Builds for Linksys WHW03 V2 + V1

For Developers
210

Glad to see people using it!

I'll try to catch up, but since it is a testing device it doesn't follow the stable channel -- and hence cannot update regularly, although you can force the installation work opkg.

I will build a new version with an updated kernel and latest changes from the stable branch.

So far I am aware of some potential limitations:

  • saving on whw03v1 devices does not work, a change was introduced some commits ago and need to be reviewed
  • there is an updated whw03v2 with an unsupported nand chip
  • whw01 model is not supported

Other than that, devices were working fine and supported latest features (K,V)

2 Likes
211

Hi Andreas,

v0.0.6 from May 2021 is working quite fine on whw03v1 with some tweaks to the board files.
Not sure why this is the only version that does not remove changes during reboot.
Let me know if I can test anything for you on my devices.

212

Glad to see you back here :wink:
For the whw03v1 the saving went wrong between the "Fix boot counter" release and the "move to 21.02 stable branch".
As there aren't any code commits I can't help searching what would cause that. I would guess something with the overlayfs or a drive mount during startup.
If working with the beta branch is easier for you I don't mind. I run a lot of beta software at home.

I do have another question: what's the difference between the assets? Which one to use in what situation?
I see initramfs-fit-zImage.itb, squashfs-factory.bin and squashfs-sysupgrade.bin

213

Would you mind sharing the board changes you've made?
Or, even better, do a PR to the repository (for now branch whw03-21.02) with your changes and I'll merge them.

214

Maybe I also found something interesting...
For some reason I have OpenWRT on both boort partitions.
I think I screwed the settings on partition 1. Can't access it any more. After several restarts OpenWRT started again on partition 2. But, then the settings weren't saved anymore.

215

I'll dig around, v1 are different as it has an eMMC (4Gb) vs the NAND on the v2 (both with plenty of space).

The assets generated:

  • initramfs-fit-zImage.itb: image file to load from bootloader, helpful to test changes without persisting them to disk
  • squashfs-factory.bin: firmware file to install from factory firmware by using the CA method
  • squashfs-sysupgrade: firmware file to update an OpenWRT installation

Hope it helps!

As a reference, this is the topic on which I log my steps to gain access to the devices and start figuring out how the devices worked (and I actually bricked one of my v1 devices).
And this is the topic explaining why some v2 versions do not work due to not identifying the NAND chip.

216

I'll suggest flashing the stock firmware -- I think I described the procedure on this thread, I'll look for it and update this post accordingly.

217

Is this the script to return to factory firmware?
In what file should I put it?

218

New release for whw03v2, merged with latest stable branch (21.02).
New release for whw03v1, based on tag 0.0.6 and merged with stable branch (21.02).

Haven't been able to test any of those, so if you can load the ITB file from the bootloader, share bootlog and results.
If you do not have serial access to the device, flash from the stock firmware to not overwrite.

I will post a procedure to manually flash v1 to stock from OpenWRT in a few days, v2 procedure is explained earlier in this post.

219

I found how to return to the factory firmware, thanks to your script.
This is what I did on a whw03v1:

cd /tmp
wget https://downloads.linksys.com/support/assets/firmware/FW_WHW03_1.1.18.206964_prod.img
mv FW_WHW03_1.1.18.206964_prod.img fw.img
dd if=fw.img of=/dev/mmcblk0p14 bs=4M count=1
dd if=fw.img of=/dev/mmcblk0p15 bs=4M skip=2
dd if=fw.img of=/dev/mmcblk0p16 bs=4M count=1
dd if=fw.img of=/dev/mmcblk0p17 bs=4M skip=2

Will try to flash the new factory.bin now with the CA method.

220

Flashed https://github.com/flipy/openwrt/releases/download/whw03-0.0.6-fix/openwrt-ipq40xx-generic-linksys_whw03-squashfs-factory.bin but unfortunately settings are not saved upon reboot :confused:

221

I've found out, that the sysupdate bin is written to the non active partition. That was the reason, why I did owerwrite my stock firmware.
So if you start sysupdate on part2 it is written to pat1 and vise versa.

222

Andreas, I've just replaced the board files with the ones provided earlier in this thread.

223

Did some more flashing back and forth between versions. Only the "fix boot counter" version retains it's settings. All more recent don't.

224

Yes, you cannot/should not overwrite the current running partition, that is why it is recommended to do it from the stock firmware.

I'll dig around and include them, what benefits did they brought?

I will take that as the starting point for V1 then.

1 Like
225

The performance of the board files in your version 0.0.6 was not sufficient for radio 2.
Not sure if it is relevant, but for radion 0 the borad.bin file was a link to a non-existing file. I have removed the link and copied the new borad.bin file instead. With the new files, the information of the signal strength is not correct, but this is just a cosmetic issue.

226

So the firmware for WHW03v2 works now?

227

Hi all,

Thank you for making OpenWrt available for newer "mesh" devices. I mainly bought Linksys Velops for their looks (bad reason?), since nowdays almost every (higher end) Wi-Fi router looks more of a "spaceship" than access point.. :smile:

So, just bought pair of these Velop nodes (whw03v2) and of course wanted to replace official (bad, limited) f/w with OpenWrt (this device development to get supported seemed to be at the farthest from newer mesh devices), but unfortunately I'm experiencing exact same outcome as @jmceleney, @angdraug etc. discussed earlier. Guess my Velops too are using newer hardware with different NAND which is not yet supported, since:

  • Flashing any of whw03v2 OpenWrt releases on flipy's GitHub lead to solid purple or red led on nodes after "installing firmware" from stock gui (either CA-method or fwupdate.html, parent/child - doesn't matter - it does indicate that firmware was flashed successfully on both ways, however)
  • When waiting enough and switching device of and back on after flashing, it led stays solid blue and after boot count cycles, revert to stock firmware is performed
  • hw-version is indeed whw03v2, both in original package and stock f/w gui, with latest stock firmware inside when trying to flash

I really appriciate your quick work you are putting in this and just wanted to ask if making this "newer hardware" model of device with currently unsupported NAND available is how much work behind it? Is it how tough process and if there is something what can be tested/sorted out from end user perspective to speed up the progress?

228

Does someone have working Radio 0 (WHW03 v1) bord files for me?
Radio 0 is working for me, but with poor signal strength

229

I'll DM the original board files for the supported boards from the original firmware, see if that helps.