RouterTech Firmware v2.1 Release (20061029)

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Kieran
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RouterTech Firmware v2.1 Release (20061029)

Post by Kieran » Mon Oct 30, 2006 8:13 pm

NOTE: this firmware has been superceded by a later version. You can get that version here:
viewtopic.php?p=20239

RouterTech Firmware v2.1

Author: RouterTech Development Team (thechief, biro)
Version: v2.1 (20061029)

This firmware supports the following routers and their clones provided by different companies and MAY support others too - check the docs or ask us in the forums: SART2/SWAMR/SWART2/GWART2/Solwise/ADDON/Roper FLYNET/ASUS AAM6020VI-T4

WARNING: for those with wireless routers, there are new batches of AR7WRD routers that do not use the TNETW1130 wireless chip. This firmware does NOT support those routers (e.g., the TNETW1350A is not supported). If you have a wireless router, you must first check that your router has the TNETW1130 wireless chip - e.g., by running "cat /proc/interrupts" at a telnet/ssh login prompt - if you do not see TNETW1130 in the output, then you must stop right there, otherwise, your router WILL become a brick. The firmware for the wireless routers supports only wireless routers that use the TNETW1130 chip.

Preface
This firmware has been built for the family of routers based on the TI AR7WRD and AR7RD platforms (specifics shown in the compatibility section of this release and in the documentation provided with the firmware). Reading the documentation below, and that included with this firmware is essential to ensure successful flashing. Support for this firmware can only be obtained in the firmware forum of this site. Bug reports should be filed in the same forum, with a prefix to the the thread title of [BUG]. This will allow the development team to read, discuss and fix the bug before updating the firmware and closing the thread.


Disclaimer
While we provide full support for our firmwares and will help out with issues or problems in any way we can we will not be held liable in any way in the unlikely event of damage occuring to your router. You are advised to read all documentation including that related to recovery of routers after a failed flash to ensure the highest chance of a successful upgrade and the smallest chance of problems.


Which version for me?
To determine which version of firmware you need (in addition to checking your router model) you need to find out if you use the adam2 bootloader or psp. You don't need to know what these mean, simply follow the instructions below.

Note: with respect to some routers (e.g., the ADDON GWAR3000) the manufacturers alternate between the psp boot loader and the Adam2 boot loader. So it is absolutely essential that everybody (regardless of the router that they have) verifies their routers' bootloaders before trying anything.

In order to ascertain the bootloader that your router is using, you should telnet or ssh to the router, and run the command:

Code: Select all

cat /proc/ticfg/env
If the "bootloaderVersion" is 1.2.x (or 1.3.x or 1.4.x), AND the "PROMPT" contains something like "psbl" then your router is using the PSP bootloader, and you should use the firmware with "pspboot" in the filename.

By the same token, if your "bootloaderVersion" is something like "0.22.x", AND the "PROMPT" contains something like "Adam2", then your router is using the Adam2 bootloader, and you should use the firmware with "adam2" in the filename.

WARNING: if the output of the "cat /proc/ticfg/env" command includes anything like "WLAN_EEPROM0", "WLAN_EEPROM1", etc., then that is a sure sign that your router has an incompatible wireless chip, and you should NOT try putting this firmware on your router. Trying to do so WILL brick your router.


Single or combined image?

Firmwares for the AR7* platform can come in a single image that combines the config, the kernel and the filesystem into one. This is makes it very easy to upgrade the firmwares. Routers using the PSPboot boot loader mostly use combined firmware images.

But the AR7* firmwares can also come in a package that separates the config, the kernel, and the filesystem. This is typically so for ADAM2-based AR7WRD routers. The issue is not so clear however for routers using the ADAM2 bootloader, since some routers require a combined firmware image, while some require separate images (i.e., a separate config file, kernel, and filesystem). Sometimes, the same router from the same manufacturer may require different kinds of firmware images, depending on the firmware version that comes with that router.

The bottom line is that, for ADAM2 routers, you need to ascertain clearly from your router's documentation whether it stipulates the use of separate images or a single (combined) image. If your router's documentation stipulates the use of separate images but the RT release for your router only has a single image, then do NOT use the single image. Rather, you should let us know.


A few more words on versions...

It has come to our attention that due to incorrect labelling on some Safecom routers people without wireless are attempting to load the routertech firmware for wireless routers and encountering problems. This is not a fault with the firmware just that the labelling on the router is incorrect.

Please then note that the SWART2-54125 / GWART2-54125 are the WIRELESS versions and the SART2-4115 / GART2-4115 DON'T have wireless but may be wrongly labelled (By SC ) as SWART2-54125 / GWART2-54125. Note the extra W. Please check to see if your router actually has wireless before believing that you need the routertech firmware for wireless routers.

We have had many questions about version names from ebuyer. It is therefore worth mentioning that the G****** are the Ebuyer GURU branded versions of the S****** from Safecom.


Precautions
BEFORE you try upgrading to this firmware, you are advised to take the following precautions:

1A. For routers using the PSP bootloder run the "cat /proc/ticfg/env" command (as above) to check that the environment variable called "IPA" is set to 192.168.1.1 - and, if not, then set it to 192.168.1.1 (or to whatever you use normally). This is how to do it (from the router's shell command line):

Code: Select all

 echo IPA 192.168.1.1 > /proc/ticfg/env 
1B. For routers using the Adam2 bootloder run the "cat /proc/sys/dev/adam2/environment" command to check that the environment variable called "my_ipaddress" is set to 192.168.1.1 - and, if not, then set it to 192.168.1.1 (or to whatever you use normally). This is how to do it (from the router's shell command line):

Code: Select all

 echo my_ipaddress 192.168.1.1 > /proc/sys/dev/adam2/environment 
2. Get and install a copy of the PCTool (not to make any changes but just connect) to the router with it, so that you can get a 'feel' for the timing etc. You will need the PCTool to recover the router if the firmware upgrade process goes wrong, and "bricks" your router.

You can get the PCTool here: viewtopic.php?t=335

It is best to have at least two different versions of the pctool.

3. Save a copy of your original environment variables (i.e., the contents of "/proc/ticfg/env" (or "/proc/sys/dev/adam2/environment" for Adam2)). If your router becomes a brick, you may need to restore the original environment variables.

If something goes wrong...
Sometimes upgrades can go wrong and your router becomes a "brick". If this occurs you will need to attempt a rescue. See the details here: viewtopic.php?t=242

Clarifications
The tag-lines on the firmwares are not definitive with respect to the routers they can be used on by any means. To be sure check your router make, check the docs in each firmware package, check to see whether your router has a PSP or Adam2 bootloader, check that the "ProductID" is either "AR7RD" or "AR7WRD" (when you run the command "cat /proc/ticfg/env" or "cat /proc/sys/dev/adam2/environment" as above), and, if in any doubt ask in our forums BEFORE you try anything - we are here to help!

New file format
As use of the RouterTech firmware increases so does the number of routers our firmware supports. For this reason this release has specifically separated out downloads for different types of router. This should enable you to see much easier which file is right for you.

Changelog
version 2.1 (20061029) (29th October 2006) - changes (compared with v2.0 firmware)

New features
  • 1. Bug in the checksync feature fixed
    2. Functional DDNS (with no-ip support)
    3. A new msmtp client added (to send emails from the router)
    4. USB support added (not available via the web interface). This can be disabled by adding "usb_enable no" to the environment (i.e., run this command once, from a telnet/ssh command prompt: echo "usb_enable no" > /proc/ticfg/env)
    5. Auto execution of shell scripts at bootup added. This requires entries in the environment (/proc/ticfg/env). If there is any entry in /proc/ticfg/env that points to a shell script (i.e., ending with the extension ".sh") that shell script will be executed everytime the router boots up. There is a default "autoexec.sh" provided, which just runs any commands passed to it
    6. Several new commands added. See the rt_commands.txt file for details. Some of them can be used for the auto execution feature
    7. The old (now obsolete) no-ip feature has been removed. It is now part of the DDNS functionality
    8. Better support for P2P software
    9. Improved firmware support for preventing full NAT tables
Known issues

The non-wireless versions (with only 8mb RAM) can sometimes struggle in low memory situations and produce a sluggish web interface. In such cases, memory can be freed up by disabling unneeded features. Prime candidates are upnp, snmp, and IP Accounting, and by running the memory optiomiser periodically (e.g., via a "cron" job). The crontab file is "/var/spool/cron/crontabs/root". A sample can be found in the package for each firmware. Running the memory optimiser periodically is easy to do now - see the AUTOEXEC example for memchk.sh in rt_commands.txt.


Download
The links to our firmware require you to be registered and logged into the site to see and use them. This is to make sure we can provide you with support easily if you need it. When logged in they appear below this post.

IMPORTANT NOTICE
After upgrading to this firmware, you MUST reset your router to factory defaults. See upgrade.html in the firmware distribution ZIP file for further information.

Sourcecode
As usual sourcecode for this latest release is available under the GPL on lara for budding developers. Grab your copy here
Attachments
routertech-ar7rd-adam2-1port-firmware-20061029.zip
Suitable for 1-port AR7RD routers using the ADAM2 bootloader
(1.8 MiB) Downloaded 608 times
routertech-ar7rd-adam2-4ports-firmware-20061029.zip
Suitable for the Solwise 600ER and other 4-port ADAM2-based AR7RD routers
(3.53 MiB) Downloaded 661 times
routertech-ar7wrd-adam2-firmware-20061029.zip
Suitable for the Solwise SAR600EW and other 4-port ADAM2-based AR7WRD routers using the TNETW1130 wireless chip (PLEASE DO NOT USE THIS FIRMWARE WITH ROUTERS USING THE NEW BATCH OF WIRELESS CHIPS (e.g., the TNETW1350A))
(4.16 MiB) Downloaded 1869 times
routertech-ar7rd-pspboot-1port-firmware-20061029.zip
Suitable for the SART2-4112/GART2-4112 and other 1-port PSPBOOT-based AR7RD routers
(1.79 MiB) Downloaded 929 times
routertech-ar7rd-pspboot-4ports-firmware-20061029.zip
Suitable for the SART2-4115/GART2-4115 and other 4-port PSPBOOT-based AR7RD routers
(1.77 MiB) Downloaded 991 times
routertech-ar7wrd-pspboot-firmware-20061029.zip
Suitable for the SWAMR 54108/54125/SWART2-54125/GWART2-54125 and other 4-port PSPBOOT-based AR7WRD routers using the TNETW1130 wireless chip (PLEASE DO NOT USE THIS FIRMWARE WITH ROUTERS USING THE NEW BATCH OF WIRELESS CHIPS (e.g., the TNETW1350A))
(2.32 MiB) Downloaded 1309 times
RTech_AR7RD-4Ports_3.6.0D-20061103_2.1RouterTech_ADAM2_separate.zip
Separate config, ADAM2 kernel and filesystem images for those having issues upgrading or recovering routers using a single image. Suitable for some 4-port ADAM2-based AR7RD routers.
(3.05 MiB) Downloaded 824 times
Kieran
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