DD-WRT and the WRT54G-TM
So I do a lot of DD-WRT how-to's. I don't know why, I guess it's just that I seem to put DD-WRT on a bunch of different routers and decide that I'm going to document what I've done. Today's how-to is for the WRT54G-TM. Let me give you a little info on the WRT54G-TM.
The WRT54G-TM (TM stands for T-Mobile) is also called the T-Mobile "Hotspot@Home" service. It allows calls to be made via T-Mobile's GSM network or via WiFi Unlicensed Mobile Access (UMA), using the same telephone and phone number (a special dual-mode phone designed for the service is required e.g. Blackberry Pearl 8120). Additionally, once a call is in progress, one may transition from WiFi to GSM (and vice versa) seamlessly, as WiFi signal comes and goes, such as when entering or exiting a home or business. A special router is not needed to use the service, but the T-Mobile branded routers are supposed to enhance the telephone's battery life. This is the only known tweak to the TM version of the firmware. Obviously, none of this will be worth anything seeing as you're about to flash it with DD-WRT.
The hardware appears to be like WRT54GL however has 32MB ram and 8MB flash. Yeah, this thing is a monster. Until not that long ago the only way to upgrade this router was through a JTAG cable and header, but luckily we don't have to worry about that anymore. Let's get to it.
First off, download the software you're going to need. Here's a rar file with everything you're going to need. In the archive are 3 files:
CFE_Updater-WRT54G-TM.bin
dd-wrt.v24-13064_mega_generic.bin
tftp2.exe
The upgrade is pretty straight forward, but it has a little twist. The default LAN IP Address of the Linksys WRT54G-TM is 192.168.0.1. The default IP for everything else is going to be 192.168.1.1. A way around this is to simply setup 2 static IP addresses on your computer. I setup 192.168.1.9 and 192.168.0.9, but you can put whatever you want as long as they fall within the /24 subnet of 192.168.1.0 and 192.168.0.0.
1.) As always DO A HARD RESET BEFORE YOU FLASH FIRMWARE. This does not mean hitting the reset button and saying you are done. This means doing the 30-30-30 reset. To do a 30-30-30 reset you must push the reset button with your router powered on. Hold it for 30 seconds with the router powered on. STILL holding it, pull the power cord for 30 seconds. Still holding it, plug the router back in and continue to hold the reset button for 30 more seconds. You will have held the button for a full 90 seconds without releasing it. You will not get a password renewal page as you have stock Linksys firmware on the router still.
2.) Open a command prompt window and type ping -t 192.168.1.1 and hit enter. Leave this window open. We're going to come back to this later, but you need to keep this open.
3.) Log into the WRT54G-TM's web interface @ http://192.168.0.1 and go to the Administration Tab - Firmware Upgrade. Upload the CFE_Updater-WRT54G-TM.bin to the router.
!!!ATTENTION!!! You MUST wait at least 5 minutes after clicking the Upgrade button to allow the CFE_Updater to replace the stock CFE on the router and for it to erase the rest of the flash, otherwise you will brick your router.
A few seconds after clicking the Upgrade button the Linksys web interface will report that the upload has been successful and the power light will begin flashing on the router. Do NOT assume that the CFE replacement/flash erasing/reboot process has finished as the power light will continue to flash after it has rebooted. So there is no way to tell when it is ready for you to TFTP the DD-WRT firmware to it except when you begin to see the ping respond.
So once it is finished replacing the stock CFE and erasing the rest of the flash, the router will reboot. When the router is ready for the TFTP upload of the DD-WRT firmware, you will see the ping -t 192.168.1.1 begin to respond in the command prompt window that you opened before.
4.) Open up the TFTP utility and set it up like this:
The file there is the path to the dd-wrt.v24-13064_mega_generic.bin in the archive
Now click the Upgrade button. Once the firmware is sent to the router, it will reboot. The power light will change from flashing to solid when it is ready to be configured. The default IP will be 192.168.1.1.
If you do not see a progress bar as the tftp utility transmits the file, you may need to power cycle your router. Wait until the tftp utility has finished its attempts, then power cycle (possibly waiting a few seconds) and wait until you can ping 192.168.1.1 before clicking Upgrade again.
A few notes:
- Tornado has made it so that the router will retain it's MAC Address that is on the label on the bottom of the router with the new CFE replacement.
- Tornado is in the process of making a revert bin for those who may choose to revert back to the stock Linksys firmware (god only know why)
Many thanks goes out to Tornado, Eko, and Brainslayer for their work on this! Also, thanks to Luniz2k1 that wrote the original how-to that my lazy ass ripped off to make this one.
DD-WRT and the WRT310N: A how-to
A few months back I was playing around with my WRT54G2 and ended up bricking it. Don't worry, if you follow the instructions in my post on upgrading the WRT54G2 to DD-WRT, you'll be fine. I was trying to put firmware on there that didn't fit and I screwed up. Well, after I bricked it, I decided to pick up a WRT310N from Best Buy. I think I paid around $100 for the router, and after bricking the last one, I decided to not upgrade it to DD-WRT. Well, that lasted until about an hour ago.
I missed the fun stuff that DD-WRT gives me. After doing some research on putting DD-WRT on the WRT310N, I decided that it wasn't very likely that I would brick the thing, so I got to work on it. First thing you are going to need is the firmware files. You can download everything you need here. In that zip file you're going to find multiple version of the firmware. I'll get to those in a second. Now, let's do this step by step.
1.) DO A HARD RESET BEFORE YOU FLASH FIRMWARE. This does not mean hitting the reset button and saying you are done. This means doing the 30-30-30 reset. To do a 30-30-30 reset you must push the reset button with your router powered on. Hold it for 30 seconds with the router powered on. STILL holding it, pull the power cord for 30 seconds. Still holding it, plug the router back in and continue to hold the reset button for 30 more seconds. You will have held the button for a full 90 seconds without releasing it. You will not get a password renewal page as you have stock Linksys firmware on the router still.
2.) Plug a cable into the lan port of the router and your computer, and disable any wireless to the computer. You may have to set a static IP on your computer (I did). Set the IP on your computer to 192.168.1.2, subnet of 255.255.255.0, and the default gateway of 192.168.1.1.
3.) Go to 192.168.1.1 in your web browser. The stock Linksys username is "admin" and the stock password is "admin".
4.) Go to the "Administration" tab and click on "Firmware Upgrade".
5.) Browse to the dd-wrt.v24_mini_wrt310n.bin file that is part of the .zip file I linked to at the top of this post. YOU NEED TO INSTALL THE MINI FIRST! You CANNOT install the standard yet.
6.) Click on the upgrade button and WAIT for the upgrade successful message. Give it some time and don't be so impatient. I have received too many emails and comments from people that get impatient and start messing with stuff before the flash is complete.
7.) Power cycle your router. (very important) WAIT until you can relogin at 192.168.1.1. This should take around 20 seconds. If it takes longer, it takes longer. Once again, don't get impatient.
8.) Once the Web GUI for DD-WRT comes up, you will be asked to change your username and password. Do this immediately.
You can now upgrade to any generic dd-wrt build except Mega and Micro, or you can just leave the mini on there. The Wiki says that you need to do a hard reset before and after flashing to new firmware, but I didn't have any problems without doing a hard reset between the mini and the standard. NEVER re-use a configuration file from a previous build or another router. Reconfigure from scratch.
Now, about the files in the .zip file. I have included a multitude of firmware packages that will run on this router. I have the standard, usb, VoIP, and VPN. All of these have different functions. I originally put the standard version on and ran into some issues because the Port Forwarding has a bug in it. You can't add ports to forward! Once I put the VPN version on, it solved the Port Forwarding issue. So, if you have to do a lot of Port Forwarding on your router, I suggest using the VPN version that is included in that .zip file.
I hope this guide helps you out. I haven't had any problems with it yet, and if I do run into issues, I'll be sure to post them here. Let me know how your upgrade went in the comments below!
-Greg
***EDIT***
I have run into 1 issue so far. I started messing around with the router trying to set up different things on it. When I really started banging on it and resetting it, I was having trouble getting an IP address over the WAN link. Granted, all this took was rebooting the router and the cable modem, but I felt like I should let you guys know.
DD-WRT? In my WRT54G2? It’s more likely than you think!
Happy Thanksgiving kiddies! I've decided to put together a little how-to for the home users that may be throwing around the idea of upgrading the firmware on their WRT54G2 to DD-WRT. "But the WRT54G2 isn't supported by DD-WRT yet Greg!". Well, that's not exactly true. Follow these simple instructions and you'll have it done in less than 10 minutes.
You'll need the following files:
Linksys TFTP utility
VxWorks Prep
VxWorks Killer
DD-WRT Firware
I've put them all here for your convenience.
Here is another How-to with a little more information that is based off this one.
Get and install Linksys tftp.exe, set your PC to static IP, 192.168.1.10.
1. Reset the router to defaults on the Linksys Admin page, and let it reboot or manually reboot it after its finished.
2. Set your computer to a static IP of 192.168.1.10/24 and plug Ethernet cable into one of the LAN ports on the router.
3. Close all your browser windows. Start the tftp utility, set server to 192.168.1.1. Password is "admin" and browse to the VxWorksPrep-G2V1.bin file. Click Upgrade. Wait a minute for it to reboot on its own, if it doesn't, then power cycle the router manually.
4. In the tftp utility, browse to the VxWorksKiller-G2V1.bin file and click Upgrade. Wait 2 minutes for it to reboot on its own, if it doesn't, then power cycle the router manually.
5. Tftp the DD-WRT firmware to the router, use "dd-wrt.v24-10709_NEWD_micro.bin"; after successful tftp, wait 3 min for the router to finish writing new nvram defaults, etc... It should reboot on it's own at least two times, so give it the 3 min and then open a browser to http://192.168.1.1 (If it not reboots on its own, wait another 1 min, and then power cycle it).
6. When if finishes booting up...do a hard reset on the unit...let it boot again, and configure.
That's it! Now you have a lot more control over your WRT54G2 v1!