Error
  • Request Forbidden
 Broadband-Hamnet™ Forum :: Hardware
Welcome Guest   [Register]  [Login]
 Subject :WTR54GS Travel Router.. 2012-04-16- 16:59:03 
NN5I
Member
Joined: 2012-04-01- 12:06:21
Posts: 17
Location

Has anyone tried HSMM-MESH on one of these?  Note that the WTR54GS is not the same as a WRT54GS despite its confusing name.

Anyway, I own several 4Meg versions of these, most running DD-WRT but one NIB with Linksys firmware.  As soon as I find one of them -- I think they're in a box in a friend's garage -- unless someone warns me I'm going to try flashing one of them from DD-WRT to HSMM-MESH.  Getting DD-WRT flashed on one of these initially is a little bit intricate, but once DD-WRT is on it you can flash anything that'll run.  But I wouldn't try flashing a WTR54GS directly to HSMM-MESH from factory firmware.

I'll let y'all know in a couple days whether I brick it or not.  If so, what the heck, I have several -- and can likely unbrick with TFTP anyway.

Wish me luck.

IP Logged
Last Edited On: 2012-04-16- 17:05:46 By NN5I for the Reason
-- Carl
 Subject :Re:WTR54GS Travel Router.. 2012-04-16- 18:00:35 
W5LMM
Member
Joined: 2012-02-13- 18:18:04
Posts: 126
Location: Albuquerque, NM
 
Yeah, let us know!~
IP Logged
 Subject :Re:WTR54GS Travel Router.. 2012-04-17- 08:00:40 
KF4BAE
Member
Joined: 2012-01-18- 15:04:10
Posts: 6
Location

Edited my original post.

Saw one go on ebay for $35 bucks.  So that's not so bad.  

Interested to hear what you find out.

IP Logged
Last Edited On: 2012-04-17- 08:03:56 By KF4BAE for the Reason
 Subject :Re:WTR54GS Travel Router.. 2012-04-17- 08:00:43 
KF4BAE
Member
Joined: 2012-01-18- 15:04:10
Posts: 6
Location
Yeah they only problem with em is they're getting more expensive used while the wrt version is getting cheaper. Interested to hear what you find out though.
IP Logged
 Subject :Re:WTR54GS Travel Router.. 2012-04-17- 14:28:43 
NN5I
Member
Joined: 2012-04-01- 12:06:21
Posts: 17
Location

Well, now I know.  What I found out is that it bricks it so thoroughly that the power light doesn't come on at all and it won't ping at any address, so TFTP recovery is not possible.  Probably a JTAG recovery would work, but it's too much work.  Ah, well, I took that risk with eyes open.  I still have three of these, and they've been on a shelf for a long time because I don't need them; and several WRT54G and GS routers (not to mention some Netgear N routers), all running DD-WRT and mostly on a shelf too.  So I threw it away.

This would make me feel dumb, except that nothing makes me feel dumb.

IP Logged
-- Carl
 Subject :Re:WTR54GS Travel Router.. 2012-04-17- 21:47:28 
NN5I
Member
Joined: 2012-04-01- 12:06:21
Posts: 17
Location

I spoke too soon. It works. A couple hours after I threw it away, it was time to carry out the trash. I decided to play a little more and dug it out. The WTR54GS has only two CAT5 ports. One is labeled "internet" and is normally the WAN port. The other is labeled "ethernet" and is normally the LAN port. I had tried to get DHCP services etc. from the "ethernet" port. I decided to try the other port, and Lo! -- I got DHCP. Then I went after the Web interface -- and got it! So I was able to configure the node. Except that on the WTR54GS the WAN and LAN ports apppear to be reversed, HSMM-MESH works just fine. The binary that I loaded, by the way, is the one listed for the WRT54GS. It works. It all seems perfectly normal and is just like being on a WRT54G, except for having only one local port instead of four. My two mesh nodes (one running on a WRT54G and one running on this WTR54GS Travel Router) see each other and seem to talk to each other. So my original conjecture, that it would work on a WTR54GS, seems correct. And I almost threw it away because it didn't occur to me to try sticking the cable in the other hole. It's a drag being old and pigheaded. -- Carl

IP Logged
Last Edited On: 2012-10-25- 14:19:07 By NN5I for the Reason
-- Carl
 Subject :Re:WTR54GS Travel Router.. 2012-04-18- 05:09:23 
W5LMM
Member
Joined: 2012-02-13- 18:18:04
Posts: 126
Location: Albuquerque, NM
 

That's Awesome!!  Glad you dug it out and tried again!  We would have never known otherwise!


How about the lights?  still not working?


IP Logged
 Subject :Re:WTR54GS Travel Router.. 2012-04-18- 08:44:24 
NN5I
Member
Joined: 2012-04-01- 12:06:21
Posts: 17
Location

The power LED never lights at all.  The Easy Setup LED lights up after a while and glows steady white.  The other three LEDs (wireless, internet, and ethernet) appear to operate normally, each in accord with what's happening on those three interfaces.  There is no DMZ LED.

The ethernet port and the internet port (RJ-45s) apparently are swapped in function with HSMM-MESH running.

Except for those cosmetic items, HSMM-MESH appears to run just fine on the WTR54GS -- which is what I originally expected, since the circuitry is basically the same as a WRT54GS.  Note that only Version 1 of the WTR54GS (serial number starting SJH0) has enough EPROM and RAM to run HSMM-MESH:  4M and 16M respectively.  Later versions (SJH1 and later) have only half as much.

Perhaps these things could be corrected in a version special-made for the WTR54GS, or perhaps a future common release could detect what it's running on and behave accordingly.

If any developer would like to work on such a version, I would happily supply a WTR54GS to experiment with.  Just tell me where to send it.

 -- Carl

IP Logged
Last Edited On: 2012-04-18- 08:52:44 By NN5I for the Reason Minor corrections.
-- Carl
 Subject :Re:WTR54GS Travel Router.. 2012-04-22- 17:17:17 
NN5I
Member
Joined: 2012-04-01- 12:06:21
Posts: 17
Location

I made another experiment, this time using the binary intended for the WRT54G and GL instead of that intended for the GS. It also works, and the power LED now comes on -- amber, not green. The easy setup LED is now off. The LAN and WAN ports are still swapped. Incidentally, in order to revert back to DD-WRT from either of these I had to change the filename suffix of the DD-WRT binary from BIN to TRX -- otherwise HSMM-MESH wouldn't complete the firmware upgrade. But certainly it is possible, and easy, to run HSMM-MESH on a WTR54GS Travel Router.

IP Logged
Last Edited On: 2012-04-22- 17:26:35 By NN5I for the Reason
-- Carl
Page # 


Powered by ccBoard


SPONSORED AD: