The Asus RT-N16 is a middle class router from 2010 with gigabit ethernet and 802.11n draft. It is based on the Broadcom BCM47xx SoC platform.
Version/Model | S/N | OpenWrt Version Supported | Model Specific Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1.2 | - | Barrier Breaker 14.07 Chaos Calmer 15.05.1 | brcm47xx/mips74k image is recommended |
The wireless should work with both the b43 and brcmsmac kernel modules. By default b43 module is used. If you plan to use 802.11-n capable brcmsmac module instead you should:
In some circumstances the b43 will not be stable. Symptoms include the router rebooting semi-randomly (from 10 mins to 4 hours between reboots), this may be associated with heavy wifi-traffic. In this case use the brcmsmac drive, the same hardware works fine. (Tested on 15.05.1)
As an alternative the proprietary Broadcom module broadcom-wl can be used instead, it is contained in the package kmod-brcm-wl.
Installing process
# removing previous modules opkg remove kmod-b43 kmod-b43legacy kmod-mac80211 kmod-cfg80211 kmod-brcmsmac # installing proprietary module and supported packages opkg update; opkg install kmod-brcm-wl nas wlc wl # cleaning up wireless configuration and rebooting device rm -f /etc/config/wireless; reboot
On Chaos Calmer 15.05.1 with kmod-brcm-wl enabling 802.11n and 40MHz may cause all wireless functionality to be stop. The solution is manually editing config /etc/config/wireless, and setting option hwmode to '11ng' instead '11g'.
Working config
config wifi-device 'wl0' option type 'broadcom' option txantenna '3' option rxantenna '3' option hwmode '11ng' option channel '6' option htmode 'HT40' option txpower '24'
More about modules comparison can be read here, here, configuring example found on OpenWRT and 802.11n on Asus WL-500W (same wireless SoC).
CPU | Ram | Flash | Network | Gigabit | USB | Serial | JTag |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
BCM4718 @ 480MHz | 128MiB | 32MiB | 4 + 1 | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
The Barrier Breaker release have almost full support of Asus RT-N16. The following is a list of everything that needs polish in order to update this device's status to 'fully supported'.
Just go to Administration→Upgrade and select your https://downloads.openwrt.org/chaos_calmer/15.05.1/brcm47xx/mips74k/openwrt-15.05.1-brcm47xx-mips74k-asus-rt-n16-squashfs.trx (tested for Tomato 1.28)
Below instructions install bleeding edge.
this is how i installed it from ddwrt ssh session:
cat /proc/mtd |
make sure linux is on there then, to install bleeding edge :
cd /tmp
wget http://downloads.openwrt.org/snapshots/trunk/brcm47xx/mips74k/openwrt-brcm47xx-mips74k-asus-rt-n16-squashfs.trx
mtd -r write openwrt-brcm47xx-mips74k-asus-rt-n16-squashfs.trx linux |
or, to install 15.05.1 (works!) :
cd /tmp
wget https://downloads.openwrt.org/chaos_calmer/15.05/brcm47xx/mips74k/openwrt-15.05.1-brcm47xx-mips74k-asus-rt-n16-squashfs.trx
mtd -r write openwrt-15.05.1-brcm47xx-mips74k-asus-rt-n16-squashfs.trx linux |
after router reboots, you should be able to telnet to 192.168.1.1 and go from there.
be sure to reset to default settings using :
firstboot |
otherwise things will be missing and misconfigured.
→flash.layout for a detailed explanations.
0x 0000 0000-0x 0004 0000 : "boot"
0x 0004 0000-0x 01fe 0000 : "linux"
0x 001d ff88-0x 01fe 0000 : "rootfs"
0x 01fe 0000-0x 0200 0000 : "nvram"
Note that (at least for some version of the Asus firmware) the generic OpenWrt builds are not accepted by the ASUS web interface. Hence, there is a need for a special build for initial flashing. A patch still needs to be made for this but it is not worked on as of yet. Until then, you can either use the methods below, or use the DD-WRT file for initial flashing and then flash OpenWrt through the DD-WRT web interface. The page at wl500gp has detailed backup, flash, & recovery information which should largely apply to the RT-N16 as well.
Flash from a Windows PC using the Firmware Restoration utility. (Download or install the Firmware Restoration Utility to your PC.)
The Asus RT-N16 has a failover mode, like the DIR-600 Bx (X=1,2).
To launch the recovery mode disconnect power from the router first.
Hold the WPS button while plugging in the power to the router to reset nvram, router will restart 2x. Hold the RESET button while plugging in the power to the router to get into recovery mode in which tftpd will be listening. The power LED should start to blink (low frequency, ~1 time every 3 seconds). Retry if that doesn't work for you.
The router IP in the recovery mode is 192.168.1.1 255.255.255.0.
Configure your PC (don't use 192.168.1.1)
netsh interface ip set address name="Local Area Connection" static 192.168.1.2 255.255.255.0 |
Ping 192.168.1.1 should give a response.
Launch the Firmware Restoration utility, select the firmware and press the Upload button.
Ignore the warning, we want to be on OpenWRT!
It may now take several minutes. Be patient and enjoy a cup of tea or coffee.
Reconfigure your PC back to DHCP
netsh interface ip set address name="Local Area Connection" source=dhcp |
Connect to http://openwrt.lan and proceed with the basic configuration.
This may work with other tftp utilities, too.
The Asus RT-N16 has a failover mode, like the DIR-600 Bx (X=1,2).
Get a tftp client, Since Ubuntu is a popular choice snag it :
sudo apt-get install tftp |
Now to modify the router … To launch the recovery mode disconnect power from the router first.
Hold the WPS button while plugging in the power to the router to reset nvram, router will restart 2x. Hold the RESET button while plugging in the power to the router to get into recovery mode in which tftpd will be listening. The power LED should start to blink (low frequency, ~1 time every 3 seconds). Retry if that doesn't work for you.
The router IP in the recovery mode is 192.168.1.1 255.255.255.0.
Configure your box to use an ip 192.168.1.15; this specific IP is required in order to transfer via tftp.
sudo ifconfig eth0 192.168.1.15 |
Ping the interface to be sure it's up :
ping 192.168.1.1 |
Ctrl+C to break.
If you get ping responses then it's up and ready to flash.
tftp 192.168.1.1 |
Set it to binary mode transfer :
mode binary |
upload the firmware :
put openwrt-brcm47xx-squashfs.trx |
When it's complete the router will be writing the firmware and may not automatically reboot. Wait up to 5 minutes, then power off the router and plug it back in.
Since this part is identical for all devices, see Basic configuration.
Switch ports 1-4 are for the LAN, and 0 is for the Internet (WAN) port. Note that the switch ports are the opposite of what is labeled on the device; thus switch port 1 is labeled LAN4, etc. Switch port 8 is the internal connection to the CPU. Not sure what happened to 5-7 but it's assumed they're just not wired out to anything.
Port | Switch port |
---|---|
CPU (Internal) | 8 |
Internet (WAN) | 0 |
LAN 1 | 4 |
LAN 2 | 3 |
LAN 3 | 2 |
LAN 4 | 1 |
If you forgot your password, broken one of the startup scripts, firewalled yourself or corrupted the JFFS2 partition, you can get back in by using OpenWrt's failsafe mode. If you are unsuccesful solving the problem with OpenWrt's failsafe mode, i.e. you have bricked the device, you can use Asus's failsafe mode to flash a new image.
Follow these steps to boot into the OpenWrt failsafe mode:
NOTE: The root file system in failsafe mode is the SquashFS partition mounted in readonly mode. To switch to the normal writable root file system run mount_root and make any changes. Run mount_root now.
passwd
uci get network.lan.ipaddr
ipkg upgrade
or filled up the flash by installing packages that are too big. In the latter case clean the JFFS2 partition and start over by running:mtd -r erase rootfs_data
If you are done with failsafe mode power cycle the router to boot in normal mode.
Since this is an Asus product you can also use the failsafe mode (included in the boot loader). Press and hold the "Reset" button on the back of the device, then plug it in. When the 'PWR' light blinks slowly then it is listening in TFTP mode (~ once every 3 seconds). The default address is 192.168.1.1. If this is not pingable, do the NVRAM reset first, described as follows.
To reset the NVRAM, hold the "WPS" button and plug in the router. When the 'PWR' light is blinking quickly, then when you let go of the WPS button, the router will perform a reboot, wipe and reboot again. Note that clearing NVRAM does not clear much of OpenWrt's configuration, unlike other router software which keep configuration data in NVRAM. Since OpenWrt's configuration is kept in the main JFFS file system, using UCI configuration files, if you cannot boot normally you can reset or change this with OpenWrt's failsafe mode. See also flash.layout.
This CC snapshot works on RT N16. Look at http://downloads.openwrt.org/snapshots/trunk/brcm47xx/mips74k/.
If you want to compile Target System (Broadcom BCM947xx/953xx) Target Profile (Broadcom SoC, all Ethernet, BCM43xx WiFi (wl, proprietary))
For Barrier Breaker: Target System (Broadcom BCM47xx/53xx (MIPS)), Subtarget (MIPS 74K), Target Profile (Broadcom SoC, BCM43xx WiFi (proprietary wl)).
Initially WLAN LED is not triggered by Wi-Fi driver. Edit /etc/config/system to enable it (tested with brcmsmac):
config led wlan_led option name 'WLAN' option sysfs 'bcm47xx:blue:wlan' option trigger 'netdev' option dev 'wlan0' option mode 'link tx rx'
Architecture: | MIPS |
Vendor: | Broadcom |
Bootloader: | CFE |
System-On-Chip: | Broadcom BCM4718 (MIPS 74KTM ) |
CPU: | Broadcom BCM4716 chip rev 1 (MIPS 74K V4.0 480 MHz) |
Flash-Chip: | MACRONIX MX29GL256EHTI2I-90Q |
Flash size: | 32 MiB |
RAM: | 128 MiB |
Wireless: | Broadcom BCM43xx 802.11b/g (integrated) |
Ethernet: | Broadcom bcm53115skfbg |
USB: | Yes 2 x 2.0 |
Serial: | Yes |
JTAG: | ? |
Note: This will void your warranty!
How to connect to Serial Port :
You will need a TTL device to connect. These are available cheaply online from many different retailers. I picked up mine here :
http://www.ebay.com/itm/251082091781?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT
a PL2303 USB To RS232 TTL Converter Adapter Module.
This exposes a serial device to OS via USB. Connection should be made to the header on the RT-N16 matching RX→TX and TX→RX. Connect GND to GND. Then open up a terminal application, like PuTTY, and connect with 115200 baud, with 8 bits of data, no parity (8N1). Connecting VCC doesn't hurt.
This is recognized in WinXP, Win 7 and Linux (Ubuntu 11.10 checked). Drivers here : http://www.prolific.com.tw/US/ShowProduct.aspx?p_id=225&pcid=41
For connection in windows, use PuTTY. Find the COM port by using Device Manager to see where it has been assigned.
For connection in Linux : review serial pages for the connection.
There have been attempts to use the PCIe interface. See http://linux-mips-org.10913.n7.nabble.com/Re-brcm4716-and-PCIe-td56191.html
After unplugging and replugging the router's power it became unresponsive, even the LEDs were not lightning up. I opened the router to find a capacitor near the power supply (most likely a filter cap) which seemed slightly popped. The capacitor was a 680uF 16V. I didn't have any capacitor with the same specs at hand, so I replaced it with a capacitor with higher voltage/capacity ratings (1000uF 25V). After replacing the capacitor the router started working and the router configurations were still intact.
Development information: