D-Link DIR-615

• You might have to change the magic number at the end of the OpenWrt firmware to the one used by the stock DIR-615 firmware to get it to upload.
• Frys FR-300RTR is a rebranded E1 as it has same FCC ID (KA2IR615E1).¹⁾²⁾
• April 2016 - **Version E1-E4 of this router, wifi is no longer supported with Chaos Calmer release ** This is due to limited flash storage. See here for more info. That forum article has some tips to get it working with Chaos Chalmer, otherwise you are better off staying with Barrier Breaker release on this platform.
  

*Hardware and software modifications required

• DIR-615 K1 External Link
• DIR-615 I1 External Link
• Others External Link

Don't upgrade/flash the 18.06.0-rc2 version as theres a bug where the settings dont save, See https://bugs.openwrt.org/index.php?do=details&task_id=1684

Installation/Flashing Guide for Rev. D1-D5 for v17.01.5

1. Download factory.bin for DIR-615 D.
2. Unplug the unit and configure your network card IPv4 to IP 192.168.0.5, Subnet 255.255.255.0, Gateway 192.168.0.1
3. Power off the unit, hold RESET and power on the device untill you see a Orange LED flashing
4. Go to http://192.168.0.1 and upload the firmware. If the upload does not start, just try another browser, e.g. Firefox.
5. Perform initial configuration (Turn on Wireless, Set a Router Passwod also dont forget any port forwarding needed etc) (First login). (http://192.168.1.1)
6. Restart the Device, Yes again
7. Connect the WAN cable to your Cable Modem or Switch
8. Go to Network > Wireless > Advanced and change the country code to your region, Save & Apply.

Notes - D1-D4 models are pretty much unbrickable as they have a built-in firmware recovery mode however model D5 does not have built in recovery!

To access the built-in firmware recovery mode simply set your computer with a static IP in the 192.168.0.x range, Then hold down the reset button while powering on the router, open 192.168.0.1 in a web browser. Recovery mode loads up within a few seconds.

• (2019/06/15) Beware:
• (1) This router and OpenWrt Barrier Breaker are out of date and there are documented security issues - Refer to caveats on www.openwrt.org, and other sources when considering suitability for your purposes - *Use at own risk*
• (2) Following the outline below will remove the existing D-Link firmware (except the emergency recovery functionality). Existing firmware is not backedup. - *Use at own risk*.
• (3) *NO* 'Magic Number' alterations were made to the firmware prior to upload.

1. Download Barrier Breaker http://archive.openwrt.org/barrier_breaker/14.07/ar71xx/generic/dir-615-e4-squashfs-factory.bin (or equivalent)
2. If using MS Windows 7: Download and install a 'simple' web browser from a trusted source, for the SOLE PURPOSE of uploading the openwrt firmware to the router. Do NOT use Firefox, or Internet Explorer; they will hang during the firmware upload to the router.
3. Configure PC NIC to 192.168.0.10; 255.255.255.0, gateway 192.168.0.220 ; (or equiv values)
4. Power off router, press and hold RESET button (rear), power router (Router power indicator will blink orange)
5. PC: Using a 'simple browser' : goto 192.168.0.1 and upload openwrt firmware. Wait until '100%' complete message appears before proceeding
6. Configure PC NIC to 192.168.1.10; 255.255.255.0, gateway 192.168.1.220 ; (or equiv values)
7. PC: Using a 'current modern uptodate browser' : goto 192.168.1.1 ; Expect openwrt router admin pages to appear
8. Configure openwrt on the router; and reboot the router

As of R36213 this router no longer needs a custom build.

Rev H1, I1 are pretty much unbrickable as they have a built-in firmware recovery mode. Revision D5 does not have built in recovery.

To access, simply hold down the reset button while powering on the router. The power LED should blink orange. Set your computer with a static IP in the 192.168.0.x range, and open 192.168.0.1 in a web browser. Recovery mode loads up within a few seconds, but doesn't respond to pings. If the power LED is blinking orange the above page should be accessible.

You will need to flash either a stock firmware image or Openwrt-factory image, *not* a sysupgrade image.

Since this part is identical for all devices, see Basic configuration.

→wireless.overview This router requires the packages kmod-ath9k and wpad-mini.

Numbers 0-3 are Ports 1-4 as labeled on the unit, number 4 is the Internet (WAN) on the unit, 5 is the internal connection to the router itself. Don't be fooled: Port 1 on the unit is number 3 when configuring VLANs. vlan0 = eth0.0, vlan1 = eth0.1 and so on.

add revisions

More info, please!

→ Warranty

• To remove the cover simply remove the 2 back rubber feet.
• There are two screws holding the PCB to the bottom cover.
• On each side successively, from the top, insert flat screwdriver about 1/3 of width from the back and pry gently. The back of the lid will goes up. When both sides of the back of the cover a bit lifted, pull cover towards the back to free front clips.

C1 Uses 3.3v TTL signals.

C1 Serial port settings: Speed:115200, Data bits:8, Stop bits:1, Parity:none, Flow control:none

D2 Serial port settings: Speed:57600, Data bits:8, Stop bits:2, Parity: none, Flow control: none

For D3 all the same applies, but the TX and RX pins have been swapped.

Warning: above picture very likely wrong, i.e. TX and RX swapped. Table below is correct for E3, i.e. Pin3 is RX and Pin9 is TX.

Remember to use 12V ↔ 3.3V serial port converter or you might break the router serial pins by overvoltage.

COM port settings: Speed:115200, Data bits:8, Stop bits:1, Parity:none, Flow control:none

Serial port settings: Speed:57600, Data bits:8, Stop bits:2, Parity: none, Flow control: none

COM port settings: Speed:115200, Data bits:8, Stop bits:1, Parity:none, Flow control:none

Remember to use 12V ↔ 3.3V serial port converter or you might break the router serial pins by overvoltage.

Looks like C1/C2 JTAG lines connected to testpoints tp5-tp8. Pinout is unknown.

Adding JTAG to C1 not easy as some other revisions but should be possible:

• JTAG TDI on R59 top side populated
• JTAG TMS on R60 (bottom side) unpopulated
• JTAG TCK on R61 (top side) populated
• JTAG TDO on R62 top side populated
• JTAG TRST_L on R6/R10
• EJTAG_SEL on R11, R13 (R11 in place 0-ohm to 3.3V so enhanced JTAG selected by default)

E1/E2/E3/E4 has standard MIPS EJTAG JTAG 14-pin header pinout (pic is from E4)

I1 has same footprint and apparently pinout as E1-E4 but still not fully verified.

See port.jtag for more JTAG details.

The D-Link DIR-615 has two buttons. They are WPS and RESET. The WPS button has its own blue led.
The buttons can be used with hotplug events. E. g. wifitoggle.

How to configure LEDs in general, see the LED section in the Wiki.

Rev C: The DIR-615c2 has 1 blue, 3 green and 2 orange controlled LEDs:

Rev H1: The same LED configuration applies to Rev H1.

Revision C2 has 6 free (non-used) GPIO ports. To use them you should do some solder work. Please train you solder skills on broken motherboards before trying to do this on working hardware.

There is also one free GPIO5 used by dir-615c1:green:wancpu led interface. This led interface is useless so we can just desolder r218 (located between q7 transistor and led10), remove led definition from mach-dir-615-c1.c recompile/reflash kernel and use GPIO5 as we want.

To activate GPIO interface you should export it using command 'echo N > /sys/class/gpio/export' (N is a GPIO number). Then you can use /sys/class/gpio/GPION interface to control GPIO (set/get direction, value, etc). Also you can use i2c_gpio_custom/w1_gpio_custom kernel modules for 1wire/i2c protocols over gpio to connect devices/sensors/actuators to your router.

1. as a beginner, you really should inform yourself about soldering in general and then even obtain some experience!

All C1/C2, E1-E4 and I1 share the same empty footprints and hole in plastic case (except for sticker) for adding cleanly USB support.

22-ohm resistors are for impedance matching of the characteristic impedance of the transmission line in the case of high-speed USB for signal integrity at 480Mbps. The single-ended impedance of the line is in theory 45 ohms but the transceiver has an output impedance too that is added to the 22-ohm resistor. For full-speed (12Mbps) or low-speed (1.5Mbps) communication, these resistors are not mandatory. For reasons like not having the required 0603 22-ohm surface mount resistors or skill required to solder them and if you plan on using only full-speed and low-speed USB devices, you might decide to replace these resistors with pieces of wire-wrap wire, which are easier to solder than 0603 resistors.

For high-speed, full-speed and low-speed USB, a host has to provide 15k pull-down resistors on D+ and D- lines. E1-E4 and I1 revisions have 0603 footprints for these pull-down resistors. C1/C2 revisions do not have footprints for these pull-down resistors. If you do not have 0603 resistors, the skill required to solder them or not the footprints for soldering, you may want instead use through-hole resistors soldered on the bottom side of the USB receptacle footprint.

Since the DIR-615 uses a +5 V power supply (from 1 A to 2.5 A according to the revision), one can use it as is to power the USB device. Although this is not good practice. USB hosts have normally some protection from excessive current drawn by the device. This protection shuts down the VBUS supply when a given current threshold is reached.

Revision C1

U4 fooprint is for a dual USB high-side power switch partnumber G526-1 or G526-2 by Global Mixed-mode Technology Inc. Datasheet links: long one single page. These parts are obsolete. Good luck finding them. A pinout compatible and mostly similar in terms of electrical characteristics is MIC2076A-2YM.

A list of possibly matching USB type A vertical right-angle receptacles (verify footprint with datasheet and measurements on board before ordering):

Example to extract info from the first link in the list:
Manufacturer: amphenol-fci
Manufacturer Part Number: 73725-0110BLF

• https://www.digikey.ca/product-detail/en/amphenol-fci/73725-0110BLF/609-1041-ND/1001355
• https://www.digikey.ca/product-detail/en/assmann-wsw-components/A-USB-A-E/AE11178-ND/5056807
• https://www.digikey.ca/product-detail/en/assmann-wsw-components/A-USB-2-A-E/AE11228-ND/5169887
• https://www.digikey.ca/product-detail/en/samtec-inc/USB-A-S-F-W-VU/SAM10370-ND/6679107
• https://www.digikey.ca/product-detail/en/molex-llc/0482040001/WM17532-ND/1866798
• https://www.digikey.ca/product-detail/en/te-connectivity-amp-connectors/1-1734775-1/A108852-ND/4031184
• https://www.digikey.ca/product-detail/en/samtec-inc/USB-A-S-S-B-VU/SAM10371-ND/6679108
• https://www.digikey.ca/product-detail/en/samtec-inc/USB-A-S-S-B-VU-RC/SAM10372-ND/6679109
• https://www.digikey.ca/product-detail/en/wurth-electronics-inc/6140041347261/732-8244-ND/5725364
• https://www.digikey.ca/product-detail/en/wurth-electronics-inc/614004134726/732-2731-ND/2508500
• https://www.digikey.ca/product-detail/en/te-connectivity-amp-connectors/292336-1/A113392-ND/2135576
• https://www.digikey.ca/product-detail/en/te-connectivity-amp-connectors/1-1734775-1/A108852-ND/4031184

The Device uses a DDR1 16Mbit x 16bit (16Mibit*16=256 mebibit. 256 mebibit/8=32MiByte) 400MHz chip Zentel A3S56D40FTP. Replace it with any 32Mbit x 16bit chip. 333MHz instead of 400MHz also works fine. It's quite hard to find these chips. One of the ways to get them is to have a look at DDR SO-DIMM (because SO-DIMM modules are shipped with x16 chips). Since there are no 64Mbit x 16bit DDR1 Chips available → no 128 MB mod!

The most easy approach is to seek for a 4-chip DDR 256 MB module. These all have x16 chips too. Chips only on one side (not to be confused with double-sided 256 MB modules with 4 chips on each side) and only 4 of them - that's the best chance to get some. They represent a small percent among usual 8-chip modules but this is equalized with the amount and “cheap as dirt” price of such DDR 256 MB modules.

Working chips:

• Hynix HY5DU121622DTP-D43 (From Mustang DDR SO-DIMM 512 MB)
• Hynix HY5DU121622CTP-D43 (From Hynix DDR SO-DIMM PC2700S-25330 512MB DDR 333MHz CL 2.5, chips are 400Mhz compatible due to “D43” marking.)
• Infineon HYB25D512160BE (From Infineon DDR SO-DIMM 512 MB)
• Elpida EDD5116ADTA-6B-E (From Elpida DDR SO-DIMM 512 MB)
• Elpida EDD5116AFTA-5B-E (From Elpida DDR SO-DIMM 512 MB)
• Alliance AS4C32M16D1-5TCN (From DigiKey, $2.76)
• Samsung K4H511638J-LCCC000 (From База электроники, 117 ₽ )
• Micron MT46V32M16P-6T F (From AliExpress, $2.6)

Additional list that may work:

**By default router able to see all 64MB. **

Used only next chips:

W25Q128FVSSIG

MX25L12835FM2I

S25FL128P

Uboot and Kernel patches for 16MB Flash External Link

Take some GPIOs which are connected to LEDs or switches, 3.3V and GND from the JTAG header and use the mmc-over-gpio kernel module. The kmod-leds-gpio and kmod-input-gpio-keys-polled kernel modules have to be unloaded before. The blue WPS LED will show when the SD-Card is being accessed and the power LEDs will flicker while data is being transfered.

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.

• Unplug the router's power cord.
• Connect the router's LAN1 port directly to your PC.
• Configure your PC with a static IP address between 192.168.1.2 and 192.168.1.254. E. g. 192.168.1.2 (gateway and DNS is not required).
• Plug the power on and wait for the POWER LED to blink green.
• While the POWER LED is blinking press any button (Reset and Secure Easy Setup will work) once.
• If done right the POWER LED will blink faster.
• You should be able to telnet to the router at 192.168.1.1 now (no username and password)

NOTE: The root file system in failsafe mode is the SquashFS partition which is always readonly. To switch to the writable root file system (JFFS2) run mount_root command and make your changes.

1. Forgot/lost your password and need to set a new one: passwd
2. Forgot the router's IP address: uci get network.lan.ipaddr
3. Accidentally run opkg upgrade or filled up the flash by installing
   too big packages or need to clean the JFFS2 partition and start over: mtd -r erase rootfs_data

When you are done with failsafe mode - power cycle the router and let it boot normally.

See also:

→failsafe_and_factory_reset

• D-Link DIR-615 Hw:D1 https://forum.openwrt.org/viewtopic.php?pid=111163
• D-Link DIR-615 C2 64MB memory mod
• D-Link DIR-615 C2 using Mac OS X to add gpsd https://forum.openwrt.org/viewtopic.php?id=24149
• D-Link DIR-615 A Firmware: ftp://ftp.dlink.com/Gateway/dir615/Firmware/
• D-Link DIR-615 B Firmware: ftp://ftp.dlink.com/Gateway/dir615_revB/Firmware/
• D-Link DIR-615 C Firmware: ftp://ftp.dlink.com/Gateway/dir615_revC/Firmware/
• D-Link DIR-615 E Firmware: ftp://ftp.dlink.com/Gateway/dir615_revE/Firmware/
• D-Link DIR-615 I Firmware: ftp://ftp.dlink.com/Gateway/dir615_revI/Firmware/
• D-Link DIR-615 D1-D5 is supported by LEDE Project (Based on OpenWrt): LEDE firmware download

How to add tags