing things at the router in the hope something would stick.

These steps worked for me:

1. Force an upgrade through the OpenWRT web interface to one of the TP-Link OEM FW files also listed on the OpenWRT site. A warning is displayed by OpenWRT saying the factory FW file is too large for the flash memory available. The FW load fails and soft-bricks the router.

2. Load the factory to DD-WRT file in the beta FW on this site using the TFTP flashing method. Rename the file to ArcherC7v5_tp_recovery.bin. I used a gigabit Ethernet adapter as recommended with TFTPd64 server portable edition on Windows. The IP address on the PC was set to the required 192.168.0.66, with the default gateway set to 192.168.0.1.

(I tried the standard DD-WRT bin file renamed as above via TFTP between those two steps, but the router remained soft-bricked.)

To my great surprise after doing the above DD-WRT actually booted and the router so far appears to be fully functional. I have no idea if this is reproducible or even if both steps are necessary, but if you're at the end of your rope it might be worth a try.
excel4x
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Joined: 24 Feb 2007
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PostPosted: Mon Sep 05, 2022 19:26    Post subject: Re: TP-Link Archer A7 V5 OpenWRT to DD-WRT - Success! Reply with quote
[quote="raincity"]I'm adding this for those who have tried everything else with no success. Please post here if this works for you too. (Or if it doesn't.) My apologies if these steps or something similar are listed somewhere in the forum.

This worked - thanks much!
I was successful in switching to Openwrt and to dd-wrt. Still haven't found a way to get back to stock firmware, but I now think that is a problem with the TP-link file since openwrt and dd-wrt worked.
royitoroy
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PostPosted: Fri Nov 25, 2022 17:35    Post subject: Reply with quote
Hello, I am writing because I have not been able to return to the stock firmware using tftp as I have seen many do here
I follow the wiki https://wiki.dd-wrt.com/wiki/index.php/TP_Link_Archer_A7v5 and I do everything to the letter, I put the static network at 192.168.0.66, 225.225.225.0 and leave the gateway blank, the ra7 with ddwrt I leave it by default at 192.168.1.1 and I do all the wiki, but when I do it it seems to be fine even the blue progress bar moves and the WPS light turns green, but when I release the reset button it never comes to turn on the leds of the 2 wifi and on the contrary the led of the 'planet in red' lights up indicating that the ddwrt system has already started as it always does when putting the ddwrt firmware, that is, it does not exit the ddwrt and the ddwrt is not installed stock

I did it on my win10 laptop and then on win8, I'm using the same wiki file, stop all antivirus firewalls and any windows protection, I'm using tftp32, I reset the ddwrt from the factory see v3.0 r-4782 std and I haven't touched anything else, model its a A7(US) ver5.6 i got 5 of this that i want to revert to stock

Message truncated (length was Cool [25/11 14:10:37.364]
Connection received from 192.168.0.86 on port 1843 [25/11 14:12:16.184]
Read request for file <ArcherC7v5_tp_recovery.bin>. Mode octet [25/11 14:12:16.184]
OACK: <timeout=5,blksize=1468,> [25/11 14:12:16.185]
Using local port 57573 [25/11 14:12:16.185]
<ArcherC7v5_tp_recovery.bin>: sent 10606 blks, 15568476 bytes in 2 s. 0 blk resent [25/11 14:12:18.606]

this its the log... Maybe there is the problem, apparently it is not using the correct port that it says on the wiki (69) it is using another 1843, however, I do not know how to fix this since the wiki does not say how to put a specific port on it, because the router does it itself... (should I change at least the address 192.168.0.86 in the router and remove the standard 192.168.1.1?

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