Linksys WRT1200AC - "factory" contains no [b]ash, nor luci

Hello,
Maybe I'm missing something here.
Lately my router started acting weird on 5G wifi connections, so I decided to reflash it, downloaded https://downloads.openwrt.org/snapshots/targets/mvebu/cortexa9/openwrt-mvebu-cortexa9-linksys_wrt1200ac-squashfs-factory.img, flashed it with sysupgrade... and got an inaccessible system. ssh closes connection ( probably has to do with absence of a shell ), nothing listens on port 80.
If I understand correctly my only chance now is USB to TTL cable and flashing over serial, but I really wonder what stands behind brilliant idea to deliver "factory" images without means to interact with a system. What am I missing here?

You installed a snapshot. Quote from the website:
These contain the latest technology, but may not work well, or at all. Be prepared to supply bug reports, etc.

Snapshots are generally “fine” for daily use.

However, they never contain LuCI. Instructions on the wiki as to how to install it, with or without Internet connectivity.

ash is present on both types of build. bash is not installed by default on any official OpenWrt build.

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Well, ssh closes connection. I recall this same behaviour from another time I was dealing with re/flashing, but that time I had access to luci, so I could install bash.

So choosing snapshot was my mistake, but is there any other way I can reflash it? I don't have USB to TTL cable right now, waiting for it to be delivered.

ssh -v [...] to figure out why it is not responding.

I am guessing that you're not running OpenWrt yet, though hard to confirm.

Snapshots are fine and normal, far from a "mistake". Many of us run them, or self-built equivalents for daily use.

Have you read through https://openwrt.org/toh/linksys/wrt_ac_series on the device and things like failsafe mode and dual-firmware booting?

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The Power switch method might work, providing there is a valid firmware in the other half of the flash.

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Most likely, because the fingerprint of the new install is different from the old install. Read carefully the message you get from ssh client.

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That worked! Thank you very much, you saved my day!

Hopefully that wiki page is readable for you. If you have questions, please ask here.

The SSH problem is puzzling, but it may be what stangri suggested. I'm used to OpenSSH and its blaring warnings about host-key changes, which may not be the case on your desktop/laptop.

Hi Jejj,
Thanks for your help. I'm working in the industry, ssh is a daily-usage tool. I indeed absolutely missed that wiki page, which is bookmarked already. Thanks again.

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If you configured bash (which is an addon package) as root's login shell (don't do that!), the /bin/bash binary won't survive a sysupgrade, but /etc/passwd (which is the place to configure an alternative shell) will. This leads to the consequence that root won't have a valid shell anymore and all login attempts will fail (failsafe recovery required).

If you prefer bash over busybox ash, you can install and invoke it manually, but don't hardcode /etc/passwd to use a shell that isn't part of the default package set of a sysupgrade image.

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