Trouble upgrading NETGEAR WNDR-4300v1 from 19.07 to 21.02

[zeafonso]

Hi,

When I try to download 21.02 sysupgrade image for NETGEAR WNDR-4300v1 from the link provided at https://openwrt.org/toh/netgear/wndr4300#installation, nothing happens, file seems not to have been found, nothing is downloaded.

Then I tried to manually download it (netgear_wndr4300-squashfs-sysupgrade.bin) from https://downloads.openwrt.org/releases/21.02.0/targets/ath79/nand/.

SHA256 of the downloaded file matches with the one published in the page above.

DA1DF9F9A9BEADC7E831300552238039A13B51CBF7E28C2AC7D695BB8D704340

However when I try to use it from LuCI to upgrade from 19.07 to 21.02, I get the following error message:

Device wndr4300 not supported by this image Supported devices: netgear,wndr4300 Invalid sysupgrade file. Image check failed. The uploaded image file does not contain a supported format. Make sure that you choose the generic image format for your platform.

[tmomas]

[zeafonso]

Hi tmomas,

I did not chose to force upgrade because I'm not sure that the firmware is correct for my device.

I guess you are trying to tell me that it is correct.

Do you know the reason why I've got the error message below?

Device wndr4300 not supported by this image

Thanks, Jose

[badulesia]

Hi.
You have the correct image file, and this message is normal. I agree that it sounds alarming, I remember being suspicious myself.

Your device is similar to the 3700v4, and I had trouble upgrading from 19.07 to 21.02.

What is partition layout for Netgear 3700v4?

Hello. I have installed 21.02 rc1 on a Netgear 3700v4 and went into trouble. I tried to install a custom build with a few packages, size is > 8MB. I built a ligher custom build (< 8MB) and that one works. So there is some kind of 8MB limit size for build. The device has a 128 MB nand flash. After install, there is about 100 MB available, which is big. So there is 28MB left for the partition layout. I searched for this partition layout to confirm this, but was not able to fully understand (no …

I would suggest not to upgrade from 19.07. Return to stock firmware, and than flash a 21.02 factory image. That works. Doing so, you can't keep settings and have to reconfigure from scratch. Once the device is on 21.02, you can safely upgrade while keeping settings (I went from RC3, RC4 to final).

[kushal]

I have a wndr4300 and just did the upgrade. I attempted the force upgrade, but it ended up with the power led doing a slow green blink that the net tells me indicates firmware corruption. I did the tftp install instead, and it booted up fine.

I restored config from backup after that, which led to some minor issues:

• https://github.com/openwrt/luci/issues/4758 was resolved by editing /etc/config/rpcd
• https://forum.openwrt.org/t/updated-to-21-02-0-ath79-dns-not-working-in-lan w/105414 resolved by editing /etc/config/dhcp
• known issue about ipv6 packets being dropped, resolved by disabling software flow offloading

Hope this helps.

[badulesia]

@kushal

I attempted the force upgrade, but it ended up with the power led doing a slow green blink that the net tells me indicates firmware corruption.

Why does this not surprised me ?
Welcome to the club.

It would be wise to start configuration from scratch. Nevertheless, if the upgrade suits you and you find the configration stable, well ... go on.

[zeafonso]

Thank you for your recommendation, @badulesia. I'll do that.

[zeafonso]

Hi @badulesia, your suggestion of first going back from 19.07 to stock firmware before installing 21.02 worked fine for me. Thank you!

[badulesia]

That's what I have done for a 3700v4, which is almost identical to a 4300.