CFE bootloader update

[RMerlin]

So i upgraded and checked that it all went well.

I want to flash the special 64k ddwrt but I cannot connect to the router in recovery mode to flash it . I can connect if it boot up normally.

Is there something I need to do after the upgrade besides a reboot?

After the CFE upgrade the default IP in recovery mode will probably be what you set your router to instead of the default 192.168.1.1.

You can also use the Firmware Recovery tool from the Asus CD.

 

[RogerSC]

Okay, took a shot at this with a borrowed CFE from my region (US):

linux-06gq:~/cfe # ./cfe_update.sh cfe.original cfe.new
[1/4] Dumping default NVRAM settings from your CFE...
nvsimple 0.2b (c) theMIROn
nvram start 0x400
nvram end 0x13d8
nvram len 4036
nvram crc 0xf1
nvram ver 0x01
[2/4] Modifying NVRAM settings (silent step)...
[3/4] Creating new CFE...
4092+0 records in
4092+0 records out
4092 bytes (4.1 kB) copied, 0.020085 s, 204 kB/s
[4/4] Checking differences between NVRAM from old and new CFE's
1d0
< Ate_power_on_off_ret=2
4c3
< bl_version=1.0.1.2
---
> bl_version=1.0.1.3
176d174
< wait_time=3
If you see only two differences: one is for 'bl_version' and second is a new 'odmpid=ASUS' variable then all step are done! New CFE image 'cfe.new' is prepared for flash.

My question is that this difference between seems to be extra:

< Ate_power_on_off_ret=2

Has anyone else seen this difference? Is this okay?

Thanks.

 

[RMerlin]

A borrowed CFE will also probably mean you won't have your original MAC address back - that could be a problem. You will need to somehow re-enter your own MAC address inside that CFE before flashing it.

 

[RogerSC]

A borrowed CFE will also probably mean you won't have your original MAC address back - that could be a problem. You will need to somehow re-enter your own MAC address inside that CFE before flashing it.

Okay, I'm not going to do this for the time being, I was kind of iffy about it anyways without being able to look at what all is in the CFE...I haven't had any problems as a result of my current CFE, so I'll just hang out with my current CFE and see how it goes *smile*.

Seems like a better way to do this for me would be to patch the version 1.0.1.3 that I have somehow, since I don't have my original CFE anymore. Sounds like either way I'm patching a CFE to do this, either a borrowed original or the 1.0.1.3 that I have now.

Or something. This is pure speculation, since I don't know what all is in the CFE.

 

[Pierino]

Roger I just repeated the process and I also got the "< Ate_power_on_off_ret=2" line, which I didn't get the first time I did this in October.
I think I will hold off also until someone tells us what it means.

 

[Pierino]

Here is my output.

 

[lfbb]

Ok, I took a deep breath and updated the CFE. First thing after update was reset to defaults then I flashed Merlin 3.0.0.4.260.21. All went fine with an exception, I can't access no more the CFE miniWeb Server. The Firmware Restoration Utility was my salvation, it worked well in recovery mode. Maybe this has something to do with the missing 'odmpid=ASUS' variable, just speculating.

- lfbb

 

[RogerSC]

I also see that I can enter the correction for the vlan1ports value using a serial connection as CFE console. I'd rather have the CFE itself do it, but I can do it by hand if I need to:

http://www.dd-wrt.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?p=726575&sid=b19d5e03c906bdef88c8a29443df65c7

So it goes.

 

[jbombs16]

After the CFE upgrade the default IP in recovery mode will probably be what you set your router to instead of the default 192.168.1.1.

You can also use the Firmware Recovery tool from the Asus CD.

Thanks RMerlin and ryzhov_al for all your help. Recovery tool worked and I did a 30/30/30 reset with the wps button. Was able to boot into ddwrt.

 

[Pierino]

I also see that I can enter the correction for the vlan1ports value using a serial connection as CFE console. I'd rather have the CFE itself do it, but I can do it by hand if I need to:

http://www.dd-wrt.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?p=726575&sid=b19d5e03c906bdef88c8a29443df65c7

So it goes.

That looks way beyond my skills. I don't think I want to solder pins to a serial console.

 

[lfbb]

Here is my output.

Here's mine:

lfbb@ubuntu:~/Desktop/cfe$ ./cfe_update.sh cfe_old.bin cfe_new.bin
[1/4] Dumping default NVRAM settings from your CFE...
nvsimple 0.2b (c) theMIROn
nvram start 0x400
nvram end 0x13d8
nvram len 4036
nvram crc 0x3f
nvram ver 0x01
[2/4] Modifying NVRAM settings (silent step)...
[3/4] Creating new CFE...
4092+0 records in
4092+0 records out
4092 bytes (4.1 kB) copied, 0.0245574 s, 167 kB/s
[4/4] Checking differences between NVRAM from old and new CFE's
4c4
< bl_version=1.0.1.2
---
> bl_version=1.0.1.3
64d63
< pci/1/1/regrev=3
176d174
< wait_time=3
If you see only two differences: one is for 'bl_version' and second is a new 'odmpid=ASUS' variable then all step are done! New CFE image 'cfe_new.bin' is prepared for flash.

- lfbb

 

[RogerSC]

That looks way beyond my skills. I don't think I want to solder pins to a serial console.

Chances are really good that you'll never have to do it, if you stay with Merlin or Asus firmware. You don't strike me as someone that's going to be pushing the bleeding edge on firmware anyways *smile*.

 

[Pierino]

I did flash dd-wrt to it many times, the new 64k builds never the 32k.

Why is it giving me that extra line I wonder? I didn't the first time.

 

[Pierino]

Can I put the cfe.original back on my router and flash it back to the original state, with the 32k nvram?

Seems there is no answer to the extra line in the new process.

 

[Koenig]

This is what I got with the updated tool:

$ ./cfe_update.sh cfe.original cfe.new
[1/4] Dumping default NVRAM settings from your CFE...
nvsimple 0.2 (c) theMIROn
nvram start 0x400
nvram end 0x1388
nvram len 3956
nvram crc 0xc2
nvram ver 0x01
[2/4] Modifying NVRAM settings (silent step)...
[3/4] Creating new CFE...
4092+0 records in
4092+0 records out
4092 bytes (4,1 kB) copied, 0,0280157 s, 146 kB/s
[4/4] Checking differences between NVRAM from old and new CFE's
1c1
< bl_version=1.0.1.2
---
> bl_version=1.0.1.3
16a17
> odmpid=ASUS
If you see only two differences: one is for 'bl_version' and second is a new 'odmpid=ASUS' variable then all step are done! New CFE image 'cfe.new' is prepared for flash.

 

[lfbb]

This is what I got with the updated tool:

Which distro are you using?

- lfbb

 

[lfbb]

This is the content of nvram.txt file. Look at the odmpid var in last line, it's there but won't appear in output. The other vars in bold are the ones that appear on the output.

- lfbb

sdram_init=0x0000
sdram_config=0x0000
sdram_refresh=0x0000
sdram_ncdl=0x00000000
boardtype=0xF5B2
boardnum=00
boardrev=0x1100
boardflags=0x00000110
boardflags2=0x00000000
sromrev=8
clkfreq=600,300,150
xtalfreq=25000
et0phyaddr=30
et0mdcport=0
et0macaddr=50:46:5D:00:7D:30
vlan1ports=1 2 3 4 8*
vlan1hwname=et0
vlan2ports=0 8u
vlan2hwname=et0
landevs=vlan1 wl0 wl1
wandevs=et0
lan_ipaddr=192.168.1.1
lan_netmask=255.255.255.0
gpio4=wps_button
boot_wait=on
gpio7=robo_reset
watchdog=3000
pci/1/1/venid=0x14E4
pci/1/1/boardvendor=0x14E4
pci/1/1/sromrev=9
pci/1/1/boardflags=0x80001200
pci/1/1/boardflags2=0x00100000
pci/1/1/devid=0x4332
pci/1/1/macaddr=50:46:5D:00:7D:30
pci/1/1/aa2g=7
pci/1/1/ag0=0
pci/1/1/ag1=0
pci/1/1/ag2=0
pci/1/1/txchain=7
pci/1/1/rxchain=7
pci/1/1/antswitch=0
pci/1/1/tssipos2g=1
pci/1/1/extpagain2g=3
pci/1/1/pdetrange2g=0
pci/1/1/triso2g=3
pci/1/1/antswctl2g=0
pci/1/1/elna2g=2
pci/1/1/maxp2ga0=0x64
pci/1/1/pa2gw0a0=0xFE74
pci/1/1/pa2gw1a0=0x1AAD
pci/1/1/pa2gw2a0=0xF980
pci/1/1/maxp2ga1=0x64
pci/1/1/pa2gw0a1=0XFE8F
pci/1/1/pa2gw1a1=0X1CAD
pci/1/1/pa2gw2a1=0XF90D
pci/1/1/maxp2ga2=0x64
pci/1/1/pa2gw0a2=0xFE7F
pci/1/1/pa2gw1a2=0x1971
pci/1/1/pa2gw2a2=0xF9C8
pci/1/1/cckbw202gpo=0x3333
pci/1/1/cckbw20ul2gpo=0x3333
pci/1/1/legofdmbw202gpo=0x55555555
pci/1/1/legofdmbw20ul2gpo=0x55555555
pci/1/1/mcsbw202gpo=0xFC955555
pci/1/1/mcsbw20ul2gpo=0xFC955555
pci/1/1/mcsbw402gpo=0xFFFF9999
pci/1/1/mcs32po=0x9999
pci/1/1/legofdm40duppo=0x4444
pci/1/1/parefldovoltage=35
pci/1/1/ccode=0
pci/1/1/ledbh0=2
pci/1/1/ledbh1=5
pci/1/1/ledbh2=4
pci/1/1/ledbh3=11
pci/1/1/ledbh12=7
pci/1/1/leddc=0xFFFF
pci/1/1/temps_period=5
pci/1/1/tempthresh=120
pci/1/1/temps_hysteresis=5
pci/1/1/phycal_tempdelta=0
pci/1/1/tempoffset=0
pci/2/1/venid=0x14E4
pci/2/1/boardvendor=0x14E4
pci/2/1/sromrev=9
pci/2/1/boardflags=0x90000200
pci/2/1/boardflags2=0x00200000
pci/2/1/devid=0x4333
pci/2/1/macaddr=50:46:5D:00:7D:34
pci/2/1/aa5g=7
pci/2/1/ag0=0
pci/2/1/ag1=0
pci/2/1/ag2=0
pci/2/1/txchain=7
pci/2/1/rxchain=7
pci/2/1/antswitch=0
pci/2/1/tssipos5g=1
pci/2/1/extpagain5g=3
pci/2/1/pdetrange5g=0
pci/2/1/triso5g=3
pci/2/1/antswctl5g=0
pci/2/1/elna5g=2
pci/2/1/maxp5gla0=0x40
pci/2/1/pa5glw0a0=0xFE87
pci/2/1/pa5glw1a0=0x1637
pci/2/1/pa5glw2a0=0xFA8E
pci/2/1/maxp5ga0=0x5E
pci/2/1/pa5gw0a0=0xFEE1
pci/2/1/pa5gw1a0=0x1663
pci/2/1/pa5gw2a0=0xFAF7
pci/2/1/maxp5gha0=0x5E
pci/2/1/pa5ghw0a0=0xFEDC
pci/2/1/pa5ghw1a0=0x160D
pci/2/1/pa5ghw2a0=0xFAD2
pci/2/1/maxp5gla1=0x40
pci/2/1/pa5glw0a1=0xFE9A
pci/2/1/pa5glw1a1=0x1591
pci/2/1/pa5glw2a1=0xFABC
pci/2/1/maxp5ga1=0x5E
pci/2/1/pa5gw0a1=0xFEAC
pci/2/1/pa5gw1a1=0x1676
pci/2/1/pa5gw2a1=0xFA82
pci/2/1/maxp5gha1=0x5E
pci/2/1/pa5ghw0a1=0xFEB0
pci/2/1/pa5ghw1a1=0x16C3
pci/2/1/pa5ghw2a1=0xFA6F
pci/2/1/maxp5gla2=0x40
pci/2/1/pa5glw0a2=0xFE9A
pci/2/1/pa5glw1a2=0x1591
pci/2/1/pa5glw2a2=0xFABC
pci/2/1/maxp5ga2=0x5E
pci/2/1/pa5gw0a2=0xFE9B
pci/2/1/pa5gw1a2=0x15FA
pci/2/1/pa5gw2a2=0xFAAC
pci/2/1/maxp5gha2=0x5E
pci/2/1/pa5ghw0a2=0xFEDD
pci/2/1/pa5ghw1a2=0x1684
pci/2/1/pa5ghw2a2=0xFADB
pci/2/1/legofdmbw205glpo=0x00000000
pci/2/1/legofdmbw20ul5glpo=0x00000000
pci/2/1/legofdmbw205gmpo=0x75311111
pci/2/1/legofdmbw20ul5gmpo=0x75311111
pci/2/1/legofdmbw205ghpo=0x75311111
pci/2/1/legofdmbw20ul5ghpo=0x75311111
pci/2/1/mcsbw205glpo=0x00000000
pci/2/1/mcsbw20ul5glpo=0x00000000
pci/2/1/mcsbw405glpo=0x00000000
pci/2/1/mcsbw205gmpo=0x75311111
pci/2/1/mcsbw20ul5gmpo=0x75311111
pci/2/1/mcsbw405gmpo=0x75311111
pci/2/1/mcsbw205ghpo=0x75311111
pci/2/1/mcsbw20ul5ghpo=0x75311111
pci/2/1/mcsbw405ghpo=0x75311111
pci/2/1/mcs32po=0x2222
pci/2/1/legofdm40duppo=0x2222
pci/2/1/parefldovoltage=60
pci/2/1/ccode=0
pci/2/1/regrev=0
pci/2/1/ledbh0=2
pci/2/1/ledbh1=5
pci/2/1/ledbh2=4
pci/2/1/ledbh3=11
pci/2/1/ledbh12=7
pci/2/1/leddc=0xFFFF
pci/2/1/temps_period=5
pci/2/1/tempthresh=120
pci/2/1/temps_hysteresis=5
pci/2/1/phycal_tempdelta=0
pci/2/1/tempoffset=0
regulation_domain=EU
regulation_domain_5G=EU
secret_code=63547566
pmon_ver=CFE 5.100.127
bl_version=1.0.1.3
power=1
ate_power_on_off_enable=4
ate_reboot_log=1,2,
Ate_power_on_off_ret=2
pci/1/1/regrev=3
wait_time=3
odmpid=ASUS

 

[Gingernut]

This is what I got with the updated tool:

Is that the updated tool package?

Looks like the previous version of nvsimple to me, maybe the reason for a different output than ifbb's and mine.

 

[ryzhov_al]

My question is that this difference between seems to be extra:

Has anyone else seen this difference? Is this okay?

No, something went wrong. If script output is different then expected, please do not flash new CFE.

 

[lfbb]

Here's some more things I noted:

pci/2/1/regrev=0 in nvram.old and=3 in nvram.new

wait_time=3 in nvram.old and is absent from nvram.new

- lfbb