Hi folks,
yesterday evening I managed to install OpenWRT on my Fritzbox 3370 after 3 days of fighting, following guide https://openwrt.org/toh/avm/fritz.box.wlan.3370
Finally it works, but would like to share some feedback
Conclusion 1: It did not work at all with windows. I tried all ftp clients I could install - all of them failed. Windows ftp does not have passive mode, others (like ncftp) don't support the simple ADAM2 ftp server. Ok, maybe they would do - but who knows all their options and how to set them?
Conclusion 2: Changing the IP address of your main PC is not a good solution.
As you always need to download something or google for problems, you need a second PC being connected. I solved this (and windows problem) by using a Raspberry Pi. The problem is, I only have one monitor and connecting via Ethernet obviously does not work, as IP address needs to be changed. Thus I used serial console on the Pi to connect.
Conclusion 3: Timing the ftp access to the router is a kind of lottery
I fixed this by soldering a serial cable to the router's mainboard. Thus I always had console access and also could stop the boot process.
Conclusion 4: It cannot be reproduced
Still it did not work in the beginning. FTP errors or simply no reaction, still booting into Fritzbox software. Maybe a connection problem? Maybe the fact that 3370 uses a toggle for partition layout, so it's 50:50? Cannot say, after some attempts it worked and I still do not know why or why not.
So I wonder who is able to install OpenWRT. I could do this, as I studied engineering and have Linux experience. And was willing to play it as a kind of escape room game.
But what about non-Nerds? Or people who do not have a laboratory-like equipment with several monitors, PCs, raspberrys or whatsoever?
Did I do things wrong or just have bad luck? Currently I can hardly imagine a "normal end user" is able to install OpenWRT.
The documentation mentioned above seems so nice and simple - but it was not. In the end, the way was paved with pitfalls and problems. Only trying, playing and googling helped - and lots of time. Do you see any chance to make the documentation better, showing what works and what not?
Kind regards,
Felix