Linksys WRT54G - Advice for european users

[Christer Palm]

As a follow-up to the WRT54G issue...

For those of you who are looking for european firmware updates for the
WRT54G, a word of warning might be in order:

The european firmware download pages on Linksys' homepage lists three
separate downloads for the v1, v1.1 and v2 hardware revisions. The
firmware downloads linked to by the v1 and v1.1 links are NOT up to date!

According to Linksys support, the v2 firmware is what you want,
regardless of what hardware revision you have. Very confusing, but
obviously there used to be separate images for the different hardware
revisions, but now, a single image supports all three revisions, and the
v1 and v1.1 links were never updated to reflect this fact.

I have only checked the european sites, but other "international" sites
possibly have the same problem. The U.S. site is OK, though, but doesn't
have the european version of the firmware.

Linksys support told me that they haven't had the time to fix the site
yet, but given that the unified firmware was released in february, they
apparantly haven't been working very hard on it.

Hopefully, they will get around to fix this when they make the update
for the remote admin problem available. The beta posted on the U.S.
site, by the way, doesn't seem to be available in a european version yet...

--
Christer Palm

[Connor, Ethan M. W]

Another bit of warning about linksys and their inability to get the firmware
release vs. hardware version worked out correctly. If you install the
latest WAP54G firmware update for the v2 hardware on v1 or v1.1 hardware
(which the readme says is supported)... Expect the ethernet port to disable
itself (due to the order in which the interfaces are initialized on the
device) after you power cycle it...

It was quite a shock to discover that both the wireless and LAN ports had
the same hardware MAC address with the latest firmware, and as such the
first one to initialize was the only one working. Connecting wirelessly to
downgrade the box to the latest v1.1 hardware specific firmware release was
the only solution...

Explaining to that god awful outsourced support why I couldn't ping the box
with my laptop connected directly to the ethernet port wasn't an easy task
either... But that is another story entirely ("even if the mac address
wasn't the same and it was working, I can't ping 192.168.1.1 because I
assigned it a different IP address, would you like me to try and ping _THAT_
address instead?" ... "Uh, please hold, I'll ask...") *sigh*.

After getting back into a US support queue I got someone to acknowledge that
they have seen this problem on some hardware versions, but no fixes - this
was 3 or 4 months ago... Still no fixes. So, for those of you who might be
thinking about a firmware update - lately it's been "proceed with
caution"...

-----Original Message-----
From: Christer Palm [mailto:palm@nogui.se]
Sent: Saturday, June 05, 2004 7:11 PM
To: bugtraq@securityfocus.com
Subject: Linksys WRT54G - Advice for european users


As a follow-up to the WRT54G issue...

For those of you who are looking for european firmware updates for the
WRT54G, a word of warning might be in order:

The european firmware download pages on Linksys' homepage lists three
separate downloads for the v1, v1.1 and v2 hardware revisions. The
firmware downloads linked to by the v1 and v1.1 links are NOT up to date!

According to Linksys support, the v2 firmware is what you want,
regardless of what hardware revision you have. Very confusing, but
obviously there used to be separate images for the different hardware
revisions, but now, a single image supports all three revisions, and the
v1 and v1.1 links were never updated to reflect this fact.

I have only checked the european sites, but other "international" sites
possibly have the same problem. The U.S. site is OK, though, but doesn't
have the european version of the firmware.

Linksys support told me that they haven't had the time to fix the site
yet, but given that the unified firmware was released in february, they
apparantly haven't been working very hard on it.

Hopefully, they will get around to fix this when they make the update
for the remote admin problem available. The beta posted on the U.S.
site, by the way, doesn't seem to be available in a european version yet...

--
Christer Palm


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[micm]

> -----Original Message-----
> From: bugtraq-return-14636-micm=toth.org.uk@securityfocus.com
> [mailto:bugtraq-return-14636-micm=toth.org.uk@securityfocus.co
> m] On Behalf Of Connor, Ethan M. W
> Sent: Monday, June 07, 2004 5:56 PM
> To: 'Christer Palm'; bugtraq@securityfocus.com
> Subject: RE: Linksys WRT54G - Advice for european users
>
> Another bit of warning about linksys and their inability to
> get the firmware
> release vs. hardware version worked out correctly. If you install the
> latest WAP54G firmware update for the v2 hardware on v1 or
> v1.1 hardware
> (which the readme says is supported)... Expect the ethernet
> port to disable
> itself (due to the order in which the interfaces are
> initialized on the
> device) after you power cycle it...

The readme for the european version of the firmware has this to say:

=======
Note: If you try and upgrade an older unit to firmware 2.07 without
upgrading
the firmware to 1.09.1 prior to upgrade, you may damage the Access
Point.
=======

And also has a pdf containing the instructions and links to the relevant
firmware downloads.
http://www.linksys.com/download/vertxt/WAP54GupgradeprocedureV2.doc

As someone who suffered from the dead ethernet port symptom, I can
confirm that the upgrade via the 1.09 version fixed the issue. Note
also that it's mentioned in various places that the 1.09 firmware is not
a functional firmware - however it in fact works identically to 1.08
(USA version). Make sure you power cycle the router at least once after
upgrading to 1.09 rather that just letting it reboot by itself
post-update.

Analysis elsewhere
(http://www.sveasoft.com/modules/phpBB2/viewforum.php?f=10) suggests
that the 1.09 firmware updates the pmon code within the router.

Mike.

[Richard Bjerregaard]

Hejsa Ethan

7. juni 2004, 18:56:18, you wrote:

CEMW> Another bit of warning about linksys and their inability to get the f=
irmware
CEMW> release vs. hardware version worked out correctly. If you install the
CEMW> latest WAP54G firmware update for the v2 hardware on v1 or v1.1 hardw=
are
CEMW> (which the readme says is supported)... Expect the ethernet port to =
disable
CEMW> itself (due to the order in which the interfaces are initialized on t=
he
CEMW> device) after you power cycle it...

From=20the readme.txt
"
Note: If you try and upgrade an older unit to firmware 2.07 without upgrad=
ing
the firmware to 1.09.1 prior to upgrade, you may damage the Access
Point."

Checkout these links

http://www.linksys.com/international/firmware.asp?intfwid=3D9&coid=3D48

This document explains how to upgrade your WAP54G to firmware version 2.07.=
01
The procedure applies to V1.0 and V1.1 hardwares.
http://www.linksys.com/download/vertxt/WAP54GupgradeprocedureV2.doc


--=20
Best regards/Venlig hilsen
Richard Bjerregaard

[Connor, Ethan M. W]

The readme on the v2.07 US firmware (for v2 hardware) carries no such
warning... Apparently they pay more attention to things like this in
Europe! :)

Actually, since my initial problems a few months back - just last week in
fact - they released another version of 2.07 for the v1.1 hardware... The
readme in _that_ zip file mentions that you must be running 1.09.1 on v1.0 /
v1.1 hardware or the install won't work. But, if you get the other 2.07
firmware - the one that has been available for some time now - all you get
is the claim that it supports all versions of the WAP54G hardware, and no
other warnings:

Version 2.07, April 28, 2004
- Adds Linksys Wireless Guard support
Note:WPA does not work in Wireless Bridge/Repeater mode in this release

Version 2.06, December 16, 2003 (ver.2 initial release)
- Updated User Interface format and layout
- Updated wireless driver to support all versions of WAP54G hardware
- Adds AP Client Mode
- Adds Wireless Repeater Mode for WAP54G and WRT54G (requires fw 2.02.2 or
above)
Note:WPA does not work in Wireless Bridge/Repeater mode in this release

http://www.linksys.com/download/vertxt/wap54gv2_fw_ver207.txt


But thank you to everyone who pointed out this document -
http://www.linksys.com/download/vertxt/WAP54GupgradeprocedureV2.doc - It
definitely was information that helped...

-----Original Message-----
From: Richard Bjerregaard [mailto:bjerregaard@jyde.dk]
Sent: Tuesday, June 08, 2004 6:15 PM
To: bugtraq@securityfocus.com
Cc: Connor, Ethan M. W
Subject: Re: Linksys WRT54G - Advice for european users


Hejsa Ethan

7. juni 2004, 18:56:18, you wrote:

CEMW> Another bit of warning about linksys and their inability to get
CEMW> the firmware release vs. hardware version worked out correctly.
CEMW> If you install the latest WAP54G firmware update for the v2
CEMW> hardware on v1 or v1.1 hardware (which the readme says is
CEMW> supported)... Expect the ethernet port to disable itself (due to
CEMW> the order in which the interfaces are initialized on the
CEMW> device) after you power cycle it...

From the readme.txt
"
Note: If you try and upgrade an older unit to firmware 2.07 without
upgrading the firmware to 1.09.1 prior to upgrade, you may damage the Access
Point."

Checkout these links

http://www.linksys.com/international/firmware.asp?intfwid=9&coid=48

This document explains how to upgrade your WAP54G to firmware version
2.07.01 The procedure applies to V1.0 and V1.1 hardwares.
http://www.linksys.com/download/vertxt/WAP54GupgradeprocedureV2.doc


--
Best regards/Venlig hilsen
Richard Bjerregaard


This message and any included attachments is intended for the sole use of
the individual or entity to whom it is addressed. The information contained
herein is confidential, proprietary or privileged and may be subject to
protection under law. You are notified that unauthorized use, distribution,
review or reproduction of such information is strictly prohibited and may
subject you to criminal or civil penalties. If you have received this
transmission in error, please promptly delete it and notify the sender by
e-mail with a copy to 'postmaster@hendersonbrothers.com'.