TP-Link TL-WR1043ND v1: 22.03.5.1 or 2?

Installing and Using OpenWrt
1

Searching for firmware for the TP-Link TL-WR1043ND v1 I found

https://downloads.openwrt.org/releases/22.03.5/targets/ath79/generic/

But there is no file at

https://downloads.openwrt.org/releases/23.05.1/targets/ath79/generic/

or

https://downloads.openwrt.org/releases/23.05.2/targets/ath79/generic/

So is 22.03.5.0 the last firmware for this old device?

I am going to update all my old routers at the moment and rembered I have TL-WR1043ND v1 too. AFAIR it is v1.8. Never had problems with flashing, except I maybe bricked 2 with my misconfiguration, but no need to worry, this old devices are a playground.

2

The TL-WR1043NDv1 no longer meets minimum system requirements and its image creation has been discontinued for 23.05.x and beyond[0]. As upgrading it beyond 22.03.x will no longer be possible[0], do plan ahead to retire- and replace it with something that is supported by the time the 22.03.x branch goes EOL next year.

--
[0] technically device support has not been removed, just the images aren't built by default anymore, so you can use imagebuilder or building from source to create them yourself, but 32 MB RAM is really tight - so be prepared to experiment how far you can go and keep it simple.

2 Likes
3

As mentioned they are a playground. The Archer C7 are a newer playground. I want to update all my routers and get everything work and then they are exchanged or in case a newer device gets broken, they are a backup device.

Still working on the correct configuration of my wireless bridges.There is something wrong or missing. See How to configure DNS and DHCP with a wireless bridge? - #6 by linuxuser

Probably a few lines only in the config files, but hard to find for me.

4

I am playing with my old devices :wink:

root@WR1043ND-v1-8:~# ubus call system board
{
	"kernel": "5.10.176",
	"hostname": "WR1043ND-v1-8",
	"system": "Atheros AR9132 rev 2",
	"model": "TP-Link TL-WR1043ND v1",
	"board_name": "tplink,tl-wr1043nd-v1",
	"rootfs_type": "squashfs",
	"release": {
		"distribution": "OpenWrt",
		"version": "22.03.5",
		"revision": "r20134-5f15225c1e",
		"target": "ath79/generic",
		"description": "OpenWrt 22.03.5 r20134-5f15225c1e"
	}
}

WR1043ND-v1.8
WR1043ND-v1.83840×2160 323 KB

Looks like there is space for a installing mesh-packages and play with it.

https://firmware-selector.openwrt.org/ doesn't find this device with version 1. So did I something wrong, when searching for it? My version is 1.8 and I installed openwrt-22.03.5-ath79-generic-tplink_tl-wr1043nd-v1-squashfs-sysupgrade.bin without any problems.

It works fine as WDS-client (just testing, no productive mode)

5

My v1 has long been upgraded with 64MB DDR, is there any technical reason it shouldn't be supported in newer releases, unlike the v2?

6

Yes, custom hardware means custom firmware, so taking care of that is up to you.

The tl-wr1043nd v1 as it fell from the production line only has 32 MB and is therefore deprecated.

7

No custom firmware was ever required for my modded device. RAM is detected correctly.