Flashing a Linksys E1500 with DD-WRT firmware
June 4, 2017
Today I flashed a Linksys E1500 router with DD-WRT firmware. The router got originally decommissioned because it had a backdoor in the original firmware and to me it was easier to buy a new but different router and flash it with OpenWrt. So the E1500 ended up in a box until I decided to turn it into a wireless bridge so my mother-in-law, who lives across of us, could use our network as well.
Below follow the steps I took to flash the router, which is mostly a more concise version of the Flashing instructions for the E1500 section of the Linksys E1500 wiki page.
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Visit the Router Database and enter "E1500". Download the "E1500 v1 Firmware - Webflash image for first installation".
The SHA256 digest for the file I downloaded is given below:
$ shasum -a256 -b dd-wrt.v24-21061_NEWD-2_K2.6_mini-e1500.bin
260bd9f6713a3ebf313e745bc24cc3bc10902b2445dbb5e62291c6053e260c14 *dd-wrt.v24-210
61_NEWD-2_K2.6_mini-e1500.bin
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Assign a static IP address to the computer that is going to be connected to the Linksys router in order to flash it. As the router gets a default IP address of 192.168.1.1 and I want to assign 192.168.1.2 to it, I used 192.168.1.3.
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Disconnect all cables and wireless clients.
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Do a 30/30/30 reset on the router using a paper clip as follows below. I used Siri to set a timer for 99 seconds, which gave me enough time to be ready at the 1:30 mark to do the following steps:
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With the router powered on, press and hold the reset button located on the underside of the router for 30 seconds.
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Without releasing the reset button, unplug the unit and hold reset for another 30 seconds
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Plug the unit back in STILL holding the reset button a final 30 seconds
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Connect a LAN cable to LAN port 1 of the router. Make sure the computer you use is not connected to any other router, e.g. wireless.
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http://192.168.1.1/ login using your username and password, or use the default user
admin
. with default passwordadmin
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Flash the firmware as follows:
- Select 'Administration' in the Cisco Linksys E1500 web interface.
- Next, select the 'Firmware Upgrade' option to the far right.
- Browse to the file you just downloaded and select it.
- Select the 'Start Upgrade' button
- Wait 5 minutes to assure flash integrity.
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Power cycle by unplugging the E1500 for 10 seconds.
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Plug the E1500 back in and wait about 2 minutes until it finishes booting.
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Do a 30/30/30 reset on router. Another power cycle may be required after the hard reset.
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Wait 3 minutes and log into web interface.
Start configuring and using DD-WRT.