[Solved] Netgear xr500: flash openwrt back to stock or dd-wrt?

[hnyman]

@m1027

there seem to be no way back to stock or dd-wrt. Is that true?

No, the TFTP recovery flash should work, writing either an OEM image, a OpenWrt factory image or similar dd-wrt initial install image.

That TFTP is in the u-boot bootloader, so OpenWrt or dd-wrt have no role in enabling/disabling it.

The device-specific advice is well documented since year 2016 for R7800, which is the almost identical older sister of XR500. (The LED colors may vary etc., but that is non-essential for the process itself.)

• Netgear R7800 exploration (IPQ8065, QCA9984) - #5 by hnyman
• https://openwrt.org/toh/netgear/r7800#debricking

@mk24

Don't try to install dd-wrt from OpenWRT or vise versa, always return to stock then flash the third party OS

Not really necessary with R7800/XR500 when using the TFTP recovery, as the current router OS is completely bypassed and replaced with the new OS.