Adding OpenWrt support for Netgear DGN2200 v3

For Developers
1

(Note: english is not my first language)

Hi, this is my first post on this forum, so please correct me if i'm doing something wrong.

I'd like to port open wrt to this old router, netgear DGN2200V3. The router is now no longer in service because i switched to fiber, and it's sitting there idly gaining dust. I know that It's not a very useful backup router if you have a powerful network, and for this reason and others (like, having a challenge, etc) i would like to try to install openwrt on it.

While it may seem that i'm a total noob, i'm more tech savvy than the average person: i understand and follow well laid-down instructions; i know a bit of unix commands (backing up disks with DD counts?); i know the C programming language; i know basic electronics; something like that. So it shouldn't be a spoon feeding list, just some hints, like "do check that wiki page that contains infos that apply to you", or something like that. The biggest problem though, which i require a bit of assistance for, is actually getting the image onto the device.

Now, coming to the device. IIRC, it should have 32/32 MB, so theoretically there shouldn't be great limitations, and that's good, since being my first challenge i'd like to take it easier :smiley:

When it was in service i successfully telnet-ted into the thing using the netgear oversight and it responded to my basic commands.
Below are attached the photos of the motherboard taken with my DSLR, but i would like to do the least hardware-invasive tasks possible.

Greetings

EDIT: the forum didn't let me put two images, also i realized that it reduced it in pixels, so i may need to upload them to mega or something, so a mod can add them to the device wiki.

dgn2200v3 MB
dgn2200v3 MB1920×671 207 KB

2

32 MB of RAM is a big "not worth the effort" flag: https://openwrt.org/supported_devices/432_warning

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3

Don't want to rain on your parade, but https://openwrt.org/supported_devices/432_warning

Are you sure the 32mb flash isn't mbit?
That would mean it's a 4mb flash device.

4

The V3 is not supported in OpenWRT.

V1 is the only version that was...on version 19.07.8

5

thanks, i appreciate all the answers!

"not worth the effort"

Well, this challenge may also not lead to a usable, stable device. I'd worry about getting some other OS run on the device first, only then we can discuss if and how the OS has sufficient resources to do some tasks. (i just want to set every device free)

32mb flash isn't mbit?

about that i'm not sure (i need to check), but i'm sure as heck that the RAM is in megabytes, i actually checked the code on the chips and google returned me the PDF page of the vendor. and since it's bigger than V1 and V2, it makes sense for it to be MB.

V1 is the only version that was

wait, what? i saw something about the V2...

why is it incompatible? because i couldn't get the image onto the device or something else?

also , why would the link say 16/64? last time i checked it was 4/16 lol :upside_down_face:
this lead to a new question: why would the openwrt-powered device need to keep updating to the latest release? my router has received just like, one update in its lifetime. Is WRT relying on a different security model than router vendors, and why can't it use it ? or vendors simply don't care about security?
Would it be possible to build an old version?

thanks, appreciate your fast answers

6

The V3 never had OpenWRT firmware, only the V1.

It is also not supported in DD-WRT, Gargoyle, and FreshTomato (formerly Tomato).

There would be no traction for building firmware for this device.

So, effectively you're at a dead-end with the V3.

7

flash sizes are usually posted in bit, not byte.

just because a device is called v2 or v3, doesn't mean it have anything in common with the predecessors, hardware wise.

new security holes are discovered and plugged, bugs fixed, features added.

openwrt have a security model, while most, but not all, vendors, don't care about the after market, fire and forget.

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8

Only for someone who only knows how to use ImageBuilder or the pre-made images.

The differences between hardware revisions can be anything from a chip vendor change to a completely different architecture. Unless the change in hardware is vast from V1 to V3, just because it isn't in the repo doesn't mean it's a dead-end, even if it never gets official support.

It depends on how much time and effort someone wants to put in it. Whether it's a GOOD idea is something completely different. :wink:

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9

Hardware specs: https://wikidevi.wi-cat.ru/Netgear_DGN2200v3

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10

Broadcom device as well.

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11

Not to mention a 10/100 port speed.

The only thing I could see a use for something like this would be something like an IoT network.

12

Hardware specs (V1): https://wikidevi.wi-cat.ru/Netgear_DGN2200v1

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13

Different chipsets across the board (no pun intended).

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14

i understand your concerns.

if the required "effort" is just setting up a compiler and build and flashing the image, i can do it.
if it's about getting mystical with linux to write new drivers from scratch , i ignore that task, it's too big for me.

I understand the speak about traction and the inability to access the 300mb/s speed, and so on, but i think that a device that is minimally supported is better than nothing.

besides i consider this just a fancy raspberry peer, not an ultimate router that works in a tightly secure enterprise environment and yadda yadda.

I heard that for the V1 you needed to use some peculiar wirings, i wonder if it would be possible now.

15

Not even close.

16

The SoC has support, so you'd have to work out a DTS I'd guess, at a minimum.

If you aren't married to the idea, then go for it. The worse thing that happens is you dead end in frustration down the line having learned the build system for the next project.

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17

thanks!
do you have some directions (links) for anyone wanting to build?
and what about flashing?

( i will take this project slowly)

18

I was editing the post when you asked :slight_smile:

I've personally used Ubuntu 20.04 under direct install and WSL2.. So you don't have to wreck your Windows machine to build if you don't want to.

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19

I still recommend a free cloud host at Amazon, Google, Oracle or Microsoft , then you don't have to touch your own environment, simply Putty to the system, and work remotely.

Performance isn't great, but it's not your own CPU cycle it's using :wink:

20

There is one "gotcha" I came across with WSL2...

https://forum.openwrt.org/t/can-somebody-use-image-builder-to-make-a-4mb-image-please/117896/94?u=oldnavyguy