1. First, you'll need to get a TFTP server running, I'm assuming you are on Windows, but since I don't know if you're under x86 or x64, you can get this one: http://tftpd32.jounin.net/download/tftpd32.452.zip
Just extract the archive into some folder on your disk.
2. Copy the full firmware file openwrt-xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx-squashfs-tftp-recovery.bin
and place it in the same folder as the tftp server files you extracted earlier. Rename the firmware file exactly to tp_recovery.bin
.
3. Open your wired network interface's settings and set your IPv4 manually to 192.168.0.66
, click OK
4. Disconnect every cable from your router apart from the one connecting to your computer
5. Power off the router and open the TFTP server by running the executable extracted earlier (tftpd32.exe
)
6. Now, press the reset button on the back of the router and power it on without releasing the reset button, wait for about 10 seconds or until the TFTP server shows some activity (loading bar), meaning the router is downloading the firmware file for flashing - once it reaches 100%, you may release the reset button and then wait about 2 more minutes until the flashing process is complete (pay attention to the LED lights).
7. Again, open your wired network interface's settings and set your IPv4 back to automatic, click OK
; if the flashing process was completed correctly you should get assigned an IP address by the router within the subnet 192.168.1.0/24
, in which case OpenWRT LuCI should be accessible through http://192.168.1.1
NOTE: If you did not succeed in step 6, meaning that the router never downloaded the firmware file, it may be due to WIndows' connectivity detection creating a delay that goes beyond the window of time during which the router's TFTP client tries to find the server. In this case, you have 3 options:
A. Get a network switch, connect one cable from your machine to the switch and a second cable from the router to the switch, now try again the process from step 6.
B. Get a machine with Windows XP, I think this "feature" was introduced in Win Vista or 7;
C. Get a machine with Linux, but you'll have to gather how to get a TFTP server working on it, shouldn't be too hard though.
Hope this helps.
P.S: This video sums it up well enough: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EC-3pxbHoHw
Just ignore the steps to download the firmware (which you already have), ignore the steps to download WinSCP and LuCI, and also ignore anything after 9:20