Trouble Installing OpenWrt on Ubiquiti U6-Lite

[diggity801]

Hello,

I've been trying to install OpenWrt on my Ubiquiti U6-Lite access point, but I'm encountering some issues. Despite following the installation instructions from the OpenWrt website, the device always boots back into the Ubiquiti firmware after reboot.

Here's what I've done so far:

1. I connected to the device in recovery mode from my Windows computer via SSH.

2. I downloaded the OpenWrt firmware directly to the device using curl.

3. I set the boot environment as follows:

   fw_setenv devmode TRUE
   fw_setenv boot_openwrt "fdt addr \$(fdtcontroladdr); fdt rm /signature; bootubnt"
   fw_setenv bootcmd "run boot_openwrt"
   

4. I verified that the boot environment was set correctly using fw_printenv. The output was:

   appinitdone=true
   baudrate=115200
   ble_mode=serial
   bootdelay=2
   device_model=U6-LITE
   ethact=eth@1e100000
   ethaddr=70:a7:41:c6:a7:84
   fdtcontroladdr=8ffecf90
   fw_version=9.9.9
   macaddr=70:a7:41:c6:a7:84
   netmask=255.255.255.0
   serverip=192.168.1.19
   stderr=uartlite0@1e000c00
   stdin=uartlite0@1e000c00
   stdout=uartlite0@1e000c00
   ubntaddr=850000a0
   is_ble_stp=true
   ipaddr=192.168.1.20
   is_default=true
   devmode=TRUE
   boot_openwrt=fdt addr $(fdtcontroladdr); fdt rm /signature; bootubnt
   bootcmd=run boot_openwrt
   

5. I set the bootselect flag to boot from kernel0 using dd if=/dev/zero bs=1 count=1 of=/dev/mtdblock4.

6. I wrote the OpenWrt firmware to both kernel0 and kernel1 using dd if=firmware.bin of=/dev/mtdblock6 and dd if=firmware.bin of=/dev/mtdblock7.

7. I rebooted the device.

After these steps, the device still boots into the Ubiquiti firmware. I've tried this process multiple times with the same result.

I would appreciate any help or suggestions. Thank you.

[stmtpr]

Someone else was having the same problem.

Flashing Unifi 6 Lite fails. Flash read only?

I'm having the same issue too. Even after following the instructions on the guide linked by @timonsku, my Unifi 6 Lite just boots back up in adoption mode (solid white LED) with the stock firmware seemingly intact. ➜ ~ scp -O ~/Downloads/openwrt-22.03.5-ramips-mt7621-ubnt_unifi-6-lite-squashfs-sysupgrade.bin ubnt@192.168.1.20:~ ubnt@192.168.1.20's password: openwrt-22.03.5-ramips-mt7621-ubnt_unifi-6-lite-squashfs-sysupgrade.bin 100% 6913KB 5.3MB/s 00:01 ➜ ~ ssh ubnt@192.168.1.2…

and then

Flashing Unifi 6 Lite fails. Flash read only?

Interestingly enough, I was able to resolve the issue by just flashing the oldest stock firmware I could find (v5.43.19) after putting the AP into recovery mode. After I successfully flashed the old firmware, I was able to follow the same steps and get OpenWRT to successfully flash on the AP.

[diggity801]

I was able to resolve the issue by just flashing the oldest stock firmware I could find (v5.43.19) after putting the AP into recovery mode. After I successfully flashed the old firmware, I was able to follow the same steps and get OpenWRT to successfully flash on the AP.

v5.43.19 saved the day. Thank you!