TPLink MR3420 v1.2 garg install & usb modem no-show

[nightcap]

Noob at router upgrading though well-chastened Linux (ab)user.

For TPLink MR3420 v1.2 upgrading I read specific OpenWRT guidleines (maybe I should have just rushed straight in @ Gargoyle?) and followed this process:
1. Downloaded OpenWRT trunk as recommended:
openwrt-ar71xx-generic-tl-mr3420-v1-squashfs-factory.bin
2. Successfully installed via TP-Link UI updater
3. OpenWRT came without web interface, so used PuTTY to telnet to router to set password. Done.
Now I'm kinda stuck. Is there a simple, failsafe method to install Gargoyle on top? Or am I facing a brick? I've read Gargoyle 1.5.6 is stable with most 3G modems. Any constructive advice welcome. TIA.

[nightcap]

Oh dear. Just read the bad news here:
http://www.gargoyle-router.com/phpbb/vi ... f=8&t=3271

I assume this means I need to restore original TPLink firmware via putty. Any "how to" links please? Anyone achieve this successfully with linux recently? TIA.

[BashfulBladder]

install gargoyle-sysupgrade.bin via wget: http://wiki.openwrt.org/doc/howto/generic.sysupgrade

or

install LuCI web frontend: https://forum.openwrt.org/viewtopic.php?id=36777
opkg update
opkg install luci
/etc/init.d/uhttpd enable
/etc/init.d/uhttpd start

flash via LuCI
-----
After you flash gargoyle on the router, telnet is disabled.

ssh root@192.168.1.1

[nightcap]

Thanks for suggestions. Read all links carefully. As net access is absent on MR3420 router, and having already downloaded gargoyle-sysupgrade.bin file to my PC, I guess this process might work?

Transferring image file to a temporary location
On your Linux PC run:

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cat [specified firmware].bin | pv -b | nc -l 3333

On the router run:

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nc 192.168.1.111 3333 > /tmp/[specified firmware].bin 

Write it to flash using sysupgrade:

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sysupgrade -v /tmp/[specified firmware].bin

Tried this without luck. Maybe I got a step or two wrong? Will not attempt Luci or any opkg process until reliability is reported. Trust this makes sense.

[BashfulBladder]

Can you pinpoint which part of this didn't work?
Is the file written to the router's memory?
Are the md5/md5sum of the firmware files identical?
Did sysupgrade report a failure?
Did sysupgrade flash the firmware & gargoyle didn't come up?

If you have another router, make sure they have different IPs, connect the MR3420 to the LAN ports of the one with net access & try the wget process.

Do you have ssh?

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$ ssh root@192.168.1.1
# cd /tmp
# scp /path/to/gargoyle-sysupgrade.bin root@192.168.1.1:/tmp

[nightcap]

Once again thanks for assisting. Much appreciated.

Can you pinpoint which part of this didn't work? Is the file written to the router's memory?

Not as far as I can tell.

Are the md5/md5sum of the firmware files identical?

Do you mean downloaded gargoyle.bin md5 matches md5 checksum provided?

Did sysupgrade report a failure?

Yes. Something like "no such file or folder".

Did sysupgrade flash the firmware & gargoyle didn't come up?

Haven't reached that point it seems.

If you have another router, make sure they have different IPs, connect the MR3420 to the LAN ports of the one with net access & try the wget process.

That seems a good strategy except my other (Asus) 3G internet router is also 192.168.1.1 and I lack the confidence to start messing about with either.

Do you have ssh?

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$ ssh root@192.168.1.1
# cd /tmp
# scp /Users/rich/Desktop/gargoyle-sysupgrade.bin admin@192.168.1.1:/tmp/gargoyle-sysupgrade.bin

I seem to have SSH option in putty. Is that suitable?

I do have (distant physical) access to a friend's ADSL modem-router that is likely not 192.168.1.1. Will attempt wget solution over the next few days when I visit his house. Thanks again.

[nightcap]

Update. Tried SSH method you suggested. Seems to be working. Then command prompt requests admin password. No luck with several obvious known passwords. Must I reconfigure /etc/ssh/sshd_config file? Any other tips? TIA.

[BashfulBladder]

You have a file on your computer. You put a file on the router. How do you know they are identical & file transferred perfectly? You run a hash on the file on your computer & the file on the router.

On your pc, you run md5 /path/to/file
On your router, run md5sum /path/to/file

if the md5 hashes are not identical, the files are not identical.

When you telnet in & run the cat /path/to/gargoyle-sysupgrade.bin | nc -1 3333 AND simultaneously, on the router run nc 192.168.1.111 3333 > /tmp/gargoyle-sysupgrade.bin - are there errors?

Is the file there? ls /tmp

Run the md5cat on /tmp/gargoyle-sysupgrade.bin - does it match the md5 hash to the gargoyle.bin on your computer?

If it matches, you can do a sysupgrade.
----------------
As for the copy via ssh -sorry, I got it wrong. Try this:

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scp /path/to/gargoyle-sysupgrade.bin root@192.168.1.1:/tmp

[nightcap]

Success! Using scp and putty:

Terminal

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cd /home/user/download/folder
scp gargoyle-sysupgrade.bin root@192.168.1.1:/tmp

Putty
Log in with SSH @ 192.168.1.1

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root
password
sysupgrade -v /tmp/gargoyle-sysupgrade.bin

Make sure to patiently wait for complete router system reboot. Check router LED status. Mine took no more than a minute to complete.

Now all I need to do is work out how to update Gargoyle password. Do I go in with telnet and change password that way?

[BashfulBladder]

Using a browser: 192.168.1.1 -> System -> Router Access (http://192.168.1.1/access.sh). Bottom: Change administrator password