Posted: Fri May 18, 2012 4:13 Post subject: reverting the Buffalo WZR-HP-G300NH2 to factory firmware?
These steps allowed me to restore the factory firmware of my router. Would not have been able to without the help of this and other forums. :)
1. Download a TFTP client if needed. I Used Windows 7 TFTP client which can be added in “Turn Windows features on or off.”
2. Unplug all the Ethernet cable and the power cable and connect the computer directly to the router(still leave it off)
3. Configure Windows PC NIC connected to router with the following IP settings:
IP address 192.168.11.2
Subnet mask: 255.255.255.0
Default gateway: 192.168.11.1
4. Turn off Windows firewall.
5. Open a Windows command prompt as Administrator and type the following to get the interface number of the NIC you have attached to the router:
route print
In my case, my "Realtek PCIe GBE Family Controller" is 13.
6. Type the command below to get the ARP binding.
Replacing the number 13 with the interface number you have assigned to your NIC based on the results on step 5.
netsh interface ipv4 add neighbors 13 192.168.11.1 02-AA-BB-CC-DD-1A
7. Using Windows 7 TFTP client, I enter the following (DO NOT HIT ENTER AFTER TYPING THIS HOWEVER)
tftp -i 192.168.11.1 put openwrt-ar71xx-generic-wzr-hp-g300nh2-squashfs-tftp.bin
8. Plug the power cable into the router and wait 10 seconds before you hit enter for the TFTP command you just entered above. The TFTP command will let you know if the transfer was successful.
9. After 5-10 minutes, unplug and replug the router.
10. Remove the previously added static arp entry. Remember to replace 13 with the interface number of the NIC you are using based on the route print results.
netsh interface ipv4 delete neighbors 13 192.168.11.1 02-AA-BB-CC-DD-1A
11. Configure Windows PC NIC connected to router with the following IP settings:
IP address 192.168.1.2
Subnet mask: 255.255.255.0
Default gateway: 192.168.1.1
12. I had no WebGUI so I had to telnet into 192.168.1.1. Afterwards, I entered the following:
a. cd /tmp
b. wget ftp://dd-wrt.com/others/eko/BrainSlayer-V24-preSP2/2011/06-14-11-r17201/buffalo_wzr-hp-g300nh2/wzr-hp-g300nh2-dd-wrt-webupgrade-MULTI.bin
c. dd bs=28 skip=1 if=/tmp/wzr-hp-g300nh2-dd-wrt-webupgrade-MULTI.bin of=/tmp/firmware.bin
d. sysupgrade -n /tmp/firmware.bin
13. Once I had the community version of DD-WRT installed, you can install the original official Buffalo firmware that came with the router.
14. If you do not have the CD that came with the router, you can download the CD ISO from Buffalo’s website and look for the download for the CD image for WZR-HP-G300NH Version 2. In the ISO, there is the original firmware named Professional17798.enc.
15. Unplug the power cable to the router.
16. Configure Windows PC NIC connected to router with the following IP settings:
IP address 192.168.11.2
Subnet mask: 255.255.255.0
Default gateway: 192.168.11.1
17. Type the command below to get the ARP binding. Replace the number 13 with the interface number you have assigned to your NIC based on the results on step 5.
netsh interface ipv4 add neighbors 13 192.168.11.1 02-AA-BB-CC-DD-1A
18. Open Windows command prompt and cd into directory where you copied the original firmware. In my case, I had it in c:\temp.
cd c:/temp
19. Using Windows 7 TFTP client, I enter the following (DO NOT HIT ENTER AFTER TYPING THIS HOWEVER)
tftp -i 192.168.11.1 put Professional17798.enc
20. Plug the power cable into the router and wait 10 seconds before you hit enter for the TFTP command you just entered above. The TFTP command will let you know if the transfer was successful.
21. After 5-10 minutes, unplug and replug the router. I would wait 10 minutes to err on the side of caution.
22. Remove the previously added static arp entry. Remember to replace 13 with the interface number of the NIC you are using based on the route print results.
netsh interface ipv4 delete neighbors 13 192.168.11.1 02-AA-BB-CC-DD-1A
23. Configure Windows PC NIC connected to router to use DHCP settings and disable then re-enable the NIC. You should get a network address from the 192.168.11.x network.
24. You should now be able to log into the WebGUI http://192.168.11.1.
25. After successfully logging into the router, I downloaded from Buffalo’s website “WZR-HP-G300NH2 Professional Firmware V24-SP2 build 19152” which was released on 04/25/12.
26. Using the WebGUI, I was able to successfully update the firmware to the latest version. Hope this helps someone else.
Posted: Fri May 18, 2012 15:16 Post subject: Re: reverting the Buffalo WZR-HP-G300NH2 to factory firmware
optms713 wrote:
These steps allowed me to restore the factory firmware of my router. Would not have been able to without the help of this and other forums.
Thank you very much. Really appreciate your very detailed walkthrough.
I could assume that you restored your G300NH2 into stock firmware successfully.
I've got a question about the 2 firmwares used in your procedure.
openwrt-ar71xx-generic-wzr-hp-g300nh2-squashfs-tftp.bin
BrainSlayer-V24-preSP2/2011/06-14-11-r17201
Do we have to flash these verisons of DD-WRT since my router already had the later new version of DD-WRT? Is there any magic about them?
Can I just skip those steps and TFTP the .enc version of firmware which is the encrypted version from Buffalo directly without above steps?
Posted: Sat May 19, 2012 22:41 Post subject: Re: reverting the Buffalo WZR-HP-G300NH2 to factory firmware
If you already have DD-WRT installed, then I do not see why you would not be able to simply skip ahead and do a tftp upload of the original Buffalo DD-WRT firmware named "Professional17798.enc" which came with CD included with the wzr-hp-g300nh2. You can also get it via the Buffalo's support downloads. They have the option to download the CD ISO.
Not sure what results you would get if you decide to skip all the way ahead and try to upload the latest Buffalo firmware for the wzr-hp-g300nh2 via tftp.
Posted: Mon May 21, 2012 21:00 Post subject: Re: reverting the Buffalo WZR-HP-G300NH2 to factory firmware
optms713 wrote:
14. If you do not have the CD that came with the router, you can download the CD ISO from Buffalo’s website and look for the download for the CD image for WZR-HP-G300NH Version 2. In the ISO, there is the original firmware named Professional17798.enc.
15. Unplug the power cable to the router.
16. Configure Windows PC NIC connected to router with the following IP settings:
IP address 192.168.11.2
Subnet mask: 255.255.255.0
Default gateway: 192.168.11.1
17. Type the command below to get the ARP binding. Replace the number 13 with the interface number you have assigned to your NIC based on the results on step 5.
netsh interface ipv4 add neighbors 13 192.168.11.1 02-AA-BB-CC-DD-1A
18. Open Windows command prompt and cd into directory where you copied the original firmware. In my case, I had it in c:\temp.
cd c:/temp
19. Using Windows 7 TFTP client, I enter the following (DO NOT HIT ENTER AFTER TYPING THIS HOWEVER)
tftp -i 192.168.11.1 put Professional17798.enc
20. Plug the power cable into the router and wait 10 seconds before you hit enter for the TFTP command you just entered above. The TFTP command will let you know if the transfer was successful.
21. After 5-10 minutes, unplug and replug the router. I would wait 10 minutes to err on the side of caution.
22. Remove the previously added static arp entry. Remember to replace 13 with the interface number of the NIC you are using based on the route print results.
netsh interface ipv4 delete neighbors 13 192.168.11.1 02-AA-BB-CC-DD-1A
23. Configure Windows PC NIC connected to router to use DHCP settings and disable then re-enable the NIC. You should get a network address from the 192.168.11.x network.
24. You should now be able to log into the WebGUI http://192.168.11.1.
25. After successfully logging into the router, I downloaded from Buffalo’s website “WZR-HP-G300NH2 Professional Firmware V24-SP2 build 19152” which was released on 04/25/12.
26. Using the WebGUI, I was able to successfully update the firmware to the latest version. Hope this helps someone else.
I wonder what I was doing wrong. Pretty sure I did everything the same. I tried several different official Buffalo firmwares, some even from the official CDs, and they all gave the same error in my TFTP client. I'm pretty sure I even tried a few different TFTP client applications. I figured it must have been because the Buffalo firmwares were encrypted and the non-Buffalo firmware's TFTP server does not recognize Buffalo's encryption. Or maybe my router is somehow slightly different? Anyone else have success or failures using TFTP to transfer a Buffalo branded firmware to a WZR-HP-G300NH2 with non-Buffalo firmware? I might have to try this again. I can always successfully revert using dump of the original firmware.
Posted: Tue May 29, 2012 17:48 Post subject: Re: reverting the Buffalo WZR-HP-G300NH2 to factory firmware
cRACKmONKEY421 wrote:
optms713 wrote:
19. Using Windows 7 TFTP client, I enter the following (DO NOT HIT ENTER AFTER TYPING THIS HOWEVER)
tftp -i 192.168.11.1 put Professional17798.enc
20. Plug the power cable into the router and wait 10 seconds before you hit enter for the TFTP command you just entered above. The TFTP command will let you know if the transfer was successful.
21. After 5-10 minutes, unplug and replug the router. I would wait 10 minutes to err on the side of caution.
22. Remove the previously added static arp entry. Remember to replace 13 with the interface number of the NIC you are using based on the route print results.
netsh interface ipv4 delete neighbors 13 192.168.11.1 02-AA-BB-CC-DD-1A
23. Configure Windows PC NIC connected to router to use DHCP settings and disable then re-enable the NIC. You should get a network address from the 192.168.11.x network.
24. You should now be able to log into the WebGUI http://192.168.11.1.
25. After successfully logging into the router, I downloaded from Buffalo’s website “WZR-HP-G300NH2 Professional Firmware V24-SP2 build 19152” which was released on 04/25/12.
26. Using the WebGUI, I was able to successfully update the firmware to the latest version. Hope this helps someone else.
I wonder what I was doing wrong. Pretty sure I did everything the same. I tried several different official Buffalo firmwares, some even from the official CDs, and they all gave the same error in my TFTP client. I'm pretty sure I even tried a few different TFTP client applications. I figured it must have been because the Buffalo firmwares were encrypted and the non-Buffalo firmware's TFTP server does not recognize Buffalo's encryption. Or maybe my router is somehow slightly different? Anyone else have success or failures using TFTP to transfer a Buffalo branded firmware to a WZR-HP-G300NH2 with non-Buffalo firmware? I might have to try this again. I can always successfully revert using dump of the original firmware.
I'm having the same problem. The steps worked great until step 19. I tried various firmwares, including the one listed in the directions, but I still couldn't get the router to accept a .enc firmware.
TFTP always responds: "Error on server: Unsupport MODEL"
Maybe the bootloader on mine is different than the ones that were successful with the instructions. If I understand correctly, the bootloader isn't replaced with a firmware upgrade.
I'm hoping someone can export a .bin firmware like they did for revision 1 of this router. If there's a way to export it from another one without a serial cable and too much special knowledge, I'm all ears.
Posted: Tue May 29, 2012 18:07 Post subject: Re: reverting the Buffalo WZR-HP-G300NH2 to factory firmware
tnmdwill wrote:
TFTP always responds: "Error on server: Unsupport MODEL"
That happens if you use a firmware intended for a region different from where the router was sold.
Go to the correct region Buffalo site and get the firmware from there.
It can aslo happen if you don't turn off your antivirus and firewall programs (ALL OF THEM!) in Windows. _________________ Kernel panic: Aiee, killing interrupt handler!
Posted: Tue May 29, 2012 19:50 Post subject: Re: reverting the Buffalo WZR-HP-G300NH2 to factory firmware
LOM wrote:
That happens if you use a firmware intended for a region different ...
It can aslo happen if you don't turn off your antivirus and firewall programs (ALL OF THEM!) in Windows.
I disabled the antivirus and this is the same North American firmware I've been using on the others we bought (same batch). One of them is the same firmware that used to be on this router, actually. I downloaded a couple of others, and tried the one off the CD that came with it, too. I'm starting to wonder if the revision 2 routers are not created equally.
Success! I was able to copy the firmware from an identical unit that still had Buffalo DD-WRT firmware (build 17798). I followed the instructions here:
I compared the "mtd1" values in /proc/mtd on both routers.
I used "cat /dev/mtd1 | md5sum" on the Buffalo firmware router to collect the correct MD5 hash of the firmware.
I enabled SSH on both routers, so that I could use SFTP.
I used sftp to transfer the /dev/mtd1 from the working router to my workstation, and then to /tmp/mtd1 on the community DD-WRT router.
I used "cat /tmp/mtd1 | md5sum" on the DD-WRT community router to make sure it still matched the earlier value.
I used "mtd -r write /tmp/mtd1 linux" to apply the new firmware.
The router booted with the Buffalo firmware and seems fine now. Out of paranoia, I reapplied the same firmware through the web GUI, just in case there were any hidden steps that the first method didn't cover.
I used build 17798 during the restore. This procedure may work for other versions as well.
If you don't have another router handy, you can try the firmware dump that was uploaded in the other thread, but I haven't checked it out.
A big "thanks" to all of you who have contributed to solving this problem, and good luck to those of you who are trying this out.
Success! I was able to copy the firmware from an identical unit that still had Buffalo DD-WRT firmware (build 17798).
Glad I'm not the only one that can't find ANY Buffalo branded firmware that will be accepted via TFTP after the router is already flashed to community DD-WRT. I literally tried every version of Buffalo firmware from every region using the TFTP method, and it always failed at the same point. I have a WZR-HP-G300NH (version 1) that works fine all the time with the TFTP method, and I've used that method on several other routers, so I'm pretty sure I was doing everything correct. Restoring from an existing mtd1 is exactly what I've had to do several times now. I dumped mtd1 from the latest Buffalo branded (19152 04-27-12) DD-WRT, and restoring with that is a breeze. Let me know if anyone needs that, although the one I already posted works fine and you can always update after. Thanks for reporting tnmdwill. I knew I wasn't crazy.
v24SP2-MULTI (04/25/12) std - build 19152.
For wireless regulations, build 19152 (User Friendly F/W Version 1.77 ) will not allow the firmware to revert to older versions.
With the latest two versions of Buffalo branded DD-WRT firmware (19152 and 19154), we can no longer install community versions of DD-WRT, or downgrade to older versions of Buffalo branded firmware using the web GUI. The method for reverting to 16159 that I used on page 4 still works to fine to downgrade. Once you're downgraded, you can install whatever firmware you want using any existing methods. Just a heads up. Once routers ship with 19152 or above, the header for the community version of DD-WRT webflash will need to be changed or this will be the only way to install the community versions. Click below for the file you need to downgrade. Read the readme carefully, and don't skip comparing your checksum results with what they are in the readme.