Is Archer C2 Guide still up to date or what is my mistake?

Installing and Using OpenWrt
1

Hello,
I would like to install the latest version 22.03.3 of OpenWrt on my Archer C2 v1 and wanted to ask if the installation instructions on the device page are still up to date. Because I have tried several times to flash the router but nothing ever happened. Therefore I assume that I have made a mistake somewhere, or that the instructions are no longer up to date.
I list my steps, maybe someone knows where the error is.

  1. first I searched for my model at the firmware selector the Archer C2 AC750 so the v1. there I downloaded the kernel.bin file because this is a first installation.
    Or should I have taken the sysupgrade image?
  2. then i downloaded the newest firmware for my C2, unzipped the ZIP and used this command
    dd if=c2v1_stock_firmware.bin of=c2v1_uboot.bin bs=1 skip=512 count=131072
    in the same folder, where I swapped c2v1_stock_firmware.bin for the name of the firmware.bin file.
  3. then I moved the files so that the kernel image and the uboot image were in the same folder.
  4. after that i used the second command
    cat c2v1_uboot.bin openwrt-squashfs-sysupgrade.bin > ArcherC2V1_tp_recovery.bin
    where I swapped openwrt-squashfs-sysupgrade.bin for the name of the kernel image.
    Hence my previous question about the kernel image, why is the sysupgrade image mentioned here?
  5. then I disconnected my PC and gave it the IP 192.168.0.66 with netmask 255.255.255.0 and gateway address 192.168.0.1 when reassigning it.
  6. then I used
    sudo dnsmasq --port=0 --enable-tftp --tftp-root=/path/to/firmware/directory --tftp-no-blocksize --user=root --group=root`` started a TFTP server as described in this wiki entry. To see if it worked, I ran netstat -lunp | grep 69 ``` and under localhost port 69 was opened by dnsmasq.
  7. finally I plugged the LAN cable into the LAN port on the router, turned it on and pressed the WPS/Reset button for 10 seconds.

After that nothing happened, the lights were on like a reset but nothing happened after that. One time the stock firmware started and another time a lock light was on.

I did the whole thing on a Fedora 37 machine and thought that SELinux might be blocking the port for TFTP, even though it says that port 69 is open and the PC is listening there.

Maybe someone knows where my error was and could tell me, I would be very happy about that. Or maybe someone can write me an up-to-date guide for the router.

2

You did read the warning box on the Wiki page?

Check the Wiki for other solutions, like running a different (patched) TFTP daemon.

1 Like
3

Because you must use system upgrade image for actual flashing, kernel image is for testing purpose only.

For the actual solution you need to use the patch given in wiki page, otherwise use windows with tftpd32/64 for flashing with option "Use anticipation window of 1000 bytes"

4

Ok, thank you I misunderstood the warning box thought it would only apply for v1.1

5

Ok, will try it