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September 30, 2010 12:03 PM

Categories: WNR3500L

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omasse

Member
Joined: 09/30/2010

I just bought a WNR3500L yesterday, and for a router labeled as "open source", it is below my expectations.

The stock firmware doesn't let me upload straight binary files, so I had to use an interim .chk file with DD-WRT mini to be able to upload bin files. That validation mechanism is desired, for my grandma's router, but I didn't expect to have to do this on the WNR3500L. Waste of time.

Furthermore, the broadcom-based routers I've had until now (from three different manufacturers) were all very easy to unbrick using TFTP. I tried with the 3500L and couldn't make it work, it pings twice upon bootup and doesn't take a TFTP upload. By reading threads here, many had the same trouble and it seems that the WNR3500L's CFE is not configured to start a TFTP server upon bootup even when boot_wait is on. That leaves the only unbricking method to solder a serial pinout. That's not very practical, and I'd never want to use 3500L's if I was planning to deploy a bunch of them at customer sites. Too long to flash new ones, and too complex to unbrick if anything goes sour with their firmware.

Has anyone found a way to enable the TFTP server in the CFE without needing to use a serial console? This is a big impairement to an open source router.

Thanks

Discussion:    Add a Comment | Comments 1-7 of 7 | Latest Comment

Kong Avatar
Member
September 30, 2010 1:53 PM

If it pings twice then flashing went okay, but the firmware itself does not completely boot.

If flashing goes wrong and there is no bootable firmware it will start the TFTP Server. So in your case it does not start the TFTP because it thinks there is a working FW installed. This is no netgear specific thing but a feature of recent bootloaders.

If you don't have a JTAG cable you can just use the short pin method:

http://www.myopenrouter.com/article/20501/Reset-Debrick-NETGEAR-WNR3500L-Pin-...

But just to mention I have flashed this router at least 30 times with different firmwares and my own fw and I only had to unbrick it once, but that was my own fault when I missed a compile flag for my new toolchain. So it is very unlikely to brick it if one uses tested builds from this ste.

omasse Avatar
Member
September 30, 2010 2:42 PM

Thanks for your reply. That behavior will be useful if the firmware image fails the CRC check, but what if the image itself is okay and there is a configuration problem which makes it barf or loop right after booting. It might happen if, for example, I build OpenWRT with a missing or incorrect driver. And in that case, there is no way to reflash it using TFTP.

I'm sure the manufacturer has the choice of configuring the stock CFE to start a tftp server, like older broadcom-based routers have done for years. That should be a must for a hobbyist device, and you can be sure I'll mention it in the survey. As I'm not very fond of soldering headers or shorting pins, I'll have to be extra careful not to brick it and stick with DD-WRT.

Thanks

Generic Member Avatar
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July 23, 2011 4:32 PM

Any luck with this omasse? I have yet to find a way to get my Linksys WRT300Nv1 (Broadcom chipset with CFE 4.101.27.0) to load any firmware via TFTP and I suspect the same problem.

faxm0dem Avatar
Member
August 17, 2011 4:22 AM

bummer. I just started a thread on that problem...
I guess you can count me in :-/

View unverified member's comment - posted by Walter

View unverified member's comment - posted by Walter

Brandon C Avatar
Moderator
September 26, 2011 8:47 PM

Walter said: I have the WNR3500L and a serial cable. I can type at the console, but don't find a tftpd anywhere. What am I missing? Walt

You need to get to and be at the CFE> prompt

Should look like this:

If you are not sure how to get the prompt this is a good article that shows you how.

http://www.myopenrouter.com/article/13859/How-To-Debrick-Your-NETGEAR-WNR3500L-Using-A-USB-TTL-Cable-on-Windows/?textpage=2

http://placeshiftingenthusiasts.com/

Discussion:    Add a Comment | Back to Top | Comments 1-7 of 7 | Latest Comment

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