Custom firmware build for Orbi RBK50/RBK53 (RBR50, RBS50) v. 9.2.5.1.17SF-HW

[Vipz]

When you unpack the ZIP file there is a QuickStart.txt file. The instructions are in there.

Thanks for the quick reply theoak! My apologies... I should've looked there first!! Noted now for future reference.

 

[Skippy Bosco]

Does anyone know, if Disney Circle and Armor are disabled via the UI is the daemon still running and taking resources and needs to be disabled via telnet?

 

[Vipz]

Does anyone know, if Disney Circle and Armor are disabled via the UI is the daemon still running and taking resources and needs to be disabled via telnet?

I see two ‘circled’ processes running. Don’t know name of daemon associated with Armor so can’t say much about that one. Most likely, neither daemon is disabled by default.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Skippy Bosco]

I see two ‘circled’ processes running. Don’t know name of daemon associated with Armor so can’t say much about that one. Most likely, neither daemon is disabled by default.

I used Putty to SSH into the router and disabled Circle, Armor, Samba and ReadyCloud daemons since I'm not using any of them.

nvram set noarmor=1
nvram set nocircle=1
nvram set nocloud=1
nvram set samba_disable=1
nvram commit
reboot

 

[digital10]

The Quickstart.txt file has commands to disable Armor similar to the followinf format

nvram set noarmor=1
nvram commit
reboot

I did that and pressed enter after each line, is this correct or i should write it all on one line? Also after I press enter it seems to skip a line in the command screen, is this normal behavior?

If I backup a config file from the Advanced tab on the GUI will it backup this configuration too? How is this different from disabling Armor from the GUI/Dashboard?

I apologies I never used telnet before.

 

[Skippy Bosco]

I did that and pressed enter after each line, is this correct or i should write it all on one line?

Enter after each command

Also after I press enter it seems to skip a line in the command screen, is this normal behavior?

Depending on your client, yes it is normal.

If I backup a config file from the Advanced tab on the GUI will it backup this configuration too?

I do not believe so.

How is this different from disabling Armor from the GUI/Dashboard

Disabling in the UI disabled the active processing, but not the process itself. I had it disabled via UI but the daemon was still running taking resources.

 

[digital10]

Enter after each command



Depending on your client, yes it is normal.



I do not believe so.



Disabling in the UI disabled the active processing, but not the process itself. I had it disabled via UI but the daemon was still running taking resources.

Thanks. So I have to redo this everytime I reset the system?

I used terminal on MacOS and did the follow commands

nvram set nocircle=1
nvram set nocloud=1
nvram commit
reboot

I didn't want to reboot twice it was going to take a lot of time, will it work just as well? Did I have to enter:

nvram commit

after each "set" command? How can I know if it worked? I mean the circle and readycloud disabled.

 

[Skippy Bosco]

Thanks. So I have to redo this everytime I reset the system?

Only if you factory reset.

How can I know if it worked? I mean the circle and readycloud disabled.

SSH in and run top command and verify the processes are not active.

 

[theoak]

...
after each "set" command? How can I know if it worked? I mean the circle and readycloud disabled.

I suppose another way is if you had a more sophisticated upstream devices where you could capture the traffic from the Orbi and monitor if the IPs it used for those functions are no longer being used. (I could not tell you the web sites/services those functions are using). I imagine some of them are Amazon web services, which are used a TON, so it might be hard to differentiate.

Otherwise, just believe the reports in these forums. We have no other way of knowing really other than from those folks that have the skills to figure this stuff out.

 

[Voxel]

Does anyone know, if Disney Circle and Armor are disabled via the UI is the daemon still running and taking resources and needs to be disabled via telnet?

No. Disabled and no daemons.

Voxel.

 

[flyboynm]

TLDR

Does this firmware support USB hard drive sharing? I have seen limited success on other forums about people getting USB drives to be shared over the Orbi instead of just printers. Does this firmware support this operation?

 

[southpaw32]

I'm an idiot... I just tried to do a "pin push" factory reset on my RBR50.

I'm frantically searching for a fix, and I'm not finding it. How do I fix my soft bricked Orbi?

 

[mith_y2k]

I'm an idiot... I just tried to do a "pin push" factory reset on my RBR50.

I'm frantically searching for a fix, and I'm not finding it. How do I fix my soft bricked Orbi?

I have never done it, but other people here said they used TFTP to restore the router. See https://kb.netgear.com/000059633/How-to-upload-firmware-to-a-NETGEAR-router-using-TFTP-client and https://community.netgear.com/t5/Orbi/Bricked-Orbit-Failed-Firmware-Update/m-p/1559274#M29348

 

[mith_y2k]

TLDR

Does this firmware support USB hard drive sharing? I have seen limited success on other forums about people getting USB drives to be shared over the Orbi instead of just printers. Does this firmware support this operation?

TLDR Yes

 

[theoak]

I'm an idiot... I just tried to do a "pin push" factory reset on my RBR50.

I'm frantically searching for a fix, and I'm not finding it. How do I fix my soft bricked Orbi?

At least for me, resetting the satellites have worked every time with Voxel's firmware. FYI - YMMV.

I lucked out because I was always too lazy to reset the router because I did not want to reconfigure it. Luckily, I ran across experiences here before going ahead with it.

Either way it sounds like it is a good idea to have that TFTP process on hand: https://kb.netgear.com/000059633/How-to-upload-firmware-to-a-NETGEAR-router-using-TFTP-client

 

[southpaw32]

I have never done it, but other people here said they used TFTP to restore the router. See https://kb.netgear.com/000059633/How-to-upload-firmware-to-a-NETGEAR-router-using-TFTP-client and https://community.netgear.com/t5/Orbi/Bricked-Orbit-Failed-Firmware-Update/m-p/1559274#M29348

Thank you! With a better search term I was able to find what I needed!
Factory firmware back on, and flash Voxel's firmware on now! Thanks for the quick reply!

 

[Skippy Bosco]

I don't personally have this need, but I've seen it asked numerous times so wanted to share for discussion.

Today with our Orbi the router and satellite are unique devices that can not be interchanged, despite having nearly identical hardware.

This creates issues for some in that Orbi is usually sold in kits that are often cheaper than buying a single satellite.

A developer has found a way to interchange a router to be used as a satellite (and I presume a satellite as a router) though a modification to the firmware.

This reddit post provides some specifics and links to the source site.

https://www.reddit.com/r/HomeNetwor...rt_orbi_rbr50_router_to_orbi_rbs50_satellite/

Would be interesting if this modification could be curious if this could be integrated into Voxel allowing for the Orbi to adapt to router or satellite depending on which firmware is flashed.

 

[digital10]

I don't personally have this need, but I've seen it asked numerous times so wanted to share for discussion.

Today with our Orbi the router and satellite are unique devices that can not be interchanged, despite having nearly identical hardware.

This creates issues for some in that Orbi is usually sold in kits that are often cheaper than buying a single satellite.

A developer has found a way to interchange a router to be used as a satellite (and I presume a satellite as a router) though a modification to the firmware.

This reddit post provides some specifics and links to the source site.

https://www.reddit.com/r/HomeNetwor...rt_orbi_rbr50_router_to_orbi_rbs50_satellite/

Would be interesting if this modification could be curious if this could be integrated into Voxel allowing for the Orbi to adapt to router or satellite depending on which firmware is flashed.

I doubt the satellite has same hardware as router, there is WAN missing and I am guessing RAM and CPU and Storage are not same. Maybe you can make a router a satellite not the opposite. I think a cool addition would be unlimited satellites not sure why its limited to 3, then again, 4 APs is an overkill for 99% of homes

 

[Skippy Bosco]

I doubt the satellite has same hardware as router. There is WAN missing

They each have 4 ports on the back, in the router one is just defined as the WAN port. Otherwise, from a cursory look at the tear down of each side by side, they appear to have the same chip sets. Just to clarify, this is not a "would be great" wish list, this is something actually working that many people are using. That's how I found out about it. The fact that there already existed a workable solution that was fully documented made it an easier path for potential integration.

Router: https://fccid.io/PY316200341/Internal-Photos/Internal-Photos-rev-3108554
Satellite: https://fccid.io/PY316200341/Internal-Photos/Internal-Photos-rev-3108554

I think a cool addition would be unlimited satellites not sure why its limited to 3, then again, 4 APs is an overkill for 99% of homes

You can do this today without a firmware change by unplugging an existing satellite, adding the new one and then plugging the old satellite back in again. As long as there is not 3 online and active at the time of adding a new satellite it will work and will retain the satellites without issue. More on that here:

https://community.netgear.com/t5/Bu...es/Maximum-Satellites-5-Working/cns-p/1662231

 

[vansmak]

just stumbled in here from reddit. this is great and i will definately flash it. i would like some advice though. I am fortunate to have a backup RBR50 so if I brick something I can swap out for the factory one. Does it only flash the router fw or the satellites too? What about the plug-in satellite?

For whatever reason, maybe onboard memory size?, would it be better to run on v2 rbr50 or v1?

What features does it add? I would really like to monitor bandwidth per device. Thanks