I have over the last couple of days upgraded a ASUS RT-ACRH13 (same as the TR-AC58U V1?) to the OpenWrt 24.10.1 using the tools described above by @LittleJohn, the TOH and from Zyxmon and in my related post.
Some notes first.
- This thread was started before the architecture change from swconfig to DSA, which based on my testing, appears for this device was beginning with 23.05.5. As such, the instructions to flash the latest builds will fail. The move from 23.02.1 to 23.05.5 takes additional effort due to this change (see below).
- I used WinSCP on Windows 10 to accomplish all the tasks below. I used the built in Console to execute the CLI components (Shift+Ctrl+T).
- I never configured anything, including a password, under OpenWrt until I reached the current OpenWRT.
- AT SOME POINT, PROBALY v 19 I did check to see if the radios were present, but this should have been done at each step. I did not enable them until 23.05.5 was installed.
MY PROCESS
I reset the stock device to factory and then upgraded the factory image to the latest ASUS via 3.0.0.4.380.8457 => 3.0.0.4.382.51899 => 3.0.0.4.382_52552. (Why? I think I broke an ASUS once by not migrating from the latest major to next major)
I enabled SSH in stock FW and backup up the ubi0_1 and ubi0_2 from /dev to /tmp using the CLI commands provided above in the WinSCP terminal and then used the WinSCP GUI to copy them to a folder on my PC (exactly as described). You can NOT copy the files from the /dev folder.
I flashed the Zymon build: openwrt-r1834-0f04829-ipq806x-asus_rt-ac58u-squashfs-flash-factory.trx with no issues.
I then flashed the following OpenWrt builds, sequentially, from the GUI with NO config in between, including setting a password, and unchecking the checkbox to "Keep Settings..." . I also did a reboot after each flash.
- 18.06.1
- 19.07.2
- 21.02.4
- 23.03.1
NOTE: At this point I suspect that one can go directly to V 23.03.1, but if it errors, work your way backwards. Each flash only takes about 5 minutes, so no big deal IMHO.
Attempting to go from 23.03.1 to 23.05.5 was the issue. The system indicated, in a big red box, that:
Image check failed:
Wed Jun 11 02:17:37 UTC 2025 upgrade: The device is supported, but the config is incompatible to the new image (1.0->1.1). Please upgrade without keeping config (sysupgrade -n). Wed Jun 11 02:17:37 UTC 2025 upgrade: Config cannot be migrated from swconfig to DSA Image check failed.
This is followed by a second intimidating red box with a checkbox to Force upgrade. This is NOT the same failure one gets attempting to upgrade from the initial OpenWrt version directly to 24.10.1. That is just a pure failure.
One of the replies in my post indicated to upgrade from Failsafe and use the CLI, so to be safe, I did. I do not know if the Force will work in the GUI, but at this point I wanted to minimize risk. If you were able to backup the ubi0* files, then this should be easy.
-
Download the 23.05.5 file to your PC and verify the checksum
-
Set a fixed IP on the PC in the 192.168.1.x range
-
On this device, to enter FailSafe, turn off the power (or disconnect) and restart the device. The power button will turn on for about 40 seconds, off for about 3 seconds, then a fast blink for about 2 seconds, followed by and even faster blink. That's the window. Press the WPS button once (back left) and you should be in FailSafe mode. The Power LED should be the only one on and continue to blink rapidly. I do not know how to verify this in the CLI.
-
Connect with WINSCP and use the GUI to transfer the sysupgrade file to the /tmp folder.
-
Open the console and use the command:
sysupgrade -v -n /tmp/[firmware_image].bin
where firmware_image is your file name or
sysupgrade -v -n /tmp/*.bin
NOTE: I am not clear on the flashing parameters (-v vs -f) but both the flash by cli instructions and the device's TOH use -v, not the -f used by @BaborZs above. The -N parameter is to not migrate the config and settings, which I believe is important.
HINT: In Windows I copied the file to a shorter name, but in the end edited the command in a text editor and pasted it into the WINSCP console. I suspect one could also use *.bin as @baborZs did.
WinSCP will indicate a broken connection as noted above.
About 5 minutes after executing the command the device was on 23.05.5. I did notice that the only LED functioning was the power. At this point I did test the radios and those LEDS came on, but the Ethernet and Internet did not.
Upgrading to 24.10.1 via the GUI was uneventful and it appears the LEDs are working.
OTHER
@Jjakesun's post above asks the still unanswered question about what is the purpose of backing up ubi0_1 and ubi0_2. My wireless is working. The 2 files are from the factory ASUS environment, so I suspect they may be needed to restore stock firmware. They are 124KB and the new OpenWrt files are only 1kb.