openwrt on tp-link Archer vr1200v1

Hardware Questions and Recommendations
1

Hello Everybody,I'm a newbie on openwrt... I've got a tp-link Archer vr1200v1. Before throwing it in the trash, I'd like to understand if there is a way to let it reborn by installing openwrt. I've googled a lot and It seems this is unsupported device..Another important fact is even the device is named as "Archer vr1200v1" there are several hardware variant of this model.. in my case, I was able to connect with telnet and getting this information:
sh: cat /proc/cpu
system type : RTL8685SB
machine : RTL8685SB
processor : 0
cpu model : MIPS interAptiv (multi) V2.0
BogoMIPS : 666.41
wait instruction : yes
microsecond timers : yes
tlb_entries : 64
extra interrupt vector : yes
hardware watchpoint : no
isa : mips1 mips32r2
ASEs implemented : mips16 mt
shadow register sets : 1
kscratch registers : 0
package : 0
core : 0
VPE : 0

Is it possible to install openwrt? is it possible to compile my own version? is there way to let it work with even an old version of openwrt?Again thank everybody.

2

Can you connect to the UART console of device by any chance?

There is a chance this SoC is close relative to RTL9607C i am adding support for

But to test this theory out, you first need to get the UART console.

3

SoC is EcoNet - https://techinfodepot.shoutwiki.com/wiki/TP-LINK_Archer_VR1200v.

4

That is for v2

But here we have v1 which according proc/cpu info uses Realtek SoC instead

5

Hi Jamie!
Thank you for your answer.. I don't have the serial cable.. But even in that case.. It seems my router doesn't support tftp boot.... https://community.tp-link.com/en/home/forum/topic/602028?replyId=1195118
Is there a way to test it without serial?

6

Unfortunately, not a whole lot can be done then.

Well, "does not support the TFTP firmware recovery tool" doesn't necessarily mean bootloader, which presume is Uboot, do not have a tftp command. But again, can't know for sure until you connect to serial console.

All in all, this device is not a lost cause. SoC can be supported just by virtue of not being Lexra.
And the bootlog of the other device with RTL8685SB chip (or RTL8685PB i suppose cause bootlog and PCB contradict a little) looks promising.

There are a couple mentions of "VD2" codename in tarballs i have which look promising as well.

Nonetheless, that is not a task i can do as i am already busy with RTL9607C subtarget. And especially because i don't have the device with that SoC.

Feel free to go from here if you are willing to put an effort [1] :slight_smile:

[1] - Serial cable is required

7

Can you provide a photo of the manufacturer label?
TP-Link seem to have quite a lot of versions of VR1200-V1
There's an Italian version which uses the MT7510.. ditto the Turkish version, I also found reference to a VR1200v-V1 which is also MT7510..

An FCC-ID would normally provide a good indication of exactly which model is being referenced.

If you are just looking to throw it in the bin, there might be an OpenWrt developer (like @jameywine) close enough to make shipping sufficiently cheap. They could likely do more with it in their hands...

8

Hello,
sorry for this long delay on answering you.. I've struggled for long time to let my router work, but I've lost my battle... After googling and with the AI help at end I was able to compile my own routers openwrt firmware.. I was so close to test it.. but my router refuse to get it... I've bougt myself usb ttl cable and I've tried to connect to uart and activating the tftp recovery boot menu.. but the I wasn't able to connect ... I've read sever forums and I've tried to let me help by my friend with a multimeter but it seems some connection are interrupted and we weren't able to understand how to connect.. anyway.. I would like to thank you and all community for the great job you did, and the time you lost to help somebody like me.. I would like to share my experience on compiling and the error I've found.. maybe somebody a day could be find this useful...

I've compiled my own openwrt firmware on a ubuntu server 20.04 virtual machine with 4 giga and 2 cores..

I've the need to install all this sofware to be able to compile the source codes:

sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y

sudo apt install
build-essential
clang
flex
bison
g++
gawk
gcc-multilib
gettext
git
libncurses-dev
libssl-dev
python3
python3-distutils
python3-setuptools
rsync
unzip
zlib1g-dev
file
wget
libelf-dev
libudev-dev
libpci-dev
xsltproc
libxml-parser-perl
cmake
ninja-build
pkgconf
ccache
ecj
fastjar
java-propose-classpath
help2man
perl
patch
diffutils
swig
time

then I've downloaded latest openwrt source and Jamey's patch..
git clone https://git.openwrt.org/openwrt/openwrt.git
cd openwrt
wget https://github.com/openwrt/openwrt/pull/20064.patch
git apply 20064.patch

errors could be ignored

./scripts/feeds update -a
./scripts/feeds install -a

then I've started the makemenu script to choose the components that shoul be inserted on the firmware image:

Target System (Realtek MIPS) ---->
Subtarget (Realtek MIPS RTL960X / RTL8198D) --->

LuCI --->
Collections --->
luci

Network --->
<> ppp
<> ppp-mod-pppoe

  1. now it's time to apply some changes:

edit the file target/linux/realtek/image/Makefile

this:
include $(SUBTARGET).mk
$(eval $(call BuildImage))

become:
include $(SUBTARGET).mk
include ./rtl960x.mk
$(eval $(call BuildImage))

  1. edit the file target/linux/realtek/image/rtl960x.mk

after the line

$(Device/kernel-lzma)
add:
IMAGE_SIZE := 16384k

4)edit the file target/linux/realtek/dts/rtl9607_bt-pon_bt-g711ax.dts
the buttons gpio pins aren't defined so we need to comment it

/*
keys {
compatible = "gpio-keys";
pinctrl-0 = <&buttons_gpio_pins>;
pinctrl-names = "default";

            reset {
                    label = "reset";
                    gpios = <&gpio1 5 GPIO_ACTIVE_LOW>;
                    linux,code = <KEY_RESTART>;
            };

            wps {
                    label = "wps";
                    gpios = <&gpio1 2 GPIO_ACTIVE_LOW>;
                    linux,code = <BTN_0>;
            };

            wlan {
                    label = "wlan";
                    gpios = <&gpio1 4 GPIO_ACTIVE_LOW>;
                    linux,code = <BTN_0>;
            };
    };

*/

FINALLY EXECUTE:
make -j$(nproc)

that's all..
It took one hour to compile all ..
My only regrets is I was so close to install openwrt....
Thank everybody again

9

I wouldn't mind that if given an opportunity :slightly_smiling_face:

Please don't use it for these things, especially if you can't verify it is correct.

Were you trying to flash it???

First and foremost, share the picture of the device and its PCB before attempting anything else. We can't help otherwise.

So, instead of doing first step of investigating the UART and gathering info about your device you immediately jump right into compiling image that is not for your device and attempting to flash it? That is never going to work..

I would suggest you to read this first

10

hello, ithese are front and rear of my device

IMG_20260328_112225
IMG_20260328_1122251920×1440 719 KB

IMG_20260328_112330
IMG_20260328_1123301920×1440 990 KB

IMG_20260328_112345
IMG_20260328_1123451920×1440 812 KB

1 Like
11

Awesome,
These 4 pinholes at bottom left of the SoC are most certainly for serial port.

Now it is time to identify which pin is which. You mentioned that you have a multimeter which should make it quite straightforward

Or if you want a more illustrated example:

Let us know how it goes and report any findings.

1 Like
12

This is also the time that you will want to start noting down and researching the various chips on the board.

I see an Realtek RTL8812 wifi chip, which this should work for https://openwrt.org/packages/pkgdata/kmod-rtl8812au-ct

You've got an LE9642 phone line (FXS) chip. This part might not work out of the box... unsure if there's applicable drivers for it in Linux / OpenWrt already.

There's another Realtek chip on the right hand side. I want to say it's an RTL8215.. but that would be a 2.5gbps PHY.. and it's in a weird location for that. You might need to either take a better photo of just that chip (when taking photos of the PCB, a high level photo of the board, and then close-ups of each chip is usually best), or manually read off the part number yourself from that chip.

There's also likely another chip or two under the RF shielding in the top right.
It's possibly another RTL8812 chip with the first dedicated to 2.4GHz, and this second one doing 5GHz.. if they're both on USB, then you might be able to identify this once you've got console access to the SoC in OpenWrt (you could just use lsusb to see the USB devices).

13

I doubt that will get supported at all for various reasons.

It is actually RTL8275, and it is intended for RJ11 port [1]

They are both on PCIE [1]

I am also curious to what is that thing sticking out on the left of the board, on top of power port

[1] -

14

According to TP-Link (and when i compare some pictures of the case and the pcb), it’s a USB 2.0 port.

1 Like
15

Hi,
I was able to connect to telnet session on my tplink... I've analized the boot logs and it seems the wifi chipset is RTL8822BE.. googling the driver to use should be rtl8192cd

16

More like rtw88_8822be.