OpenWrt installation on TP-Link TD-W8970 v1

Installing and Using OpenWrt
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I need Firmware OpenWrt Install for Firmware OpenWrt Install, It doesn't exist

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Isn't that some kind of catch 22?

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i don't know

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Read the device wiki page linked above. The sysupgrade file is the only one that you will need for installation, but there is no way to simply install from the web interface of the stock firmware. Two other methods are described on the device wiki page.

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I am trying to download openwrt firm on my router TP-link tl-w8970 V1, but it didn't go well.

Please can anyone tell me how to download openwrt on this type of routers.

Thanks.

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@frollic I have a TP-Link TD-W8970 V1.2 that I am also going to install OpenWRT on, but I just wanted to check what the current best practice is for the install. Working from the WiKi links above, I have managed to use the Web Interface hack and the Python Tool such that I can now telnet into it and execute commands as root.

However, I'm a little unsure as to which is my best option to move on from here.

Following the very elderly forum archive, https://forum.archive.openwrt.org/viewtopic.php?id=42380&p=13 Post #319 by s7mx1 gives some apparently idiot-proof instructions for flashing OpenWRT version 15.05 using DD and a USB drive which are easy for me to follow as I've used DD on Linux for years (the only tricky bit is finding where I left my USB drive). I presume that I would then SSH back in, set a password then use sysupgrade to flash the current OpenWRT of 22.03.2 then it'd be all sweetness & light?

Did I miss something? Is this going to be my best approach, especially seeing as this is my first OpenWRT install, & I'm still finding my feet?

Justin

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You should probably make a new post asking about install best practices - instead of reviving a year old thread that merely asked for firmware.

Yes - if you navigated to the link above, you would have found:

I would advise to continue following the instructions on the Wiki instead of stopping. If you have questions about the instructions, perhaps you could make a new thread and ask them specifically.

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If you have telnet or ssh access to the stock firmware it probably supports using mtd to flash OpenWrt. Use the sysupgrade file in that case. It is a direct image of what should be in the flash chip. The factory file must not be written directly to flash since it has headers which the bootloader does not understand and it will brick.

But my first choice install method would be serial, and TFPT boot OpenWrt initramfs then sysupgrade to a release version. This is generally the quickest, safest way to install or debrick most models.

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Thank you all for your pointers and advice. I ended up using the Web Interface hack and the Python Tool, as the SSID hack didn't work for me. That gave me root access via telnet, & I followed the forum post that I linked above to load OpenWRT 15.05 from a USB Drive after I had used dd to split out a correctly sized chunk.

That successfully flashed OpenWRT 15.05 onto my TD-W8970 ver 1.2

However, you don't seem to be able to upgrade straight to 22.03.2 vi LuCI, so I upgraded from 15.05 to 17.01.0, then again up to 19.07.0 which all worked successfully (with keeping my settings enabled).

My TD-W8970 now has 19.07.0 successfully installed and running, but when I try to upgrade again, the image fails verification

error
error610×501 77.7 KB

This is the image file specifically linked to by the WiKi and the Sha254 sums match for my downloaded copy. The settings on the router are irrelevant as all I have currently changed is the name & IP Address.

Should I just uncheck Keep Settings then Force Upgrade it?

As this is the last step, I thought it best to ask first.

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Yes.

Be very sure you're using the correct sysupgrade file, since Force Upgrade will blindly flash any file without checking at all for compatibility.

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Thanks, but I had already gone back & flashed 19.07.0 - which worked perfectly. Then, when you upgrade to 22.03.2 it tells you what you need to do...

error_2
error_2945×516 89.5 KB

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Which all worked perfectly when I ran the Force Upgrade.

Thank you all for your help.

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