Using openwrt on TP-LINK TL-WR802N V4

Installing and Using OpenWrt
1

Hey, so I had to create an account here to ask about the guide on how to install openwrt on TP-LINK TL-WR802N V4 because the original topic is closed.

The guide - https://openwrt.org/toh/tp-link/tl-wr802n_v4
is full of typos and unclear wording (grammatical errors) so I have been trying to decipher it and follow the instructions in the different ways that they can be interpreted. Nothing works from these instructions basically and I am looking for help on how to actually put openwrt on my TP-LINK TL-WR802N V4.

So I have tried with the different ips, no difference in the end result. I have tried only the solar winds tftp program because everything else I found through google is malware. I have tried different combinations of plugging cables and button pressing, nothing. All that is happening is the router keeps resetting to factory settings.

2

if everything else fails, install wireshark, and sniff the traffic coming from the router.

both TFTP server IPs from the wiki were tested, right ?

3

Okay I will try that. I am using ethernet on a laptop and this is the only thing I can think of that can cause error, maybe I should try on desktop pc?

4

USB Ethernet should work too, but if you use Windows and TFTPD32/64, keep the following in mind:

  1. by default TFTPd will use 127.0.0.1, this isn't right for you.
  2. if you reboot or restart the 802N, the TFTPd interface will revert back to 127.0.0.1
  3. disable the Win firewall
5

Yes you should definitely check with wireshark or tcpdump to confirm that the router is making a TFTP request, and to what address. I thought it was always 192.168.1.66 and the router will have the IP 192.168.1.88, so make sure your PC is configured with a /24 netmask.

The best TFTP server I've found is any spare OpenWrt router. Adding these two lines to the first section of /etc/config/dhcp will set it up to serve files from the RAM disk. Set the LAN IP to 192.168.1.66/24 and connect the router being flashed to a LAN port.

    option enable_tftp '1'
    option tftp_root '/tmp/tftpboot'
6

Thank you! I didn't try turning off firewall, I will try it

7

The default Windows firewall definitely will prevent any TFTP server from working.

Wireshark observes packets outside the firewall, so if you see a request come in to your PC's IP but no response from the TFTP program and no packet in answer, it has probably been blocked in the firewall.

8

Disabling Firewall didn't help at all and Wireshark isn't showing anything until the router turns on which means it has gone back to factory settings so no luck

9

Then the only way to figure out what's going on, is to connect to the serial interface.

10

Connect an Ethernet switch in between the router and the PC so that the PC port stays up and configured while the router is powered off and/or rebooting.

11

Well, I tried my best and I couldn't get this to work. I don't have a switch at the moment to try that method

12

Update - I have been able to finally do it by using Tftpd64 and setting security to none. It was finally able to connect, download took 4 seconds and flashing probably like 1-2 minutes. Also I used this post on reddit https://www.reddit.com/r/openwrt/comments/m8le8v/openwrt_tplink_tlwr802n_need_installation_help/

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