Downgrading openwrt

For Developers
1

i have downgraded all my devices to v19.07.10 as i find this is most stable, reliable, and space efficient. some of my devices are not available in later versions.

another reason is all the warnings i see with newer versions. i don't seem to have any problems with v19.07 other than my lack of understanding.

i wanted to throw this here to understand the view of others.

2

Show ubus call system board
Religion of antiquities is not true in general/common case.

2 Likes
3

No I don't use obsolete software. Running 24.10.0-rc2 on my GL-MT6000. This project is fantastic and things have never been better.

1 Like
4

Running an unsupported version of OpenWrt is always a risk as you'll

  1. not get support on the forums
  2. you're most certainly exposed to unpatched security holes

It sounds like you're running devices which have either max 8 MB of flash or 64 MB of RAM, which is cutting it close in 24.10 but you can forget 4 MB of flash and 32 MB of RAM if that's what you have, which is what it sounds like if 19.07 is the latest supported version for it.

Devices with at least 16 MB flash and 128 MB RAM can be found for chump change on the second hand market if you want to (or rather, should) run an up-to-date version.

See https://openwrt.org/supported_devices/864_warning

2 Likes
5

4/32 - All config lost after reboot - #8 by frollic.

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6 
root@wr841n14:~# ubus call system board
{
        "kernel": "4.14.275",
        "hostname": "wr841n14",
        "system": "MediaTek MT7628AN ver:1 eco:2",
        "model": "TP-Link TL-WR841N v14",
        "board_name": "tplink,tl-wr841n-v14",
        "release": {
                "distribution": "OpenWrt",
                "version": "19.07.10",
                "revision": "r11427-9ce6aa9d8d",
                "target": "ramips/mt76x8",
                "description": "OpenWrt 19.07.10 r11427-9ce6aa9d8d"
        }
}

# ubus call system board
{
        "kernel": "4.14.275",
        "hostname": "wrt160nl",
        "system": "Atheros AR9130 rev 2",
        "model": "Linksys WRT160NL",
        "board_name": "wrt160nl",
        "release": {
                "distribution": "OpenWrt",
                "version": "19.07.10",
                "revision": "r11427-9ce6aa9d8d",
                "target": "ar71xx/generic",
                "description": "OpenWrt 19.07.10 r11427-9ce6aa9d8d"
        }
}

and a few others

7

i agree if you are buying a new device. but if you already have older devices, should we dump them in the landfill? v19.07.10 works beautifully with no problems other than my lack of knowledge, which i'm slowly building up.

8

(post deleted by author)

9

In this case, yes, as they can't be operated safely anymore.

It's a router, your first line of defense against attackers, trojan horses skimming your bank credentials, participating in worldwide criminal and politically motivated botnets. 19.07.x has gathered many known/ unfixed security issues, wan-, lan- and wireless facing, it can't be used for any purpose anymore, even less on the open internet.

3 Likes
10

i'm sorry i don't agree with you. they work safely and are fine for my purpose. i won't be dumping them in the bin.

11

Your disagreement doesn't change the facts.
Maintenance for 19.07.x ended in April 2022, since then no changes have been made, no security issues been attended to.

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12

how can you say it is working safely?? it has known sec issues. it is your decision whether to ignore this fact and keep using it, but you'll have to face the consequences.

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13

Might be a controversial opinion but yes, as long as it's acting as a router it's your first line of defense and it has a bunch of security holes then it's a bad idea. I would advise against it.

2 Likes
14

It seems like you are entirely missing the point of this amazing project:

  • The OEM for your device no longer supports it and probably hasn't since about a year after selling it to you.
  • This being a free open source project increased the support and capability for you way beyond that time frame.
  • Now you are the support. Flashing newer builds and keeping it running is where the community relies on someone like you to check and update docs as you go.
  • You can now recycle it and buy new, better, more supported hardware or...
  • Keep the deprecated version on there and run it until the end of time, you are welcome to do that too no one will stop you and it will likely continue working well.
4 Likes
15

So you started a thread asking why having software on v19 is bad then when given good advice by @slh and others on why that is a huge security risk you say "they work safely and are fine for my purpose".

... why did you even ask for help or guidance?

I find this video pretty funny. Just replace Windows XP for OpenWRT v19 and this is stuff you can expect in the near future: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6uSVVCmOH5w

Just spend like 10 dollars and get something else jfc.

16

i'm happy to do all that and happy to help where i can. that's the open-source ethos. but i think if open-source only caters to the latest and greatest gadgets, then it fails to be sustainable and fails to help everyone.

i see dd-wrt provides current images for all my older devices, whereas openwrt says to bin them!?

17

you're probably not able to run win11 on a 15 y.o computer, this is the same.
hw gets old, it's as simple as that.

is dd-wrt also upgrading the kernel and packages with every release they do ?

1 Like
18

if i want windows, then i will buy a new computer with every release. that's what normal people do. but i'm not normal. i don't like to bin hardware with any life left.
i have linux running better on my 15yr old laptop than windows on a new computer. i hate windows :confused:

19

dd-wrt has very frequent updates.. like every few days! https://download1.dd-wrt.com/dd-wrtv2/downloads/betas/2024/

20

that's not what I asked ...