OpenWrt support for TP-Link Deco M4R

For Developers
123

Hi, just a stupid question: is the openwrt for m4r support open mesh?

124

There are no specific mesh packages for the M4R.

OpenWrt supports meshes.

1 Like
125

hi, my m4r v2.0 is in the firmware "1.5.4 Build 20220113 Rel. 38349".
I tried to follow this instructions, but I fail at the upgrade debug file.
is there other way to work?
thx

126

You can always open the device, solder three wires and access the uart interface with a usb-to-ttl dongle.

127

thanks for the info.
but I have no exp about how to use uart.
do you have any links to study them?

128

First you need to solder some cables: https://imgur.com/a/gK1CHMb

You should also read this to not damage your device: OpenWrt support for TP-Link Deco M4R - #45 by bobthebuilder

And I wrote down somewhere how to flash the device via the bootloader, but I can't find where. If you go the route of soldering then I'll go and search for the instructions.

1 Like
129

Hi guys, i just found that the Deco M4R is supported by OpenWRT, my only question is, how do i find out what version (v1,v2 or v3) i have?

130

You may look under your router and find the sticker that says "Model: Deco M4R(region) Ver:X.X.
You may also visit the router's web interface (make sure it is the master Deco) and navigate to Advanced -> System -> Firmware Upgrade and it will show every Deco's hardware version.

131

Thx, in system setting it says "M4R(2.0)" so i guess mine is v2 then.. Which should working on latest supported firmware?

132

V2 should work. Try following the instructions (and be careful) from here.

133

Thx dude, will have a look.

1 Like
134

Hi, after solder the cables, which file should I use to flash via UART?
in case I use CH341a to dump and program the rom, which file should I use?
Thx

135

Simply the newest sysupgrade.

1 Like
136

Hi. New here, have little experience with openwrt, have worked more in the past flashing my routers with dd-wrt but i'm ready for something new. I have the same M4 v2.0 and firmware "1.5.4 Build 20220113 Rel. 38349". than fanha99 and since the 3 devices i'm working with aren't mine and i wouldn't dare bricking one, I wonder if there is any updates on how it goes from there. The stock firmware just went crazy two weeks ago and the link between the 3 wired ap dropped and one of them reset himself to factory default causing issues on the network. I'm really into flashing them with OpenWrt but not into messing with the solder iron for that one. Thanks for the awesome work u do guys.

137

The debug firmware method is only needed for initially flashing the device (going from stock to OpenWrt). Once you are running OpenWrt you can simply upgrade it using sysupgrade, you don't need to mess with MTD anymore.

138

Thank You for confirming this!

Oz

1 Like
139

Looking like good progress over at m5 thread

1 Like
140

Hey @alex3305 have you solve the max speed issue? I have a 500mbps connection and I don't want it to be capped on the 5 GHz network, have you successfully tryed the overclock of the CPU?

141

I'm going to ask here,
I tried on other places, but haven't found a real solution yet.
I'm running OpenWRT op my deco M4R v2 and it works.
I only have a lot of stability issues with OTA on my esp devices(2.4Ghz, ESPHome and Tasmota)
OTA times out a lot of times and then it takes me some work to get the devices to work again.

I tried replacing ath10k-firmware-qca9888-ct with ath10k-firmware-qca9888 and kmod-ath10k-ct with kmod-ath10k but that made is worse because then it always timed out.

now I'm using ath10k-firmware-qca9888-ct-full-htt which seems to reduce the issue. Still I would like to have it fully go away. the original TP-link firmware doesn't have those issues. it has other issues, but I rarely had OTA Time outs. is there something I can do to improve the stability? or is there anyone else having those issues?

142

Hi @KinteLiX, thanks for your work on this and the clear instructions.
I am trying to apply them to my Deco M4R V2 units, but something is going wrong:
I can get to the recovery WebGUI, but a few seconds after the Firmware Upgrade starts (8%?) my (wired) connection seems to drop, the Deco reboots and nothing happens...
in Wireshark I can see that it starts sending data, then suddenly it starts spitting out erronous TCP packet information. the Deco seems to reboot, Yellow light turns ON, takes a while and turns RED.

On wireshark I see no data with the Deco as source whatsoever. Both static and Dynamic IP on my laptop don't work, I cannot see any wireless SSID originating from the device, and hooking up the deco to a DHCP server also doesn't seem to be doing anything.
to make sure windows isn't dropping my connection (something I had with upgrading a Mikrotik device) I tried putting an unmanaged switch in between, but the same happens to the Deco.

Any idea what is going wrong here?

Is there a specific original TP-Link firmware Image I should flash first? Can I hook up to any of the two LAN ports?

thanks!