Can't upgrade Linksys EA8500 from v18.06.4

Installing and Using OpenWrt
1

[Sorry if this question has been asked a bunch of times, but I did look around before posting.]

Hi,

I am running OpenWrt 18.06.4 on a Linksys EA8500. I would like to upgrade it to the latest stable build, so I went to the Table of Hardware, picked my device, clicked the “Firmware OpenWrt Upgrade URL” and downloaded the .bin file.

This one BTW: http://downloads.openwrt.org/releases/19.07.3/targets/ipq806x/generic/openwrt-19.07.3-ipq806x-generic-linksys_ea8500-squashfs-sysupgrade.bin

Then I went to the LUCI interface and chose “Backup/Flash Firmware” I selected the file I downloaded and clicked Flash Image, but got this response:

“The uploaded image file does not contain a supported format. Make sure that you choose the generic image format for your platform.”

Which I promptly put into google, and found this page:

https://openwrt.org/docs/techref/hardware/soc/soc.broadcom.bcm47xx/image.conversion

which suggested I convert the .bin file to a .trx file by stripping off the 32 byte header. I did that, and confirmed the .trx file is, in fact, 32 bytes smaller.

However, when I tried the .trx file, I still got no love, instead the same error.

What to try next? Is it better (safer) to upgrade using a shell? If so, how do I do that, or should I be doing something completely different?

Thanks very much,

-Bob

2

Some thoughts:

  1. You should probably try a snapshot image, or wait for 19.07.4 to come.
    Reason: A recent commit EA8500 fix boot partition detection which seems to be included in 19.07.4
  2. If you are sure to have the correct image, you can always try to sysupgrade -F (force)
3

Hi Thomas,

Thank you very much for your input. I actually have 2 identical routers, so I'm willing to do some experimenting with the second one, including flashing a snapshot. I have 2 quick follow on questions though...

  1. I've added a number of packages to my live router. Is there a way to set up the spare one so that all the packages are on it too? I see how to do a backup and restore, but what if the target router doesn't have all the packages, e.g. OpenVPN on it?

  2. I was wondering what the plan was for 19.07.4. Will there be release candidates? I clicked around and saw a release date of XX July, so I guess it is coming soon. Now I know how frustrating it can be when people ask when things are coming out, but just as a guideline, how long do you expect it will be until there is a release?

Thanks again for your help,

-Bob