Asus WL-520gU

Specs
Platform Serial Num. = ? FCC ID = MSQWL520GUGC Industry Canada ID = 3568A-WL520GUC CPU Type = Broadcom BCM5354KFBG (BCM5354 SoC) MIPS Rev = R1 CPU Speed = 240 MHz Bus = ? Flash Type = Parallel Flash Chip = Macronix MX29LV320CBTC-90G Flash Size = 4 MB Max Firmware Size = 3801088 bytes RAM Size = 16 MB RAM Chip = Samsung K4S281632I-UC60 nvram Size = ? ETH chip1 = Broadcom BCM5354 Switch = Broadcom BCM5354KFBG (BCM5354 SoC) Port-based vlan = Yes 802.1q vlan = Yes Ethernet Port Count = 1-10/100-WAN 4-10/100-LAN Wired Standard = IEEE 802.3/3u/3x Ethernet interface OUI = 00:1E:8C boot_wait = on bootloader = CFE Flash Card Socket/Type = No SD/MMC Mod Support = No Expansion IF types = No PoE = No Power = 5 VDC, 2 A Connector type/size = Barrel plug LEDs/Color = Power x 1, AIR x 1, WAN x 1, LAN x 4 Size = 164 x 116.5 x 31 (L x W x H) mm USB = 1x USB 2.0 Serial Port = Yes JTAG Port = No Supported by TJTAG 3.02 = No Supported by dd-wrt as of = v24 micro build 8257 dd-wrt K2.4 Support = Yes dd-wrt K2.6 Support = ? Special Features = 1x USB 2.0 Radio (wl0) Wireless Radio = Broadcom BCM5354 WLAN DSP processor = Broadcom BCM5354KFBG (BCM5354 SoC) Wireless interface OUI = 00:1E:8C Antenna Connector Type = RP-SMA MIMO status = N/A Wireless Standard = IEEE 802.11b/g 802.11g = 6, 9, 12, 18, 24, 36, 48, 54 Mbps 802.11b = 1, 2, 5.5, 11 Mbps WiFi Operating Frequency = 2.4 - 2.5 GHz Radio cor_rev = wl0=13 Radio Capabilities = ? Other Default IP address: 192.168.1.1 Default login user: admin Default login password: admin Default SSID = ? OEM = ? 3rd Party Firmware Support = ?

Links of Interest

 * Pictures

Introduction
The |Asus WL-520GU WRT has been supported as of DD-WRT v.24 RC7. USB (e.g. external storage or sharing printer). As of DD-WRT v24 Final Release you are able to use the web-GUI to enable, setup and configure USB support. You MUST use builds that are tagged mini-usb or mini-usb-ftp to do this. Due to the lack of the units flash size (4MB) these builds may not offer the same Web GUI features of the standard builds. Some memory hungry features like Xbox-KAID have been removed in order to provide sufficient space for the USB drivers/modules and FTP functions.

It is also worthy to note that the USB 2.0 aspect of this router is very temperamental. If you bought this router in hopes of using USB 2.0, then you may experience problems with certain applications; albeit those mainly include resource intensive Optware programs like Bittorrent transmission.

The only remedy for this (as of now) is to use the USB 1.1 drivers instead.

Prerequisites
Note: The mini_asus.trx build is supposed to be designed to be uploaded as a firmware upgrade through the ASUS stock firmware's web interface. The stock Asus firmware rejected this build in the author's attempt to do this. For Windows use the Firmware Restoration utility provided with your router to do the initial mini-asus.trx flash. For Vista users, Administrative permissions are required. For Windows 7 users, changing the main executable (.exe) file to Windows XP sp2 compatibility mode is required. For 64bit versions of Windows, make sure the installation path is set to Program Files (x86).
 * 1) Windows Client (TFTP firmware upload techniques when booting the WL-520GU will also work for non-Windows users, but use of the ASUS Firmware Restoration Utility on a Windows client is by far the easiest way to flash the WL-520GU)
 * 2) ASUS Firmware Restoration Utility
 * 3) * Installed as part of the "Asus WL-520gU wireless router utility program" and is available under "Utilities"
 * 4) DD-WRT v.24 TNG (not VINT builds) Link:
 * 5) * Build suggestions (see File Versions for more information on selecting a version):
 * 6) ** dd-wrt.v24_mini_asus.trx (For intial flash) REQUIRED
 * 7) ** dd-wrt.v24_mini_generic.bin (Recommended if you want to manually add USB support, or need additional JFFS storage space)
 * 8) ** dd-wrt.v24_generic_nokaid.bin (if you want standard features but don't require X-Box Kai Console Gaming)
 * 9) ** dd-wrt.v24_std_generic.bin
 * 10) ** mini_usb.bin (Built in USB support)
 * 11) ** mini_usb_ftp.bin (Built in USB and FTP support)

New Wiki Install Material
There is a lot of info in this wiki that is seriously out of date. Some people find the Asus Firmware Upgrade Utility to be a complete pain in the arse to download and install, and is useless for Apple and Linux OS users. However, it does come on the disk with a new Asus router and can be used instead of the tftp.exe program if you wish. See Firmware Restoration Utility for the simple Windows OS users.

TFTP Method:
 * 1) Read the Peacock Announcement, found here: http://www.dd-wrt.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=51486
 * 2) Download this program to flash from Windows: http://www.dd-wrt.com/dd-wrtv2/downloads/others/tornado/Windows-TFTP/tftp.exe If you need to flash with Linux, you can use this file: ftp://dd-wrt.com/others/tornado/Linux_Linksys_Tftp/linksys-tftp.tar.bz2, or [advanced users] can use the tftp utility available through most package managers.
 * 3) Download this file for initial flashing: ftp://dd-wrt.com/others/eko/V24_TNG/svn12548/dd-wrt.v24-12548_NEWD_mini_asus.trx Also download this file for LATER flashing: http://www.dd-wrt.com/dd-wrtv2/downloads/others/eko/BrainSlayer-V24-preSP2/02-23-10-r13972/broadcom/dd-wrt.v24_usb_generic.bin
 * 4) Do a proper HARD reset on the router in accordance with note 1 of the peacock. That will be a 30-30-30 reset, followed by a power cycle. Do not confuse the Red 'EZ Setup' button with the RECESSED reset button.
 * 5) Do a second 30-30-30 reset, but do not power cycle it at the end. This puts the router into restoration mode. Plug a cable in the LAN port of the router, and the ethernet port of your computer. Make sure antivirus and wireless are off in the computer, and nothing else is connected to the computer or the router.
 * 6) Set your computer to a static IP address of 192.168.1.7 with a subnet mask of 255.255.255.0.
 * 7) Start the tftp.exe and follow the instructions in note 11 of the peacock announcement. Set the server to 192.168.1.1, leave the password blank, set retries to 20, and choose the dd-wrt.v24-12548_NEWD_mini_asus.trx file you downloaded earlier. Hit upgrade, and the file should upgrade immediately.
 * 8) Wait. Set a timer for FIVE FULL EARTH minutes. If you screw this up you could damage your router. WAIT!
 * 9) The LAN port will remain lit after the upgrade, but no other lights will light. There is no sign that your firmware has flashed, so you HAVE TO TIME IT.
 * 10) Once the time is up, power cycle the router.
 * 11) Navigate to 192.168.1.1 and refresh until the router webgui shows up
 * 12) Type a username and password in the opening page.
 * 13) Power cycle the router
 * 14) When you can log back in to the webgui at 192.168.1.1, do ANOTHER hard reset on the router (30-30-30 followed by a power cycle)
 * 15) Login to the router and enter a username and password. The router can be used at this point.
 * 16) Download this file if you have not already: http://www.dd-wrt.com/dd-wrtv2/downloads/others/eko/BrainSlayer-V24-preSP2/02-23-10-r13972/broadcom/dd-wrt.v24_usb_generic.bin
 * 17) Under the Administration > Firmware Upgrade tab, choose "Reset to default configuration", and pick the dd-wrt.v24_usb_generic.bin file to upgrade the firmware.
 * 18) Hit "Upgrade" and wait five full earth minutes.
 * 19) If uploading via the web does not work for you (it did not for me), you can upload your file with tftp again. I uploaded the dd-wrt.v24_voip_generic.bin this was successfully. I did have to increase the timeout for the voip file for it to work.
 * 20) Type a username and password in the opening page.
 * 21) Power cycle the router
 * 22) When you can log back in to the webgui at 192.168.1.1, do ANOTHER hard reset on the router (30-30-30 followed by a power cycle)
 * 23) Login to the router and enter a username and password.
 * 24) Configure your router
 * 25) Set your computer back to auto IP and autoDNS

Resetting Defaults
There are several ways the WL-520GU's NVRAM can be reset.
 * 1) Using the Administration -> Factory Defaults web interface.
 * 2) Selecting the option to reset to Default Settings when upgrading the firmware through the Administration -> Firmware Upgrade web interface.
 * 3) Pressing the reset button while booting (see the Reset Button section below for ASUS reset button quirks).
 * 4) Using telnet enter erase nvram command
 * 5) Download this file pack which includes the necessary tools required for the procedure and unrar it. The File pack contains both wl500g-clear-nvram.trx and the wl500g-recover.trx utilities.

If using the #5 procedure, do the following:


 * 1) Using the Firmware Restoration utility or TFTP, first put the device into restore mode by pressing and holding the black reset button WHILE plugging the power in. The power LED should continuously flash.
 * 2) Set your network adapter to a static IP of 192.168.1.10 and subnet mask of 255.255.255.0
 * 3) Upload wl500g-clear-nvram.trx and wait for the transfer to complete. Unplug the power.
 * 4) Put the device into restore mode once again by pressing and holding the black reset button WHILE plugging the power in.
 * 5) Upload wl500g-recover.trx and wait for the transfer to complete, then unplug.
 * 6) Put the device into restore mode once again by pressing and holding the black reset button WHILE plugging the power in.
 * 7) Upload the either the stock firmware (which is found on the Asus website) or upload mini_asus.trx file if you want to continue using DD-WRT. Wait for file transfer completion.
 * 8) Unplug the power, but this time do NOT press the blackreset button. Just plug the power back into the unit and you're back in business


 * Last resort when the unit won't boot due to a bad setting—see this forum post.

Reset Button
The ASUS "firmware restoration" mode requires a change to the standard Linksys "hold reset button for 30 seconds" procedure for resetting the WL-520GU to its defaults. The following is how the reset button works on the WL-520GU:

When the WL-520GU is powered on

"* Holding the reset button for 15-20 seconds will cause the WL-520GU to reboot.* Upon reboot, a pressed reset button causes the WL-520GU to go into firmware restoration mode. This does NOT reset the defaults (see the section below for more information on the firmware restoration mode).* Since there is little to no warning of the exact instant the WL-520GU will reboot when holding the reset button, chances are extremely good that the reset button will still be depressed and cause the WL-520GU to go into firmware restoration mode. Hard booting the WL-520GU will get the WL-520GU back, but settings will NOT be reset."When the WL-520GU is booting

"* Holding the reset button during the boot sequence will reset the unit to its defaults.* Care must be taken to press the reset button right after the power light turns off immediately after powering on the WL-520GU and not before, to avoid going into firmware restoration mode."Based on the above, it should be fairly self-evident that the following procedure is recommended for using the reset button on the WL-520GU.

"# Unplug the WL-520GU# Plug in the WL-520GU# The power light will blink# As soon as the power light turns off, press and hold the reset button# Hold the reset button until the power and wireless buttons glow green.# The WL-520GU should now be reset to its defaults"

Hardware Notes
This section covers observations made about working with the ASUS WL-520GU hardware. Certain behaviors of this device are different than other WRTs (especially the Linksys).

Using TFTP on Windows
Windows TFTP client may be downloaded from here. Then all you need to do is to call following command: tftp.exe -i -v 192.168.1.1 PUT dd-wrt.v24_mini_asus.trx

Using TFTP on Linux
Linux TFTP client may be downloaded using yum or apt-get. Then all you need to do is to call following command: tftp -m binary 192.168.1.1 -c dd-wrt.v24_mini_asus.trx

Firmware Restoration Mode
Many Asus WLs have a special pre-boot state that makes it extremely easy to upload new firmware images, even when the current firmware is corrupt (in fact the WL-520GU automatically drops into this mode when a corrupt firmware is detected during boot). Either applying a new firmware through the Asus Firmware Restoration Utility (see section below) or a hard reboot (removing the power) is required to exit this state (Note that entering this state does not negatively effect the current settings or firmware so it is not especially dangerous to accidentally enter firmware restoration mode—although it does get in the way of performing a "reset button" based reset of the WL-520GUs settings as noted in the section above).

Asus Firmware Restoration Utility
The Asus Firmware Restoration Utility is available from the Asus support site under "Utilities" (installed as part of the ASUS WL-520GU Utility). This is the preferred utility for uploading new firmware distributions since many firmwares reject a different distribution's firmware if one attempts to use the web interface.

The Asus Recovery Utility can ONLY be used with Windows


 * Under Vista and Win7 this utility must be run as administrator by Right-clicking on the .exe and selecting the option.


 * In case you have multiple network interfaces, disable all but the one that is connected to your router (i.e your LAN connection).


 * You should also turn off your Windows firewall, in order to allow the Asus Recovery Utility to be able to connect and send data from your PC to the Router.

Steps:

1. You will need to manually set the address of your PC's Network LAN card to 192.168.1.10 and subnet mask 255.255.255.0. Also make sure all other adapters on your PC, except for the main LAN connection are disabled.

2. Remove the power connector of the WL series router.

3. While holding the BLACK reset button down, plug the power connector back in.

4. When the power LED flashes, release the reset button. The router is now in recovery mode.

5. Use the Asus recovery utility to upload the DD-WRT mini-asus.trx file.

6. After the upgrade, the Utility will ask for a router reboot. Give it about a minute to be on the safe side before removing the power. Once plugged back in, you will be able to access the web interface.

7. Return your Net adapter properties to "Automatically Obtain IP"

8. DO NOT use Firefox for upgrading builds! Use Internet Explorer!!!!

9. Type 192.168.1.1 into your browser and set your username as root and pick a password.

10. Navigate to Administration->Firmware Upgrade and upload either the recommended build provided on the main page of the site, or another of your choice.

vlan Info

 * VLAN Support
 * Confirmed working with the Asus WL-500gP v2. Before and after pics included. After moving port 3 into WAN port it of course no longer functioned like a LAN port.

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