Microsoft MN700 hack project

[jeez]

Hmm. In that case something appears to be wrong with my OpenWrt - the router does not accept telnet or any other traffic; all connections time out. The WLAN is silent. Erasing the NVRAM changes nothing.

I'll try flashing the kernel via JTAG - maybe that'll work.

[jeez]

Okay, that didn't work. Apparently the kernel was not transmitted cleanly. Maybe I fried something in the router...

I'll experiment some more. If the next JTAG kernel flash doesn't go smoothly I'll try to mod the debricker. Then I'll throw away the router and get a new one.
Is it possible to send a block of data, read it back, verify it and then send the next block? That way the debricker would be less vulnerable to transmission errors during long sends... Even though sending might take forever.

[Run]

Could someone tell me what pins on the DB-25 connect to what pins on the board.

I keep getting "unrecongnized chip"

[highlandsguy]

Can someone tell me if this allows alternate firmware or only MSFT's?

[cliefan]

Just wanted to let everyone know. I followed the instructions and was able to flash DD-WRT with the Asus tool to my mn700. Seems to be working great!

Thanks!

[cliefan]

Just wanted to let everyone know. I followed the instructions and was able to flash DD-WRT with the Asus tool to my mn700. Seems to be working great!

Thanks!

I spoke too soon. There seems to be a problem with the nvram. web interface of DD-wrt works great, but if i try to save changes and reboot, the power light turns orange and i have to reboot again. At this point, the router has been reset to default settings.

It seems like it can't save to nvram. Is this an issue because the the cfe oleg has come up wit does not support dd-wrt?

Thanks!

[duaux]

hi cliefan,

i too have read up on this post+many others but i am a step behind you. i am currently "stuck" in the

./wrt54g -flash:cfe

stage...

if you guessed it correctly, i am receiving (ffffff) error
ie. cable problems.

however i am 99% sure my cable is built correctly. (i have made 2, both with different materials)

after numourous tries,

switching the router off, and hitting enter, i am still reciving the (fffff) error.

i then decided to look under the PCB of the MN-700 board and noticed that the ground for the JTAG(s) dont "lead anywhere"?

could this mean that my version of the board does not have a ground for the JTAG?

if this is true, then that would explain my cable connection issue.

can someone please check their boards?

thank you.

[siafu]

I spoke too soon. There seems to be a problem with the nvram. web interface of DD-wrt works great, but if i try to save changes and reboot, the power light turns orange and i have to reboot again. At this point, the router has been reset to default settings.

It seems like it can't save to nvram. Is this an issue because the the cfe oleg has come up wit does not support dd-wrt?

Thanks!

Problem is with the filter_services variables being too long. With SP2, clear filter_services2 and everything will work perfectly

nvram set filter_services2=
nvram commit

[CaptainX]

Hello... I hope that some of the masterminds of this forum are still reading! I've been trying to flash an MN700 to the Asus firmware. I think that I've read just about every forum out there but still stuck! JTAG is built and works fine. I can flash CFE, clear NVRAM and do anything with the JTAG cable without problems. BUT whenever I try to use the ASUS Firmware Utility it always errors out. When I try to flash using TFTP in windows it always times out. I can press and hold the reset and put it into restore mode, but have not been able to load a flash on there. I even spent 40 hours loading the firmware using JTAG, but was never able to access using 192.168.1.1. I've tried loading the wl500g-clear-nvram.trx and the accompanying restore, but even that will not load.

One more thing I can think of, I made my own cfe.bin in Linux, but that was simple once I put my MAC in the cfe.txt file. Is it possible that if I somehow screwed the cfe.bin file I am getting this issue? If so, is Oleg still offering his assistance?

Thanks to anyone for the help!

[siafu]

Hello... I hope that some of the masterminds of this forum are still reading! I've been trying to flash an MN700 to the Asus firmware. I think that I've read just about every forum out there but still stuck! JTAG is built and works fine. I can flash CFE, clear NVRAM and do anything with the JTAG cable without problems. BUT whenever I try to use the ASUS Firmware Utility it always errors out. When I try to flash using TFTP in windows it always times out. I can press and hold the reset and put it into restore mode, but have not been able to load a flash on there. I even spent 40 hours loading the firmware using JTAG, but was never able to access using 192.168.1.1. I've tried loading the wl500g-clear-nvram.trx and the accompanying restore, but even that will not load.

One more thing I can think of, I made my own cfe.bin in Linux, but that was simple once I put my MAC in the cfe.txt file. Is it possible that if I somehow screwed the cfe.bin file I am getting this issue? If so, is Oleg still offering his assistance?

Thanks to anyone for the help!

Try turning off your windows firewall when using the ASUS Firmware Utility. Sometimes I was able to get it to work, sometimes it would error out. The "symptom" that I always had was that running the ASUS Firmware Utility would change the power led from firmware restoration mode (alternating between green and orange) to just green, but no firmware would be uploaded. Turning off the Windows Firewall fixed this for me. Also, perhaps the following Wiki article for MN-700 and DD-WRT firmware might help:
http://www.dd-wrt.com/wiki/index.php/MN-700

[Dest]

I finally got around to working with my MN700 and having a bit of problems...

I have made my cable properly but can't seem to get the unit to properly update the CFE.

it will get anywhere between 25 and 60% flashed then just stop progressing.... as if it's locked...

I FINALLY got it to properly flash once however had my MAC address wrong so now I've corrected and trying to do again...

any suggestions on how to keep this locking up from occuring??

I'm using wrt54g under knoppix 5
wrt54g -flash:cfe /noreset

Thanks for all the work !

[Dest]

hmm.. got it to flash ok again...

the light is alternating between green and orange yet I can't seem to ping 192.168.1.1

wondering if perhaps I'm doing \something incorrectly when creating the cfe

[siafu]

hmm.. got it to flash ok again...

the light is alternating between green and orange yet I can't seem to ping 192.168.1.1

wondering if perhaps I'm doing \something incorrectly when creating the cfe

I use this Windows JTAG software (here)

I normally don't even bother trying to ping 192.168.1.1. I believe the ASUS Firmware Restoration Tool actually operates on layer 2 (MAC level) rather than on layer 3 (IP layer), because I have been able to use this tool regardless of the IP I have set (either DHCP or manual on pretty much any network). Are you able to upload a firmware with the ASUS Restoration Tool?

[Karsten]

hmm.. got it to flash ok again...

the light is alternating between green and orange yet I can't seem to ping 192.168.1.1

wondering if perhaps I'm doing \something incorrectly when creating the cfe

i´ve had the same probleme, so i trie´d it without change of my mac
and it worked, so maybe give it a try.

I changed my mac with with nvram settimgs don´t know if it posible in this firm?

p.s. sorry for my bad english

[komigenie]

Hi guys, and thanks for this exelent manual ..

Well,

I did solder connector on router board, i did make jtag cable, i did flash boot loader, ........ but also i did ERASE WHOLE FLASH by mistake ...

Is there ANY GOOD SOUL who is willing to send me whole flash on email?

WIll be apriciated,

Vladimir - komigenie@gmail.com