Buffalo WZR-HP-G450H Post 20025 Firmware Solution

[pt0x]

I own 2 of these routers (US version) one of those was successfully flashed to ddwrt community version  23919 and it has been working flawlessly for a couple of months now. However, this afternoon I decided to flash the second router using the r24461 wzr_hp_g450h-factory-to-ddwrt.bin version (I had the factory ddwrt on the router installed) and the initial flash got trough but every time I try to flash the wzr_hp_g450h-dd-wrt-webupgrade-MULTI.bin or any other firmware version, all I get is a "failed upgrade" message on the browser. I already tried to clear the cookies and change the OS or browser without luck.

Sorry to hear you are having problems pt0x, out of interest what was the reason for changing from 23919 to the 24461 release?
If you are already flashed successfully via the factory 24461 you shouldnt need to use the web-multi bin too as the router is already upgraded to 24461 so it will fail...
The web-multi releases are only for people who are already using DD-WRT firmware, the Factory is for people moving from Buffalo stock firmwares...

Or do you mean the router that already has 23919 wont upgrade to 24461 via the web-multi release?

My advice is if the 23919 router is working, don't change it and risk breaking it.
If the 24461 router has updated successfully just leave it as is and use it.

Alternatively, downgrade the 24461 router to match the 23919 router by uploading the 23919 firmware into the Administration --> Firmware Upgrade dialogue... Just make sure, as with all updates/downgrades you RESET to factory settings on update...

Glad to hear it all went well JaniN83

Hi Jacob!

Thanks for your prompt reply. What I meant is that I have 2 of these routers (WZR-HP-G450H), one has ddwrt and the other had the ddwrt factory firmware BUT I don´t think it had the 20025 version, I guess i had a much lower version than that. I believe my problem was originated after upgrading from factory version 18xxx to ddwrt comunity using the wzr_hp_g450h-factory-to-ddwrt.bin. Since I didn't have the stock 20025, At some point I was stuck with the initial firmware that I couldn't change for any other, not even a lower version.

So in the end, I had to borrow an old laptop with WindowsXP in order to run the following de-brick procedure:
http://www.overclock.net/t/1331611/guide-recovering-a-bricked-buffalo-airstation-n450-router-wzr-hp-g450h

That allowed me to down grade the router to version  23919, BUT I got stuck again with a firmware that I couldn't change via web, the "failed upgrade" message persisted . Since I had the console cable connected I was able to see the kernel output, for some reason the router said that there was not enough memory to flash a new firmware, I tried many  firmwares and always got the same response. At that point I thought I had a bad block of memory or something, but somehow I decided to revert to stock 20025 via boot loader (my only option at that moment).

After I had the factory 20025 flashed in the router, I tried to flash the 23919 wzr_hp_g450h-factory-to-ddwrt.bin via web, and the web-upgrade  finally worked!!!!. Since I had the console cable connected and everything setup to recover, I decided to use web-multi 24461, and the web upgrade also worked flawlessly.

My final advice for everyone is that before using any wzr_hp_g450h-factory-to-ddwrt.bin version, make sure you have factory 20025 loaded before the upgrade, I think you should add this info in the first post for everyone to see.

Cheers!!

Pt0x

Hey man, a VM with WinXP or Linux can be a great workaround to the driver issue you had.  I've done this with microchips.   Though one time I did have to lower the baud rate to get a stable flash.  Or if your laptop has an ESATA port, just boot off of a drive connected to the ESATA port.  If you use a full size drive, it would actually be faster than a 2.5 HDD (not flash).  Another alternative is to boot off of a LiveOS Linux flavor.

Thank you for the ideas!, I'll give it a try with Linux. I did tried the WinXP VM workaround once, but never got it to work (I was using virtual Box), do you suggest a specific type of hypervisor?. My laptop does not have an ESATA port :/.

cCheers

[JaniN83]

Hello,

There is only one problem I've noticed with this latest build. I've set the NTP on and timezone to Finland/Helsinki.
However, the time it gives is 2 hours behind. Is there any other way of fixing this other than to set country to something else that is 2 hours ahead of my time?

Thanks.

[JustMeHere]

I own 2 of these routers (US version) one of those was successfully flashed to ddwrt community version  23919 and it has been working flawlessly for a couple of months now. However, this afternoon I decided to flash the second router using the r24461 wzr_hp_g450h-factory-to-ddwrt.bin version (I had the factory ddwrt on the router installed) and the initial flash got trough but every time I try to flash the wzr_hp_g450h-dd-wrt-webupgrade-MULTI.bin or any other firmware version, all I get is a "failed upgrade" message on the browser. I already tried to clear the cookies and change the OS or browser without luck.

Sorry to hear you are having problems pt0x, out of interest what was the reason for changing from 23919 to the 24461 release?
If you are already flashed successfully via the factory 24461 you shouldnt need to use the web-multi bin too as the router is already upgraded to 24461 so it will fail...
The web-multi releases are only for people who are already using DD-WRT firmware, the Factory is for people moving from Buffalo stock firmwares...

Or do you mean the router that already has 23919 wont upgrade to 24461 via the web-multi release?

My advice is if the 23919 router is working, don't change it and risk breaking it.
If the 24461 router has updated successfully just leave it as is and use it.

Alternatively, downgrade the 24461 router to match the 23919 router by uploading the 23919 firmware into the Administration --> Firmware Upgrade dialogue... Just make sure, as with all updates/downgrades you RESET to factory settings on update...

Glad to hear it all went well JaniN83

Hi Jacob!

Thanks for your prompt reply. What I meant is that I have 2 of these routers (WZR-HP-G450H), one has ddwrt and the other had the ddwrt factory firmware BUT I don´t think it had the 20025 version, I guess i had a much lower version than that. I believe my problem was originated after upgrading from factory version 18xxx to ddwrt comunity using the wzr_hp_g450h-factory-to-ddwrt.bin. Since I didn't have the stock 20025, At some point I was stuck with the initial firmware that I couldn't change for any other, not even a lower version.

So in the end, I had to borrow an old laptop with WindowsXP in order to run the following de-brick procedure:
http://www.overclock.net/t/1331611/guide-recovering-a-bricked-buffalo-airstation-n450-router-wzr-hp-g450h

That allowed me to down grade the router to version  23919, BUT I got stuck again with a firmware that I couldn't change via web, the "failed upgrade" message persisted . Since I had the console cable connected I was able to see the kernel output, for some reason the router said that there was not enough memory to flash a new firmware, I tried many  firmwares and always got the same response. At that point I thought I had a bad block of memory or something, but somehow I decided to revert to stock 20025 via boot loader (my only option at that moment).

After I had the factory 20025 flashed in the router, I tried to flash the 23919 wzr_hp_g450h-factory-to-ddwrt.bin via web, and the web-upgrade  finally worked!!!!. Since I had the console cable connected and everything setup to recover, I decided to use web-multi 24461, and the web upgrade also worked flawlessly.

My final advice for everyone is that before using any wzr_hp_g450h-factory-to-ddwrt.bin version, make sure you have factory 20025 loaded before the upgrade, I think you should add this info in the first post for everyone to see.

Cheers!!

Pt0x

Hey man, a VM with WinXP or Linux can be a great workaround to the driver issue you had.  I've done this with microchips.   Though one time I did have to lower the baud rate to get a stable flash.  Or if your laptop has an ESATA port, just boot off of a drive connected to the ESATA port.  If you use a full size drive, it would actually be faster than a 2.5 HDD (not flash).  Another alternative is to boot off of a LiveOS Linux flavor.

Thank you for the ideas!, I'll give it a try with Linux. I did tried the WinXP VM workaround once, but never got it to work (I was using virtual Box), do you suggest a specific type of hypervisor?. My laptop does not have an ESATA port :/.

cCheers

I really think the best option is a LiveOS Linux DVD.  You boot your computer off of the DVD and run mostly in RAM. 

[JustMeHere]

Hello,

There is only one problem I've noticed with this latest build. I've set the NTP on and timezone to Finland/Helsinki.
However, the time it gives is 2 hours behind. Is there any other way of fixing this other than to set country to something else that is 2 hours ahead of my time?

Thanks.

There seems to have been a change in the way TZs work in this build.  This is aggravating as it makes the WAN data usage page wrong.  :(

[JacobD84]

Thanks for reporting the TimeZone issues with this build, i'll make a note on the FP too and report to the appropriate people so a solution can hopefully be found :)

JCB

[JustMeHere]

Oooh wow crap:  http://www.forums.fedoraforum.org/showthread.php?t=300843

Looks like we all need to do an upgrade in the near future.  Though I'm unclear how someone could get to the bash shell without a login first.

[Kahuna]

Is there something like an "apt-get upgrade" to upgrade the router system?

Is there a Tinc-vpn Programm compiled for dd-wrt i could use?

btw. Is that correct, that if I enter a Local DNS this one also appear in the status of the WAN?

[JaniN83]

New version (r25309) out: ftp://ftp.dd-wrt.com/betas/2014/11-11-2014-r25309/buffalo_wzr_hp_g450h/
Anyone tired it?

[JacobD84]

New version (r25309) out: ftp://ftp.dd-wrt.com/betas/2014/11-11-2014-r25309/buffalo_wzr_hp_g450h/
Anyone tired it?

Yes, i have not had much success sadly (Dropped connection and such)...
Also a bricked router...

[JaniN83]

Ok, better just pass this release then. Thanks for the info.

[JacobD84]

Any-time JaniN83, i agree.

As posted here before i shall always post a new release that i have tested successfully here once testing across two UK/EU routers and a US router is complete.
Short of an unexpected demise, I'll always post should i plan to no longer update this thread either so hopefully i can retain it's usefulness as long as possible :)

[JaniN83]

Seems they have been very busy now. Latest being 12-03-2014-r25544 now (3rd release after my last post). All "failures"? :)

[JacobD84]

Im afraid so, until i can work out why EU/UK router is bricked on last couple of releases i cannot say why :(
I think we are slowly heading towards the situation with my G125 where the most recent firmware from DD-WRT will never work...

[ncergudar]

Hi guys,
It's my first post here...
anyway, I've read all the posts and didn't find the answer to:
is it possible to have multiple DDNS setup if I'll upgrade to DD-WRT firmware.
Can some one check this please?
If not...maybe is there a way to modify this through SSH ? stupid question?
I'll be thanks full for any reply.

[JacobD84]

Hi ncergudar, the info on DD-WRT and Multiple DDNS is here: http://www.dd-wrt.com/wiki/index.php/DDNS_-_How_to_manage_multiple_DDNS_accounts_using_embedded_inadyn_-_HOWTO

Ive not managed multiple accounts with DD-WRT so may be best to ask on their forums ;)

As to the current release situation, i have, as yet failed to get any release post r24461 to work correctly; 30% of the time they brick my router, the remaining percent they either produce "upgrade failed" or simply crashed on restart...

I'll update if situation changes, but as yet, last usable revision for the G450H is r24461