Ea3500: "sysupgrade" with factory.bin

Installing and Using OpenWrt
1

Hmmm ... OK, I'm thinking there is a way to do this, I'm just not recalling it - likely me though :frowning_face:. Trying to upgrade the firmware on my EA3500, but I get the error,

Mon Apr 4 18:32:32 CDT 2022 upgrade: The device is supported, but this image is incompatible for sysupgrade based on the image version (1.1->2.0). Mon Apr 4 18:32:32 CDT 2022 upgrade: Partition design has changed compared to older versions (up to 21.02) due to kernel size restrictions. Upgrade via sysupgrade mechanism is not possible, so new installation via factory style image is required. Image check failed.

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

This makes full sense, but - how to flash factory.bin, without serial port access? I'm sure there has to be a way, and I'm just missing / forgetting it. Any pointers would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

2

If you're going from 19.07.n to 21.02.n -

  1. Using the factory image for Linksys devices applies to the WRT1900ACv1 (mamba) and the WRT32X (venom).

  2. Due to the change from swconfig to DSA in version 21.02.n, configurations are not upgradable for the following targeted devices...

    bcm4908
    gemini
    kirkwood
    mediatek (most boards)
    mvebu
    octeon
    ramips (mt7621 subtarget only)
    realtek

    Your device's target is kirkwood

  3. Save your old configs and use as a guide to re-configure from scratch.

3

That makes sense ... no config "propagation". But - to flash, use sysupgrade (cli), and force (-f) ... using factory.bin?

Thanks!

4

No.

Using factory.bin only applies to the devices I mentioned in item #1 above.

You would use the sysupgrade image.

5

Ahh, gotcha - right, so it's not a partition size change, just DSA => config broken, but OK to force sysupgrade.

Thanks!

6

I try to upgrade from 21.02.03 to 22.03.0. And I get the same message:

The device is supported, but this image is incompatible for sysupgrade based on the image version (1.1->2.0). Thu Sep 8 20:52:47 MSK 2022 upgrade: Partition design has changed compared to older versions (up to 21.02) due to kernel size restrictions. Upgrade via sysupgrade mechanism is not possible, so new installation via factory style image is required. Image check failed.

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

Should I also use sysupgrade with the force option?