CFE bootloader update

[The Doktor]

Thanks guys. Installed Merlins latest firmware and all went exactly as the instructions said. Now running firmware 1.0.1.3 & 64k nvram version of Tomato (Toastman mod).

Ed

 

[Taurean75]

I was using Shibby Tomato. After the update, however, I'm not able to flash any other firmwares besides the Asus' and Merlin's. It just becomes unresponsive. It doesn't even respond to pings. Yes, I did set up a static IP on my computer. Firmware Restoration works, though.

Please advise.

 

[The Doktor]

Taurean75, I had the same problem. Upgraded CFE, used restoration utility to upgrade to tomato-K26USB-NVRAM64K-1.28.0500.5MIPSR2Toastman-RT-N-Ext, unable to communicate with router. Restoration utility back to Merlins, all OK. Held reset, turned, continued holding reset for ~30 seconds. Left it sit a few minutes then powered off. Did same routine with wireless button (not sure which does full reset). Once again used restore to install tomato-K26USB-NVRAM64K-1.28.0500.5MIPSR2Toastman-RT-N-Ext, able to connect. According to the manual, holding reset for more than 5 seconds (router already on) is full reset, try this as well.

Must manually set IP to 192.168.1.x & gateway to 192.168.1.1. I also set DNS to 192.168.1.1 & 192.168.1.2 just in case.

If you have multiple devices plugged into router, LAN or WAN, make sure you don't have an IP conflict. Example, you've got WAN plugged into another router which is using 192.168.1.1, etc. I recommend just using the router & 1 computer until it's set up.

Please post your results.


Ed

 

[redcloud]

After succesfull update cfe i notice that LAN Router MAC Address and Wireless (2.4 GHz / eth1) MAC Address become the same x:x:x:x:x:C0. Before update Wireless (2.4 GHz / eth1) MAC Address was x:x:x:x:x:C2. I tried 30/30/30 without succes, then returned the old value manually.
Used shibby 104 and toastman 5000.5
While merlin was installed i didn't checked mac.

 

[Taurean75]

Gonna stick with Merlin's for now.

 

[Lost_Animal]

After succesfull update cfe i notice that LAN Router MAC Address and Wireless (2.4 GHz / eth1) MAC Address become the same x:x:x:x:x:C0. Before update Wireless (2.4 GHz / eth1) MAC Address was x:x:x:x:x:C2. I tried 30/30/30 without succes, then returned the old value manually.
Used shibby 104 and toastman 5000.5
While merlin was installed i didn't checked mac.

I confirm also that 2.4 Ghz & LAN MAC are the same....

 

[andy_113]

I haven't done the CFE update yet and am running Toastmans tomato-K26USB-NVRAM64K-1.28.0500.5 Ext and the mac address is the same for both lan and 2.4ghz radio. So it can't be a CFE upgrade bug.

 

[Pierino]

Same here. Is that a problem?

 

[RogerSC]

Same here. Is that a problem?

Don't think so, this is the first I've heard of the 2.4GHz. wireless MAC being different from the router MAC. I know that my router came with the two being the same, with only the 5GHz. different (+4). If it's a problem, it's at least a very common problem *smile*.

 

[Lost_Animal]

Normally every LAN device wired or Wifi must have unique MAC address.
In the router existing 4 Devices....

br0 = WAN
eth0 = NIC-Switch
eth1 = 2.4 Ghz
eth2 = 5 Ghz

I have no idea why eth0 (NIC) & eht1 (2.4 GHz) sharing the Same MAC....
It seems that eth1 is Vlan of eth0...

 

[jsmiddleton4]

I went back and read the steps for the cfe update process. It just reads the existing cfe file and updates it. The original, as others have noted, must have the 2 interfaces with the same MAC's.

Wonder if it would be better to have separate MAC's or not.

I have no idea.

The few post about WDS mode, where I'd think connecting to a particular MAC address might reveal a problem, those folks don't seem to be having any issues.

 

[ryzhov_al]

Normally every LAN device wired or Wifi must have unique MAC address.

Physically, yes. And they still do, take a look at

# robocfg show

In the router existing 4 Devices....

br0 = WAN
eth0 = NIC-Switch
eth1 = 2.4 Ghz
eth2 = 5 Ghz

I have no idea why eth0 (NIC) & eht1 (2.4 GHz) sharing the Same MAC....
It seems that eth1 is Vlan of eth0...

It's normal, just remember that wired and wireless segment is bridged into br0, that's why ifconfig will show the same MACs for bridged interfaces:

# ifconfig | grep HWaddr
br0 Link encap:Ethernet HWaddr C8:60:00:E8:XX:YY
eth0 Link encap:Ethernet HWaddr C8:60:00:E8:XX:YY
eth1 Link encap:Ethernet HWaddr C8:60:00:E8:XX:YY
eth2 Link encap:Ethernet HWaddr C8:60:00:E8:XX:ZZ
vlan1 Link encap:Ethernet HWaddr C8:60:00:E8:XX:YY

 

[jsmiddleton4]

Thanks for the command reference so we can check. I was searching and did not find it yet.

So should the firmware read a different variable to show the different MAC's?

Edit: When I set up a WDS system with two E3000's I needed to use the listed wireless mac address not the router's listed MAC. Will the 66U showing the same MAC for the LAN and the Wireless port cause confusion when setting up a WDS network?

 

[mstombs]

"robocfg show" should tell you the MAC address of the external device that is connected to that port, not the router MAC!

Is that an Asus motherboard PC onport 1?

 

[Lost_Animal]

Ok, this is the output of the commands...

Now is More complicated,,,,,

"robocfg show" should tell you the MAC address of the external device that is connected to that port, not the router MAC!

Is that an Asus motherboard PC onport 1?

Yes it is !!!

 

[jsmiddleton4]

So what is the command to use to see the router's wireless mac?

 

[Taurean75]

...am running Toastmans tomato-K26USB-NVRAM64K-1.28.0500.5 Ext and the mac address is the same for both lan and 2.4ghz radio. So it can't be a CFE upgrade bug.

Same in Merlin's.

 

[RogerSC]

So what is the command to use to see the router's wireless mac?

I'm using Merlin's firmware, but the wireless MAC's are on the main Network Map page of the web GUI, in the lower righthand corner subwindow that has "LAN IP" at the top. For telnet, the command given above, "ifconfig | grep HWaddr" works.

 

[jsmiddleton4]

Thanks. Will run the command to see results. I am aware of where the IP addresses are but thanks for the information.

When setting up a WDS system you use the wireless MAC addresses not the LAN IP....

I'm not saying this is a problem by the way. Just that its a bit confusing especially having worked with setting up WDS systems. IF you used the LAN IP, WDS routers would not talk to each other.

The command show that my br0, eth1 and vlan1 are same MAC address. eth0 and eth3 each with their own and different than the bro, eth1 and vlan1.

This could be very normal. Again I don't know. What I do know is with the E3000 router the LAN IP, the 2.4ghz Wireless and the 5.0ghz wireless all show separate MAC's. Which is the pertinent information you need to setup WDS so that one radio talks to the other.

 

[RogerSC]

Thanks. Will run the command to see results. I am aware of where the IP addresses are but thanks for the information.

The web GUI for Merlin's firmware has the wireless MAC addresses displayed where I mentioned.