I have the Linksys E2500... the box says E2500-4B to be precise. I am hoping that "4B" is version 4. If it is I would like to help test your version.
Note: I see I have to get access to the uart. So, I do have an arduino and I think I can figure out how to use it here. The trouble is, I can't get the lid off the thing! I've tried a couple flathead screwdrivers to (gently and carefully) pry it off, but it just keeps snapping back. I've searched for videos on how to do this for this model, but I've come up empty so far.
Thanks for the tip on opening up the thing. Are you saying I need an eeprom programmer for this? I guess I could get one.
Just an fyi. Since posting here, I have accomplished getting wireless here by use of a usb wireless dongle. But, since I already said I'd test this, I will go ahead and do this anyway. If it works I could make one my 2.4 and the other my 5GHz wireless router.
EEPROM programmer is not mandatory, you can test without flashing using TFTP, but it's strongly recommended because this release is untested on 2500v4.
If anything fails, and you don't have a backup you may have a brick, lost your MAC and Calibration data.
Feel free to do as you want, as you find it fun to do.
btw, i've relased a version based on 22.03 branch with a config closer to openwrt official, with basic wpad (updating form previous mays result in unknown option in wifi configuration files)
Hey @j-d-r ,
Thanks for your work on this! I have a couple of E2500s that I picked up on clearance. I was able to tftp the new version, but the 5GHz radio does not show up in config. I will try the older release to see if that works, but I wanted to let you know about the latest one. I'll be happy to test or build images now that you laid the groundwork.
I actually want to use my routers for 2.4GHz only, so that's not an issue for me, but it will be for average users, if they want to get the AC1200 speeds at the price of a 600
I kept the March 30 release and was able configure without issues. I added a couple of luci pages, removed some packages, and added a custom ssl cert. It works great. I have had it running for a few days and it is very stable, no dropped connections, plus I am getting 150 Mbps on 2.4GHz and 867Mbps on 5GHz. That is the performance of the e5400!! I need 20MHz channels for legacy and IoT stuff on 2.4, or I could get the 300 Mbps. Still, it's awesome. Thank you!
It's strange that 22.03 does not show radio, 2500v4 and e5400 are supposed to be the same boards (https://fccid.link/Q87/-03418) and it works on mine. Was the radio listed on wireless tab, or was it just disabled due to unsupported configuration? Installing wpad-wolfssl may solve the problem.
btw, I'm testing changes/cleanup on Device Tree and I will receive soon a E5350 (same hardware) to test. I will release soon a new test version.
The place to collect valuable information like serial pinout, how to open the case, current support status etc. would be the OpenWrt wiki.
Currently there is no devicepage for this device.
Thanks for the info. I went ahead and created a new device page with links to this discussion and @j-d-r's github repo. The page is here https://openwrt.org/inbox/toh/linksys/e2500_v4
I wasn't sure what to put under supported, so I chose Not supported, since these are experimental, externally created images.
Now, would these efforts bring the V4 closer to being supported, or are we out of luck because it uses a MediaTek CPU?
The serial pinout is in the device page I created. You only need Gnd,Tx, and Rx.
Before I flashed one of my devices, I used OpenWRT's memory dump to get copies of all partitions. I'll see if there is a spot to upload that to the device page or the tech page.
Hi, I'm wondering if any of the above users can comment after a period of prolonged use on whether you have encountered any issues or limitations whatsoever with these builds on an e2500v4.
Not sure if this is an acceptable use of this forum, but - as an end user too dumb to install - would love to see this progress & also to use this build if it can be made available for end users prior to completion of the pull request. Doesn't sound like an official release will incorporate this work anytime soon.
Request guidance for an end-user installation. (Using e2500 v4.)
