Showing posts with label firmware. Show all posts
Showing posts with label firmware. Show all posts

Monday, July 18, 2011

Upgrade DD-WRT and Keep Installed Applications

The DD-WRT support for these new 11N Gigabit routers are still in early stage with new builds rolling out every one to two weeks. The old good "if its not broken then don't fix it" rule might not apply here and I suggest to stay with latest release if you have the time(and guts).
Upgrading a DD-WRT firmware with loaded software is pretty easy, considering the extra work we've done. Take the trouble not to mess with important system folders like /lib /usr and /bin and now its the reward time.

Once again, this is why I use OpenWRT. Flashing an update doesn't nuke your whole install or require extra steps. Just flash, and finished.

Sunday, July 3, 2011

Firmware flashing and brick recovery over TFTP

Though the whole flashing process can be done via web interface without getting your hands dirty, there are cases that the web upgraded is not practical or possible. One common scenario is a semi-bricked router (no web access and no ping response due to bad flash or invalid operation, or you just want to try other firmware like OpenWrt). Luckily that the WZR-HP-G300NH has a robust bootloader and the router can be recovered by using TFTP, either in Windows, Linux or OSX. Flashing via TFTP isn't pretty, so read the appropriate section carefully at least once before attempting.

Flash between DD-WRT, OpenWRT and Buffalo's stock firmware on the G300NH


Flashing DD-WRT on this router is extremely easy - thanks to the hard work of DD-WRT developers and the official partnership with Buffalo. The official Buffalo DD-WRT version has a few bugs, and lacks support for a media sharing program that I use (minidlna - I will add a tutorial for it later), so I recommend downloading the latest stable snapshot from DD-WRT.

Flashing from stock to OpenWRT, or DD-WRT/OpenWRT to stock, is not as easy, but still very possible. Let's get started: