In that case it would indeed occur only on this specific v6 model. Possibly on other routers that use the same chip for 5 GHz as well.
Hi, all who has Archer c50 v6, could you please test it with latest snapshot, if Ethernet is working well both wan and lan ports(dhcp) and also wi-fi 5ghz is present?
1 Like
I cannot test myself, but are you seeing issues? If there would be wired ethernet issues, they would most likely affect the other Archer C50 revisions as well (v3, v4 and v5).
no it could affect only v6 version, if I install v4 version all seems working well except 5GHz radio. So it seems a conflict between radio module and ethernet module, or my model is not fully cloned Archer c50, so I am asking for test at hardware that it is targeted.
The ethernet and 2.4 GHz chip on those versions are identical, so a problem affecting those on the v6 would affect other revisions as well.
A conflict might be possible, but then the advice would be to fully disable the 5 GHz chip module and observe what happens. Another option you could try is using the exact commit of OpenWRT in which support was introduced as that commit should be fully working.
I understand you're trying to see if the Archer C60 is identical to the Archer C50 v6? Do you have any information on the C60? Some research and comparison of the ODM firmware would help.
I was mistyped not C60, but C50, sorry
No problem! That can happen. I also had a quick look at the C60 specs and they seem rather different, so that wouldn't likely work.
In that case, please try the commit that added support and let us know how it works. Possibly you found a regression.
Hi, i just bought a Archer C50 v6 and I tried to install Owrt in it.
The label says Archer C50(IN), v6.8 (V6 on store).
It's a india specific version, but the hardware is same and the official firmware is EU. So, IN is probably a marketing thing.
I tried to flash through the tplink web UI and it bricked my device. I did expect this so before installation i downloaded the official firmware and enabled the SSID on my ISP router.
After this the C50 automatically went to recovery mode, but both the 192.168.0.1 & 192.168.1.1 were not working so, i tried installing the official version with tftp64, which i downloaded earlier from the tplink india website (which I test before). But even after trying to power it on with the reset button pressed but it didn't start the flashing process (i did setup static IP on windows) .
I repeated this multiple time to no use, so I tried holding the reset button while the device was on (found it on a random forum) this started the flashing process (the red internet status light was flashing) which lasted longer than expected. Then suddenly it turned off, no matter what I do it is not turning on. No power led, no heat, nothing.
I used my multimeter to test the adaptor and it's working fine, but even if the firmware is out the power led should glow right?
I tried to connect it to pc but it's not appearing, i bought it a 3 days ago so returning it is still a option since it looks like hardware issue that happened at wrong time. Additionally I do have a programing chip for my Arduino (FT232RL) which could be modified to write firmware through the serial terminals. But if i open it i won't be able to return it. So what should I do
Note: in used a ethernet cable while flashing , there were no voltage surges or power outages at the time. The adaptor shows voltage of 9.25v, the router was working as a AP and it was not in use while flashing. I have installed owrt before on different devices which were marked IN and this never happened.
Why did you expect this? What image did you try to flash? Did you follow any instructions?
I download the snapshot (https://firmware-selector.openwrt.org/?version=SNAPSHOT&target=ramips%2Fmt76x8&id=tplink_archer-c50-v6)
I used the kernel version not systemupgrade. I followed the instructions on (https://openwrt.org/toh/tp-link/archer-c50)
The official image was downloaded from, https://www.tp-link.com/in/support/download/archer-c50/#Firmware ,
The router originally came with Archer C50(EU)_V6_210222 which I upgraded to Archer C50(EU)_V6_211108. I used the same file with the tftp64.
I read this form before I tried doing it, so I was afraid it would get bricked, so as a precaution I isolated the router from network and gathered all the softwares before hand
So if I understand correctly, you followed the instruction that says to use the sysupgrade image, but you accidentally used another image? Do you think the instruction could be improved?
So far I've not seen anybody write about a brick unless they deviated from the instructions in a way they could clearly recall.
I still don't know if tftp can help you out. I would suggest following the tftp instructions very carefully and using Wireshark to observe if you see any traffic from the router when it should attempt to fetch the image.
I read the instructions clearly, i haven't tried anything outside the instructions. I used the images as it is, no modifications.
No lights points towards a power delivery issue, but the the timing for the failure is odd
Edit: i tried connecting it to my pc, no connection, the device not even being detected
This is not very clear as the instructions describe how to modify the image so it can be flashed from the TP-Link firmware.
How were you connecting it prior? It seems like it's quite dead yeah...
I did not modify the image, it's the reason why the owrt installation failed (i am guessing), but it was not the reason for the bricking. After failing the owrt installation the the router entered rescue mode, so I used tftp64 to flash the official firmware from tplinks official website (i used the same version i used before). But after the installation the router was Fully dead.
As a last ditch effort I am going to flash it through serial pins
The tftp instructions are rather specific and I suspect they won't work with the TP-Link image as is. If you read the tftp instructions, you'll find that you need to prepend some data in front so make sure everything lines up for the layout of the newer models. (So while TP-Link did not alter the tftp recovery in newer versions, they also didn't alter it to match the new dual uboot layout.)
Good luck with flashing through the serial pins! I would strongly encourage reading the available information and instructions.
I decided to open the router and tested the PDS, it was fine. So i went on to write the official firmware. Now it works fine. I didn't read the instructions correctly, my mistake. But now I know. I am going to try this again, hopefully it works this time.
1 Like
Alright, great to hear! Be sure to let it know if you have any suggestions with regards to improving the instructions!!
Instructions are clear, but it feels like scattered. And this thread is going for a while and things have changed from when the thread was created, like the snapshot has fixed the issue with the 5Ghz band, and the v6 official support has ended which makes OpenWRT more necessary, it would be good if a new thread or perfected thread is created.
did you test your v6 with current fw? does it work correctly after flashing?
1 Like
Same here. I got the latest TPLink FW from here: https://www.tp-link.com/de/support/download/archer-c50/v6/#Firmware
Followed instructions from here: https://github.com/openwrt/openwrt/commit/e9ac1b19e0f3d383ab83373c261bfb5527a29521
After flashing combined image via TFTP the router power cycles without any LEDs flashing afterwards.
Flashing Archer_C50v6_EU_0.9.1_0.5_up_boot\[230810-rel38522\].bin from the package via TFTP does not help either. The device stays bricked.
EDIT: Repeated the process and waited a little longer (about 1m?).
Now the device booted up and seem healthy... 
Benchmarks are looking good. Traversing traffic well above 90MBit/s.
1 Like