Linksys WAG200G and RouterTech Firmware

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Linksys WAG200G and RouterTech Firmware

Post by thechief » Mon Apr 25, 2011 11:41 pm

This is a tutorial on how to install RouterTech firmwares on a Linksys WAG200G.

PLEASE READ THE FOLLOWING DISCLAIMERS AND WARNINGS BEFORE GOING ANY FURTHER.

DISCLAIMERS AND WARNINGS
1. Changing your router's firmware is a VERY RISKY process, and will VOID YOUR WARRANTY. Do NOT try this process if you do not have a functional alternative router, and working JTAG.

2. Changing your router's bootloader is an EXTREMELY RISKY STEP. If you do not have functional JTAG pins and cable, you WILL have a disaster if the process goes wrong - your router would be TRASHED BEYOND RECOVERY. Do NOT try this process if you do not have a functional alternative router, and working JTAG.

3. Changing your router's firmware from Linksys/Openwag200 to RouterTech is a one-way process. You would thereafter only be able to return to the Linksys/Openwag200 firmware if ALL of the following conditions are satisfied:
  • You have functional JTAG pins on the router, and a functional JTAG cable
  • You have a good Linksys/Openwag200 "wholeimage" firmware (all 4mb of it)
  • You have 20 hours to spare, to flash the "wholeimage" firmware via JTAG
If you are lacking ANY of these, then you are taking a VERY BIG RISK if you proceed. If it all goes wrong (and it can), then do not complain. If you complain, no-one will be listening.

4. The process described below worked in our tests. HOWEVER, WE DO NOT GUARANTEE THAT IT WILL WORK FOR YOU. THERE IS EVERY CHANCE THAT IT WILL NOT WORK FOR YOU, AND THAT YOUR ROUTER WILL BE TRASHED AS A RESULT. IF YOU ARE NOT WILLING TO THROW YOUR ROUTER IN THE BIN, THEN YOU SHOULD STOP RIGHT NOW.

5. ROUTERTECH ACCEPTS NO RESPONSIBILITY FOR ANY LOSS OR DAMAGE CAUSED AS A RESULT OF ANY ATTEMPT OR PURPORTED ATTEMPT TO FOLLOW ANY OF THE STEPS DESCRIBED BELOW. YOU TAKE ANY OF THESE STEPS ENTIRELY AT YOUR OWN PERIL AND RISK. IF YOUR ROUTER GETS TRASHED, THEN DO NOT COME TO OUR FORUM TO COMPLAIN.

6. IF ANY OF THESE TERMS IS UNACCEPTABLE TO YOU, THEN STOP RIGHT NOW, AND GO AND DO SOMETHING SAFE (e.g., reading Wikipedia, or watching Snow White).

7. If (and only if) you are willing to take ALL the risks described above, then read on.

PREPARATORY:
1. Get a Windows PC/laptop - preferably running Windows XP. Most of the router tools require XP in order to function properly
2. Make sure that your PC's ethernet card is configured to use a static IP address (e.g., 192.168.1.50)
3. Get the Wireless Environment Builder (W.E.B.), and install it. You will need this to get wireless working
4. Get the PCTool (v2.4), and install it. You will need this to install the RouterTech firmware
5. Get the RouterTech 1350A wireless firmware v2.95 (or v2.96 when released). The PSP bootloader image that is attached to this tutorial has the correct environment variables for RouterTech 1350A wireless firmwares v2.95 and v2.96.
6. Get working JTAG. You will need this to recover your router if things go wrong.
7. Upgrade your firmware to the latest Openwag200 firmware (this is to allow telnet/ssh access). In our tests, we used Openwag200 v1.3.
8. Enable telnet/ssh access in the Openwag200 firmware (see http://openwag200.sourceforge.net/?p=spfeatures#ssh)
9. Get a custom-built pspboot bootloader that appropriately supports the WAG200G (psbl_4M_16M_AMD_AR7WRD_1350A_1.4.0.10.bin - one is attached to this tutorial).

The UPGRADE Process:
Although seemingly convoluted, this process is actually quite straightforward, and it should be a "once and for all" process. Thereafter, you should never need to do any of this again.

1. Transfer the bootloader image psbl_4M_16M_AMD_AR7WRD_1350A_1.4.0.10.bin to the router's /var/ directory via SCP (e.g., using WinSCP)

2. Connect to your router via telnet/ssh

3. Change to the /var/ directory - with "cd /var"

4. Take a backup of your current environment

Code: Select all

cat /proc/ticfg/env > env_backup.txt
5. Transfer env_backup.txt to your computer via SCP

6. From the telnet/ssh command prompt, run this command (to install the bootloader)

Code: Select all

dd if=psbl_4M_16M_AMD_AR7WRD_1350A_1.4.0.10.bin of=/dev/mtdblock/2
7. Start the PCTool v2.4

8. Reboot the router

9. Wait for about 8 seconds, and click "Retrieve/Assign IP Address" on the PCTool window

10. Set the PCTool's "Media Type" to "FLASH"

11. Upgrade to RouterTech 1350A firmware:
  • Highlight "Firmware (Single/Kernel/FS image)"
  • Click on "Send file"
  • Select the RouterTech 1350A firmware image that you want to upgrade to (e.g., RouterTech_3.7.1B_1350A_20110103_2.95_AR7WRD_psbl_firmware.upgrade.img)
  • Click on "Open"
  • Wait until the erase/write process is complete (this will take a few minutes)
  • If the PCTool hangs during this process (if it doesn't notify you within around 5 minutes that it has finished, then it has probably hung), then close it down, and go through steps 7 through 11 again
12. When notified that the upgrade is complete, click on "Reboot"

13. Wait for about 3 minutes (the next few steps (14 to 19) are only for getting wireless working correctly for the first time)

14. Login to the router's web interface on 192.168.1.1 (the username is "Admin" and the password also "Admin")

15. Go to the "Wireless" menu, and enable the wireless AP in the setup sub-menu. At this point the wireless driver will not work, and needs to be sorted out with the Wireless Environment Builder (W.E.B.).

16. Save your wireless configuration ("System->Save All")

17. Start the W.E.B., and click on "Get details from router" to retrieve the router's "TNETW ID"

18. Supply the W.E.B. with your router's wireless MAC address (see the back of the router) or just accept the default that is there already.

19. Let the W.E.B. sort out the wireless functionality for you (i.e., answer "Yes" when it asks you whether you want it to send the wireless environment that it has just built to the router for you).

20. At this stage, the W.E.B. will reboot the router for you. After the router has booted up again, connect to the router's web interface again, and configure the firmware for your ISP, etc.

21. Save all changes ("System->Save All")

22. Click on "Reboot Router"

After all these steps, the router is ready for all standard pspboot 1350A wireless firmwares for all time. You should only ever need to upgrade from henceforth using the web interface.

LEDs:
At this point, the LEDs will not all be right. This situation can be slightly improved by taking these steps
* Connect to the router with telnet/ssh
* Run these commands (this only ever needs to be done once)

A. If you upgraded to RouterTech firmware v2.95:

Code: Select all

setenv led_conf led.dg834gv3
setenv RT_cmd_leds 'Led status 1 && Led pwr 1 && Led pppoe 2 && echo "Led pppoe 2" >> /tmp/onconnectWAN'
/sbin/reboot
OR

B. If you upgraded to RouterTech firmware v2.96 or higher:

Code: Select all

setenv led_conf led.wag200g
setenv RT_cmd_leds "Led status 1 && Led pwr 1"
/sbin/reboot
Attachments
psbl_4M_16M_AMD_AR7WRD_1350A_1.4.0.10.bin
Custom PSPBoot bootloader for the WAG200G, for the purpose of flashing RouterTech firmwares. Use at your own risk!
(63.19 KiB) Downloaded 4298 times
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Re: Linksys WAG200G and RouterTech Firmware

Post by rad30n » Wed Apr 27, 2011 11:27 pm

Thanks! Just followed the guide and all seems to be working properly.

I was kinda afraid because my OpenWAG200 was kind of hosed (the router was in storage for a year so I'm guessing the memory got a bit corrupted), and I could not restore it at all, and RouterTech is now working and responding perfectly.

Only thing I changed, is that I had to use PCTool 2.3, since 2.4 always crashed after flashing.
Also, if anyone's wondering, yes you can do this from inside a VirtualBox VM.
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Re: Linksys WAG200G and RouterTech Firmware

Post by thechief » Thu Apr 28, 2011 10:18 pm

Excellent! :)
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Re: Linksys WAG200G and RouterTech Firmware

Post by bovirus » Thu May 05, 2011 6:57 pm

Routertech 2.96? Is it a new version?
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Re: Linksys WAG200G and RouterTech Firmware

Post by thechief » Thu May 05, 2011 7:37 pm

5. Get the RouterTech 1350A wireless firmware v2.95 (or v2.96 when released)
.
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Re: Linksys WAG200G and RouterTech Firmware

Post by thechief » Sun May 08, 2011 9:39 pm

v2.96 has been released now: viewtopic.php?f=23&t=4183
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Re: Linksys WAG200G and RouterTech Firmware

Post by siji75 » Sat May 21, 2011 12:50 am

Thank you chief, Very good and easy guide to follow. Router up and runing with firmware v2.96
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Re: Linksys WAG200G and RouterTech Firmware

Post by TheVice » Sun May 29, 2011 1:15 pm

I have DSL and/or Internet leds that not blink on transit of data packets.
All other leds works fine (firmware RT v2.96) but DSL and Internet leds are fixed in ON state at the end of the boot cycle and connection to the ISP.
Is it normal or I have missed something ?
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Re: Linksys WAG200G and RouterTech Firmware

Post by thechief » Mon May 30, 2011 12:43 pm

That is the expected behaviour.
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Re: Linksys WAG200G and RouterTech Firmware

Post by kngtrider » Tue Jun 28, 2011 5:23 am

Hi All

This week i followed Cheif's guide to upgrade a WAG200G with openwag on it to RT 2.96 and here are my findings.

I used Windows 7 64bit and a machine with 2 lan ports so that i could get onto the net if needed. Users could also use a laptop with a wired port and a wifi connection in this fashion to access net resources and or work on the router at the same time

Steps 1-5

I tried to do it with PSCP (bundled with putty) but it wasnt successful. WinSCP worked fine and its GUI would be easier for some users
I had this particular router unused so didnt bother to start it up first
In hind sight I wish I did start it up before the upgrade process to manually verify what MAC ddresses were used for each interface in the linksys firmware

Steps 9-14

I had to reboot the thing a few times to get it to connect to the pctool due to it timing out or something while i was prepping pctool


PCtool 2.4 would NOT let me upload the firmware with an error message even if the firmware was renamed to a shorter filename
PCtool 2.3 worked just fine

Once you start the firmware update, on windows 7 pctool 2.3 might appear to freeze with 'not responding' in the title bar. check the lights on your router, if they indicate activity do not force close pctool as it is working correctly. Let it finish by itself


Steps 17-20 (wireless)
WEB did pick up the parameters for the routers wifi correctly and as per instructions i let it built the wifi itself, but in hindsight I wish i wasnt as quick and paid attention to what mac address it 'guessed' which I am not sure was the original MAC address assigned to the wifi.

After completion of all the steps, I set everything up as I needed and put the router online
However I found several issues.

-the 'quickstart' profile is hardlocked to PPPoA, users who need PPPoE would have to delete this profile and make a new one.

Other AR7 gateways I have used use 1492 MTU for PPPoE so i used this on the new profile i created, which eventually worked fine

-I could not authenticate to my ISP. I thought it was a bug with the PPP in the firmware but after not giving up discovered in the documentation there was a fix for this issue, involving a missing mac adddress.

The original firmware used MACA and MACB, MACB being +1 as per the environment backup .

Once RT was installed, there was no MAC for the Wan port/modem present in the environment vars,only ethernet and wifi. It had defaulted to 02:03:04:05 as mentioned in the discussion threads for the PPPoE bug and would not authenticate and no indication of such in the log

THe RT firmware needed HWA_0(MACA) and HWA_3, so I copied MACB to HWA_3 since that MAC address was unallocated thus far. ALl working good

I did not use the scripts prepared by the team in the discussion threads. I manually copied the old mac values to backup variables and created new ones.
I copied MACA to HWA_0(ethernet) and MACB to HWA_3 (wan/modem), the WIFI mac was guessed by W.E.B and i did not touch it.

-The remaining issue is that my IPTV service through TPG Internet (Australia) would not work.
The specs for this service are that it uses a 2nd PVC in the modem set to BRIDGE and 0,35.


This ISP designed and supported its network around modems using AR7 chipset and DSLAMs which use Infineon chipset (who bought the TI DSL portfolio)

Here are TPG's settings for AR7 reference design firmware to enable IPTV
https://cyberstore.tpg.com.au/register/ ... tvhelp.htm

The 'revision 1' settings correspond to RT 2.96

In my case, in the log i get 'AT LEAST ONE UPSTREAM IS REQUIRED' If i set EITHER of the Virtual Channels under IGMP Multicast.

I cant get TV working at all

If there was some way to manually set the upstream and downstream channels manually outside the multicast webpage as per the instructions for 'rev2' of the above modem instructions it may work.

I have even got IPTV working fine on netgear DG834 by manually issuing bridge commands into its shell , something with almost everyonne involved on a commercial level with that modem or the ISP said was impossible, and given the RT firmware closely follows the TI reference it should work, but for some bizzare reason, perhaps a bug it is not working.

I decided put RT on the WAG200G primarily to get Multi-PVC support , and because it hasd clearly defined Serial and JTAG headers. I could have put RT on one of the Netgear 834s i have but on a hw level this looked a little more risky than the WAG200G due to the hardware support but I will probably need to look at the hardware again and the relevant guides.

OpenWAG/LS firmware already had IGMP snooping but no Multi-PVC, anything else I gained form RT was a bonus.

I am keen to see if we can get the bridge PVC/TV working.

Cheers.

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Re: Linksys WAG200G and RouterTech Firmware

Post by mstombs » Tue Jun 28, 2011 9:01 am

Is the Netcomm GPL sourcecode available anywhere? Anything configured by the web interface can be done from the command line, although the syntax can be tricky - see document in the downloads with known magic incantations. It is possible more features are available in the "core-logic" than are accessible within the RouterTech firmware, I don't know if any Acorp releases for the older W422G are compatible with the WAG200G, their release notes mention IPTV ...

http://www.ddixlab.ru/forum/viewtopic.php?t=199
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Re: Linksys WAG200G and RouterTech Firmware

Post by paaaja » Tue Jun 28, 2011 3:42 pm

mstombs wrote:... their release notes mention IPTV ...
That might be, but you may not know that the IPTV feature is just one of four LAN ports separated from the others and reserved as a bridge for the set-top box. The other three are used for an ordinary computer connection. So this IPTV can be made possible even with Routertech fw. There's nothing more to it.
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Re: Linksys WAG200G and RouterTech Firmware

Post by kngtrider » Fri Jul 01, 2011 8:04 am

mstombs wrote:Is the Netcomm GPL sourcecode available anywhere?
Some vendors cant be bothered web hosting source code and will ship it on a disc for postage fee. They are one of them.

I am aware of the GPL implications of this

They only have Broadcom and other sources on their FTP at the moment, they haven't sold AR7 models (NB5 series)in years, maybe 3-4 yrs as they switched to Broadcom just as Netgear did

Their explanation to me at the time for the switch was along of the lines of 'Broadcom is a more expensive chipset' (IE, better)

In fact in my experience its very hard finding new modems with Infineon AR7, there are some with Infineon floating around but i don't know if these are still AR7 family or a successor platform.
Anything configured by the web interface can be done from the command line, although the syntax can be tricky - see document in the downloads with known magic incantations. It is possible more features are available in the "core-logic" than are accessible within the RouterTech firmware, I don't know if any Acorp releases for the older W422G are compatible with the WAG200G, their release notes mention IPTV ...

http://www.ddixlab.ru/forum/viewtopic.php?t=199
I have used the acorp/russian documents in the past to look at the AR7 DSP change logs and bit feature flags. I am happy with RT running on WAG200G so I don't think I will be messing with that particular unit further !

I got TV working anyway.
-I changed mac addresses
-I made sure the Bridge connection was added to the switch under 'LAN config' (i did try it before but at the time diff mac)
-I waited/be patient

Sometimes TV is slow to start, sometimes not, but otherwise it works perfectly just as any off the shelf unit does.

I have had RT running on the WAG200G hardware for a few days now as my primary DSL gateway and I'm very happy and impressed with it

Some additional observations now I've had it running for some time

-even with what some people might perceive as 'heavy loads' such as IPTV via multicast or p2p/bitorrent at line speeds, CPU usage is very low so far, 98% idle with 2+ days

-lower number of processes- compared to other firmwares

-good throughput speeds

-with the DSP71A driver, the hardware syncs at 19mbit exactly which is equal to the best I can achieve on my line of any modem I have tested on that line so far. I have several AR7 modems of different versions and this combo of RT firmware and WAG200 hw is the highest sync speed of any AR7 I have tested on my line so far, equal sync speed to the higher spec Broadcom chips.

-If i enable any of the advanced options under 'RT configurations' such as SIP proxy or cron/memory the modem would freeze after its finished booting for some reason , the unit can still be pinged but its frozen for most purposes, http and routing

-SSH is enabled on the wan side even though i have Remote SSH and Remote Web disabled.

-The LED configuration that has been developed is very practical.

-The UPNP works well and correctly reports the WAN IP address. No page to manage or view ports assigned via UPNP however.

-With my current configuration of two virtual circuits, the homepage of RT doesn't correctly report the WAN IP or the WAN uptime even though these are present in the system
i get
WAN IP Address: ("ISP") ("TV")
WAN Uptime: ("ISP") ("TV")

on the homepage, with ISP and TV being the virtual circuits.


I have spent a lot of time messing with different firmwares and different modems over the years and the time spent getting this going was well worth it in hindsight.

I was aware of RT for some time but had not tried RT before because I had not the right platform that could run RT without heavy modifications such as boot loader


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Re: Linksys WAG200G and RouterTech Firmware

Post by kngtrider » Fri Jul 01, 2011 8:11 am

paaaja wrote:
mstombs wrote:... their release notes mention IPTV ...
That might be, but you may not know that the IPTV feature is just one of four LAN ports separated from the others and reserved as a bridge for the set-top box. The other three are used for an ordinary computer connection. So this IPTV can be made possible
even with Routertech fw. There's nothing more to it.
Yeah some manuf or some ISP have custom firmware designed for a STB. What you describe is one example. SKY firmware for some Netgear Units in the UK has a single tickbox where you specifcy STB IP or something like that


WAG200G is unique in my opinion that they bothered to include IGMP as a selectable option in the http configuration yet it doesn't have multiple PVC

As discussed in this thread, RouterTech firmware fixes this 'oversight' for the WAG200G.

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Re: Linksys WAG200G and RouterTech Firmware

Post by wlkn » Fri Jul 01, 2011 12:06 pm

thechief wrote:3. Changing your router's firmware from Linksys/Openwag200 to RouterTech is a one-way process. You would thereafter only be able to return to the Linksys/Openwag200 firmware if ALL of the following conditions are satisfied:
  • You have functional JTAG pins on the router, and a functional JTAG cable
  • You have a good Linksys/Openwag200 "wholeimage" firmware (all 4mb of it)
  • You have 20 hours to spare, to flash the "wholeimage" firmware via JTAG
If you are lacking ANY of these, then you are taking a VERY BIG RISK if you proceed. If it all goes wrong (and it can), then do not complain. If you complain, no-one will be listening.
1. on PSPboot prompt: (you should also be able to setenv on telnet/SSH)

setenv mtd5 0x90000000,0x90400000

2. restart the router [this will apply the new mtd5 partition setting]

3. Download wholeflash.bin to your router's /var directory.

4. disconnect internet and execute:

dd if=wholeflash.bin of=/dev/mtdblock/5

5. wait some minutes, when it completes power off/on the router

6. upgrade to latest version of OpenWAG200/Linksys using WebGUI
EDIT by thechief: the procedure outlined here has been updated to reflect the actual procedure that the OP used. Step #2 is crucial if you are to avoid a brick. The health warnings remain the same - do not try any of this if you do not have JTAG.
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