{"id":209,"date":"2013-01-22T17:21:24","date_gmt":"2013-01-22T17:21:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.knofafo.de\/?p=209"},"modified":"2013-09-05T06:59:31","modified_gmt":"2013-09-05T06:59:31","slug":"openwrt-on-tp-link-wdr3600","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.knofafo.de\/?p=209","title":{"rendered":"OpenWRT on TP-Link WDR3600"},"content":{"rendered":"

For the history leading to this post, read TP-Link WDR3600: Router! Print-Server?<\/a> and TP-Link WDR3600 \u2013 no information available<\/a>.<\/p>\n

After all the annoying information, I decided to change the firmware of my router. The main reason is that I had a weekend with 4 linux machines in my flat (all dual-boot) and none of them could access the usb-ip interface to the printer. As they also had Windows installed we just rebooted into Windows to install the driver there, which didn’t work out. Somehow you have to have the printer installed already, then the software can link the usb-ip interface to the already installed printer (correct me if I’m wrong). In summary: no possibility to use the network-printing under Linux, under Windows it is not very convenient. Actually I can use it only with one machine, so I had no reason to stay with the original firmware. Instead I decided to install OpenWRT<\/a> (a Linux distribution for embedded devices). In the case it does not improve the situation it actually can’t make it worse.<\/p>\n

Installing OpenWRT<\/h5>\n

OpenWRT has a very comprehensive documentation. It is worth having a closer look at it as mistakes in the process are not easily corrected. My further steps:<\/p>\n

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  1. Download an appropriate image. I chose openwrt-ar71xx-generic-tl-wdr3600-v1-squashfs-factory.bin from http:\/\/downloads.openwrt.org\/attitude_adjustment\/12.09-rc1\/<\/a>. In the filename you can see that I chose the image for my router, with a squashfs and the factory version. How to decide which filesystem to chose is explained on the OpenWRT page, the factory version allows for being installed via the original firmware’s webinterface.<\/li>\n
  2. This is already step 2. Direct your browser to your router’s interface, choose “System Tools” -> “Upgrade Firmware”, upload your image and let the router do the update and the reboot. Note: I kept all the important manual pages of OpenWRT open as it should be expected that the internet connection does not work directly after the upgrade.<\/li>\n
  3. Afterwards change the password as explained in the OpenWRT documentation and setup your internet connection, Wifi networks and so on.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
    Configuring OpenWRT<\/h5>\n

    With these steps done I can do the same as with the firmware before or as with any normal router. The strengths of OpenWRT should lie within its flexibility and the possibility to install additional packages. Which ones do fulfill my needs? To learn about the possibilities a lot of busy persons wrote a lot of HowTos located under http:\/\/wiki.openwrt.org\/doc\/howto\/start<\/a>.<\/p>\n

    An important one might be Back to original firmware<\/a>.<\/p>\n

    I postponed going through the following HowTos (not instantly needed but interesting for me):<\/p>\n