Hi! So I flashed an archer a7 v5 with ddwrt but had a lot of issues so I decided to try openwrt. One problem, the router refuses to go back to stock. I’ve flashed over tftp and the web ui but nothing happens, always goes back to ddwrt.
I can’t return this device so I’d really like to fix this.
Technically, you don't need to go back from DD-Wrt to stock if you use TFTP. TFTP is a 'clean slate' approach - it wipes everything (with TP-Link that often includes the bootloader even).
So you can use the wiki instructions for installing through TFTP (if your device is supported, it often has a wiki entry). That same article also has a paragraph on returning to stock, but that relies on TFTP as well.
The problem is that I can’t get it off ddwrt. I’ve flashed openwrt, stock, and the revert files over tftp but it always goes back to ddwrt.
I read that I need a stripped firmware file but I can’t find any online
That's a bit weird since my second link literally points you toward a TP-Link OEM image. Did you read the link?
I’ve tried that one before and it didn’t work. I spent hours researching a solution yet nothing seems to work
You should try to get serial hooked up if possible (don't know the internals of the device) so you can see what's going on. It rather sounds like TFTP is not working as intended, if none of the images you're feeding it is working.
The region (US, EU, etc) of the firmware has to match.