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Topic: [SOLVED] Linksys EA4500 Designated Driver back to Chaos Calmer

The content of this topic has been archived on 3 Apr 2018. There are no obvious gaps in this topic, but there may still be some posts missing at the end.

I recently got a Linksys EA4500 and checked to see if it was supported by OpenWRT and I saw it was so I installed the version linked on the Wiki page for the device. However I see it is Designated Driver and thats the bleeding edge version and I would like to go to Chaos Calmer. I dont see a Chaos Calmer version in the ftp so I did remember seeing something called the Candyhouse Chaos Calmer so I downloaded that image file and I am trying to flash that but it keeps rebooting to Designated Driver. I have reflashed with stock Linksys firmware and that worked fine but then I tried to flash the Candyhouse one from stock and it was still DD.

Partly the reasons Id like to do this is a few bugs Ive noticed in DD. On the software package list the Install/Remove links dont work. When you click them it refreshes the page and the packages dont get installed. To install packages you need to to that in a SSH window (PuTTY). The other issue is that even if you install a new theme like the OpenWRT theme it seems to break the whole UI and it reverts to basic HTML with no styling whatsoever. The only theme that works is the default Bootstrap theme.
I do understand theres the primary and alternate boot partitions and so I have tried to flash the Candyhouse firmware twice in a row thinking I could get it to flash onto the other partition slot. Didnt work.

Any help would be appreciated. Thanks

(Last edited by John877 on 3 May 2016, 01:47)

hmm... i'm not observing the behavior you have observed on install/remove.  have you tried clearing your web browser's cache?  or try a different web browser?  i'm using the default bootstrap theme and quite satisfied with it hence no reason for me to try other themes at this time.  i'm currently on the trunk r49223 build.

perhaps one important caveat to consider before flashing your ea4500 with a candyhouse cc image is candyhouse cc images do not support sysupgrade either via LuCI or CLI.

one last comment.  if you seriously believe there are bugs in the current dd trunk builds then please a ticket so the issue can be investigated.

I dont have a concern with the factory vs sysupgrade at least at the moment.

The version this one is is OpenWrt Designated Driver r47197. Where do i get the newer one from? the one I have seems to be the only one available on the ftp for this router.

I will look into using a different browser to see if the Install/Remove issue can be replicated.

Ive tried the Install/Remove package issue in different browsers from normal now.  May main browser is standard Firefox and I have now tried it in a different variant of Firefox called Cyberfox from a different directory. Ive also tried it in Google Chrome.
On my old router I had BB and CC installed and on the Package listing I was always able to middle click the Install link as i scrolled down the package list and itd install them as I went. I tried just left clicking this time too and noticed the popup asking if I wanted to so I said yes and the package I tried to install was the adblock one and it said that there was an error caused by a dependency so its not the same error.  Ive noticed now though the Update Lists button is gone.

Do you know if theres a way to clear both boot partitions then TFTP a firmware onto the router?

i think it's best to reset your router to default settings.  can you putty into it and execute this command.

firstboot

restore to default settings, before sysupgrade to the latest trunk build.

Tried that firstboot command. didnt do anything.

Restored stock Linksys firmware and tried to flash the Candyhouse one again, it boots back up to Designated Driver again. Tried to do the DD sysupgrade you linked and it broke everything completely. Wouldnt start up to anything, just gave an error that it couldnt be found or refused, one of the two, i forget.  I just want to nuke the partition that has Designated Driver so I can have Stock and then nothing on backup if I can. Then I can install the Chaos Calmer from scratch.  I cant seem to get rid of or flash over this Designated Driver now.

Ive also tried to TFTP using a CLI TFTP program that works in DOS window and I tried using the GUI program on Linksys's site. Got no msg on the CLI one and the GUI one says no response from server.

John877 wrote:

Tried that firstboot command. didnt do anything.

before you do something you'll regret, can you paste the url where you had first flashed via stock linksys firmware?  something doesn't look right.  this is the url for current dd trunk and as of apri 30th, and it's on r49264.  i'm curious how you ended up with r47197.
https://downloads.openwrt.org/snapshots … d/generic/

if you find yourself back on the stock linksys firmware, then use the factory.bin file to flash.

https://downloads.openwrt.org/snapshots … actory.bin
is the image i used. That is literally the only one Ive been able to find in all of the FTP. I didnt see anything under Chaos Calmer except for the following:
openwrt-15.05.1-kirkwood-ea4500-rootfs.tar.gz    2676166    15-Mar-2016 18:05
openwrt-15.05.1-kirkwood-ea4500-rootfs.ubi    5505024    15-Mar-2016 18:05
openwrt-15.05.1-kirkwood-ea4500-rootfs.ubifs    5160960    15-Mar-2016 18:05
openwrt-15.05.1-kirkwood-ea4500-uImage    1740174    15-Mar-2016 18:05
openwrt-15.05.1-kirkwood-ea4500-zImage    1740110    15-Mar-2016 18:05
openwrt-15.05.1-kirkwood-ea4500.dtb    11166    15-Mar-2016 18:05

at the url here:
https://downloads.openwrt.org/chaos_cal … d/generic/

This is the System status screen.....
Hostname      OpenWrt
Model      Linksys EA4500
Firmware Version    OpenWrt Designated Driver r47197 / LuCI squashfs Branch (git-15.310.28416-524c918)
Kernel Version    3.18.21

John877 wrote:

This is the System status screen.....
Hostname      OpenWrt
Model      Linksys EA4500
Firmware Version    OpenWrt Designated Driver r47197 / LuCI squashfs Branch (git-15.310.28416-524c918)
Kernel Version    3.18.21

i'm not certain what you have downloaded and flashed but the Model for Viper squashfs is not LInksys EA4500.  it appears you're on cc kernel 3.18.21 which is not the same kernel used in dd trunk viper.

here's mine system status screen.
Hostname OpenWrt
Model Linksys E4200v2 / EA4500
Firmware Version OpenWrt Designated Driver r49223 / LuCI Master (git-16.116.50770-9151103)
Kernel Version 4.4.7

my suggestion is to revert back to stock linksys and flash this factory bin and get rid of whatever openwrt build you currently have.  https://downloads.openwrt.org/snapshots … actory.bin

Ive been trying to. Ive even tried flashing the stock one twice in a row thining I could get the stock one to reside on both primary and alternate partitions. didnt work.

Would it maybe be better to use TFTP instead and if so can I do it while this openwrt is on or would it have to be the stock?

I just tried to flash that image from within the openwrt and no go. I have tried the 3 consecutive failed boots to get it to switch over to the backup and i get this error in chrome:

This site can’t be reached

192.168.1.1 refused to connect.
Try:
Reloading the page
Checking the connection
Checking the proxy and the firewall
ERR_CONNECTION_REFUSED

Ive tried the 3 consecutive failed boots twice now.

Im beginning to hate this router lol This backup partition is starting to be a huge pain in the ass.

let's try this.  you revert back to stock linksys firmware but do not flash the same linksys firmware.  e.g. if you're on classic, flash the cloud version.  if you are on cloud, flash the classic version.  this should get rid of whatever openwrt build you currently have.  i can tell you that is not the dd trunk viper i know.

OK just finished flashing the Cloud from the OpenWRT DD and that restarted into the Linksys firmware fine, then I flashed on the Classic firmware just fine. Then I tried to flash the Candyhouse Chaos Calmer image. Rebooted, its the r47197 still.

I dont know what is going on or if Im doing something wrong or what the deal with this is.

how about not flashing the candyhouse cc image once you're on the stock linksys router?  in candor, the candyhouse project has been deprecated.  i'm using dd trunk and it's been rock solid.  one thing i wish on this router is is having an updated mwl8k driver to get DFS channels.

OK I deleted the Candyhouse image off my computer.

I flashed the Classic Linksys image, then from within that I flashed the Cloud Linksys image. Then from within that I flashed the most current (May 02) Designated Driver image.
Now I get this error in Chrome:

This site can’t be reached

192.168.1.1 refused to connect.
Try:
Reloading the page
Checking the connection
Checking the proxy and the firewall
ERR_CONNECTION_REFUSED

Not sure what to do here, my network adapter says the Default Gateway is 192.168.1.1.

did you install LuCI?

Uhh, oh right.  lol

Honestly I dont see why LuCI isnt included. Its not like it takes up a lot of space and itd make it much easier for everyone else especially those new to OpenWRT.

Good news and bad...........

Good:
DESIGNATED DRIVER (Bleeding Edge, r49276)

Bad:
Failed to update packages. Got error messages about failing sig check and wget returned error 4

isn't wget error 4 mean network failure?  hmm... check your internet connection.

wrtboy wrote:

isn't wget error 4 mean network failure?

Does it not mean 'Clear the browser cache or use a different browser.'?

@Max The wget error isnt in a browser its in PuTTY. So clearing a browser cache wont help.  smile


@wrtboy  -------------------------SSUUCCCCEESSSSUUSSSS--------------------
lol

Plugged it to the modem, didnt work, restarted modem, got internet again. Went back to PuTTY and did the update and installed LuCI and its working great now.
The material theme looks awesome too. I think the reason it was breaking something before was cause I guess the Material theme is for DD not CC but it still showed up and tried to install. Same with the apparently updated OpenWRT theme.

So everything is working great now.  Thanks so much for the help. Seeing how easy everything went now I kinda feel stupid for having the problems in the first place lol

cool.  can you please do me a favor by editing the topic name by adding [SOLVED] in front of the title?

[SOLVED] Linksys EA4500 Designated Driver back to Chaos Calmer

thank you and welcome to openwrt!

Done. Also I went to register then found out my email and username was already used so I went to the login page and Lastpass had the login saved, who knew? lol  I sometimes forget Ive registered at some places.

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