Help with Linksys mr8300 wifi

Installing and Using OpenWrt
1

Hello

I'm coming here to find some help. I'm trying to install OpenWRT on my Linksys mr8300 new router. It's the first time I do it, the purpose is to replace my ISP provided router (called Livebox from Orange provider in France).

I've tried to install the latest snapshot as my router is only supported on snapshot (exact version: SNAPSHOT r14985-4d4ef1058c).

I've followed the following tutorial: https://lafibre.info/remplacer-livebox/remplacement-de-la-livebox-par-un-routeur-openwrt-18-dhcp-v4v6-tv/ to configure my router to replace my Livebox.

Everything works fine except when I turn on the wifi. When I turn on the wifi (any radio), the internet stop working, I am no longer able to resolve dns, ping any IP... and I need to reset the router to make it work (disabling wifi doesn't fix the problem once I've enabled it).

I don't really know where I can found useful logs, the only thing I found is the command logread that output that when I'm trying to enable the wifi:

Sun Nov 22 00:55:10 2020 daemon.info dnsmasq[8038]: using nameserver 80.10.246.136#53
Sun Nov 22 00:55:10 2020 daemon.info dnsmasq[8038]: using nameserver 81.253.149.6#53
Sun Nov 22 00:55:10 2020 daemon.info dnsmasq[8038]: read /etc/hosts - 4 addresses
Sun Nov 22 00:55:10 2020 daemon.info dnsmasq[8038]: read /tmp/hosts/odhcpd - 0 addresses
Sun Nov 22 00:55:10 2020 daemon.info dnsmasq[8038]: read /tmp/hosts/dhcp.cfg01411c - 1 addresses
Sun Nov 22 00:55:10 2020 daemon.info dnsmasq-dhcp[8038]: read /etc/ethers - 0 addresses
Sun Nov 22 00:59:13 2020 daemon.notice netifd: radio0 (9609): sh: out of range
Sun Nov 22 00:59:13 2020 daemon.notice netifd: radio0 (9609): sh: out of range
Sun Nov 22 00:59:13 2020 daemon.notice netifd: radio0 (9609): sh: out of range
Sun Nov 22 00:59:13 2020 daemon.notice netifd: radio0 (9609): sh: out of range
Sun Nov 22 00:59:13 2020 daemon.notice netifd: radio0 (9609): sh: out of range
Sun Nov 22 00:59:13 2020 daemon.notice hostapd: Configuration file: /var/run/hostapd-phy0.conf (phy wlan0) --> new PHY
Sun Nov 22 00:59:15 2020 kern.warn kernel: [ 1590.606606] ath10k_pci 0000:01:00.0: unsupported HTC service id: 1536
Sun Nov 22 00:59:15 2020 kern.warn kernel: [ 1590.606975] ath10k_pci 0000:01:00.0: 10.4 wmi init: vdevs: 16  peers: 48  tid: 96
Sun Nov 22 00:59:15 2020 kern.warn kernel: [ 1590.612136] ath10k_pci 0000:01:00.0: msdu-desc: 2500  skid: 32
Sun Nov 22 00:59:16 2020 kern.info kernel: [ 1590.667738] ath10k_pci 0000:01:00.0: wmi print 'P 48/48 V 16 K 144 PH 176 T 186  msdu-desc: 2500  sw-crypt: 0 ct-sta: 0'
Sun Nov 22 00:59:16 2020 kern.info kernel: [ 1590.669010] ath10k_pci 0000:01:00.0: wmi print 'free: 114572 iram: 12804 sram: 29508'
Sun Nov 22 00:59:16 2020 kern.warn kernel: [ 1591.003510] ath10k_pci 0000:01:00.0: Firmware lacks feature flag indicating a retry limit of > 2 is OK, requested limit: 4
Sun Nov 22 00:59:16 2020 kern.info kernel: [ 1591.015040] br-lan: port 2(wlan0) entered blocking state
Sun Nov 22 00:59:16 2020 kern.info kernel: [ 1591.015082] br-lan: port 2(wlan0) entered disabled state
Sun Nov 22 00:59:16 2020 daemon.notice hostapd: Frequency 5500 (primary) not allowed for AP mode, flags: 0x301979 RADAR
Sun Nov 22 00:59:16 2020 daemon.err hostapd: Primary frequency not allowed
Sun Nov 22 00:59:16 2020 daemon.warn hostapd: wlan0: IEEE 802.11 Configured channel (100) or frequency (5500) not found from the channel list of the current mode (2) IEEE 802.11a
Sun Nov 22 00:59:16 2020 daemon.warn hostapd: wlan0: IEEE 802.11 Hardware does not support configured channel
Sun Nov 22 00:59:16 2020 daemon.err hostapd: Could not select hw_mode and channel. (-3)
Sun Nov 22 00:59:16 2020 daemon.notice hostapd: wlan0: interface state UNINITIALIZED->DISABLED
Sun Nov 22 00:59:16 2020 daemon.notice hostapd: wlan0: AP-DISABLED
Sun Nov 22 00:59:16 2020 daemon.err hostapd: wlan0: Unable to setup interface.
Sun Nov 22 00:59:16 2020 daemon.notice hostapd: nl80211: deinit ifname=wlan0 disabled_11b_rates=0
Sun Nov 22 00:59:16 2020 kern.info kernel: [ 1591.019992] device wlan0 entered promiscuous mode
Sun Nov 22 00:59:16 2020 kern.info kernel: [ 1591.070643] device wlan0 left promiscuous mode
Sun Nov 22 00:59:16 2020 kern.info kernel: [ 1591.072132] br-lan: port 2(wlan0) entered disabled state
Sun Nov 22 00:59:16 2020 kern.warn kernel: [ 1591.120453] ath10k_pci 0000:01:00.0: peer-unmap-event: unknown peer id 0
Sun Nov 22 00:59:16 2020 daemon.notice hostapd: wlan0: CTRL-EVENT-TERMINATING
Sun Nov 22 00:59:16 2020 daemon.err hostapd: hostapd_free_hapd_data: Interface wlan0 wasn't started
Sun Nov 22 00:59:16 2020 daemon.notice netifd: radio0 (9609): Command failed: Invalid argument
Sun Nov 22 00:59:19 2020 kern.warn kernel: [ 1594.416778] ath10k_pci 0000:01:00.0: unsupported HTC service id: 1536
Sun Nov 22 00:59:19 2020 kern.warn kernel: [ 1594.417260] ath10k_pci 0000:01:00.0: 10.4 wmi init: vdevs: 16  peers: 48  tid: 96
Sun Nov 22 00:59:19 2020 kern.warn kernel: [ 1594.422266] ath10k_pci 0000:01:00.0: msdu-desc: 2500  skid: 32
Sun Nov 22 00:59:19 2020 kern.info kernel: [ 1594.477741] ath10k_pci 0000:01:00.0: wmi print 'P 48/48 V 16 K 144 PH 176 T 186  msdu-desc: 2500  sw-crypt: 0 ct-sta: 0'
Sun Nov 22 00:59:19 2020 kern.info kernel: [ 1594.478572] ath10k_pci 0000:01:00.0: wmi print 'free: 114572 iram: 12804 sram: 29508'
Sun Nov 22 00:59:20 2020 kern.warn kernel: [ 1594.812014] ath10k_pci 0000:01:00.0: Firmware lacks feature flag indicating a retry limit of > 2 is OK, requested limit: 4
Sun Nov 22 00:59:20 2020 kern.info kernel: [ 1594.930566] br-lan: port 2(wlan0) entered blocking state
Sun Nov 22 00:59:20 2020 kern.info kernel: [ 1594.930643] br-lan: port 2(wlan0) entered disabled state
Sun Nov 22 00:59:20 2020 kern.info kernel: [ 1594.935958] device wlan0 entered promiscuous mode
Sun Nov 22 00:59:20 2020 kern.info kernel: [ 1595.416755] ath10k_pci 0000:01:00.0: NOTE:  Firmware DBGLOG output disabled in debug_mask: 0x10000000

(the wifi as been enabled on Sun Nov 22 00:59:13 2020).

I hope someone can help me to debug or know what's the issue here.

Thank you in advance.

2

Recover back to OEM and install EA8300 release 19.07.4 factory version, works well with MR also. I prefer to use release instead of snapshot, as more stable optional add-on environment.

3

Thank you, I will try it and I will keep you updated

4

Maybe I'm going to ask a dumb question, and I'm sorry for it, but I haven't found any clear reply on the web: to recover back to OEM can I use the Lucy interface via Flash new firmware image section (but it dislay Upload a sysupgrade-compatible image here to replace the running firmware. and I don't really know if image available here: https://www.linksys.com/us/support-article?articleNum=293921 are compatible) or do I need to use TFTP?

Thank you in advance

5

Firstly, if you reply to the thread, I don't get an email notifying a reply, if you reply to this particular post, I get notified and can reply more quickly.

Do not upgrade via luci, this will erase the remaining OEM firmware, as this is the other partition and all upgrades are performed on the other non-running partition and it is that partition that is rebooted from, in a flip-flop fashion. if you upgrade OpenWrt with another OpenWrt, you now have both partitions with OpenWrt and reloading OEM from OpenWrt is not possible.

If you installed Open Wrt only once, the the OEM firmware is on the other partition. There are two ways to go back to OEM:

1 - Load luci optional Advanced Reboot module, this will install a an Advanced Reboot in the System luci menu and you can select which partition to reboot from next.

2 - Follow this procedure from the EA8300 device page :
Linksys EA8300 Device Page
Goto : Recovery (Automatic) section

The EA8300 is a dual firmware device. ie. There are 2 partitions and Linksys firmware is copied to both partitions at the factory. When you install/update the Linksys firmware, or install/update OpenWrt, the new firmware is always written to the other partition. Upon restarting the EA8300, it will subsequently try to boot from the newly installed firmware image from other partition.

If the device fails to boot after install or upgrade:

  1. Switch On and wait 15 seconds
  2. Switch Off and wait 10 seconds
  3. Repeat steps 1 and 2, three times, then go to 4.
  4. U-boot will switch to booting the previous working firmware - you should be able to access your router on LAN.
    The above method can be used to toggle between the two firmwares.

Warning: If you install/update OpenWrt more than once, both partitions will be overwritten with OpenWrt firmwares, and you won't be able to revert back to Linksys OEM firmware using above method.

is the correct MR 8300 OEM firmware page.

However, if you manage to successfully return to OEM via Advanced Reboot luci add-on or Automatic recovery procedure, there is not need to reload OEM again, since you are booted from OEM anyways, the next OpenWrt install will go onto the other partition, effectively erasing the existing other partition with your new install.

Hope this clarifies.

6

Thank you again for this help.

To be sure, I've used the Restore feature from luci (reset & upload archive) many times, but I haven't use the Flash new firmware image, so we can consider that I have installed openwrt only once right?

Another question, when I will flash OpenWRT again from the Linksys UI, this will erase the previous OpenWRT partition or this will erase the Linksys one, leaving me with 2 partition of OpenWRT?

7

If you used only restore, this is about restoring previously saved parameters back to booted partition.

However, just to be sure, load Advanced Reboot (luci-app-advanced-reboot) in your current OpenWrt and you will be able to see both partitions in the System, Advanced Reboot section and select the Linksys partition to reboot to and start with a fresh OpenWrt install, preferably EA8300 19.07.4 factory...

If you flash OpenWrt from Linksys UI, you erase the existing OpenWrt, leaving you always with one OEM Linksys and one OpenWrt partitions.

It's the only way to prevent bricking.

8

Thank you it worked! I have now the latest release.

I'll try again to setup everything, but I have a question that maybe you can answer, in the tutorial I'm following, I need to config a switch_vlan and it says that I need to tag the wan port and the cpu port, I see the cpu port on the Luci interface and I know it's the 0 but for the wan port I don't really know which to pickup, in the tutorial their using 4t 6t but I guess it differs between router models right? And I don't really know where I can found this information.

Also, I'm not 100% sure but I can the overwrite the default switch_vlan configured right? Or I need to add a new one on the configuration?

I'm sorry if my questions are dumb, I've tried to search on Google but I haven't found anything relevant.

Thank you in advance

9

Do you really need vlan, vlan 1 is already there it just needs to be configured if you want to start segregating your switch ports.

For basic functionality, all you need to do is configure the radios and wan port (if ppoe for example and not dhcp) in order to get a functional firewall router with WiFi and Internet access.

I would suggest you start by getting OpenWrt up and running as basic WiFi + Internet access.

Next: perform updates of all installed modules via opkg not luci.

Important add-ons : Advanced Reboot, Adblock

Once everything runs fine, your needs will determine what you want to install next.

If you don't need it, don't install it, makes for less to break and cause potential vulnerabilities.

If you want to experiment, feel free to go crazy and install/configure whatever, just remember to NEVER install over the other Linksys OEM firmware, it will always be there to get you out of an experiment that went wrong.

That' s the beauty of Linksys routers.

10

Okay thank you for all informations. I'll try without configurating vlans first, but I want to remove my ISP provided router so I'll need to use vlans later, that's why I ask where I can found which port is the wan one, do you know where I can found this information?

I'll try that in the evening, thank you.

11

vlan setup is in luci, network, switch.
vlan 1 is configured by default to "not assigned" on all ports
eth1 is wan, eth0 is lan

Are you sure you need vlan to access Internet from your ISP ? I don't...

12

The wifi works in the default configuration thank you for the help, but now I want to configure everything to get rid of my ISP provider router's (which do a bunch of strange things). And in all tutorials to do that, everyone is using vlans,
I don't want to be disrespectful because you've helped me a lot, but you haven't replied to my first question about ports (or maybe I haven't understood, if it's the case, sorry).
I'm trying to locate which port is the cpu one (seems to be the 0 from luci) and the wan one, because (said in the tutorial I'm following) I need to tag them. And the wan port isn't displayed on luci interface, I only see the CPU one and 4 lans.

Thank you in advance

13

It's an IPQ4019 chip, so getting an Ethernet port to emit / receive tagged packets is tricky, and still under development.

This is one of the threads about it:

As a workaround you could place a managed switch between the ISP modem and your router to handle the tagging.

14

Okay, I've tried without tagging any ports. It worked, until I tried to reboot the router. After the reboot, I was unable to reach the internet.

logread ouput:

on Dec  7 22:21:00 2020 daemon.notice netifd: wan (1188): udhcpc: received SIGTERM
Mon Dec  7 22:21:00 2020 daemon.notice netifd: Interface 'wan' is now down
Mon Dec  7 22:21:00 2020 daemon.notice netifd: Interface 'wan' is disabled
Mon Dec  7 22:21:00 2020 daemon.notice netifd: VLAN 'eth1.832' link is down
Mon Dec  7 22:21:00 2020 daemon.notice netifd: Interface 'wan' has link connectivity loss
Mon Dec  7 22:21:04 2020 daemon.notice netifd: Interface 'wan' is enabled
Mon Dec  7 22:21:04 2020 daemon.notice netifd: VLAN 'eth1.832' link is up
Mon Dec  7 22:21:04 2020 daemon.notice netifd: Interface 'wan' has link connectivity
Mon Dec  7 22:21:04 2020 daemon.notice netifd: Interface 'wan' is setting up now
Mon Dec  7 22:21:04 2020 daemon.notice netifd: wan (2594): udhcpc: started, v1.30.1
Mon Dec  7 22:21:04 2020 daemon.notice netifd: wan (2594): udhcpc: sending discover
Mon Dec  7 22:21:07 2020 daemon.notice netifd: wan (2594): udhcpc: sending discover
Mon Dec  7 22:21:10 2020 daemon.notice netifd: wan (2594): udhcpc: sending discover

/etc/config/firewal:

config defaults
	option syn_flood	1
	option input		ACCEPT
	option output		ACCEPT
	option forward		REJECT
# Uncomment this line to disable ipv6 rules
#	option disable_ipv6	1
config zone
	option name		lan
	list   network		'lan'
	option input		ACCEPT
	option output		ACCEPT
	option forward		ACCEPT
config zone
	option name		wan
	option network		'wan'
	#list   network		'wan6'
	option input		REJECT
	option output		ACCEPT
	option forward		REJECT
	option masq		1
	#option mtu_fix		1
	option family		'ipv4'
config forwarding
	option src		lan
	option dest		wan
# We need to accept udp packets on port 68,
# see https://dev.openwrt.org/ticket/4108
config rule
	option name		Allow-DHCP-Renew
	option src		wan
	option proto		udp
	option dest_port	68
	option target		ACCEPT
	option family		ipv4
# Allow IPv4 ping
config rule
	option name		Allow-Ping
	option src		wan
	option proto		icmp
	option icmp_type	echo-request
	option family		ipv4
	option target		ACCEPT
config rule
	option name		Allow-IGMP
	option src		wan
	option proto		igmp
	option family		ipv4
	option target		ACCEPT
# Allow DHCPv6 replies
# see https://dev.openwrt.org/ticket/10381
config rule
	option name		Allow-DHCPv6
	option src		wan
	option proto		udp
	option src_ip		fc00::/6
	option dest_ip		fc00::/6
	option dest_port	546
	option family		ipv6
	option target		ACCEPT
config rule
	option name		Allow-MLD
	option src		wan
	option proto		icmp
	option src_ip		fe80::/10
	list icmp_type		'130/0'
	list icmp_type		'131/0'
	list icmp_type		'132/0'
	list icmp_type		'143/0'
	option family		ipv6
	option target		ACCEPT
# Allow essential incoming IPv6 ICMP traffic
config rule
	option name		Allow-ICMPv6-Input
	option src		wan
	option proto	icmp
	list icmp_type		echo-request
	list icmp_type		echo-reply
	list icmp_type		destination-unreachable
	list icmp_type		packet-too-big
	list icmp_type		time-exceeded
	list icmp_type		bad-header
	list icmp_type		unknown-header-type
	list icmp_type		router-solicitation
	list icmp_type		neighbour-solicitation
	list icmp_type		router-advertisement
	list icmp_type		neighbour-advertisement
	option limit		1000/sec
	option family		ipv6
	option target		ACCEPT
# Allow essential forwarded IPv6 ICMP traffic
config rule
	option name		Allow-ICMPv6-Forward
	option src		wan
	option dest		*
	option proto		icmp
	list icmp_type		echo-request
	list icmp_type		echo-reply
	list icmp_type		destination-unreachable
	list icmp_type		packet-too-big
	list icmp_type		time-exceeded
	list icmp_type		bad-header
	list icmp_type		unknown-header-type
	option limit		1000/sec
	option family		ipv6
	option target		ACCEPT
config rule
	option name		Allow-IPSec-ESP
	option src		wan
	option dest		lan
	option proto		esp
	option target		ACCEPT
config rule
	option name		Allow-ISAKMP
	option src		wan
	option dest		lan
	option dest_port	500
	option proto		udp
	option target		ACCEPT
# include a file with users custom iptables rules
config include
	option path /etc/firewall.user
### EXAMPLE CONFIG SECTIONS
# do not allow a specific ip to access wan
#config rule
#	option src		lan
#	option src_ip	192.168.45.2
#	option dest		wan
#	option proto	tcp
#	option target	REJECT
# block a specific mac on wan
#config rule
#	option dest		wan
#	option src_mac	00:11:22:33:44:66
#	option target	REJECT
# block incoming ICMP traffic on a zone
#config rule
#	option src		lan
#	option proto	ICMP
#	option target	DROP
# port redirect port coming in on wan to lan
#config redirect
#	option src			wan
#	option src_dport	80
#	option dest			lan
#	option dest_ip		192.168.16.235
#	option dest_port	80
#	option proto		tcp
# port redirect of remapped ssh port (22001) on wan
#config redirect
#	option src		wan
#	option src_dport	22001
#	option dest		lan
#	option dest_port	22
#	option proto		tcp
### FULL CONFIG SECTIONS
#config rule
#	option src		lan
#	option src_ip	192.168.45.2
#	option src_mac	00:11:22:33:44:55
#	option src_port	80
#	option dest		wan
#	option dest_ip	194.25.2.129
#	option dest_port	120
#	option proto	tcp
#	option target	REJECT
#config redirect
#	option src		lan
#	option src_ip	192.168.45.2
#	option src_mac	00:11:22:33:44:55
#	option src_port		1024
#	option src_dport	80
#	option dest_ip	194.25.2.129
#	option dest_port	120
#	option proto	tcp

/etc/config/network:

config interface 'loopback'
	option ifname 'lo'
	option proto 'static'
	option ipaddr '127.0.0.1'
	option netmask '255.0.0.0'
config globals 'globals'
	option ula_prefix 'fdde:e690:f92b::/48'
config interface 'lan'
	option type 'bridge'
	option ifname 'eth0'
	option proto 'static'
	option ipaddr '192.168.1.1'
	option netmask '255.255.255.0'
	option ip6assign '60'
config interface 'wan'
	option ifname 'eth1.832'
	option proto 'dhcp'
	option broadcast '1'
        option vendorid 'sagem' # on envoi le vendor id sagem
        option reqopts '1 15 28 51 58 59 90' # liste des options demandées
        option sendopts '77:2b46535644534c5f6c697665626f782e496e7465726e65742e736f66746174686f6d652e4c697665626f7834 90:00000000000000000000001a0900000558010341010d<removed>'
config interface 'wan6'
	option ifname 'eth1'
	option proto 'dhcpv6'
config switch
	option name 'switch0'
	option reset '1'
	option enable_vlan '1'
config switch_vlan
	option device 'switch0'
	option vlan '2'
	option ports '1 2 3 4 0'
	option vid '832'

If anyone as any idea on how to debug this, I take it.

Thank you

15

Check out latest release 19.07.5, there seems to be an ipq chip fix vlan issue fix...

16

Thank you for the information. I've flash the 19.07.5 version for ea8300, and the tutorial I was following doesn't work anymore, I'm not able to get an IP from my ISP. And if I use the router with the basic configuration, plugged to my ISP router's, internet is very slow, connection time are slow or timeout.

I'll try again to tomorrow to debug this