[FAQ] Error code 4503 + 18005

Talk about Documentation
1

Here and there I see questions regarding installation of OpenWrt on TP-Link devices and error codes 4503 + 18005.

I have been searching the forum and collected the following information, in order to improve the OpenWrt FAQ. Can someone please verify for correctness?

Issue: Error codes while trying to flash an image via TP-Link OEM WebGUI

  • Error code: 4503 The uploaded file was not accepted
  • Error code: 18005 Upgrade unsuccessfully because the version of the upgraded file was incorrect. Please check the file name.

Root cause:

  • TP-Link "Region locked" firmware. This firmware is checking for a specific region signature when flashing.
  • Lack of regional metadata in OpenWrt image; Different, unsupported country specific OEM hardware/firmware (e.g. chinese version).

from: Build for TP-Link TL-WR940N V4 [all versions] - #5 by slh

"In most cases “Error code: 18005” means that the latest/ current vendor firmwares now (suddenly, older firmware versions didn’t) insist on region coded firmware images and reject any old(er) firmware without a region code (or a firmware with the wrong region code)."

Solutions:

  1. Use an OpenWrt firmware image with the appropriate region code (US, EU, ...) for your device, if available
  2. Make the file name shorter, like ''factory-eu.bin'' or ''firmware.bin''
  3. Use TFTP for flashing instead of WebGUI (TFTP flashing does not check regional code)
    http://forum.tp-link.com/showthread.php?81462-How-to-recovery-the-router-when-you-bricked-it
    possibly rename the OpenWrt image to "wr802nv1_tp_recovery.bin" (adapt filename to your device)
  4. Some newer devices even go through great lengths to sign the firmware itself, making it impossible to flash a non-vendor-firmware from the webinterface (https://forum.lede-project.org/t/build-for-tp-link-tl-wr940n-v4-all-versions/1153/5?u=tmomas) No solution for that.
    FIXME Which devices have signed fw and expect signed fw images for flashing? Please add some examples.
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as i recall, there are error code descriptions inside tp-link sources, or possibly inside firmware itself if you inspect webserver page... RSA signature is also one of the causes

var ERR_TFTP_OVER_FILE_LEN =7000
var ERR_TFTP_IP_ERROR =7001
var ERR_SYS_TFTP_FAIL =18000
var ERR_SYS_TFTP_FILE_LENGTH =18001
var ERR_SYS_TFTP_SERVNOTFOUND =18002
var ERR_SYS_ERR_SOCKET =18003
var ERR_SYS_FAIL =18004
var ERR_SYS_FILE_VER =18005
var ERR_SYS_SIGNATURE_CHECK_FAIL =18009

var ERR_TDDP_UPLOAD_FILE_TOO_LONG =23000
var ERR_TDDP_UPLOAD_FILE_FORMAT_ERR =23001
var ERR_TDDP_DOWNLOAD_FILE_TOO_LONG =25001

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To close this old topic: