WNR3500L and chillifire (OpenWrt)

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Robert Spears
Robert Spears's picture
WNR3500L and chillifire (OpenWrt)

ok, I installed chillifire from the downloads section here.  it installed fine. 

now I want to remove it. 

I've tried using the Flash Firmware feature from the http GUI, and while it says the update was successful, after reboot chillifire returns. 

I'm able to SSH into the router. 

Is there a way to wipe this kernal from SSH. 

Sorry ERASE LINUX isn't supported in the chillifire kernal. 

 

please advise.

Peter Redmer
Peter Redmer's picture
I am by no means the resident

I am by no means the resident expert - but I can say that if "erase linux" in SSH doesn't work, then you may have to access the CFE prompt and TFTP a new firmware into the router ala our debricking tutorials. I've had to do that when switching certain firmwares before.

We have a guide for reflashing without the USB-TTL cable, but the erase linux command must be supported...

http://www.myopenrouter.com/article/16099/How-To-Reflash-Factory-Firmwar...

I'm hoping that we have some Chillifire experts out there who may know more - but I can say that you should definitely be able to erase it with the debricking methods.

Robert Spears
Robert Spears's picture
Thanks Peter,

Thanks Peter,

Here's what worked...

SSH to 192.168.12.1, login with root

> mtd -r erase linux

Do not use [mtd -r erase NVRAM], Chillifire will just recover.

Upon reboot, TFTP to 192.168.1.1

tftp -i 192.168.1.1 PUT image.chk

Then wait...

Router will reboot again, and load the image.
The web GUI will come up in about 3-4 minutes.

Peter Redmer
Peter Redmer's picture
Awesome - so "erase linux"

Awesome - so "erase linux" worked - fantastic!

Robert Spears
Robert Spears's picture
Yes it did, kind of...

Yes it did, kind of...

You just can't SSH in and type ERASE LINUX, that won't work. It says command not found, or something to that extent. But it did get me looking in the right direction.

Whyze
Whyze's picture
Hey guys.

Hey guys.

Thanks for the forum help. I was having this same issue (Installed Chillfire over factory firmware, decided I didn't like it and now want to change). I ran into the same issue with not being able to just flash to a new firmware from the web interface, so I went through the steps listed here to manually erase and flash it.

However, I can only get as far as the "SSH to 192.168.1.1, login with root

> mtd -r erase linux" step. That seemed to work fine, but now I cannot connect to my router to do the next step (installing the image). I'm doing this via Ethernet.

My router IP was 10.0.0.1. I've also tried connecting at the default 192.168.0.1. Both connections just time-out.

The router doesn't seem to be properly "bricked" as most describe it. The Power light is flashing Green and the ethernet lights seem to light up accordingly (amber is present but inactive, green is present and active).

But I'm at a loss now. I'm really hoping there's something I can do besides ordering a special cable and going through the whole "debricking" process :(

***

EDIT**

I've made progress. Setting the PC to a static IP and Gateway allowed me to successfully get the image on the router. I was still unable to connect to the router and/or access the internet after that. A bit more research and time had me trying a power-cycle reset on the router. This seemed to work. The whole process was a bit less intuitive than I had hoped it'd be, but at this point I seem to have it figured out. It just took reading tips/articles from several different posts, articles, and comments to figure out all of the steps that may be needed and ways to resolve issues.

Robert Spears
Robert Spears's picture
I agree. You could always

I agree. You could always buy the serial cable, I'm told that method is pretty straight forward. Unfortunately I didn't want to spend another 40-50 bucks, or wait the 7 days for it show up.

Rob

JF
JF's picture
I had a similar problem with

I had a similar problem with Tomato: able to telnet but no web admin.
Command is slightly different.

mtd-erase -i linux
then tftp to reflash.

JF

mava100
mava100's picture
hello all

hello all
after flash chillifire, i try Robert Spear method to flash openwrt:
up to tftp all goes well, but now i cannot login in no mode (ssh, telnet, web) and power led blink only ping the router 192.168.1.1
some help for me?
I'm italian and in Italy the cable for 3v3 rs-232 it's difficult to find!

thanks in advance.