Flash Zenbu Router

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DanielH

33 posts

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#175638 6-Jul-2015 20:08

I purchased a Linksys WRT54GL V1.1 off Trademe last week and when it arrived it had the Zenbu firmware on it.

I purchased this router with the intention of running DD-WRT on it. After researching for hours on end I found out I will have to do either a TFTP Flash or JTAG.

I'd rather not do JTAG unless it's a last resort, I've tried all today to Reflash the router via TFTP and I can't get it to work.

I set my PC to a static ip and tried to ping the router at 192.168.1.1 first when I power it up as that's what I usually do and it does not respond but instead it just boots straight into the Zenbu firmware like usual.

Has anyone done this before with the Zenbu or similar firmware? I've done TFTP to flashed and bricked routers before and got it working so this isn't new to me.

RunningMan

8956 posts

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#1338144 6-Jul-2015 20:34

http://www.geekzone.co.nz/forums.asp?forumid=66&topicid=110661

TFTP apparently...

sbiddle

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Biddle Corp

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#1338218 7-Jul-2015 06:48

TFTP should probably work, if it doesn't you'll need to use JTAG.

I'm really surprised there are any WRT54G's or GL's still around that aren't fried these days due to the heat. My only advice would be to not expect much life out of a 2nd hand device.

thewordfor

1 post

Wannabe Geek

#1357406 3-Aug-2015 05:17

Hi Daniel,

What did you pay for the Zenbu device?
Have you done anything with it yet?
Are you interested in maybe doing a swap for one with dd-wrt one it or consider selling it?

Mark

DanielH

33 posts

Geek

#1357426 3-Aug-2015 08:02

I bought it on Trademe for $30. I have not done anything with it and ended up returning it as I bought another WRT54G for a $1.50 a few days later that was DD-WRT compatible.

MauriceWinn

141 posts

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#1398292 1-Oct-2015 21:03

sbiddle: TFTP should probably work, if it doesn't you'll need to use JTAG.

I'm really surprised there are any WRT54G's or GL's still around that aren't fried these days due to the heat. My only advice would be to not expect much life out of a 2nd hand device.

That has not been Zenbu's experience. The WRT54GL with gentle firmware running [Zenbu's] will run for a decade. We started operations in early 2007 with test routers from 2006 still running.

The very first router which was used continuously since late 2005 finally ran out of steam 3 months ago.

Back in 2006, we were told by Linksys that we should expect about 5% failure rate. In fact, it was less than 1%. Fortunately, most of those happened when we tried to install firmware, so the router was effectively tested before being sold, leading to almost no problems for customers due to router failure.

There have been failures with power over ethernet being mistakenly put into port 1 [the monitored port], and power surges.

Maurice Winn

Ragnor

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#1399013 2-Oct-2015 18:26

Good old WRT54GL.. got one running TomatoUSB still going strong. Wouldn't use one on anything other than a ADSL2+ connection, too underpowered for VDSL or Fibre.

richms

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#1399022 2-Oct-2015 18:53

Steam age router. Why did you want to get one when you can get a much more capable brand new openwrt capable router for a little bit more?

Richard rich.ms

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Trade NZ and US shares and funds with Sharesies (affiliate link).

richms

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#1399023 2-Oct-2015 18:55

Also if you are trying the TFTP method, put a 10 meg dumb hub between the computer and the router. PC's ports take too long to negotiate speed that TFTP has passed when I had to recover some other routers.

Richard rich.ms

MauriceWinn

141 posts

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#1399048 2-Oct-2015 19:21

Ragnor: Good old WRT54GL.. got one running TomatoUSB still going strong. Wouldn't use one on anything other than a ADSL2+ connection, too underpowered for VDSL or Fibre.

It's true the WRT54GL can't run at 100 mbps but fibre doesn't actually deliver that at peak times across the Southern Cross cable from servers in the deep jungle somewhere on the other side of the world.

The huge gain from fibre is in the upload speed so somebody uploading a YouTube video at 700 kbps over ADLS, blocking it for maybe an hour, gets the job done 60 times as fast with fibre through a WRT54GL. That's a huge gain.

VDSL is okay, running at comparable speed.

The WRT54GL can handle the electrical load just fine [in the Zenbu firmware anyway].

Maurice Winn