I've recently switched over from the stock OS to the OpenWrt v22.03.5, for a ZyXEL NSA325v1 box.
While the installation went smoothly, there's this issue with the network access. Specifically, i cannot ping any destination (in my local network or Internet). When initiating the ping command, it just doesn't do a thing and (after waiting for at least 30 secs), i'm forced to break the command. Here's an output, if you can call it as such:
On the other hand, if i ping the local address, i instantly get a reply:
root@OpenWrt:/# ping 192.168.10.145 PING 192.168.10.145 (192.168.10.145): 56 data bytes 64 bytes from 192.168.10.145: seq=0 ttl=64 time=0.194 ms 64 bytes from 192.168.10.145: seq=1 ttl=64 time=0.123 ms 64 bytes from 192.168.10.145: seq=2 ttl=64 time=0.103 ms 64 bytes from 192.168.10.145: seq=3 ttl=64 time=0.126 ms ^C --- 192.168.10.145 ping statistics --- 4 packets transmitted, 4 packets received, 0% packet loss
These are the current routes set up: root@OpenWrt:/# route Kernel IP routing table Destination Gateway Genmask Flags Metric Ref Use Iface default 192.168.10.1 0.0.0.0 UG 0 0 0 br-lan 192.168.10.0 * 255.255.255.0 U 0 0 0 br-lan
I can also provide the output from the ifconfig command and the content of the /etc/config/network file, if needed.
Has anyone encountered this before? Any thoughts, please ?
Yes, all 192.168.x.x are local addresses, from my internal network. 192.168.10.1 is my home router and DHCP server.
No, the NSA325 box is not reachable from any device in the same network / subnet.
I've upgraded from stock OS (latest v4.81) to OpenWrt ( using the file openwrt-22.03.5-kirkwood-zyxel_nsa325-squashfs-factory.bin). I'll then reinstall it.
Another piece of info:
i've tried to ping from U-Boot and it works:
NSA325> ping 192.168.10.1 ethernet-controller@72000 Waiting for PHY auto negotiation to complete....... done Using ethernet-controller@72000 device host 192.168.10.1 is alive
Also, both green and orange LEDs from the physical LAN port are lit and showing activity.
Also tried with another LAN cable => same thing.
Still, no network access on the NSA325 box......
Also, i don't get it why the nw access works in U-Boot, but not in OpenWrt.....
Ok, i seem to have identified what the issue is in this case, alongside a workaround past this.
So, as far as i could tell, the Ethernet module is not properly loaded in both U-Boot and OpenWrt, as upon booting up, only the green LED is lit and solid, but no link activity (flashing amber light). To "fix" this, i have to connect via the serial cable, access U-Boot and execute a simple ping command against any network device. It will then perform this operation, after which the NIC card is enabled and both the green and amber lights turn on and start showing activity:
ethernet-controller@72000 Waiting for PHY auto negotiation to complete...... done Using ethernet-controller@72000 device
After the ping command ends up with the "alive" confirmation, i reset U-Boot and this time just let it boot normally in OpenWrt, which will in turn do one last additional step during the boot process:
[ 19.924239] mv643xx_eth_port mv643xx_eth_port.0 eth0: link up, 1000 Mb/s, full duplex, flow control enabled [ 19.934108] IPv6: ADDRCONF(NETDEV_CHANGE): eth0: link becomes ready
To me, it seems like it correctly loads up the network adapter driver and completely starts the NIC. Life's good after that, network access works without any issues.
However, there's a caveat: this will only work until a power cut of if the device is powered off for more than 1 hr (i believe this action is temporarily saved in the RAM, which is being erased upon power loss). Of course, there's always the possibility to redo the entire "ping" workaround, which is not really feasible if one's using power schedules.
I'll get a bigger shovel and keep digging for a way to permanently and automatically enable the NIC during the boot process.
...