NETGEAR WNDAP360

→ Install OpenWrt (generic explanation)

• Update WNDAP360 firmware to the latest original firmware (3.7.11.4)

1. Download sysupgrade.bin image file from OpenWrt web site (see table above).
2. Only first installation: You need a linux kernel image which is loadable by U-boot. Try a current kernel image (openwrt-*-ath79-generic-netgear_wndap360-initramfs-kernel.bin) from https://firmware-selector.openwrt.org/ Otherwise you must compile your own initramfs-image. Build OpenWrt for the WNDAP360 following the normal build instructions (checkout the openwrt-19.07 branch). See following section “Make Linux kernel image” for more information and → Build system – Usage
3. Only first installation: Check your initramfs-image.

   $ mkimage -l openwrt-ar71xx-generic-wndap360-initramfs-uImage.bin
   Image Name:   MIPS OpenWrt Linux-4.14.171
   Created:      Thu Feb 27 22:05:12 2020
   Image Type:   MIPS Linux Kernel Image (gzip compressed)
   Data Size:    3986639 Bytes = 3893.20 KiB = 3.80 MiB
   Load Address: 80060000
   Entry Point:  80060000

   The command mkimage is included in package “u-boot-tools” for most linux distributions.

1. Get trunk checked out
2. Run make menuconfig
   • Select target system: AR7xxx/AR9xxx
   • Select Subtarget: Generic
   • Select target profile: NETGEAR WNDAP360
3. Make images. Images will be generated under /trunk/bin folder.

   $ make

Connect to your WNDAP360 console.

• You need a Cisco Console Cable (and a USB to RS-232 adapter, if you do not have a console port).
• On windows you can use PuTTY to connect to console and screen or minicom on Mac / Linux. → Serial Console
• Use the “9600,8,N,1”-labled RJ45-jack of the WNDAP360

$ minicom -b 9600 -D /dev/ttyUSB0

or:

$ screen  /dev/ttyUSB0 9600,cs8,-parenb,-cstopb,-hupcl,-crtscts,clocal

Start your WNDAP360 and interrupt U-boot by pressing the space bar.

Output:

U-Boot 1.1.4 dni-1.07 (Jul  7 2009 - 14:17:28)

AP94 (ar7100) U-boot 0.0.12

Enter SPACE to drop into boot loader:  0

At this stage you need a tftp server with static ip on your PC / laptop. Copy bin/targets/ar71xx/generic/openwrt-ar71xx-generic-wndap360-initramfs-uImage.bin from your build directory to your tftp.

Connect an Ethernet cable directly from your PC / laptop to the WNDAP360. Statically assign your computer an IP address within the 192.168.1.0/24 subnet (other than 192.168.1.1, which is the default IP address for the OpenWRT image). You can configure tftp server and client ip addresses in u-boot environment:

ar7100> setenv ipaddr 192.168.1.1
ar7100> setenv serverip 192.168.1.42
ar7100> saveenv

Reboot your WNDAP360 to assign new ip adresses in U-boot environment.

 
ar7100> reset

Start your WNDAP360 and interrupt uboot by pressing the space bar.

Load the kernel image and root ramdisk into RAM, by typing the following at the U-boot prompt:

ar7100> tftpboot 0x81000000 openwrt-ar71xx-generic-wndap360-initramfs-uImage.bin

Start up OpenWrt Linux kernel from RAM:

ar7100> bootm 0x81000000

The WNDAP360 will have an IP address of 192.168.1.1/24 by default.

From your computer, copy the sysupgrade image to the router:

$ scp Downloads/openwrt-19.07.8-ar71xx-generic-wndap360-squashfs-sysupgrade.bin root@192.168.1.1:/tmp/

On the router via the serial interfaces, verify the checksum (compare against the OpenWRT download server checksum):

root@OpenWrt:/# sha256sum /tmp/open*upgrade.bin

If the checksums match, then write the image file to the flash on the router:

root@OpenWrt:/# sysupgrade -v /tmp/open*upgrade.bin

Wait for the upgrade to finish and the WNDAP360 to automatically reboot.

The SSH key used by the initramfs image will not have been copied to the flash, and as a result, the new installation will have a different ssh host key. Tell your PC to forget about the temporary host key:

$ ssh-keygen -R "192.168.1.1"

You can now configure your WNDAP360 using luci or ssh at 192.168.1.1.

$ ssh root@192.168.1.1

→ Basic configuration After flashing, proceed with this.
Set up your Internet connection, configure wireless, configure USB port, etc.

The default network configuration is:

→ failsafe_and_factory_reset

This is the OEM FLASH layout:

0x00000000-0x00040000 : "u-boot"
0x00040000-0x00050000 : "u-boot-env"
0x00050000-0x00150000 : "vmlinux.gz.uImage"
0x00150000-0x00760000 : "rootfs"
0x00760000-0x007e0000 : "var"
0x007e0000-0x007f0000 : "manufacturing-data"
0x007f0000-0x00800000 : "ART"

OpenWrt FLASH layout:

0x000000000000-0x000000040000 : "u-boot"
0x000000040000-0x000000050000 : "u-boot-env"
0x000000050000-0x000000200000 : "kernel"
0x000000200000-0x0000007f0000 : "rootfs"
0x0000003f0000-0x0000007f0000 : "rootfs_data"
0x0000007f0000-0x000000800000 : "art"
0x000000050000-0x0000007f0000 : "firmware"

• Upgrade via usual sysupgrade.

→ Upgrading OpenWrt firmware via CLI (generic explanation)

• Upgrade from version 19.07 to 22.03. There are several known issues with OpenWrt version 22.03. Version 19.07.9 is still the latest stable OpenWrt release for Netgear WNDAP360.

→ ar71xx.to.ath79 → https://github.com/openwrt/openwrt/pull/9685 → https://github.com/openwrt/openwrt/issues/11025 → https://github.com/openwrt/openwrt/issues/11017

$ scp openwrt-22.03.1-ath79-generic-netgear_wndap360-squashfs-sysupgrade.bin root@192.168.1.1:/tmp
$ minicom -b 9600 -D /dev/ttyUSB0
ar7100> OpenWrt 19.07.10, r11427-9ce6aa9d8d
ar7100> sysupgrade -v -n --force /tmp/openwrt-22.03.1-ath79-generic-netgear_wndap360-squashfs-sysupgrade.bin

$ minicom -b 115200 -D /dev/ttyUSB0
ar7100> ls
ar7100> OpenWrt 22.03.1, r19777-2853b6d652
ar7100> uname -rsm
Linux 5.10.146 mips

ar7100> bdinfo
boot_params = 0x87F73FA4
memstart    = 0x80000000
memsize     = 0x08000000
flashstart  = 0xBF000000
flashsize   = 0x00800000
flashoffset = 0x0002F62C
ethaddr     = 00:00:00:00:00:00
ip_addr     = 192.168.1.100
baudrate    = 9600 bps

ar7100> coninfo
List of available devices:
serial   80000003 SIO stdin stdout stderr

ar7100> imls       
Image at BF050000:
   Image Name:   Linux Kernel
   Created:      2011-04-07  13:27:18 UTC
   Image Type:   MIPS Linux Kernel Image (gzip compressed)
   Data Size:    917504 Bytes = 896 kB
   Load Address: 80020000
   Entry Point:  801ec000
   Verifying Checksum ... OK

ar7100> pci
Scanning PCI devices on bus 0
BusDevFun  VendorId   DeviceId   Device Class       Sub-Class
_____________________________________________________________
00.00.00   0x168c     0x0029     Network controller      0x80
00.01.00   0x168c     0x0029     Network controller      0x80

ar7100> showmd
ProductID   = WNDAP360
HWVer       = 1.0
reginfo     = 1
numofimages = -1
currimage   = -1
basemac     = 7444019729A0
maccnt0     = -1
maccnt1     = -1
maccnt2     = -1
maccnt3     = -1
serno       = 2PB1215K00503
boot_params = 0x87F73FA4
memstart    = 0x80000000
memsize     = 0x08000000
flashstart  = 0xBF000000
flashsize   = 0x00800000
flashoffset = 0x0002F62C
ethaddr     = 00:00:00:00:00:00
ip_addr     = 192.168.1.100
baudrate    = 9600 bps

ar7100> version

U-Boot 1.1.4 dni-1.07 (Jul  7 2009 - 14:17:28)

ar7100> printenv
bootdelay=4
baudrate=9600
loadUboot=tftpboot 0x80010000 u-boot.bin;erase 0xbf000000 +0x30000;cp.b 0x80010000 0xbf000000 0x30000
loadLinux=tftpboot 0x80010000 vmlinux.gz.uImage;erase 0xbf640000 +0x120000;cp.b 0x80010000 0xbf640000 0x120000
loadFiles=tftpboot 0x80010000 ap94-jffs2;erase 0xbf040000 +0x600000;cp.b 0x80010000 0xbf040000 0x600000
loadAll=run loadUboot;run loadLinux;run loadFiles
ethact=eth0
kimagename=vmlinux.gz.uImage
rimagename=rootfs.squashfs
download=tftp
memtmp_addr=0x80060000
kernel_size=+0x100000
kernel_addr=0xbf050000
rootfs_size=+0x610000
rootfs_addr=0xbf150000
clear_var=era 0xbf760000 +0x80000
serverip=192.168.1.1
ipaddr=192.168.1.100
bootargs=console=ttyS0,9600 rootfstype=squashfs root=31:03 init=/sbin/init mtdparts=ar7100-nor0:256k(u-boot),64k(u-boot-env),1024k(vmlinux.gz.uImage),6208k(rootfs),512k(var),64k(manufacturing-data),64k(ART)
erase_kimage=erase ${kernel_addr} ${kernel_size}
erase_rimage=erase ${rootfs_addr} ${rootfs_size}
kimage=${download} ${memtmp_addr} ${kimagename};run erase_kimage;cp.b ${memtmp_addr} ${kernel_addr} ${filesize}
rimage=${download} ${memtmp_addr} ${rimagename};run erase_rimage;cp.b ${memtmp_addr} ${rootfs_addr} ${filesize}
bootcmd=bootm 0xbf050000
flash_rootfs=run rimage
flash_kernel=run kimage
flash_all=run flash_kernel flash_rootfs clear_var
stdin=serial
stdout=serial
stderr=serial

Environment size: 1357/65532 bytes

netgear9729A8#cat /proc/cpuinfo
system type   : Atheros AR7100 (hydra)
processor   : 0
cpu model   : MIPS 24K V7.4
BogoMIPS    : 450.56
wait instruction  : yes
microsecond timers  : yes
tlb_entries   : 16
extra interrupt vector  : yes
hardware watchpoint : yes
ASEs implemented  : mips16
VCED exceptions   : not available
VCEI exceptions   : not available

Photo of front of the casing

Photo of back of the casing

Note: This will void your warranty!

To open the case simply unscrew 5 torx bolts (marked with red on picture above), there are two clips inside (marked with blue on picture above), you need to fiddle a bit to get the case opened. PCB is on one more screw in the middle of it (inside).

Main PCB

FLASH CHIP

RAM CHIPS

→ port.serial general information about the serial port, serial port cable, etc.

The serial port is accessible through the back of the device with a RJ45 connector. If you don't have a Cisco console cable you can get a serial connection using the 4 pin header inside the case.

→ port.jtag general information about the JTAG port, JTAG cable, etc.

How to connect to the JTAG Port of this specific device:

Photo of PCB with markings

→ generic.debrick

• Product page

How to add tags