Posted: Tue Jun 07, 2022 12:13 Post subject: [SOLVED] How to open a XR500 w/o damaging case?
Hi, as title, is there any guide showing how to open up Netgear XR500 without damaging the plastic casing?
I need to connect the USB-RS232 TTL cable to capture serial log. It can be for extended period so it would be nice if there's also a guide showing how to close the plastic casing when the USB-RS232 cable is still connected to XR500 board.
This looks like what you want:
https://www.techpowerup.com/review/netgear-nighthawk-xr500/4.html _________________ Linksys EA8500 (Internet Gateway, AP/VAP) - DD-WRT r53562
Features in use: WDS-AP, Multiple VLANs, Samba, WireGuard, Entware: mqtt, mlocate
Wireless 5ghz only
Netgear R7800 (WDS-AP, WAP, VAP) - DD-WRT r55779
Features in use: multiple VLANs over single trunk port
Linksys EA8500 WDS Station x2 - DD-WRT r55799
Netgear R6400v2 WAP, VAP 2.4ghz only w/VLANs over single trunk port. DD-WRT r55779
OSes: Fedora 38, 9 RPis (2,3,4,5), 20 ESP8266s: Straight from Amiga to Linux in '94, never having owned a Windows PC.
Joined: 31 Jul 2021 Posts: 2146 Location: All over YOUR webs
Posted: Tue Jun 07, 2022 13:31 Post subject:
From experience generally speaking, you want to use nylon prying tools for areas where there is plastic on plastic if the item to open has locking tabs for instance or some kind of self latching mechanisms made of plastic.
Never but never use metal on plastic to push or exert some/any kind of force, it will bite into the plastic and be a constant reminder on OCD eyes.
In a pinch, guitar plectrums or an old credit card slightly sanded to remove any hard edges and thin the edge just enough.
I try to reduce spending time figuring out if there is any more hidden screw, or I just need to apply more force, and where are the places I need to push in to release the latches, that sort of things. I'm not going to sell or gift my router to anyone else, so cosmetics defects don't really matter, but I also don't want to get in the situation where I hammer my router to pieces then fix it back using duck tape, just to realize there's already a step-by-step guide on how to open the casing without breaking a sweat / breaking the latches. _________________ ▫ RSS feed for DD-WRT releases (2024): https://rsseverything.com/feed/7d36ab68-7733-46c3-bd8a-9c54c5cef08c.xml
▫ easyddup - A simple upgrade/downgrade utilityby yoyoma2--- as featured in 📌 Reference Links, stickies retired back to forum (Moderator's Pick 🌟)
I've opened up my XR500 using the guides above, but I didn't have time to record the video or to write up the step-by-step instructions, so I only took some photos instead: https://imgur.com/a/rcBAb1m
Additional notes:
Screw: TORX T10 (not Phillips head screw as mentioned in the TechPowerup guide)
Connect Tx of XR500 to Rx of USB-RS232 converter, connect Rx of XR500 to Tx of USB-RS232 converter
Better NOT connect Vcc: some USB-RS232 converter has Vcc=5V which can kill the XR500
Joined: 31 Jul 2021 Posts: 2146 Location: All over YOUR webs
Posted: Sun Jun 26, 2022 15:45 Post subject:
These days there are serial adapters etc that have voltage selectors, mostly routers wont like 5V anyway.
I wanted to buy one for my RT-AC68U as currently dont have any suitable and I need something multi-protocol anyway as my old serial dongle turned out to be a clone and the manufacturers drivers dont work with it, and the clone drivers older version is filled with bugs which make it unusable/unreliable.