Trying to unlock a BT VG3503J conflicting info

Hi,

I have a BT VG3503J modem which needs to be unlocked to accept wrt, its a V1 as per the wiki HERE im not sure what i need to install, a brief description...

The filename of the firmware that is there to download is >>> openwrt-19.07.0-lantiq-xrx200-arcadyan_vg3503j-squashfs-sysupgrade.bin, the instructions below show a different filename to use >>>> lede-17.01.4-lantiq-xrx200-VG3503J-squashfs-sysupgrade.bin /tftpImage/lede-17.01.4-lantiq-xrx200-VG3503J-squashfs-sysupgrade.bin

The wiki says, In another terminal make sure the image is available

For LEDE 17.01:

ln -s lede-17.01.4-lantiq-xrx200-VG3503J-squashfs-sysupgrade.bin /tftpImage/lede-17.01.4-lantiq-xrx200-VG3503J-squashfs-sysupgrade.bin

So i am a bit confused as to which i should be using.

Also, further down the wiki it says.....

"There is a minor cosmetic bug in LuCI's Network → Switch menu for LEDE 17.01, whereby LAN1 and LAN2 ports are transposed. This has been fixed from OpenWRT 18.06.0 stable release. https://git.openwrt.org/?p=openwrt/openwrt.git;a=commit;h=004fe8962090aba170b866aaba5526d4f96c8d6d"

Is that to say i should use that firmware ? it looks as though it has a fix ?

@loady, welcome to the community!

Version 19.07.0 was just recently released, so please excuse the wording on some pages that don't highlight that. Clearly, version 19 us the most recent version.

Be advised though, your device only has 32 MB or RAM. Version 19 will likely be one of the few last supported versions. Don't expect the LuCI web GUI to be highly responsive.

Im aware of the limitations, could you recommend a more suited version, if indeed older ?, i litterally just need to unlock it, im planning to sit it behind my own router as my isp does not let me put the supplied router into modem mode or bridge mode, it seems that the firmware to download on the wiki link for this modem is the latest version ?, is it the instruction to install said firmware that needs changing ?

I would only recommend the most up to date version of software on devices. As of this posting that is:

  • 18.06.6
  • 19.07.0

Nothing appears incorrect regarding versions on the Wiki page. So assuming you saw the big warning at the top of the Wiki about RAM, you should no longer be confused.

What i am asking is if the install commands given relfect the file that is available on the page ?

Is THIS a custom version someone made for it ?

  • I have no clue what you linked and why - and that page references an extremely old version. I wouldn't trust firmware found on a 3rd party site
  • If you're asking if you're required to edit the commands to match the exact path and filename, that answer is yes, the file names must match exactly

Are you confused because the instructions show the old version or something???

What commands are you having a problem with?

yes, my confusion was with issuing the commands, im just following the instruction, as long as i know that the firmware i download in the link is the latest version then i can just change the commands to reflect that.

The firmware i linked to on kitzforum seemed to be a modified version of openwrt made to work better, i may be wrong.

The JSamuel version on kitz forum is indeed a custom version based on very old version of Openwrt 15 chaos calmer. It contains modified code which also offers more DSL statistics in LuCI web interface not found in current OpenWrt/LEDE. But it does not include any patches for xrx200 Lantiq chipset introduced since 2015. JSamuel doesn't provide any support and recent posts suggest there are no plans to update it as OP is now on cable broadband.

The openwrt wikipage was last updated in 2018 when LEDE 17.01.4 was the current version at the time (17.01.6 was last official stable version). It also requires you to complete the instructions for setting up 'bridge' mode described in section 9.8 within OpenWrt/LEDE installation guide for HH5A.

There is nothing stopping you installing LEDE 17.01.4 now as per wiki page, and later choosing to upgrade to LEDE 17.01.6, OpenWrt 18 or 19 using LuCI web UI btw. Otherwise, if you wish to go straight to OpenWrt 19, then you simply have to substitute the lede-17.01.4-lantiq-xrx200-VG3503J-squashfs-sysupgrade.bin with openwrt-19.07.0-lantiq-xrx200-arcadyan_vg3503j-squashfs-sysupgrade.bin for example when following the wiki instructions. As OpenWrt 19 stable has only recently been announced, I'd personally use proven OpenWrt 18.06.4 or LEDE 17.01.6 releases.

With regards to LAN1/LAN2 being transposed in LEDE 17, it is just a cosmetic bug. It does not mean you MUST use OpenWrt 18 or 19.

2 Likes

Thanks bill88, that's really cleared it up for me. Guess I'll just go with the.latest and easiest

I have the skills to upgrade the RAM in these if at all possible or viable, if i did it, would the firmware need to be tweaked to utilise it or would it just work better of the bat once done ?

Firmware would need to be tweaked. It's not like x86_64 that auto senses the RAM size, the size tends to be specified in the firmware.

1 Like

This topic was automatically closed 10 days after the last reply. New replies are no longer allowed.