OpenWRT build enviroment on Debian Squeeze

Compile OpenWRT on Debian Squeeze

here you can download a preinstalled OpenWRT build enviroment for VirtualBox.
This OpenWRT build enviroment holds all toolchains, prerequisite packages and the latest kernel (3.8.6).

Extract the downloaded 7z archive and import the 32-bit Debian Squeeze machine in virtualbox.

The SSH login credentials are:

(NAT) IP/Port: 127.0.0.1:22
user: openwrt
pass: build

Root password is no set, cause building with root permissions doesn't appear to be a good idea, but however you are superuser with sudo -s for updating the machine or anything else you like to do.

Change directory (cd) to ~/openwrt and execute  

sh upd.sh

to sync the latest changes from OpenWRT trunk repo.
Config adjustments will be made via  

make menuconfig

and configuring the kernel can be done with

make kernel_menuconfig

When you're done, start the build with command

make V=s

and check the bin/ar71xx folder when your compile is finished.
On a multicore machine you can speedup the OpenWRT build via

cat /proc/cpuinfo
make -j 3 « that's the number of you last cpu core.
So, on an octacore you would use -j 7 to speed up the build process.

If you have any questions ask below!

best regards

Reverting TP-Link WDR4300 from OpenWRT to stock firmware

Download the already cut file for reverting to stock TP-Link WD4300 firmware.
Reverting TP-Link WDR4300 from OpenWRT to stock is easy:

upload the tplink-wdr4300.bin via scp into the /tmp folder
connect via ssh (or telnet) and execute:

# cat /proc/mtd

you should see:

dev:    size   erasesize  name
mtd0: 00020000 00010000 "u-boot"
mtd1: 001676e0 00010000 "kernel"
mtd2: 00668920 00010000 "rootfs"
mtd3: 00370000 00010000 "rootfs_data"
mtd4: 00010000 00010000 "art"
mtd5: 007d0000 00010000 "firmware"

Now cd into /tmp and flash the original firmware with

mtd -r write tplink-wdr4300.bin firmware

Let the flash happen and on reboot you'll find the original firmware is restored, the router panel will be available as stock
on 192.168.0.1 with
user: admin
password: admin

If you have any questions for the moment, please leave your comments below.

Opensource Firmware for TP-Link WDR4300 / OpenWRT

OpenWRT - More than just Wireless Freedom

As a big fan of TP-Link's Routers and the opensource firmware OpenWRT I decided to start blogging about this interesting topic.

You'll find a lot of infos on the internet about OpenWRT and
many reasons why
to use it for your network device, but I'll post specific info here for the
TP-Link WDR4300 dualband router with OpenWRT.

For the moment I'm preparing a preinstalled debian squeeze compiler in Virtualbox, you'll be able to use & download this build machine soon - for any OpenWRT device.
I did some improvements on auto updating sources and building OpenWRT with already included

• luci
• luci-ssl
• qos
• ipv6 support
• bash
• bash autocompletion
• nano editor
• blkid
• block-mount
• e2fsprogs
• ntfsprogs
• kernel with enabled ext4 and ntfs support
• all available iptables options

and some other fine adjustments to make this opensource-firmware
a better out-of-the-box experience for you too.

You can find TP-Link WDR4300 OpenWRT uploads of trunk snapshots on google drive.

A short explanation:
factory files are used to crossgrade firmware from stock to OpenWRT
sysupgrade files are only for upgrading OpenWRT

Anyway you'll make a wise decision using the squashfs firmware due to the
included failsafe mode.

Accessing the WDR4300 with OpenWRT

 

If you already flashed the factory upgrade it's necessary to telnet (192.168.1.1) in
and set a password using passwd command.

Otherwise the services won't start. From telnet you can also enable luci executing

/etc/init.d/uhttpd enable
/etc/init.d/uhttpd start

Those steps work if you're on the same subnet, so it's a good idea to give your pc a temporary IP like
192.168.1.2 in subnet 255.255.255.0.

Reverting TP-Link WDR4300 from DD-WRT or OpenWRT to stock.

Check back later.

cheers, best regards

Jürgen Dorn