[leaded]

What's the best way to do it? I read the wiki and I thought it looked easy. I used the Linksys TFTP program and hit start immediately after plugging in the power to the router. It ran through 5 times and failed, so I hit start again and it said completed. Then the router was bricked! Luckily, the dolt at Best Buy didn't care why it didn't work at let me exchange it for a new one.

I'm setting this up for a friend because the Buffalo firmware constantly drops the WAN internet connection (but not the wireless connection in the LAN) and I figured DD-WRT would be more stable. I don't want to brick another router and go BACK the Best Buy again.

So, should I use the command line TFTP in Windows? How long do I wait once the power is plugged in to the router? A second or two, or ASAP? The wiki says "if x doesn't work, try y" but I've already bricked one device and I don't want to "try x" and have it brick again.

Anyone who's flashed a WHR-HP-G54 want to share their success story?

[swinn]

Sounds like after it said it was completed you didn't wait for it to reboot itself which can take a few minutes sometimes. If you cycle the power before it reboots then it will brick since that is the period of time it is actually doing the upgrade.

[skywalker]

[leaded]

I got it installed!

I noticed "Tomato" referenced in some peoples' signatures and checked it out. I figured I'd give it a shot after seeing it was similar to DD-WRT. The "installer" for the WHR-HP-G54 is a .bat script that waits until the router responds to a ping before sending the tftp command. I figured I'd give it a shot and return the router next week if it bricked again. It worked perfectly and I got Tomato installed. After playing with Tomato a little bit I missed the DD-WRT features and installed the standard_nokaid DD-WRT. I couldn't log in- it looks like it kept my tomato settings but my password didn't work. After a hard reset I go in with the defaults and everything is gravy. DD-WRT rocks.

For anyone wondering what the SAFE method is, plug it in, you can wait a second or two, then send the tftp command. Leave it on for a long time. I made myself wait 3 minutes with a stopwatch. I'm pretty sure that's how I bricked it last time. Then I reset my IP address to automatic and went to 192.168.1.1.

[skywalker]

I think it is very interesting how many people on this message board only report success when flashing their WHR-HP-G54 with DD-WRT if they power on their router BEFORE executing the TFTP command. I wonder if this has something to do with the system configuration and/or motherboard??

From my own experience, I find the opposite to be true. I have tested two WHR-HP-G54 routers, both on a computer using an Intel chipset motherboard with Intel CPU running Windows XP Pro and both on a computer using a VIA chipset motherboard with AMD CPU running RedHat Enterprise Linux. I get the same result with both tests. No matter how many times I have tried (I have tested this at least a couple dozen times), I get a timeout if I plug the router in BEFORE executing the TFTP command. The ONLY way I have succuss is executing the TFTP command BEFORE plugging in the router. Go figure.

[leaded]

I was extremely careful and read a lot. I've flashed three Linksys WRT54G(S)s. The warning about waiting and having a brief Window for the Buffalo made me weary and cautious. There's nothing wrong with being cautious to keep from bricking a device.

I troubleshooted that router for a while. I'm 100% certain I bricked it. I'm a Linux sysadmin so I know the troubleshooting methods. I didn't fully know what was going on with this encrypted Buffalo firmware and this mystery window of flashing during the boot process. Once I did it successfully, I understand it's easy, but I'm a hands-on learner so I usually don't get a feel for things just by reading about it online. And since I'm hands on, the first time I do something like flashing where messing up can ruin it, I like to know as much as possible before trying it.

I can understand noobs being impatient or just not knowing what to do, but I assure you I was just being super careful. I bricked the first router because I was frustrated and became impatient, and after it happened I realized my mistake. Not because I was clueless. Not that you implied that about me but, some people, even experienced Linux and/or networking people, like to heed extreme caution when messing with expensive equipment ($70 is to some people).

Since I'm a hands-on learner and did it successfully, I now fully understand how to flash a Buffalo router. If anyone reading this message would like some guidance, please PM me- I'd be glad to offer help. I read another message on this board where a guy got pissed and told someone to search- this is a discussion board. We're here to help people out. If someone misses an FAQ or a Wiki entry, or would just like a little more clarification, we shouldn't jump on them for being a noob, and offer some help, you know?

[skywalker]

.

[leaded]

It's cool dude- I completely understand the frustration. Your guide is very helpful! I figured the wiki would have the most complete information- and it looked to be enough when I got started. Is it possible to edit the installation page in the wiki to include a link to your walk-through? If so, I would encourage you to do it.

[dicksons]

We've flashed over 250 radios from various vendors with various firmwares and never bricked one.

I agree with skywalker that people kinda need to know what they're doing, but face it,whenever anyone has ever tried to make an idiot-proof set of human instructions, nature has always provided any number of "better idiots".

I really like the idea behind tomato's .bat script -- that would work perfectly well with DD-WRT code and eliminate the "human" factor in timing the transfer.

That would save countless hours of people flailing around with their routers and posting in the countless hundreds of threads with this same repetitious topic !!!

[leaded]

I don't think it's fair to say there are "better idiots" that "can't follow guides." You've flashed over 250 devices- of course you think it's easy, you're an expert at it. Sometimes person A's walkthrough may not be enough and they may need person B's, and B's is harder to find. I'm not complaining about this or calling for any action but, you should may want to look at it from a different perspective. Some people, like myself, may not feel comfortable doing it now matter how much they read. Like I said, I'm a hands-on learner. I didn't realize my mistake until it was over. I don't suggest getting professional documentation written or anything- these are Wikis and discussion boards. I think we, the enthusiast community, should be more helpful when answering questions. I guess my point is that telling new people to "SEARCH THE BOARDS" or "isn't the walkthrough enough?" isn't a helpful answer to a question. Most of the time when those responses are given, it would take just as long to write a helpful response. If this discussion board isn't meant for helping people use DD-WRT, what's the point?

If anyone needs help flashing a Buffalo WHR-HP-G54, I'd be glad to help.

[skywalker]

.

[leaded]

In hindsight, I think the router bricked because I powered it down too early. I thought that because I had to run TFTP twice that it failed, so it only stayed plugged in for about 45 seconds.

[amity2kare]

i almost bricked a hp-g54 due to my impatience the other day. I power cycled the router before the diag light stopped blinking. It was only when i couldn't open the web interface even though the ping was going thru that i realized tht something hadn't gone quite as it should have. I then followed the tftp procedure again and this timewaited till the diag light stopped blinking and voila!!....dd-wrt rocks again!!!

Only one deviation from the standard flashing procedure though...i had the same problem with the linksys tftp utility and even the command prompt based tftp command...timed out irrespective f the sequence. I then followed a different approach (this is mentioned in the forums somewhere) and here is what i did.

After the device had powered up fully, i pressed the reset button and while the diag light was blinking, fired the tftp from the command line and released the reset switch. It worked like a charm.

I think this should work for you too.

[leaded]

Knowing that there are SEVERAL ways to flash the Buffalo router is why I started this thread in the first place. Thanks for sharing your method!