I have a GL-MT6000 router. I updated it with the FW off the Openwrt download page to version 24.10.4. That was then I started to have all kinds of problems configuring the device. At first I thought maybe it was me but then the device started crashing and the only way to recover was a hard reset. I stripped back all the features one by one that I had configured to as basic as it comes, LAN plus wireless only renaming the AP. I still got the crashes and they happen at random. Sometimes after an hour, sometimes after a day but I never get a chance to see the log because it is hung solid and I have to hard reset. Today I DLed the update from the vendors web page and although it is the same version it has a different SHA. IS there anyway to get the logs from a hung device? Why is the vendors FW (same version) different than the one from OPenWRT?
From which version did you come, to which version did you go (just to avoid any misunderstandings, please just provide the full download URL of the target version).
The OEM firmware has nothing to do with vanilla OpenWrt. It's based on Mediatek's proprietary vendor SDK, not OpenWrt - and with that configuration syntax and semantics are different. You cannot retain configs between OEM firmware and OpenWrt - and this is quite likely the cause for your problems.
Also, it should go without stating that if you were running the GL-inet vendor firmware, you cannot re-use the configuration as they have both syntax and configuration items in their firmware that are not compatible with official OpenWrt. As such, when you perform the upgrade, it's necessary to allow the device to reset to defaults (uncheck the "keep settings" option or use the -n argument on the CLI). From there, you'll be able to configure from scratch with official OpenWrt.
The official OpenWrt firmware works very well with this device -- it's well supported and popular. So it is likely that the issue is either with attempting to keep the old configuration, or something you're doing when you configure the device from the default state.
I dont know which version I started with. Here is the link where I got the upgrade to OpenWRT FW
https://firmware-selector.openwrt.org/?version=24.10.4 and I selected the version for my router with SHA 51ede8a3e6a7687764d2c2bd4e0dde71cc072006cc9933b09f92864775a5aa10
I configured from defaults with that version. I wiped the device clean with hard reset many times due to crashes and ended up eventually only using default LAN and access point. All I did was set router passwd, rename access point (TELUS5764) and set the wireless key (alphanumeric - 12 digit) . I couldnt get much simpler and still the crashes continued and the device gets bricked. I have to do a hard reset and even then only with a power cycle. Each time I had to rebuild config from scratch. I thought maybe it was something in the config so I removed configuration items each time until I was down to what I described. It crashed 3 times in 24 hours with that basic config I described. I even tried downloading and reinstalling OpenWRT FW. Right now I had to install the vendor FW because I just couldnt keep the router running. Note I had zero crashes prior to the FW upgrade to open source OpenWRT. I would like to run the open source OpenWRT but I dont know what to do to make it stable.
As has been mentioned, this device is both well supported and popular with official OpenWrt users. There aren't any known issues that would result in the behavior you're observing. With that in mind, normally, I'd suggest a potential hardware issue (and to test using the vendor's firmware), but it sounds like the system is stable on the vendor firmware which suggests that the hardware is fine.
Let's take a look at your configuration (when on official OpenWrt) to ensure that there isn't anything usual happening.
Please connect to your OpenWrt device using ssh and copy the output of the following commands and post it here using the "Preformatted text </> " button (red circle; this works best in the 'Markdown' composer view in the blue oval):
Remember to redact passwords, VPN keys, MAC addresses and any public IP addresses you may have:
ubus call system board
cat /etc/config/network
cat /etc/config/wireless
cat /etc/config/dhcp
cat /etc/config/firewall
Ubus
{
"kernel": "6.6.110",
"hostname": "OpenWrt",
"system": "ARMv8 Processor rev 4",
"model": "GL.iNet GL-MT6000",
"board_name": "glinet,gl-mt6000",
"rootfs_type": "squashfs",
"release": {
"distribution": "OpenWrt",
"version": "24.10.4",
"revision": "r28959-29397011cc",
"target": "mediatek/filogic",
"description": "OpenWrt 24.10.4 r28959-29397011cc",
"builddate": "1760891865"
}
}
Network
config interface 'loopback'
option device 'lo'
option proto 'static'
option ipaddr '127.0.0.1'
option netmask '255.0.0.0'
config globals 'globals'
option ula_prefix 'fd05:eaf1:8ae5::/48'
config device
option name 'br-lan'
option type 'bridge'
list ports 'lan1'
list ports 'lan2'
list ports 'lan3'
list ports 'lan4'
list ports 'lan5'
config interface 'lan'
option device 'br-lan'
option proto 'static'
option ipaddr '192.168.1.1'
option netmask '255.255.255.0'
option ip6assign '60'
config interface 'wan'
option device 'eth1'
option proto 'dhcp'
config interface 'wan6'
option device 'eth1'
option proto 'dhcpv6'
wireless
config wifi-device 'radio0'
option type 'mac80211'
option path 'platform/soc/18000000.wifi'
option band '2g'
option channel '1'
option htmode 'HE20'
option cell_density '0'
config wifi-iface 'default_radio0'
option device 'radio0'
option network 'lan'
option mode 'ap'
option ssid 'TELUS5764'
option encryption 'sae-mixed'
option key 'XXXXXXXXXXX'
option ocv '0'
config wifi-device 'radio1'
option type 'mac80211'
option path 'platform/soc/18000000.wifi+1'
option band '5g'
option channel '36'
option htmode 'HE80'
option disabled '1'
config wifi-iface 'default_radio1'
option device 'radio1'
option network 'lan'
option mode 'ap'
option ssid 'OpenWrt'
option encryption 'none'
DHCP
config dnsmasq
option domainneeded '1'
option boguspriv '1'
option filterwin2k '0'
option localise_queries '1'
option rebind_protection '1'
option rebind_localhost '1'
option local '/lan/'
option domain 'lan'
option expandhosts '1'
option nonegcache '0'
option cachesize '1000'
option authoritative '1'
option readethers '1'
option leasefile '/tmp/dhcp.leases'
option resolvfile '/tmp/resolv.conf.d/resolv.conf.auto'
option nonwildcard '1'
option localservice '1'
option ednspacket_max '1232'
option filter_aaaa '0'
option filter_a '0'
config dhcp 'lan'
option interface 'lan'
option start '100'
option limit '150'
option leasetime '12h'
option dhcpv4 'server'
option dhcpv6 'server'
option ra 'server'
option ra_slaac '1'
list ra_flags 'managed-config'
list ra_flags 'other-config'
config dhcp 'wan'
option interface 'wan'
option ignore '1'
config odhcpd 'odhcpd'
option maindhcp '0'
option leasefile '/tmp/hosts/odhcpd'
option leasetrigger '/usr/sbin/odhcpd-update'
option loglevel '4'
option piofolder '/tmp/odhcpd-piofolder'
Firewall
config defaults
option syn_flood 1
option input REJECT
option output ACCEPT
option forward REJECT
# Uncomment this line to disable ipv6 rules
# option disable_ipv6 1
config zone
option name lan
list network 'lan'
option input ACCEPT
option output ACCEPT
option forward ACCEPT
config zone
option name wan
list network 'wan'
list network 'wan6'
option input REJECT
option output ACCEPT
option forward REJECT
option masq 1
option mtu_fix 1
config forwarding
option src lan
option dest wan
# We need to accept udp packets on port 68,
# see https://dev.openwrt.org/ticket/4108
config rule
option name Allow-DHCP-Renew
option src wan
option proto udp
option dest_port 68
option target ACCEPT
option family ipv4
# Allow IPv4 ping
config rule
option name Allow-Ping
option src wan
option proto icmp
option icmp_type echo-request
option family ipv4
option target ACCEPT
config rule
option name Allow-IGMP
option src wan
option proto igmp
option family ipv4
option target ACCEPT
# Allow DHCPv6 replies
# see https://github.com/openwrt/openwrt/issues/5066
config rule
option name Allow-DHCPv6
option src wan
option proto udp
option dest_port 546
option family ipv6
option target ACCEPT
config rule
option name Allow-MLD
option src wan
option proto icmp
option src_ip fe80::/10
list icmp_type '130/0'
list icmp_type '131/0'
list icmp_type '132/0'
list icmp_type '143/0'
option family ipv6
option target ACCEPT
# Allow essential incoming IPv6 ICMP traffic
config rule
option name Allow-ICMPv6-Input
option src wan
option proto icmp
list icmp_type echo-request
list icmp_type echo-reply
list icmp_type destination-unreachable
list icmp_type packet-too-big
list icmp_type time-exceeded
list icmp_type bad-header
list icmp_type unknown-header-type
list icmp_type router-solicitation
list icmp_type neighbour-solicitation
list icmp_type router-advertisement
list icmp_type neighbour-advertisement
option limit 1000/sec
option family ipv6
option target ACCEPT
# Allow essential forwarded IPv6 ICMP traffic
config rule
option name Allow-ICMPv6-Forward
option src wan
option dest *
option proto icmp
list icmp_type echo-request
list icmp_type echo-reply
list icmp_type destination-unreachable
list icmp_type packet-too-big
list icmp_type time-exceeded
list icmp_type bad-header
list icmp_type unknown-header-type
option limit 1000/sec
option family ipv6
option target ACCEPT
config rule
option name Allow-IPSec-ESP
option src wan
option dest lan
option proto esp
option target ACCEPT
config rule
option name Allow-ISAKMP
option src wan
option dest lan
option dest_port 500
option proto udp
option target ACCEPT
### EXAMPLE CONFIG SECTIONS
# do not allow a specific ip to access wan
#config rule
# option src lan
# option src_ip 192.168.45.2
# option dest wan
# option proto tcp
# option target REJECT
# block a specific mac on wan
#config rule
# option dest wan
# option src_mac 00:11:22:33:44:66
# option target REJECT
# block incoming ICMP traffic on a zone
#config rule
# option src lan
# option proto ICMP
# option target DROP
# port redirect port coming in on wan to lan
#config redirect
# option src wan
# option src_dport 80
# option dest lan
# option dest_ip 192.168.16.235
# option dest_port 80
# option proto tcp
# port redirect of remapped ssh port (22001) on wan
#config redirect
# option src wan
# option src_dport 22001
# option dest lan
# option dest_port 22
# option proto tcp
### FULL CONFIG SECTIONS
#config rule
# option src lan
# option src_ip 192.168.45.2
# option src_mac 00:11:22:33:44:55
# option src_port 80
# option dest wan
# option dest_ip 194.25.2.129
# option dest_port 120
# option proto tcp
# option target REJECT
#config redirect
# option src lan
# option src_ip 192.168.45.2
# option src_mac 00:11:22:33:44:55
# option src_port 1024
# option src_dport 80
# option dest_ip 194.25.2.129
# option dest_port 120
# option proto tcp
Everything in this config looks fine, except for the fact that I would recommend avoiding sae-mixed encryption. Use either WPA2 (psk2) or WPA3 (sae) but not mixed mode.
What other changes do you make that then cause your device to appear to brick? And what are the specific symptoms (and test methods) when it goes south?
That is the exact config that bricked it 3 times in 24 hours. I stripped off everything else one by one as I was troubleshooting until I got down to the mininum that I could keep my house running with. At first I thought it was Adguard as it was the last piece installed BUT piece by piece I removed items from subsequent configs until I was down to bare bones. It bricks at random. Note that each time I to hard reset, I started from defaults and rebuilt config. It hangs sometimes after a few minutes, sometimes after hours but frequent enough to make it unusable. The very last brick occurred overnight. I got up in the AM, no access to router, no ssh, no ping to router, no SIDs broadcast and hung solid. The white light is solid on the modem when it happens. Even with a hard reset I sometimes had to also power cycle. I will change the encryption. Right now I am on factory Openwrt and it has been up for 5 hours, not long enough to tell. Just to recap prior to the upgrade to OS Openwrt it never crashed once. Maybe what I will do is let it run say a week with this config and see if I have any problems,the longest it ever run before was maybe around 24 hours. If not maybe upgrade to OS OpenWrt again after a week?
You haven't explained how you are testing and concluding that the device is bricked.
For example:
- What are you doing to try to connect to the router? ping? ssh? web interface?
- What address are you using to do this?
- How are you physically connected? ethernet? wifi?
- What else is connected to the router aside from the modem/wan?
- What happens if you just power cycle the device (pull the power cable out for 10 seconds then reconnect)?
Also, it's critically important to use precise terms for what is running on the device:
To be clear, the vendor firmware is not really OpenWrt... it's based on OpenWrt but is not the same. To make an analogy, official OpenWrt (from openwrt.org) is to the GL-inet vendor firmware as real maple syrup (from trees) is to the corn-syrup "maple flavored syrup".
When you refer to the firmware that comes from gl-inet, please call it "gl-inet" or "vendor" firmware, and anything you get from openwrt.org can be called "official" or just simply "OpenWrt" -- this will greatly clarify things (what you've written in the passage I quoted above is very confusing).
A simple way to collect a log remotely is to SSH to the router and run logread -f then leave the session open. Logs should remain on your terminal screen after a crash.
THanks. I will do that. I just want to run the factory FW for a few days to see if it too has problems.
- What are you doing to try to connect to the router? FAIL ping? FAIL ssh? FAIL web interface? FAIL
- What address are you using to do this? 192.168.1.1 but I tried several others as well.
- How are you physically connected? ETHERNET Direct into port 3
- What else is connected to the router aside from the modem/wan? An ethernet WAN link and an Ethernet to a switch.
- What happens if you just power cycle the device (pull the power cable out for 10 seconds then reconnect)? The device will NOT recover with just a power cycle, it comes up in the same state in which it crashed.
Have you tried unplugging this??
I can remove the link to the switch but that removes all my TV, all my cameras, all my light switches etc. With this switch connected everything worked fine with last router (ISPs) and also worked with this router prior to the upgrade. I will remove the switch link but this is not something I can do for very long. I going to wait until the weekend because 1) I dont have the time and 2) I want to see if I can maintain uptime with the GL.inet FW. Is there anyway to download a log from the router or is it cut and paste. I thought maybe I would compare before and after logs to see if there are any differences? Just to confirm when I upgrade I should do a SYSUPGRADE and select my router FW from
https://firmware-selector.openwrt.org/?version=24.10.4 select the version for my router with SHA 51ede8a3e6a7687764d2c2bd4e0dde71cc072006cc9933b09f92864775a5aa10
Questions, which stock firmware were you on before you flashed Openwrt?
Which Uboot version are you using?
The point of disconnecting the switch is to remove all other connections from the router (except the one you have to try to connect to the router itself for admin/testing). This serves to ensure that another device on the network is not implicated in the issue - I’ve seen networks go down as a result of everything from network address conflicts and loops due to miswired connections to broadcast storms from usb-c docking hubs to faulty firmware on peloton bikes. By removing all other devices, you will be able to verify if the router is really crashed or if something else is causing your network problems.
The problem has been solved. The router has run for days now. It looks what happened is the first upgrade did not work properly. The solution was to upgrade to the GL.Inet latest FW and from there upgrade to Openwrt. I have scoured the logs and absolutely nothing unusual. Thank you to all that helped me along the way.