OpenWRT on alfa wifi camp pro 2 with r36a

[cor]

Hello,

I'm trying to install OpenWRT on a Alfa wifi camp pro 2 r36a with currently stock firmware.

After a reset the web interface is at http://192.168.36.1/cgi-bin/auci/admin/system/firmware

I tried uploading and flash trough the web interface:
https://downloads.openwrt.org/releases/23.05.5/targets/ath79/generic/openwrt-23.05.5-ath79-generic-alfa-network_r36a-squashfs-sysupgrade.bin

(I thought sysupgrade is for systems that already have OpenWRT on it?)

This file I found in the wiki by clicking Factory image
(https://openwrt.org/toh/alfa_network/r36a)

It gets rejected after uploading by the web interface with this error; It appears that you are trying to flash an image that does not fit into the flash memory.

Not sure what I'm doing wrong. Maybe I have different hardware or wrong file to flash.

Any pointers are greatly appreciated.

[frollic]

since you found the wiki, I assume you also tried the alternative u-boot web recovery method ?

[cor]

No. But I did now and that succeeded.

For reference:
You can use sysupgrade image directly in vendor firmware which is based on LEDE/OpenWrt.

Alternatively, you can use web recovery mode in U-Boot:

1. Configure PC with static IP 192.168.1.2/24.

2. Connect PC with one of RJ45 ports.

3. Press the reset button and keep it pressed

4. Power up device

5. Wait for first blink of all LEDs (indicates network setup)

6. Wait for 3 following blinks (approx 3 seconds), then release the reset button.

7. Open 192.168.1.1 address in your browser and upload sysupgrade image.

It took me a few tries to get 192.168.1.1 to respond to ping but after that all good.

Thanks for your time. Appreciated.

Currently half package from Internet gets dropped but that's a separate tread.