Need guidance on Linksys E8450 fresh install

Installing and Using OpenWrt
1

In March I installed 23.05.0 on a Linksys E8450. Following a power failure I encountered the OKD. Got it running again but it OKD'd again last week. It is now mostly bricked. But I'll come back to that at another time.

Meanwhile, I bought another E8450 and want to install 23.05.4 on it taking advantage of the solution for the OKD problem. I have been reading the Wiki pages over and over, but I am going in circles trying to be sure that I have the right files and process for this. I'm hoping someone can sort me out.

The toh page says that I should do a UBI install -- that's fine with me. It give a link for the installer which goes to github. Not being ready to run the ImageBuilder myself, I follow the link to pre-built files. Here, the strong advice is to use Release v1.0.2 of the installer. OK by me.

(Oddly, when I installed in March, it seemed pretty straightforward. Probably a case of monkey-see, monkey-do. Now I need to understand what I'm doing.)

Looking at v1.0.2, I see it is related to 22.03.3. Also, I see three "Generated" files and five "Assets", seven if you include the Source code archives.

So, here are my questions that, I hope, will help me understand.

  1. Which of these files is the "installer"? openwrt*recovery-installer.itb looks likely but I am not "recovering" anything. Also, if I watch the install video on the toh page, it looks like it is running a ".fit" file, not ".itb".
  2. What does the "installer" install? One of the squashfs-sysupgrade files?
  3. BTW, what are the different file types?
  • .bin, .itb, .fit, .fip
  1. What are all these files? (And how do I know which I need?)
  • initramfs-recovery
  • initfamfs-recovery-install
  • squashfs-sysupgrade
  • initramfs-kernel.bin
  • squashfs-sysupgrade.bin
  • ubi-bl31-uboot.fip
  • ubi-initramfs-recovery.itb
  • ubi-preloader.bin
  • ubi-squashfs-sysupgrade.itb
  1. What process do I use to "run the installer"? Do I do this from the vendor upgrade menu? Do I need the USB UART connection?
  2. Can I use this v1.0.2 installer to install the 32.05.4 version?

I do have a long background in Linux, networks, etc., but OpenWRT is like a whole new set of knowledge to acquire.

2

Once you install OpenWRT you only need sysupgrade from firmware-selector.openwrt.org

3

Thanks. That is helpful. But what is the first step for the install? Do I use the Linksys upgrade menu to flash openwrt-22.03.3-mediatek-mt7622-linksys_e8450-ubi-initramfs-recovery-installer.itb? And will that be a UBI install as recommended?

4

https://openwrt.org/toh/linksys/e8450

5

Thanks for responding but you are only pointing me back to the page I have thoroughly read.

My real problem is identifying the correct file to install using the vendor upgrade menu.

The quick start installation guide says that the file would be "...factory.bin" or "...factory.img" 30% of the time. Can't find one, so this must by the 70%.

The "Firmware OpenWrt Install URL" link on the toh page points to dangowrt's owrt-ubi-installer page (https://github.com/dangowrt/owrt-ubi-installer). That points to his releases (https://github.com/dangowrt/owrt-ubi-installer/releases) and I end up at the v1.0.2 release and this installer file which doesn't sound like a factory image file:

openwrt-22.03.3-mediatek-mt7622-linksys_e8450-ubi-initramfs-recovery-installer.itb

Alternatively, if I go to the Firmware Selector page, I can find a "...kernel.bin" file for the 22.03.3 release which might be appropriate:
https://downloads.openwrt.org/releases/22.03.3/targets/mediatek/mt7622/openwrt-22.03.3-mediatek-mt7622-linksys_e8450-initramfs-kernel.bin

Which one should I use?

6

yeah, sorry for not being a mind reader.

where on the device specific pages does it say you should use a factory image ?

7

The "Factory Install: First-time installation" page (https://openwrt.org/docs/guide-quick-start/factory_installation#locate_and_download_the_openwrt_firmware) is where I read that. This is a first-time installation on a new e8450, so that seems appropriate.

The device-specific page "OEM easy installation" section points to the dangowrt github page I mentioned previously.

8

That's why I wrote (and linked to) device specific.

What makes you think it's incorrect?

9

What makes you think it's incorrect?
[/quote]
Two things made me unsure. First, its file type is ".itb" and I have no idea what an itb file is. (Can you tell me what itb stands for?) Second, it is a 'recovery' installer but I am not doing a recovery.
However, if you tell me that this is the correct file, I will go with it.

10

Let's make some points clear.

The E8450/RT3200 doesn't get OpenWRT by just flashing a factory image like many other routers. It needs a installer that sets up the correct partition scheme (UBI) to run OpenWRT properly.

You could run OpenWRT on the first builds by flashing an old sysupgrade image, but the NAND chip of the device it's so bad, that could fail eventually. By using UBI, the NAND is handled better (wear leveling, error correction, etc), so you need an installer for that.

You need to carefully follow the Installer's github page instructions (https://github.com/dangowrt/owrt-ubi-installer). You need to check the FW version you're running and maybe downgrade to a lower version and try to flash tne installer from there.

The file is called recovery-installer because when ou flash it, the device reboots on a recovery evironment (usefull for diagnostics and recovery) where you can flash the actual sysupgrade later.

The OKD issue appeared after the 1.0.3 installer that came with OpenWRT v23.x. and fixed with the 1.1.3 installer. But, you can safely run the 1.0.2 installer and even flash the 23.05.4 sysupgrade image. So the procedure would be the following (this is a generalization, look on the github page!):

  1. Skip the setup on the vendor firmware. If it's new (>1.0.2 I think), downgrade or try to flash the recover-installer-SIGNED file, otherwise, the unsigned installer is enough.
  2. The device would reboot to a recovery installer. Log in, go to System > Backup/flash Firmware and flash the 23.05.4. You can always install the 22.03 image and then sysupgrade again to 23.05.4. It's the same. It's faster to fo straight to 23.05.4.
  3. Profit and name your firstborn after the device maintainer, Daniel.

After completing step 2, you should open a SSH console, and make a backup of your mtd partitions and copy them to a computer. It's the only way to recover the device to return to vendor FW. Again, the procedure is on the Github page.

If you don't want to use 23.05.4, but the latest SNAPSHOT, you should use the 1.1.3 installer and get the latest SNAPSHOT form the Firmware Selector page. The same procedure applies: flash the installer from the vendor FW, and then the SNAPSHOT sysupgrade image. It does includes Luci (GUI), and it's really stable. I'm using it right now.

Sorry for the long post.

Cheers!

PS: It might occur to you, that after flashing the 23.05.4 image the device doesn't reboot on its own. You probably would need to turn the power switch off and on and it'll boot. If that happens, you need to change the default governor to performance or schedutil. On the wiki is not actually correct, but the same procedure applies: https://openwrt.org/toh/linksys/e8450#change_the_default_cpu_governor

Just change ondemand for schedutil (or performance) .

1 Like
11

Thank you for your thorough answer. I'm not really sure why I found it so difficult to be clear on the process but there seemed to be too many decision points for this device, partly because of the OKD problem and solution. I now feel confident on how to proceed and I'll get it going this afternoon.

As for naming my first born Daniel, it is a few decades too late for that but I can start calling her Daniel and let her wonder why.

1 Like
12

Call her Danielle then, hehe.

But being on topic, don't forget to SSH and make a backup of the partitions as soon as you flash the installer and it reboots to the recovery environment. The installer actually creates a /tmp/boot_backup folder. You need to save that.

An also make sure the installer you need/want to use: For running 22.03 or 23.5.x, use the 1.0.2 (labeled Latest on Github). For snapshot, use the 1.1.3 (pre-release). Mixing this, would result in a brick and you'll need a serial cable and open the device to recover it.

13

I am looking for stability so I will not be running pre-releases or snapshots. So, I have installed the v1.0.2 signed installer because the oem software was 1.2.00.273012.

FYI, the installer did not create /tmp/boot_backup. Not a problem because the instructions on the owrt-ubi-installer page work:

mkdir /tmp/boot_backup
mount -t ubifs ubi0:boot_backup /tmp/boot_backup

followed by this from the desktop:

mkdir factory_backup
scp root@192.168.1.1:/tmp/boot_backup/* factory_backup

I installed the 23.05.4 version and it is looking good. I uploaded the config files from my previous (now bricked) e8450 that was running 23.05.0. Everything seems to be running fine.

Thanks again for your help.

1 Like
14

Adjust fixed MAC address in /etc/config/network and delete uhttp and dropbear keys to regenerate....

15

Glad to hear that!

When OpenWRT v24 arrives, eventually you should use the new installer because more partitions are moved to UBI. The procedure is basically the same: flash on Luci the new unsigned installer, the router reboots and then you flash the v24 sysupgrade.

It's not advisable to restore previous configs because there are some changes in the config files, but you can use the backup to fill some values, like WiFi settings and such.

Cheers!

16

What is the purpose of doing that?

Also, there is no MAC address in /etc/config/network.

17

Original crypto keys lie in a flash chip outside your control....