I Have a verson I compiled from the Master branch on 2021-12-22
this used what I found to be unused space on my DIR 1960
but make sure you backup all of your MTD partations just in case from you current install
& due to flash layout change you have to flash with the factory image
http://luckys.onmypc.net:81/openwrt/2021-12-22/targets/ramips/mt7621/openwrt-snapshot-r18012+384-9f90a89655-ramips-mt7621-dlink_dir-1960-a1-squashfs-factory.bin
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Thanks a lot, @Lucky1! I downloaded the file. I am still a little bit conscious about this flashing procedure, but I guess I will give it a try if I don't find a way to save some space within the current install.
I have just a few more questions:
- Will this change in partition structure somehow prevent me from going back to the original D-Link firmware if anything goes wrong?
- What will happen if new version of OpenWrt (let's say 21.02.2) will be published, I'll do the sysupgrade using the LuCI - will it still work? Or do I lose this ability to do an upgrade once I flash custom build?
- Is there a Pull request for this change? Is there any chance this partition enlargement will make its way to the standard release?
Once again, thanks a lot!
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It changes what Openwrt's layout is so sysupgrade won't work it will just crash
& you have to flash with a factory file from the recovery interface this erases UBI
the partitions I have added to the available room where it's not used by my DIR-1960
you can go back to the dlink firmware yes
but just in case backup your MTD partitions so you can restore them later if needed
If you change back to default openwrt you will need to use it's factory image
no pull request
it's mixed up in the other models that share it's DTS
and due to the fact that openwrt crashes if the layup changes via sysupgrade
makes it complicated
you can make a Pull request if you like 
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@lucky1 the most recent link you posted doesn't work -
the most recent working version @ http://luckys.onmypc.net/openwrt/DIR-1960/
is presently dated 6-26-2020
I've successfull downloaded the stock firmware for the 1960 from this URL
http://files.dlink.com.au/products/DIR-1960/REV_A/Firmware/DIR-1960_FW1.11/
I've been able to run dlink-decrypt on it but haven't tested it yet
The openwrt page still has no entry - perhaps I should create one?
@oookoook - can you report back if you were able to successfully use the image posted by @lucky? was it simply uploading the correct .bin file into the D-link recovery admin?
I'm very confused ?
it's the file I last used to go back to stock
I admin i have not used for for a while
but can't see why I would want to go back to dlink firmware
I'll take it down then
you can make a page if you want 
I'm not sure why you are telling me abou tyour untested decripted file
i'll just keep mine as for me i know it works if i ever want to go back
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I decided not to use that firmware because of the inability to do future upgrades. Instead, I ditched the idea to run both SMB a DLNA on the router. I use only SMB, I've bought the Chromecast, and stream to the TV without the DLNA from my laptop or Android phone using the VLC app (interestingly, I am not able to stream from iPhone, as the iOS VLC is not able to login to SMB share - but that's a completely different issue - Samba + NTFS + VLC (Question))
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Hi there @Lucky1 Thank you for the work your doing! I just got this router on eBay for $25! Been wanting an openWRT router for while and you made this so easy! I'll be using your image above for tinkering and if you could point me in the direction of how I can make a backup first as per suggested by you? Very new to the openWRT community so I'll be learning on it. I am going to be trying to using it to connect to public wifi with a capture login webpage and rebroadcast it under my own name through openWRT. If your familiar with Xfinity and it's free Xfinitywifi hotspots, I have a login and password for it but it only works in one part of my house and hopefully this can free my shackles of internet access and give me some range.
Hi Blueyezboi
it depends on where you are & if you have a serial interface hooked up
if you have already use a release edition of openwrt you can just save all the MTD's as is
save each item in the drop down list at
System > Backup/Flash Firmware > Save mtdblock contents
if you still have the dlink firmware & want to back that up as well "openwrt has not over written it yet"
you can load the "dlink_dir-1960-a1-initramfs-kernel.bin"
directly into ram via the menu in the serial interface
can't remember the menu or prompt atm but it's something like hit 3 to upload tftp image into ram
the do the same save each item in the drop down list at
System > Backuo/Flash Firmware > Save mtdblock contents
I hope this is enough to get you started if not let me know
Hi @Lucky1 I'm installing the base firmware you created at this moment. I'm Attempting to do everything I said in the previous posts. I had to bust out an older laptop because my newer one didnt have a network port! I'm not exactly wet behind the ears so i got this baby up in a few minutes. just got in today and finally have time to tinker!
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It was actually SO easy to do what I wanted on this! Even better than expected! I know I haven't even scratched the surface of it's potential.
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I was able to get OpenWRT installed and almost working reliably (it boots, and runs mostly, but randomly reboots at least once per day, sometimes a lot more than once).
D-Link DIR-1960 A1
MediaTek MT7621 ver:1 eco:3
OpenWrt 21.02.3 r16554-1d4dea6d4f / LuCI openwrt-21.02 branch git-22.083.69138-0a0ce2a
When the system reboots the logs are wiped and so now I am beginning the process of debugging. Is there a tutorial on how to proceed?
I'm going to try and setup some monitoring agents to see if I can narrow down the circumstances.
Any suggestions/ideas on how to proceed are appreciated. @Lucky1
I have not had any luck with V21
I think it needs a minimum version of kernel after V21
to fix lots of problems with the switch
and there was just an update for the wifi that fixes
slow speed on DFS channels just added to V22 & master
so I think at the moment the best version is V22 but after rc4
depend on what addon's you use as the firewall is changing
but use the V22 snapshot "luci is in there" unlike the master one's
https://downloads.openwrt.org/releases/22.03-SNAPSHOT/