Specs: Linksys EA4500 (Viper), Feroceon 88FR131 rev 1 (v5l), OpenWrt 23.0.5
I attempted upgrading the aforementioned router to the 24.10.0 release. Upon doing so, I get this message:
"Sun Mar 23 20:53:09 MST 2025 upgrade: The device is supported, but this image is incompatible for sysupgrade based on the image version (2.0->3.0). Sun Mar 23 20:53:09 MST 2025 upgrade: !The partitioning of the router has changed! Partition design has changed compared to older versions (up to 23.05) due to kernel size restrictions. Upgrade via sysupgrade mechanism is not possible, so u-boot args adjustment and new installation via factory style image is required. Upgrade instructions: 2. Run folowing commands in console (ssh or serial): fw_printenv fw_setenv nandboot "$(fw_printenv nandboot | awk -F= '{sub(/^nandboot=/, "");print}' | sed 's/0x300000/0x400000/g')" fw_setenv altnandboot "$(fw_printenv altnandboot | awk -F= '{sub(/^altnandboot=/, "");print}' | sed 's/0x300000/0x400000/g')" 3. Test if envs are ok by 'fw_printenv'. It should be the same except last argument of 'nand read.e' in 'nandboot' and 'altnandboot'. 4. If envs are ok, please apply FACTORY image with command: sysupgrade -F -n OPENWRT_FACTORY_IMAGE.bin 5. System should start normally. If not, serial console will be 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."
So basically, yes, I understand the kernel partition size is different with v6 versus 5. But even as an "intermediate" user, this message is all gibberish and confusing - especially if these are commands, if there's an "enter" between each one, etc.
So I'll make my questions as simple as possible.
Background: I'm familiar with doing TFTP flashes
1-I want to upgrade from OpenWRT v23 to v24 obviously
2-Is there a away to do this without SSH?
3-Is it possible to just revert it to stock, and then just reflash OpenWRT v24? [I think my router may have a way to revert to stock with that double partition if I reboot it three times or something]
All I want to do is flash v24 with the least amount of risk possible, and ideally not having to deal with SSH
However, if you insist that SSH is the safest, could you outline ways to do it without Serial, i.e. via Ethernet, and how to parse that message for each command on each line. i.e
fw_printenv fw_setenv nandboot
"$(fw_printenv nandboot | awk -F= '{sub(/^nandboot=/, "");print}'
Basically, I'm confused by that compatibility message where to hit "enter" after each command. It doesn't really make that clear.