Downgrade from 22.03 to 21.02

Installing and Using OpenWrt
1

Hi,

Model 		    TP-Link TL-MR3020 v3
Architecture 	MediaTek MT7628AN ver:1 eco:2 Target Platform ramips/mt76x8
Firmware Ver	OpenWrt 22.03.2 r19803-9a599fee93 / LuCI openwrt-22.03 branch git-22.288.45147-96ec0cd
Kernel Version 	5.10.146
Powered by LuCI openwrt-22.03 branch (git-22.288.45147-96ec0cd) / OpenWrt 22.03.2 r19803-9a599fee93

I would like to learn how to install openwrt stable 21.02.5 version on this router which is already running 22.03.2.

  • Instead of downgrade from 22.03.02, can I directly install OpenWrt 21.02.5 with TFTP, using ...recovery.bin file.

  • Or should I use version 21.02.5's ...sysupgrade.bin file to downgrade from 22.03.02, with TFTP, as initial install.

  • In either case, is it possible to use LuCI web interface or should I use TFTP.

I might probably be unaware of the whole picture and your further comments are welcome.

Thank you. Regards.
Safak Kayhan

2

hi,

upgrade guide: https://openwrt.org/docs/guide-user/installation/generic.sysupgrade
downgrade works the same as upgrade, due to upgrade is being a whole firmware overwrite process, hence there is no difference which way you do. in either case as it is an overwrite and major release down/upgrade you are better with not keeping configuration settings but let the process create a default configuration. it also means any package you installed after system installation will be lost too, you need to re-install them again. (in future if you are more familiar with openwrt you can use firmware selector to pre-install packages in to firmware image, so they'll be ready to use right after install.)

good luck.

and before you do anything: check (and or download the web page) your router's product page https://openwrt.org/toh/start what is the failsafe process in case something goes wrong (https://openwrt.org/docs/guide-user/troubleshooting/failsafe_and_factory_reset)

4 Likes
3

Hi, thank you for your detailed reply.

Let me double check before proceding:

  • I will get 21.02.5 ...recovery.bin file (however ...upgrade.bin is also fine).
  • No need to cut their header as it is needed while returning TP-LINK's original firmware (stock) from OpenWrt.
  • I will use TFTP as I initially used while flashing OpenWrt.

Thank you. Regards.
Safak Kayhan

4

no. from one version of openwrt to another version you always use the sysupgrade.bin.

3 Likes
5

Thanks a lot.

Regards.
Safak Kayhan

6

This topic was automatically closed 10 days after the last reply. New replies are no longer allowed.