Dear pstlr78,
I installed openWRT on an Fritz!Box 7530 as mentioned in the openWRT wiki which is quite similar to your post here (did you apply for an openWRT wiki account :-)?). I also read your post over here: Fritz!Box 7530 and 7490 as Modem+Router combo for 35b Supervectoring - #56 by slh
However - here i'm completely stuck :-(. Did you get the modem to work? And if yes, pleeeeeease tell me how (honestly, i'm unused to openWRT - used it years ago with a LinksysWRT54GLS it was if I remember correctly, but that was easy as I had an provider with an ethernet cable connection, so no modem in use).
I think the modem is only supported in current snapshot builds, and you will need to install a number of firmware images (that can not be distributed by OpenWrt at this time) before the modem can be used. See the section titled 'DSL modem" here:
(I only tried a 7520 and the recipe above worked well, but since I wanted luci I went and built my own snapshot image and included those firmware files directly into the firmware image)
P.S.: In case you already installed the firmware files and a snapshot built, jut ignore my blathering....
Thanks for the fast reply! I followed the instructions in your link (section "DSL modem") and copied:
aca_fw.bin to /lib/firmware/09a9
ppe_fw.bin to /lib/firmware and
xcpe_8D1507_8D0901.bin to /lib/firmware
Afterwards i made a symlink: ln -s xcpe_8D1507_8D0901.bin /lib/firmware/vdsl.bin
Do you have a guide what you did with your 7520 box?
Thanks
and selected the firtzbox 7520/7530 as model (then 'make defconfig' to get the default selected and then 'make menuconfig' to add all the stuff I wanted extra (like luci, and a bunch of extra packages)) then I copied the /lib/firmware created like you did to <buildroot>/files/lib/firmware ( is a stand-in for what ever directory your OpenWrt source lives in). Then I built it, configured it.
omg. sounds so easy it takes me ages :-). I'lll try to get the current version up and running. and iof not up and running: maybe a deeper understanding.
Which version of OpenWrt are you running? As @moeller0 pointed out, it does not work on 22.03.3, only on snapshot builds.
If you install a snapshot image, you can also install LuCI and other required packages, but only within a few days before you run into trouble. Keep in mind that snapshot images do not contain LuCI (i.e. the web interface).
Good point. In my case I run the 7520 as bridged modem without internet access, so installing packages is a hassle that is why I opted for building the image myself, which honestly was simpler than it sounds... (but I already had a working build environment on my linux machine.)
I'm using 22.03.3. I thought when manually copying the firmware files it works? i'm getting more and more lost by the minute :-). And honestly "but only within a few days before you run into trouble" doesn't make me feel comfortable either . But I'll have a look at it!
TY
No, the image is too old. When 22.03 was released, the driver for the VDSL modem was not included.
The snapshot images are regularly auto-generated by build bots. You always get the latest code, but once your installed image is too old, newly installed packages won't work (properly).
EDIT: I just edited the Wiki to clarify that the VDSL modem is not supported on 22.03.
Snapshot installation is as easy as the stable image, just head over to https://downloads.openwrt.org/snapshots/targets/ipq40xx/generic/ and download the image. You can even install the image via LuCI web interface, just make sure that you do not keep settings. The network configuration structure has changed, your device won't come up if you keep settings.
Thanks for the hints. Now I see what you meant that it might not last for long. Wasn’t aware that opkg only works for a few days. Phase 2 snapshots might work longer though.
I suppose I can’t backup my settings? Just the config changes most likely… will be a challenge :-).
Although your post is a bit off-topic (here is just a step-by-step installation guide to just flash the image on the router - not a setup guide for your configuration), I can share my thoughts:
I finally found the solution (probably the best): I sold it! Otherwise there was a high risk it would be thrown out of the window with the possibility of someone passing by and get injured.
In my opinion, and as I still read the rest of the comments here, it looks that the stage of support/setup of this device is still a $%/*tshow (at least the "stable" branch build). I indeed found the snapshot build a lot better in terms of the setup, but then you start accepting the challenges with updating packages, not initial availability of luci, etc. I gave up when I tried to ring-fence one of the LAN ports to behave exactly as an individual WAN port. But at the same time, I am not a very experienced OpenWrt user/geek, hence it could be easier than thought.
Imo, if you really want to mess around with this device or have unlimited amount of time and/or patience then please go ahead and experiment.. for a month's worth of work.
The reality is that the support/setup for this device is still quite immature compared to other devices (e.g. R7800), which makes sense for a relatively new device [not too many people use it + issues will be ironed out gradually with time].
I'm sorry to read that.
It's one of the very few supported modem-router devices, there is not much choice if you want decent performance. And if you go for a (used) 7520, they are really cheap.
I agree with you that the installation is relatively complicated since you need the intermediary U-Boot, but once you've got this ironed out, it works flawlessly and stable.
Sowhile I am not a total beginner anymore, I found the instructions for installation and firmware building, if one starts with:
relatively straight forward and easy to follow.
The installation instruction even tackles the one big issue with configuring br-lan for different VLAN tags.
. But I'll have a look at it!
