Linksys WRT150N & WRT160N

From DD-WRT Wiki

Revision as of 14:40, 26 March 2011 by G sintornillos (Talk | contribs)
Jump to: navigation, search

The process for flashing the WRT150N and the WRT160Nv1 are the same. The WRT160Nv3 differs slightly and has its own instructions further down the page. VERSION 2 OF THE 160N IS NOT SUPPORTED. Do NOT try to flash v2 routers with this process.

Contents

WRT150N and WRT160Nv1 Instructions

  1. Read the Peacock Announcement
  2. Download THIS Newd_Mini file. ftp://dd-wrt.com/others/eko/V24_TNG/svn12548/dd-wrt.v24-12548_NEWD_mini.bin.
  3. Ensure you have a physical ethernet connection to your router, and disable your wireless adapter, antivirus/firewall protection, and any software that makes strong use of your network (BitTorrent, Streaming Audio/Video, etc).
  4. Perform a hard 30/30/30 reset.
  5. Navigate to http://192.168.1.1/ in your web browser of choice.
  6. Enter no username, and the password "admin".
  7. Go to the administration tab. Click on firmware upgrade.
  8. Browse to the .bin file you downloaded in step 2
  9. Click on the upgrade button and WAIT for the upgrade successful message.
  10. Power cycle your router. Wait until you can see the DD-WRT password screen at [1].
  11. Perform another 30/30/30 reset on your router. Wait until you can see the password screen at [2].
  12. Set a new username and password, and continue on to configure your router like normal.

You can now upgrade to any generic DD-WRT build except Mega and Micro. Be sure to always do a hard reset prior to flashing another build, do a power cycle followed by another hard reset after flashing, and NEVER re-use a configuration file from a previous build or another router. Always reconfigure from scratch.

WRT160Nv2 Instructions

Linksys WRT160N v2.0, not yet supported.

WRT160Nv3 Instructions

  1. Read the Peacock Announcement.
  2. Download ftp://dd-wrt.com/others/eko/V24-K26/svn13575/dd-wrt.v24-13575_NEWD-2_K2.6_mini_wrt160nv3.bin. If you wish to experiment with a newer build, you can download the latest firmware from ftp://dd-wrt.com/others/eko/V24-K26/ that has "WRT160Nv3" in the file name. You should read the "build thread" for any build you are considering putting on your router, before flashing a newer build, (as discussed in the peacock announcement).
  3. Ensure you have a physical ethernet connection to your router, and disable your wireless adapter, antivirus/firewall protection, and any software that makes strong use of your network (BitTorrent, Streaming Audio/Video, etc).
  4. Perform a hard 30/30/30 reset.
  5. Navigate to http://192.168.1.1/ in your web browser of choice.
  6. At the Linksys Management Mode screen, do not give the reboot command. You will use this page to upgrade your firmware.
  7. Browse to the firmware you downloaded and click Upload.
  8. Do not touch anything. The page will tell you that the upgrade was successful and the router is now rebooting. Your router may take upwards of a couple minutes to reboot. Watch the lights... once the wireless and power indicators are on steadily for several seconds, your router is fully rebooted and you can click "Continue" in your browser window.
  9. If the DD-WRT password change page displays, your upgrade has been successful, and you must now perform another hard 30/30/30 reset. This time, when you navigate to 192.168.1.1, click "Reboot" and wait for the router to come online again so you can configure it.

If the DD-WRT password change page does not display, your page request times out, or you can't ping 192.168.1.1, make sure both wireless and power lights are on steadily first, then do a hard power cycle (unplug the power from the router--do not do a 30/30/30 reset). Wait a few seconds and plug the power back into the router. Wait until both wireless and power lights are on steadily, then navigate to http://192.168.1.1/ in your browser of choice again. If the DD-WRT password change page displays, your upgrade has been successful, and you must now perform another hard 30/30/30 reset. This time, when you navigate to 192.168.1.1, click "Reboot" and wait for the router to come online again so you can configure it.

I made the following notes from installing on two separate Linksys wrt160nv3 routers. The other routers on this page might also behave this way, but I personally can only verify these for the wrt160nv3.


Performing a 30/30/30 Reset on a WRT160Nv3

  1. Perform a normal 30/30/30 reset.
  2. Login to http://192.168.1.1/ and you will see the Linksys - Management Mode page.
  3. Click "Reboot."
  4. In a moment, you will see "Command reboot completed." The router will now start the reboot process. When the lights return to their normal state, you can click "Continue" to be taken to the router's main page.


Linksys Management Mode on some WRT160N v3 routers when the 30/30/30 doesn't work

I couldn't get the 30/30/30 to bring up the management mode page. After some searching this was the only method that worked for me.

  1. Plug power in
  2. Wait 1-2 seconds and then press and hold reset button for 5 seconds
  3. Browse to http://192.168.1.1

You should now see the Linksys Management Mode screen. Again, this was only because the 30/30/30 method was not working. Try this as a last resort.

See these threads for undocumented recovery means:

http://www.dd-wrt.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=63444

http://www.dd-wrt.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?p=407616

How Lights Behave During Reboot on a WRT160Nv3

When you power cycle a WRT160Nv3, the lights will act as follows:

  1. Power light blinks. If LAN or WAN cable is plugged in, their respective lights will flash on activity.
  2. Power light turns off for several seconds.
  3. All lights, except power light, turn on and then off.
  4. Power light blinks slowly, then faster, and WLAN light will turn on.
  5. Once Power light and WLAN light are on solid, the router is fully rebooted.


If You Install the Wrong Firmware on the WRT160Nv3

If you install the wrong firmware on accident (as I did by not installing a K26 build) to the WRT160Nv3, the power light may not go to a solid state after a normal or hard reset and the DD-WRT login may not be available. You may be able to put the router in management mode to re-install firmware by following these steps:

  1. Unplug the router's power source.
  2. Plug an ethernet cable from a computer to one of the router's LAN ports.
  3. Hold the router's reset button.
  4. Plug in the router's power source, continuing to hold the reset button for 10 - 15 seconds, then release the button.

The power light on the router should become solid. You should then be able to utilize the router's management mode to re-flash the firmware by accessing 192.168.1.1 in a browser.