14464e1128
TP-Link has introduced a compatibility level to prevent certain
downgrades. This information is stored in the soft-version partition,
changing the data length from 0xc to 0x10.
The compatibility level doesn't change frequently. For example, it has
the following values for the EAP245v3 (released 2018-Q4):
* FW v2.2.0 (2019-05-30): compat_level=0
* FW v2.3.0 (2019-07-31): compat_level=0
* FW v2.3.1 (2019-10-29): compat_level=1
* FW v2.20.0 (2020-04-23): compat_level=1
Empty flash values (0xffffffff) are interpreted as compat_level=0.
If a firmware upgrade file has a soft-version block without
compatibility level (data length < 0x10), this is also interpreted as
compat_level=0.
By including a high enough compatibility level in factory images, stock
firmware can be convinced to accept the image. A compatibility level
aware firmware will keep the original value.
Example upgrade log of TP-Link EAP245v3 FWv2.3.0 to FWv2.20.0:
[NM_Debug](nm_fwup_verifyFwupFile) 02073: curSoftVer:2.3.0 Build
20190731 Rel. 51932,newSoftVer:2.20.0 Build 20200423 Rel. 36779
...
AddiHardwareVer check: NEW(0x1) >= CUR(0x0), Success.
...
[NM_NOTICE](updateDataToNvram) 00575: Restore old additionalHardVer:
0x0.(new 0x1)
[NM_NOTICE](updateDataToNvram) 00607: PTN 07: name = soft-version,
base = 0x00092000, size = 0x00000100 Bytes, upDataType = 1,
upDataStart = 7690604b, upDataLen = 00000018
[NM_Debug](updateDataToNvram) 00738: PTN 07: write bytes = 000002eb
Other firmware upgrades have been observed to modify the compabitility
stored level (e.g. TP-Link EAP225-Outdoor FWv1.4.1 to FWv1.7.0).
Therefore, it seems to be the safest option to set the OpenWrt
compatibility level to the highest known value instead of the highest
possible value (0xfffffffe), to ensure users do not get unexpectedly
refused firmware upgrades when using a device reverted back to stock.
To remain compatible with existing devices and not produce different
images, the image builder doesn't store a compatibility level if it is
zero.
Signed-off-by: Sander Vanheule <sander@svanheule.net>
OpenWrt Project is a Linux operating system targeting embedded devices. Instead of trying to create a single, static firmware, OpenWrt provides a fully writable filesystem with package management. This frees you from the application selection and configuration provided by the vendor and allows you to customize the device through the use of packages to suit any application. For developers, OpenWrt is the framework to build an application without having to build a complete firmware around it; for users this means the ability for full customization, to use the device in ways never envisioned.
Sunshine!
Development
To build your own firmware you need a GNU/Linux, BSD or MacOSX system (case sensitive filesystem required). Cygwin is unsupported because of the lack of a case sensitive file system.
Requirements
You need the following tools to compile OpenWrt, the package names vary between distributions. A complete list with distribution specific packages is found in the Build System Setup documentation.
gcc binutils bzip2 flex python3 perl make find grep diff unzip gawk getopt
subversion libz-dev libc-dev
Quickstart
-
Run
./scripts/feeds update -ato obtain all the latest package definitions defined in feeds.conf / feeds.conf.default -
Run
./scripts/feeds install -ato install symlinks for all obtained packages into package/feeds/ -
Run
make menuconfigto select your preferred configuration for the toolchain, target system & firmware packages. -
Run
maketo build your firmware. This will download all sources, build the cross-compile toolchain and then cross-compile the GNU/Linux kernel & all chosen applications for your target system.
Related Repositories
The main repository uses multiple sub-repositories to manage packages of
different categories. All packages are installed via the OpenWrt package
manager called opkg. If you're looking to develop the web interface or port
packages to OpenWrt, please find the fitting repository below.
-
LuCI Web Interface: Modern and modular interface to control the device via a web browser.
-
OpenWrt Packages: Community repository of ported packages.
-
OpenWrt Routing: Packages specifically focused on (mesh) routing.
Support Information
For a list of supported devices see the OpenWrt Hardware Database
Documentation
Support Community
- Forum: For usage, projects, discussions and hardware advise.
- Support Chat: Channel
#openwrton freenode.net.
Developer Community
- Bug Reports: Report bugs in OpenWrt
- Dev Mailing List: Send patches
- Dev Chat: Channel
#openwrt-develon freenode.net.
License
OpenWrt is licensed under GPL-2.0