Maybe there is an easy answer to this but I have searched and can't find an answer...
I have found the Generic x86/64 image, but I want to put this on an external USB drive and get my PC to boot from this.
Can someone advise me how to put this image on a USB please (and which image to use?)
Ideally using Windows as I don't currently have a linux system.
Cheers!
Thanks! But ideally can I write this with a Windows system (using eg Rufus or similar?)
you should be able to write the image using rufus, too.
I use https://sourceforge.net/projects/win32diskimager/ (+ windows admin control panel disk management, to wipe existing partitions first)
As long as your BIOS/UEFI supports USB booting, you are fine. OpenWRT itself does not seem to care about the physical boot disk type.
I personally prefer SD cards, as then I do not have to manually modify the BIOS boot manager (which is annoying on an otherwise headless device), when switching SD card and staying with the same reader.
I would recommend to grab a spare USB flash drive and install https://www.ventoy.net/en/doc_start.html on it, and then put one or more "Linux Live Systems" on it. Like https://www.system-rescue.org/ and/or an Ubuntu Live to have a "proper" Linux system on hand when needed.
The OpenWrt images are distributed as gzip compressed. This is different from .zip file format popular with Windows. A gzip image that is still compressed will not boot. Whatever you use to write to the USB drive must understand gzip and uncompress it as part of the writing process.
I use totalcommander (www.ghisler.com) + gz plugin to handle gzip file under windows. It's totally transparent. Than I use win32diskimager to copy to a HDD. One can use an USB drive instead.
Hello Frollic, Thanks...
I remember I have flashed 'ROOter' to USB and booted that (I am sure you know ROOter is basically OpenWRT, modified to work well with many types of 4G and 5G modem).
What I now need to know is which OpenWRT Image to use (the Generic x86/64 has 6 different images) - for a standard PC...
7 zip will extract the .img file from the gzip ... won't it?
Depends on the age of your x86, newer ones would be EFI combined squashfs or ext4.
I use RMPrepUSB "File > Drive"
will do as well HDD's with (ALL DRIVES)
Thanks everyone, I can just unzip the gzip with 7-zip and use Rufus to put it on a USB stick...
Just need to sort out the FM350 5G modem now!
Am I right in thinking the x86/64 image is a 'bare bones' image with few packages (cos none of my wifi dongles are recognised?)...
I think on the download page there is an option to include more packages, also?
You can add the packages you need after installation. But it's a good habit to install directly the packages within the image using a building engine, such as the firmware selector.
https://firmware-selector.openwrt.org/?version=22.03.5&target=x86%2F64&id=generic
Than click on customize and add the packages you need.
You may also want to remove NIC drivers that are not necessary.
No real reason for using snapshots on x86 though, unless you have those new Realtek gigabit NICs.
My mistake, it didn't change the version while linking.