Gargoyle Forum

After failing to upgrade to Gargoyle on an Archer C7 V2 with the newer chip, I finally managed to return to the Archer firmware. I restored to version 3.14.3 Build 151014 Rel.49676n. This is the version prior to the current.

From this firmware (on a device with the newer chip), what do I need to do to get Gargoyle 1.9.2 on it?

Hello,

This worked for me on Archer C7 V2 with a S/N that starts with 216C;
I downloaded the relevant lede firmware (after many attempts-I'm not sure which one worked) but I followed the following advice:
This post is just if someone stumbles upon this thread.

If someone has the problem that he can not upgrade his firmware on the TP-Link Archer C7 v2 from the stock firmware version 160616 with bootloader 3.15.1 and has the error that the needs to chose a file, then renaming the LEDE file to ArcherC7v2_en_eu_3_15_1_up_boot(160616).bin works perfectly fine.

Found on the lede forum.

Hope it also works for you... After flashing with lede, you can easily upgrade with Gargoyle from lede.

Regards

Hi. Thanks for the reply. My first failed attempt was with an LEDE build. I flashed it with TFTPD. Once it was flashed, I couldn't sign in. Every username/password combo that should have worked failed. Maybe I didn't choose the correct LEDE build. I have a US version and that post is showing an EU version being flashed. Maybe if I knew the correct LEDE build to flash first it will work. Maybe I shouldn't have used TFTPD. Maybe I need to reset to factory defaults before flashing with LEDE. Did you?

Hi mrroute!

I did not use tftpd with Lede at all, and I think that might have caused your issues. In theory it shouldn't which means, it could have been the wrong build.
I would suggest resetting back to factory defaults, getting the correct build for the US version, then trying the same instructions.

Hi MisterQ. Just to confirm...

I am currently on 3.14.3 Build 151014.

I downloaded LEDE... lede-17.01.2-ar71xx-generic-archer-c7-v2-squashfs-factory-us.bin.

I should rename this file to ArcherC7v2_en_eu_3_15_1_up_boot(160616).bin?

Or, should I rename it to ArcherC7v2_en_us_3_15_1_up_boot(160719).bin... which is the name of the next firmware TP-LINK has for my version?

Hello,

I think if you match it like this it will work;
ArcherC7v2_en_eu_3_15_1_up_boot(160616)
ArcherC7v2_en_SC_X_XX_X_up_boot(YYYYYY)

Where

SC=Stock country
X_XX_X=Bootloader
(YYYYYY)=Firmware version

In theory, the above should work...

I do not believe that simply trying this; ArcherC7v2_en_eu_3_15_1_up_boot(160616) would do any harm to your router.

Regards

Thank you MisterQ. It worked. I renamed the LEDE firmware to one of the valid firmware names from the TP-LINK website. In my case I used... ArcherC7v2_en_us_3_15_1_up_boot(160719).bin. This name is the name of the next TP-LINK firmware version after the one I was on.

I was mistaken earlier when I said my first failed attempt was after upgrading to LEDE. It was actually an OpenWRT build I flashed that failed. Anyways, it's running Gargoyle now so thanks again!

Thanks for the tip