Ralink/MediaTek U-Boot for MIPS SoC
RT3052/RT3352/RT3883/RT5350/MT7620/MT7621/MT7628/MT7688
Based on MediaTek SDK 5.0.1.0
This is a Fork from https://gitlab.com/db260179/u-boot-mt7621/-/tree/master/
New features:
- New profiles: see ROUTERS_LIST.txt file
- Links to the uboot/factory/firmware mode of the httpd failsafe repair for quickly switch between html pages (see screenshots below)
For MT7621 U-Boot:
- extract 'toolchain/mips-2012.03.tar.bz2' to /opt (tar -xvf toolchain/mips-2012.03.tar.xz -C /opt/)
For RT3XXX/MT7620/MT7628/MT7688 U-Boot:
- extract 'toolchain/buildroot-gcc342.tar.bz2' to /opt
Both toolchains require x86 (32-bit) Linux environment. If you are on x64 (64-bit) environment you need to do the following: Ubuntu 18.04 or Debian 9,10
dpkg --add-architecture i386
apt install libc6:i386 libncurses5:i386 libstdc++6:i386
- Copy appropriate '.config' file (e.g. profiles/XIAOMI/MI-R4AV2.config) to 'uboot-5.x.x.x' dir.
- Goto 'uboot-5.x.x.x' dir.
- Run 'make menuconfig', choose [Exit] and confirm [Save]. This is important step!
- Run 'make'.
- Use image file uboot.bin (ROM mode) for NOR and SPI-flash boards.
- Use image file uboot.img (RAM mode) for NAND-flash boards.
To clean U-Boot tree:
- Run 'make clean'.
- Run 'make unconfig'.
- Goto 'uboot-5.x.x.x' dir.
- Run 'make menuconfig'.
- Select SoC, Ram, Flash type for your board. See some .config from profiles, you will get the general idea.
- Choose [Exit] and confirm [Save] then run 'make'.
NOTE:
- Before building for a new board, know the GPIO number for reset, leds and configure them properly during 'make menuconfig'. Extra careful with the reset button (GPIO_BTN_RESET).
- It's better to configure UART baud rate same as your stock firmware 115200 or 57600.
- All profiles has disabled option "Enable all Ethernet PHY" to prevent LAN-WAN spoofing (EPHY will be enabled later in FW logic). To force enable EPHY (e.g. for use OpenWRT/PandoraBox), select option "Enable all Ethernet PHY".
- See if your board's spi or nand flash chip is listed on here 'uboot-5.x.x.x/drivers/spi_flash.c' (281 line) or 'uboot-5.x.x.x/drivers/nand/nand_device_list.h'. Don't risk it if your flash chip is not on the list.
Take a backup of the current u-boot partition (mtd0
).
Get info about mtd partitions structure:
cat /proc/mtd
Make backup of original u-boot (mtd0 - partition device name in the sample with uboot):
cat /dev/mtd0 > /tmp/uboot_orig.bin
Transfer the backup off the device and to a safe place:
scp root@192.168.1.1:/tmp/uboot_orig.bin .
Transfer the new uboot to the router:
scp uboot_new.bin root@192.168.1.1:/tmp/
And flash:
mtd -e /dev/mtd0 write /tmp/uboot_new.bin /dev/mtd0
Danger: This is the point of no return, if you have any errors or problems, please revert the original image at any time using:
mtd -e /dev/mtd0 write /tmp/uboot_orig.bin /dev/mtd0
Double check the boot partition name 'Bootloader' by 'cat /proc/mtd', usually it's on /dev/mtd0 or sometimes mtd1.
-
Reboot router.
WARNING
-
Do not remove power supply during flash U-Boot!!!
-
Device may be bricked due to your incorrect actions!!!
- Press and hold the RESET button on Power-On for 2~3 sec, this will switch to Recovery mode. Set your Ethernet ipv4 to 192.168.1.2, subnet mask 255.255.255.0 and gateway 192.168.1.1.
- Go to 192.168.1.1 from any browser and upload or upgrade your firmware. You can also upgrade your factory and u-boot
partition from 192.168.1.1/factory.html and 192.168.1.1/uboot.html respectively.
For Xiaomi routers http server maybe reached by the 192.168.31.1 ip, it depend on envoriment from the Config/BootEnv partition values.
- Also you can use TFTP client or ASUS Firmware Restoration (device IP-address is 192.168.1.1). Some devices with usb port can also support Recovery from USB storage.
NOTE:
- Usually, Xiaomi router has 192.168.31.1 address, so please remeber about it and find you router in the failsafe repair mode by this address or modify u-boot enviriments for ip address to the 192.168.1.1
- U-Boot will perform switch to Recovery mode on flash content integrity fail.
- Alert LED(s) is blinking in Recovery mode and on erasing/flashing.
- To Recovery from USB storage, place FW image with a filename 'root_uImage' to first FAT16/FAT32 partition, plug-in USB2 pen and switch to Recovery mode (see 3).