NETGEAR FVX538

• Intel IXP425 based (533MHz)
• 2 WAN interfaces:
  • WAN1 is Realtek RTL8110s (theorically gigabit capable, but connected to a 10/100 Mbps transformer), connected to PCI bus
  • WAN2 is IXP425 NPE-C (10/100 Mbps)
• 9 ports LAN switch: Broadcom BCM5380MKPB (8 x 10/100 Mbps + 1 x 10/100/1000Mbps), connected to IXP425 NPE-B MAC
• Nitrox Cavium CN501 encryption accelerator, connected to PCI bus → up to 200 ipsec VPN (source: Netgear)

I did some patches to run OpenWrt in this box.

• BCM5380 switch works standalone only, it is not usable as a network interface in linux at this time
  The switch is fully working in Redboot, but we loose the MII connection when loading linux.
  It seems that the mode of the switch MAC that is connected to the processor changes from “Reverse MII” to “Standard MAC/PHY” when loading linux.
  Then, the NPE driver always says “MII read failed” when the interface is up.Works !
• Nitrox Cavium encryption accelerator chip doesn't work as its driver is closed source

Product page
Netgear GPL source code

This section details what is required to install and upgrade OpenWrt. First we link to software that you should download before you start reading the instructions on how to install.

• Upgrade Tool Flasher Windows tool
• Installation Latest Install Image to upgrade from OEM firmware
• Upgrade Latest Upgrade Image for existing OpenWrt systems

This section deals with how you install OpenWrt from a device freshly opened. Plus the steps required such as reset to factory defaults if the device has already been configured

Note: Reset router to factory defaults if it has been previously configured.

• Browse to http://192.168.1.1/Upgrade.asp
• Upload .bin file to router
• Wait for it to reboot
• Telnet to 192.168.1.1 and set a root password, or browse to http://192.168.1.1 if LuCI is installed.

If you want to upgrade using TFTP you follow these steps (as an alternative to the above install process.

If you have already installed OpenWrt and like to reflash for e.g. upgrading to a new OpenWrt version you can upgrade using the mtd command line tool. It is important that you put the firmware image into the ramdisk (/tmp) before you start flashing.

• Browse to http://192.168.1.1/cgi-bin/luci/mini/system/upgrade/ LuCI Upgrade URL
• Upload TRX file to LuCI
• Wait for reboot

• Login as root via SSH on 192.168.1.1
• Use the following commands to upgrade.

cd /tmp/
wget http://downloads.openwrt.org/latest/brcm-2.4/openwrt-brcm-2.4-squashfs.trx
mtd write /tmp/openwrt-brcm-2.4-squashfs.trx linux && reboot

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 DMZ LED to light up.
• While the DMZ LED is on immediately press any button (Reset and Secure Easy Setup will work) a few times .
• If done right the DMZ LED will quickly flash 3 times every second.
• 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 mounted in readonly mode. To switch to the normal writable root file system run mount_root and make any changes. Run mount_root now.

1. Forgot/lost your password and you like to set a new one
   

   passwd

2. Forgot the routers IP address
   

   uci get network.lan.ipaddr

3. You accidentally run 'ipkg upgrade' or filled up the flash by installing to big packages (clean the JFFS2 partition and start over)
   

   mtd -r erase rootfs_data

If you are done with failsafe mode power cycle the router and boot in normal mode.

                   |----------------|
                   |     IXP425     |
                   |                |
     --------------| PCI       GPIO |-----
     |             |                |    |
     |             | NPE-C   NPE-B  |    |
     |             |----------------|    |SPI
     |                 |       |         |MGMT
 |--------|            /        \MII     |
 |RTL8110s|           /MII       \       |
 |--------|          /         |-------| |
     |            |---|        |BCM5380|-|
     |            |PHY|        |-------|
     |            |---|            |
   |----|           |         |---------|
   |WAN1|        |WAN2|       |LAN PORTS|
---|-  -|--------|-  -|-------|-       -|---

Front:

Photo of front

Back:

Photo of back

Note: This will void your warranty!

• To remove the cover simply remove the screws !

Main PCB

The FVX538 has a serial port with its DB9 connector. Levels are 0-5V (null modem cable required).

Serial parameters:

How to connect to JTAG interface, and how to reflash the device with JTAG tools

See port.jtag for more JTAG details.

→ Generic basic config secion

The default network configuration is:

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.

The Netgear FVX538 has one button: “Factory defaults”. It is connected to GPIO 11.

Purchase new blue LEDs from Radio Shack, and replace them with your existing ones.

Anything else we haven't covered yet

How to add tags