Package updates (for WRT32X)

[AndyJG247]

Hi,

I've just replaced my old router with a wrt32x. The build version appears to be from May time without any dev builds since then (possibly due to bricking issue and something to do with DSA from my limited understanding so far). I've noticed there are multiple packages that have updates showing in LUCI.
I realise updating everything to the latest version isn't always the best course of action however I'm also concerned about security patches and the like.

Would anyone be able to help me with understanding whether it is safe/workable to update the packages (e.g. luci git-20.136.49537-fb2f363-1 » git-20.247.75781-0d0ab01-1) please?

thanks

[AndyJG247]

Found this so should have searched better earlier!

Which updates are important, and how to start over?

How do I know which software updates are important? How do I revert to a "released" version of the firmware? I was looking through LuCI and saw the Software section, and noted that there were maybe 17 or 20 software updates listed. SO I went through the list in LuCI clicking the "Upgrade" button. I think two or three updates complained of something incompatible in their configuration files, so I SSH connected to the router, made copies of the specific outdated files and copied the new configur…

[ghoffman]

the dsa issues affect upgrades from non-dsa versions and introduce some other complexities including limitations on switch configuation form luci.

the lack of builds over the last month has to do with kernel size exceeding the very small 3mb allocation in the original mtd map. i am not sure there will be a soluton soon. other threads address this tangentially.

i suggest either using 19.07.3 verion, or a pre-compiled verion from davidc. those builds have been quite stable, but are also halted in development becasue of the above issues.
see https://dc502wrt.org/

you could consider 'converting' your wrt32x to a wrt3200acm. the hardware is interchangeable. the u-boots are different and the mtd maps are different. significantly, the wrt3200acm maps a 6mg kernel partition, but alo has more wasted space so max image size is more restricted compared to wrt32x. but development builds do proceed.
for conversion, see Linksys WRT32X OpenWrt-based firmware & WRT3200ACM crossflash
i have a wrt32x as my main router for a large home network (about 40 devices total and a lot of streaming). uptime has been months. with sqm, no lags at 400 Mb/sec

[twt]

Thanks for the shout-out. I summarized what I learned in that thread with the vague hope of improving the documentation. But I haven't. In my opinion there are lots of blind alleys in the documentation and very few high level overviews to help folks navigate successfully. I'm not ready to help with that.

I've been lucky that the router and its configuration work exactly as I need it to even though I still feel like I don't understand it very well. I agree with the final comment in that thread... the best way for someone like me to handle upgrades is probably to create a script for installing the configuration, and just install each new stable release, run the script, and (hopefully) avoid any major breakage that might come from major package updates.