Linksys E4200 v2

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cilynx
DD-WRT Novice


Joined: 22 Apr 2013
Posts: 8

PostPosted: Mon Apr 22, 2013 8:35    Post subject: Reply with quote
Has anyone checked out the mirwifi firmware? Judging by the the website, I'm guessing I'm not going to be able to understand anything in the UI once I get it installed. I don't actually need my e4200v2 for production right now, so I'll probably check it out this weekend.

One correction and a quick update on my work:

First, credit where credit is due. Re dark_slayer's post above, I didn't discover the USB exploit -- the exploit was part of Dan's SSH hack. All I did was build additional packages that can be installed using the same trick.

Second, I've proven empirically that you can unbrick a hosed e4200v2. I accidentally borked my root partition while messing around with remounting rw and putting rsync and scp in the default path and rebooted, thus leading to bricked router. I attempted to get a serial console by adding a 4-pin header and connecting to a cheap USB<->Serial adapter. I never did get a serial console, but after shoving a bunch of attempts at connecting down the header, the router booted the stock firmware. This shows that this router has a read-only copy of the stock firmware stored on the system somewhere and has the ability to roll-back via some command on the 4-pin header.

Finally, I'm now tracking my progress on my personal blog as opposed to TechHappens:

http://blog.wolfteck.com/projects/E4200v2/

Cheers!
-Randy
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cilynx
DD-WRT Novice


Joined: 22 Apr 2013
Posts: 8

PostPosted: Thu Apr 25, 2013 0:07    Post subject: Reply with quote
Yesterday, Neubsi posted a great set of SSA->JFFS->SSA scripts. Using these and the build tree I've been using for the USB expansion packages, I've built a new firmware image for the e4200v2 which has SSH (dropbear) enabled by default.

The image is based on the Cisco 2.1.39 Smart Wifi image and is currently running fine on my personal e4200v2.

The only changes to the stock image are the addition of dropbear and I changed the "Apps" link text to "Wolfteck Test" just to have a visual confirming that I'm running the firmware that I think I am.

You can grab the latest build on my project site:

http://blog.wolfteck.com/projects/E4200v2/
cilynx
DD-WRT Novice


Joined: 22 Apr 2013
Posts: 8

PostPosted: Fri Apr 26, 2013 6:22    Post subject: Reply with quote
I checked out the mirwifi.org image today and didn't get very far. I took it apart with firmware-mod-kit and the rootfs doesn't resemble the stock firmware in any way. I found a couple things to be fairly interesting:

1) It's completely in English. No localization even. Completely English.
2) It seems really light weight, but includes l7-filter.

When I tried to load the original .bin onto my e4200v2, the router accepted the firmware and rebooted, but bricked at that point. I had to roll it back by futzing with the hardware.

That actually turned up something interesting in and of itself. After it rolled back, it was running my last modified 2.1.39 firmware. That means it doesn't have the factory stock in a ROM somewhere, but rather has your last working firmware stored in flash somewhere. This is further confirmed by the rollback verbiage in the Smart Wifi interface which says "restore previous firmware".

Right now, based on the completely Russian site with no reputation publishing a firmware that turns out to be completely in English and the fact that it bricks the router, I'm currently thinking it's a hoax -- basically, that they just bundled up OpenWRT or some other existing firmware that doesn't work on Marvell and claimed to be the first people to make an open firmware for the e4200v2 family of routers.

Looking through the threads on the mirwifi.org forum, I didn't see anyone who actually said they had this firmware working.

All that said, I'd love to be proven wrong.
dark_slayer
DD-WRT Novice


Joined: 20 Nov 2012
Posts: 2

PostPosted: Thu May 02, 2013 12:51    Post subject: Reply with quote
cilynx wrote:
Has anyone checked out the mirwifi firmware?

Read through the forums (similar to your findings) and didn't see any reason to try it yet

cilynx wrote:
First, credit where credit is due. Re dark_slayer's post above, I didn't discover the USB exploit -- the exploit was part of Dan's SSH hack.

My mistake
cilynx
DD-WRT Novice


Joined: 22 Apr 2013
Posts: 8

PostPosted: Wed Jul 10, 2013 5:24    Post subject: Reply with quote
Not exactly DD-WRT related, but very pertinent to this thread -- I've managed to boot Debian on this thing and packaged up a RootFS you can extract to a USB stick along with a kernel image you can flash the router with to boot the USB RootFS.

Full instructions here:
Installing Debian (Squeeze) on the Linksys E4200v2

The RootFS is a 75M tarball that extracts out to a little under 500M, including a 256M swapfile. Basically, that means it'll fit on any modern flash drive.

I'll update the RootFS to a newer release once I get a more modern kernel running. So far, porting the hardware-specific patches has been slow-going.

Happy hacking!
cilynx
DD-WRT Novice


Joined: 22 Apr 2013
Posts: 8

PostPosted: Sat Dec 14, 2013 16:11    Post subject: Reply with quote
Updated instructions with a Debian Sid rootfs and a 3.9 mainline kernel.

http://blog.wolfteck.com/projects/E4200v2/debian/

Everything about the router is supported now. I see no reason DD-WRT couldn't be ported if someone wanted to put in the time to work through it.
ricktendo
DD-WRT Novice


Joined: 20 Feb 2014
Posts: 38

PostPosted: Tue Mar 04, 2014 18:56    Post subject: Reply with quote
Sorry to bump but, any update on weather this router is ever going to run dd-wrt?

Purchased v2 the other day without first checking the forum... live & learn I guess
cilynx
DD-WRT Novice


Joined: 22 Apr 2013
Posts: 8

PostPosted: Tue Mar 04, 2014 19:25    Post subject: Reply with quote
I doubt it. I've reach out to the folks running the dd-wrt project a couple times and never heard anything back. Personally, I'd much rather have the power of Debian than be limited by a SOHO router specific distro, so I don't have a lot of personal incentive to divert my attention from the Debian project to deconstruct dd-wrt without any assistance from the community.

Community around the Candyhouse / Debian project is pretty active these days:

http://www.wolfteck.com/projects/candyhouse/
pedronalin
DD-WRT Novice


Joined: 20 May 2014
Posts: 1

PostPosted: Tue May 20, 2014 20:14    Post subject: Too bad it's not suported... Reply with quote
Anyway, thanks for helping dude, wish someday I'll se my e4200v2 with a dd-wrt firmware
ricktendo
DD-WRT Novice


Joined: 20 Feb 2014
Posts: 38

PostPosted: Wed Aug 06, 2014 13:14    Post subject: Reply with quote
We FINALLY have a official fw update from Linksys for this router

Code:
Release Date:           July 31, 2014
Firmware version:       2.1.41 (Build 162351)

Note:  If running Setup again after this firmware update, please use the latest version of Linksys Smart Wi-Fi Setup from support.linksys.com.   Older versions of Setup are not compatible with this newer version of firmware.

Many bug fixes and improvements included since previous version.  Highlights:

-  Local login UI more closely matches cloud login UI.  New product name is “Linksys Smart Wi-Fi.”
-  Added an option to Device List to allow clean up and rediscovery of all devices that user has not previously customized with a new name or icon.
-  Internet Explorer 11 now supported for local login.
-  Support for local UI login using Safari on iPads with iOS version 7 or 8.
-  Improved device discovery to discover more device models and reduce likelihood of duplicate devices appearing.
-  Text localization improved in many areas.
-  Local login allows for editing of Guest network SSID without modifying main network SSID.  Note:  this will trigger a router reboot in order to allow the new SSID to be broadcast.
-  Security fixes.
-  USB Storage layout improved and renamed as External Storage.
-  Default SSID changes when in factory reset state to LinksysXXXXX naming convention.
-  Security turned on by default when FTP feature enabled.
-  Improved URL blocking behavior in Parental Controls.
-  Fixed an issue where media files on a USB drive may be converted to folders.


http://support.linksys.com/en-us/support/routers/E4200/download
loosi007
DD-WRT Novice


Joined: 24 Oct 2014
Posts: 3

PostPosted: Fri Oct 24, 2014 10:52    Post subject: Reply with quote
yep its on its way back...... 200$ paper weight... I am looking at that router too its the black night
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Mister X
DD-WRT Novice


Joined: 29 Oct 2009
Posts: 40
Location: Bucharest, Romania, HELL

PostPosted: Mon Dec 22, 2014 9:59    Post subject: Reply with quote
I've read about the Debian distro but I belive that it's much more complicated than the regular DD-WRT firmware, even though it offers a lot of increased functionality, if you're willing to dig into it.
Is there any hope for a simpler firmware to extend the functionality of this router like DD-WRT does?

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samurai123
DD-WRT Novice


Joined: 04 Feb 2011
Posts: 39

PostPosted: Fri Feb 13, 2015 1:38    Post subject: Reply with quote
I wonder if there was an effort to have dd-wrt or any other mod firmware available for this router?

The GPL source code seems is available. I'm working on using the GPL source, toolchain etc. but not sure how far I can go as my experience is pretty limited.

One of the things I would like to have on this router is WDS.
caldwelljt
DD-WRT Novice


Joined: 27 Sep 2014
Posts: 4

PostPosted: Wed Feb 25, 2015 20:04    Post subject: garr, im giving up? Reply with quote
I've been huffing around with dd-wrt on my tew-818dru, and tomato on my older tenda n60, they both have enough bugs that i'm not convinced i'll enjoy life with them. The wife and kids go nuts when I try to track down unknown/random issues, and of course I get the obligatory (XYZ doesn't have this problem)

I personally don't mind bugs, and enjoy tracking them down and fixing them. But I really need something that at least doesn't have random/unknown connectivity issues crop up. I just built out a decent san/esxi lab, and I think i'm going to scrap my router projects and just turn them into nothing more than wireless connectivity. I may try out a few different router distros and see what I like next or go back to the mat and find something newer/better, we'll see.

I may be expecting too much, especially with the variety of hardware available, but it seemed like (at least at one point) the process of getting a hardware and expanding capability/stability through a single flash was a surefire way to go. It's turned into a bit of a mine-field, with caveats, gotchas, and an exceeding amount of ymmv.

I'm open to suggestions, if anyone has them. Ultimately I want all the features, none of the issues, and of course as little impact on my pocketbook as possible. A dream, i'm sure, but i'd consider any specific piece of hardware thats known to work without issue (receives a lot of attention from devs) and/or any combination of hardware/software/setup/ideas that gets me to that same general concept. I do like to play with unique things like multiple vpns, custom routing, qos, and don't mind if I have to use other hardware for service such as cifs/ftp/httpd/bt/etc.

Smile
jheide44
DD-WRT Guru


Joined: 03 Sep 2013
Posts: 739

PostPosted: Wed Feb 25, 2015 22:13    Post subject: Re: garr, im giving up? Reply with quote
caldwelljt wrote:
I've been huffing around with dd-wrt on my tew-818dru, and tomato on my older tenda n60, they both have enough bugs that i'm not convinced i'll enjoy life with them. The wife and kids go nuts when I try to track down unknown/random issues, and of course I get the obligatory (XYZ doesn't have this problem)

I personally don't mind bugs, and enjoy tracking them down and fixing them. But I really need something that at least doesn't have random/unknown connectivity issues crop up. I just built out a decent san/esxi lab, and I think i'm going to scrap my router projects and just turn them into nothing more than wireless connectivity. I may try out a few different router distros and see what I like next or go back to the mat and find something newer/better, we'll see.

I may be expecting too much, especially with the variety of hardware available, but it seemed like (at least at one point) the process of getting a hardware and expanding capability/stability through a single flash was a surefire way to go. It's turned into a bit of a mine-field, with caveats, gotchas, and an exceeding amount of ymmv.

I'm open to suggestions, if anyone has them. Ultimately I want all the features, none of the issues, and of course as little impact on my pocketbook as possible. A dream, i'm sure, but i'd consider any specific piece of hardware thats known to work without issue (receives a lot of attention from devs) and/or any combination of hardware/software/setup/ideas that gets me to that same general concept. I do like to play with unique things like multiple vpns, custom routing, qos, and don't mind if I have to use other hardware for service such as cifs/ftp/httpd/bt/etc.

Smile


I'd say away from the E4200v2 unit (that this thread is based on).

the v1 is nice though, so if you go to ebay for it make sure you can identify the HW rev from serial numbers pictured.

best advice, read the peacock announcement (link in red section of my signature), then check out the supported devices WIKI page. then familiarize yourself with the install instructions from the device level WIKI's... then read up on device specific threads.

...then you can make an informed decision...

Hint: the netgear R7000 folks seem happy with their devices... if you have limited time/ability to read up maybe concentrate on that one...


your trendnet tew-818dru is on the supported devices page (as you read up keep in mind the ARM differences given your BCM4708 in this device), but I don't see anything about tenda there...

PS if you are taking a step back from "router projects... nothing more than wireless connectivity" what is wrong with the stock firmware? i.e. no easy answers with 3rd party options, got to want/love to tinker with it.

Good Luck!

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