Actiontec MI424WR

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Contents


THX to Jose Vasconcellos from OpenWRT for the instructions

Hardware

Rev. A

high res pics wanted

Power supply

  • Input 5V/3A (Voltage regulator LTC3637 (http:// pdf1.alldatasheet.com/datasheet-pdf/view/87091/LINER/LTC3736.html) accepts up to 9,8V input voltage)

Rev. C

high res pics wanted

Rev. D

high res pics wanted

Serial port

pin | function
 1  | Gnd
 2  | TX
 3  | RX
 4  | -
 5  | Power
 6  | -

Flashing

Flashing the Actiontec MI424WR (oem'ed to Verizon )

Installing Redboot

Since the device has the Jungo loader installed by default we have to change it to redboot to get DD-WRT up and running. But keep cool its easy to handle as u will see below.

You will need a lil .py script that will do the backup of the orig flash content and flash the new redboot. A backup of this script can be found here: Jungo-image.jpg (U will have to rename it to Jungo-image.py!).

The 2nd thing that is needed is the Redboot itself. The latest version can be downloaded here: MI424WR redboot or here MI424WR redboot alt. You should verify what each MAC address for WAN/LAN is, and write them down somewhere, before installing DD-WRT.

From here it is partially taken from the OpenWRT Wiki:
Installation of RedBoot can be accomplished with the jungo-image.py script. The script uses the telnet interface into the router to accomplish it's task. Depending on the version of the firmware, it may have to be manually enabled in the advanced tab under local administration.
The standard password for the Verizon software is: admin/password. If that fails a common alternate is: admin/password1.
The script will first make a backup of the current flash image; this procedure takes about 4 minutes. Use -h to get help on all the options. If there's some failure, the only recourse is to install a JTAG header and restore the firmware via JTAG; so, use at your own risk!

Installing DD-WRT

The RedBoot prompt is accessible via telnet 192.168.1.1 9000 on the Wan port. The Wan port is configured to obtain an address via DHCP; if this fails it defaults to 192.168.1.1. Note that there's a feature that allows skipping the RedBoot boot script by pressing the "Reset" button after power on for about 10 seconds. When RedBoot is ready to accept commands, it sets the Internet LED red. After establishing a telnet session to RedBoot, the flash must be initialized and configured:

  • Initialize flash: fis init

Configure MAC addresses (initial setup only)

  • fconfig npe_eth0_esa 0x00:0x01:0x02:0x03:0x04:0x05 (The "0x" tell's the redboot that its hex code). Use the MAC address at the bottom of the unit plus 3. The one printed on the bottom is for the lan, but we need to tell RedBoot what the WAN port MAC address is.
  • fconfig npe_eth1_esa 0x00:0x01:0x02:0x03:0x04:0x05 tells Redboot the LAN mac. Now you can use the MAC printed on the bottom label.

Flashing/recovery

  • Install and configure your favorite TFTP server to serve the dd-wrt image as linux.bin
  • Load linux.bin into memory: load -r -b 0x800000 -h <hostip> linux.bin
you should see the file transfer taking place, if it times out, check your TFTP server configuration and try again
do not proceed past this point until you've successfully loaded the image to the router with TFTP
  • Write linux.bin to flash: fis create linux (this will take a while, be patient)

Configure Redboot

In order to autonomously boot to the DD-WRT kernel you just installed, you need to add a boot script to RedBoot:

  • Open RedBoot's configuration: fconfig -d
  • When prompted with Run script at boot, change the value to true
  • Enter the following in the first line of the script enter: fis load linux
  • Enter the second line: exec
  • Hit enter to finish the script with an empty line.
  • Change the timeout setting for loading the script to about 5 sec.
  • Keep hitting enter until you get this prompt: Update RedBoot non-volatile configuration - continue (y/n)?.
  • Type y and enter.
  • Power cycle the router and dd-wrt should boot.

Escape from booting

Redboot build < 02/2009

Since u cant set the timeout setting in the redboot.conf (its hardcoded!) you can escape from the booting process:

  • you'll see a red LED when redboot is waiting for input
  • then press the reset button on power up and do ^C on the serial connection. then it will skip the boot script and u can access via telnet...dont asky me why its done like this

External Links

http://oldwiki.openwrt.org/OpenWrtDocs(2f)Hardware(2f)Actiontec(2f)MI424(2d)WR.html?highlight=(OpenWrtDocs/Hardware)
http://opensource.actiontec.com/index.html
http://www.mail-archive.com/openwrt-devel@lists.openwrt.org/msg01967.html