TechInfoDepot:DD-WRT/Asus WL500-- old descriptions

This is the old /but working) descriptions of how to do the initial install of DD-WRT on the different Asus WL-500xx series routers.

The list has become ugly in its layout, and in the fall of 2009 a major clean-up of the install list for all routers was initiated. After several attempts to clean-up the Asus initial install section, and still retain all valuable information, it was decided to leave all information available, as this seperate entry, and just keep the main steps/options available in the main list of install guides.

From Windows
You will need:
 * A PC directly connect to one of the LAN ports of the router, via ethernet cable. ( Unfortunately, it has to be a Windows based PC. I was unable to upload the firmware via tftp command. Maybe you'll have better luck with Linux. UPDATE: you too can have better luck with Linux, see below for using a Linux based computer to install DD-WRT). Note: Manually disable all installed NICs except the one you will use to connect to the router.
 * This file pack which contains wl500g-clear-nvram.trx (filesize: 1,585,152 bytes) and wl500g-recover.trx (filesize: 3,690,496 bytes)
 * Asus Firmware Restoration Tool. This is found on the CD that comes with the router OR Asus Support website here. Its hidden in Utilities section and named Asus WL-500b/g wireless router utility program in English. Version 1.3.8.0 (for the English version). The file is called Eng_1380.zip (Use unzip application to decompress).
 * The file dd-wrt.v24_mini_asus.trx and later if you want dd-wrt.v24-9517_VINT_std.bin

This procedure was developed using the Mitsubishi R100 router with the standard variant of DD-WRT. It should be identical with the Asus WL500G (Original)

This process requires a bit of patience and persistance. The WL500G and the relabeled R100 are stubborn routers that need a bit of encouragement. Eventually, you will be successful with installing DD-WRT onto them.


 * 1) Set the PC to have a static IP address of 192.168.1.10, subnet: 255.255.255.0 gateway: 192.168.1.1 primary dns: 192.168.1.1. Turn off your firewall.
 * 2) Before you plug the power connector in, press and hold the Restore or Reset button on the back.
 * 3) While holding the reset button, plug the power connector in.
 * 4) This causes it to go into Restore mode. This is indicated by the PWR LED flashing at regular intervals.
 * 5) Now use the Asus Firmware Restoration Tool and upload wl500g-clear-nvram.trx. Wait until upload is complete and it reboots. This is usually takes about 2 to 3 minutes.
 * 6) Once done, unplug the power connector. Wait for 30 seconds or so.
 * 7) Repeat steps 2 to 6, but upload wl500g-recover.trx instead.
 * 8) Now plug the power connector back into the router.
 * 9) * Try to ping the router from your PC. Open the DOS box (Goto Start -> run) add to command promt C:\.........> ping 192.168.1.1
 * 10) * If it responds, then you are ready to upload DD-WRT firmware. Proceed to step 9.
 * 11) * If not, then repeat steps 2 to 7 until it does.
 * 12) * If that fails, set the router in Restore mode (as mentioned in step 2 to 4), but install DD-WRT firmware. Then wipe it off by repeating steps 2 to 8. You must have it such that the router MUST respond to ping in Restore mode!
 * 13) Install dd-wrt.v24_mini Asus firmware using the Asus Firmware Restoration Tool. (The firmware file is called dd-wrt.v24_mini_asus.trx).
 * 14) Once done, wait for a few minutes until it reboots. This can be seen by the AIR LED flashing at regular periods.
 * 15) Now try pinging the router with DD-WRT firmware installed.
 * 16) * If it responds, continue to step 12.
 * 17) * If it does NOT respond to pings, repeat steps 2 to 11. Repeat until it responds with DD-WRT installed.
 * 18) Login in via web browser by entering  http://192.168.1.1  and the default login is root, with the password admin
 * 19) Enjoy your R100 or WL500G with DD-WRT v24 mini ! :D
 * 20) If you like you can flash the DD-WRT v24 vint  over WebIF

Asus WL500G Deluxe
First, you need a firmware file. If you're not sure, use the dd-wrt.v23_asus.trx from.

There are three ways to upload DD-WRT on WL500G Deluxe:  Web interface (easiest, use this if unsure) Asus recovery utility (Windows only) TFTP 

Web Interface
The easiest way. If you can connect to the router and administer it via its web interface, skip to point 5:  Power up the router  Connect via ethernet to one of the four LAN ports, or (untested) connect via Wi-Fi  Obtain network settings via DHCP  Point your browser of choice to http://192.168.1.1/ (use the IP address of the gateway, obtained in the previous point)  Go to System Setup > Firmware Upgrade  Upload the firmware file using the form provided.  Wait until the page reloads, now with the DD-WRT interface. (This might fail as the IP address/URL will be different - in that case wait 3-5 minutes, or until the router has rebooted). Congratulations, the DD-WRT install has been completed. </ol>

Asus Recovery Utility
You can get the utilities here, or you can browse the Asus site to download the latest version. Asus only seem to provide these for Windows. In case you have multiple network interfaces and are unable to find you router, disable all but the one that is connected to your router.   Remove the power connector of the WL500G.  While holding the reset button, plug the power connector back in. (WL500gP - button labeled "restore") When the power LED flashes, release the reset button. The router now is in recovery mode. Wait for your PC to get an IP address (if dhcp is configured)  Use the Asus recovery utility to upload the DD-WRT trx file.  After the upgrade the router reboots and you should be able to access the web interface </ol>

Comments
SSD: For my new WL-500g Deluxe, the recovery utility would appear to successfully upload the firmware (v23), but then I could not get it to boot... even after waiting several minutes and power cycling. The unit would also be unresponsive to ping requests. I could always successfully reload the original Asus firmware. TFTP methods were unsuccessful altogether, as tftp never seemed to establish contact with the router. Finally, I was able to boot DD-WRT by first flashing with OpenWRT (White Russian rc4), then using OpenWRT's firmware upload page to flash with DD-WRT. MopIC: I had very similar problem like SSD. Unfortunately, flashing in OpenWRT RC4 or any other software through Asus Restoration tool didn't help at all. My router is Asus WL-500G PCB R2.40. It acted as if it was constantly rebooting. The solution came from wl500.info website. http://wl700g.info/showthread.php?t=1606 I had to do the following: 1. Set my IP address on PC's interface to 192.168.1.10 (DHCP on Asus didn't work) 2. Unplug power cord from wl-500g. 3. Press and hold restore button and then insert power cord back into router. 3a. When the PWR light starts flashing, release Restore button. 3b. Now your WL-500G is in restore mode. 4. Run Asus Firmware Restoration (can be found on Asus website or included CD) 4b. Download this file pack which includes the necessary tools for the next procedure and unrar it. 5. Choose the wl500g-clear-nvram.trx file and upload it to the router. Wait 2-3 minutes after. 6. Unplug power and again enter restore mode (steps 2 and 3) 7. Choose the wl500g-recover.trx file and also upload it to your router. Wait 2-3 minutes 8. Unplug power and again enter restore mode (steps 2 and 3) 9. Choose the firmware you wish to flash and upload. Wait 2-3 minutes. Reboot. I used DD-WRT v23 SP2 2006-1307 for Asus 10. Now it should be ok - enter http://192.168.1.1 and check if it is ok :-) Hope it helps... for me it was couple hours to fix it...

LFR: Upgrade was done out of the box with .trx file & worked straight, no need for recovery mode MrO: Does this also work on the WL-500g Premium? TTSherpa: Yes it does. No problen going back an forth the original FW & DD-WRT DJ: While upgrading from SP1 to SP2, web GUI didn't work with .trx file. Renaming it to .bin worked. QBA: WL-500g premium - used the Asus recovery tool (from Eng_1380.zip) to upload v23-sp2 (dd-wrt.v23_vpn_asus.trx) in recovery mode on original Asus out of the box firmware - works like a charm :-)

TFTP
The utility mentioned below might be the OpenWRT Flash utility, although the syntax is different.

posted by Evan Carrol sept 28, done with with WL-500gP:

I just wanted to drop in my advice, I did this whole thing without the Asus proprietary utils. I used Linux tftp. I had to use the aformentioned utils at http://wl700g.info/showthread.php?t=1606, the only different thing I did was use TFTP. I went in the same order as the above but only gave my router 10 seconds between reboots:

1) flash - tftp wl500g-clear-nvram.trx 2) 10 seconds unplug, 3) flash - tftp wl500g-recover.trx 4) 10 seconds unplug, 5) flash - tftp dd-wrt.v24_mini_asus.trx 6) 10 seconds unplug done.

Asus WL500G Premium
DD-WRTv23 SP2 ok so far...
 * Same as Deluxe.
 * Recover from bad flash via Asus Firmware Restoration.
 * Brick recovery can involve shorting pins. Easy enough if one's hands don't shake, but you void the warranty.

Chickenboy: For brick recovery, you need to ground Pin 9 shown in this picture http://wl500g.info/attachment.php?attachmentid=905&stc=1&d=1153600992 Warning *You'll void your warranty and if you don't know what you're doing, you can permanently kill your router. DO AT YOUR OWN RISK!

So far, I've uploaded faulty firmware 5 times and this technique has saved my router from being a paperweight.

Birdy: For a thorough explanation on how to recover your bricked Asus WL500G Premium or WL500G Deluxe, browse to: http://www.dd-wrt.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=2507

This router is VERY easy to flash, especially from a Linux box. Most of the information on this guide is aimed at Windows users, but these steps are specifically aimed at Linux users, providing an easy way to flash the router without the proprietary Asus flashing tool.
 * Posted by Atreus on 12-24-07 on WL-500G Premium and DD-WRT v23 sp2 **

Note: This advice is assuming you are flashing the router from a Linux computer. Only flash on a wired connection.

cn0rris: Notes about installation on Mac OS X: These steps should work fine on any computer with a TFTP client, and Mac OS X specifically. I just followed them on my Mac OS X computer, and they worked just fine.

cn0rris: Another Mac note: I don't know if this is particular to the WL-500G Premium, or the specific version of the software I am using (DD-WRT v24 RC6.2), but I found that I had to use Firefox rather than Safari. It would load the main page correctly, but as soon as I clicked on the Administration tab, it would fail. I presume there is a problem with HTTP Auth handling somewhere, that Firefox seems to handle correctly.

andrey: Thirs Mac note. Leopard (10.5 here).  About 7s to upload.
 * Tftp-ed clear-nvram in 4s, like explained a bit later, waited 2min, switched off, 20s wait, switched on with restore button pressed.
 * The same procedure with the restore.trx (took 7-8s to upload)
 * The same procedure with :
 * After installing the mini_asus.trx, there is DD-WRT on the router. I decided to put the MEGA distribution (http://www.dd-wrt.com/dd-wrtv2/downloads/v24/Broadcom/Asus/WL500g-Premium/dd-wrt.v24_mega_generic.bin), as the device has a lot of memory and CPU, compared to my Linksys 54GL v1.1, which can't do Mega. '''ATTENTION: It took more than 6 Minutes to upload the Mega package. As usual DD-WRT's web interface counts down from 300 to 0. With my Linksys it takes about 60-70s to upload a vpn/voip/std package and then the router reboots. Such a package is about 3.6MB. The Mega package is 5.6MB large and I expected about twice the time, with no luck. I was a bit worried when DD-WRT counted to zero and then stopped counting, just the animations continued working. Tried to ssh with no success, the web server was working a bit - able to connect with telnet on Port 80, but after writing GET /^n^n, there was no output. Tried telnet-ting, and it WORKED. Did a top and it did show me that 99% CPU time is spent on writing an uploaded file to /tmp . So, I was a bit relieved. Soon the telnet connection went broke and the web interface changed to the page informing that the router is restarting. Restarted and booted in about 30 seconds.

Requirements:


 * TFTP If you are on a Debian box, simply typing apt-get install tftp will do the trick.
 * wl500g-clear-nvram.trx and wl500g-recover.trx which can be obtained HERE
 * The most recent stable release of DD-WRT from the downloads page. Make sure you use the firmware specifically compiled for the Asus router. Check the readme included with the files, but it should be called something like dd-wrt.v**_asus.trx


 * Step 1: Connect your computer via ethernet cable to a LAN port on the router (I used LAN port 1)
 * Step 2: Unplug the power cord from the router
 * Step 3: Wait 20 seconds
 * Step 4: Press and hold the reset button on the back of the router. Note that the reset button is recessed and you need a pen or paper clip to press it in. The button protruding from the back is the EZ Setup, which is not what you want to press.
 * Step 5: While holding the reset button, plug the power cord into the router. Continue to hold the reset button until the power light starts flashing. Let go of the reset button
 * Step 6: Use tftp to transfer wl500g-clear-nvram.trx to the router. The commands are as follows:

user@box:$ tftp 192.168.1.1

> mode binary

> put wl500g-clear-nvram.trx


 * Step 7: Tftp should report a successful file transfer in 7-15 seconds. Wait 2-3 minutes after that before unplugging the router
 * Step 8: Unplug the router, wait 20 seconds. Hold the reset button and plug the power cord into the router, continuing to hold the reset button until the power light flashes. Release the reset button.
 * Step 9: Use tftp to transfer wl500g-recover.trx to the router. Same method as above, just change the file name. Wait 2-3 minutes after tftp reports a successful file transfer before unplugging the router.
 * Step 10: Unplug the router, wait 20 seconds. Hold the reset button and plug the power cord into the router, continuing to hold the reset button until the power light flashes. Release the reset button.
 * Step 11: Use tftp to transfer the DD-WRT firmware to the router. MAKE SURE YOU USE THE CORRECT FILE. It should be be called something like dd-wrt.v**_asus.trx Do not upload a .bin file.
 * Step 12: Wait 2-3 minutes after tftp reports a successful file transfer before unplugging the router. Unplug the power cord from the router, wait 20 seconds, and plug the power cord back into the router.

The router should now boot to DD-WRT firmware. Go to 192.168.1.1 to confirm. You may need to power cycle your cable modem (if applicable) to get an internet connection.

Notes: You may need to manually specify your computers IP address (in order to use tftp to upload the files) if for some reason DHCP is not working. I did not need to do this, but if you cannot establish a connection to the router try the following settings:

IP address: 192.168.1.10

net mask: 255.255.255.0

router: 192.168.1.1

DNS: 192.168.1.1

tigerbinz: I tried all the ways for Asus WL500G Deluxe, web interface and Asus recovery utility can not work for me, my router is Asus WL500Gp v1(FCC ID: MSQWL500GP), then I tried tftp with Windows XP. The above comments are very useful. I set 192.168.1.10/24 as my PC's IP address, in Windows XP, just use tftp like this:
 * STEP 1. use "cmd" and "cd" command, enter the folder in which you saved the files (wl500g-clear-nvram.trx, wl500g-recover.trx, and dd-wrt.v**_asus.trx).
 * STEP2: like above steps. tftp -i PUT wl500g-clear-nvram.trx, tftp -i PUT wl500g-recover.trx and dd-wrt.v**_asus.trx, I firstly tried asus v23 sp2.trx. one by one, it works. Then in firmware upgrade, I upgraded to v24 (http://www.dd-wrt.com/dd-wrtv2/downloads/stable/dd-wrt.v24/Broadcom/Asus/WL500g-Premium/dd-wrt.v24_std_generic.bin). It works well.

Asus WL500G Premium V2
ehunt notes:
 * 1) I just got a WL-500gL v2 from NewEgg for $50 shipped, openbox. What an amazing router for the same I paid a year ago for my second WRT54GL. From the "mixed" reports here, with having to do three rounds of flashing, I took a risk and picked the special NEWT (but mini, they are on a long forum thread you can find.) that did have USB support. It was about three megs in size. Like a few of the others, I had a V2 firmware (Asus has some high 3s now for it) and did not even enter in an IP address/plug it in. Connect it up as per usual instructions, set the static config on the 192.168.1.0/24  that everyone else has here. Wait for it to come back into rescue mode, verify its up for a minute with some ICMP, tftp ffrom my Mac over. Now, you do always get scared waiting, no matter how small the firmware is. I gave it a good ten minutes, plugged and waited for something to come back. Long and behold my Safari was still refreshing 192.168.1.1 and the DD-WRT logo greeted me. Awesome.

Since it seems the awesome developer/guy hacking this line is still producing binaries, I would find this thread. He seemed to release another one about a month apart. At the time, I recall the builds being in teh 11000 and he is forking off of the v24 tree. I've yet to configure a printer or anything else, so I won't know how stable it is, but with all the basics this thing seems twice as fast as my WRT54GL is now (its doing client only).

If you can find these on deal somewhere, buy one. I've never owned anything better.

deptrai notes: Deptrai 17:42, 9 October 2008 (CEST)
 * 1) The factory firmware's web-interface has a "Firmware Upgrade" option, but it will only accept Asus firmware images (mine came with 2.0.1.5 and I tried upgrading it to 3.0.3.1, but neither would flash the DD-WRT image).
 * 2) Flashing is very easy using TFTP:
 * 3) Power the router on and then off
 * 4) While holding the black restore button depressed, power the router up (then release the button after the power LED flashes).
 * 5) Attach your computer's NIC to one of the LAN ports, and config the computer's interface to any IP address on 192.168.1.0/24 (other than 192.168.1.1)
 * 6) TFTP the DD-WRT image to 192.168.1.1
 * 7) Wait a short time...
 * 8) Power-cycle it and it should boot up into DD-WRT (mine did anyhow)

uvinrg:

Steps I did under Windows XP:

1. Connect to router through UTP cable (LAN connection) and disable all other network connection except this one 2. Set manual IP address on LAN and disable Windows firewall:

IP address: 192.168.1.10 subnet: 255.255.255.0 gateway: 192.168.1.1 primary DNS: 192.168.1.1

3. Remove power cord from router

4. While keeping pressed the "restore" button, put power cord in

5. Wait for power led to start flashing

6. Stop pressing restore button

7. Open Asus Firmware Restoration

8. Load up DD-WRT v24 standard latest firmware for WL500g Premium

9. Press Upload

10. Wait for process to complete, router to boot, and http://192.168.1.1 to work

11. Power off and then back on router

Worked perfectly.

- END

<b>2008-08-15 "illuminant"

Setting up the Asus WL-500G Premium V2 with Windows Vista</b>

DD-WRT reports: Asus WL-500G Premium V2   CPU Model: Broadcom BCM5354 chip rev 2 CPU Clock: 240 MHz Memory: Total Available   89%    29288 kB / 32768 kB     Free    52%    15164 kB / 29288 kB     Used    48%    14124 kB / 29288 kB

1. Connect the router to the PC with a normal ethernet cable (used LAN-1 ethernet port on the router)

2. Disable all network interfaces except for the ethernet.

3. On the PC, the ethernet network settings (TCP/IP v4) were:

IP address: 192.168.1.2 Subnet mask: 255.255.255.0 Default gateway: 192.168.1.1 DNS: 192.168.1.1

4. Disable Windows Firewall

5. Start the router with the black restore button pressed down. After several seconds the router started to flash the power LED once per second, indicating readiness. Take finger off the button.

6. Start Asus Firmware Recovery as Adminstrator; confirmed Administrator privileges.

7. In Firmware Recovery app, navigated to DD-WRT v24-SP1 generic-mega (filename dd-wrt.v24_mega_generic.bin) and hit Upload

8. For me, Firmware app found the router in approx 3 seconds, uploaded in approx 30 seconds, reconfigured itself in approx 30 seconds, then advised to wait for reboot. Firmware app remained with "wait for reboot" indefinitely, even after router had fully rebooted.

9. Quit the Firmware app.

10. Open IE and navigate to http://192.168.1.1. DD-WRT answers immediately.

11. Configure DD-WRT according to your network needs.

Notes: (i) Initial attempts at running the Firmware Recovery app failed until after I had disabled Windows Firewall and then ran the app as Administrator. (ii) Firefox 3.0.1 did not allow *any* settings to be saved, hence the attempt with IE, which worked perfectly. (iii) On setup of the router, a very long password looked like it wasn't being entered into the fields (bullets were not visibly advancing beyond the extents of the fields) but the very long password worked fine.

Ends.

mooseydoom notes:

illuminant's method worked for me, except I installed wirelessly instead of using an ethernet cable.

Setting up the Asus WL-500G Premium V2 Wirelessly with Windows Vista

1. I updated the router to Asus's latest firmware first (3.0.3.8) and installed the latest utilities (4.0.2.9) (I'm not sure if this was necessary or not)

2. Disable all network interfaces except for wireless. (Unplug any ethernet cables from your computer)

3. Put router into recovery mode by powering on the router with the black restore button pressed down. Wait a few seconds for the power led to start flashing. Take finger off the button. (Power led will continue flashing while the router is waiting for the update)

4. Connect your computer to the router. The default network name is "default" (no password required).

5. Disable Windows Firewall

6. Start Asus Firmware Restoration as Adminstrator (right click on the Firmware Restoration link and select "run as administrator")

7. Select your firmware file. (I used dd-wrt.v24-12774_NEWD_big.bin referred from this thread )

8. Push Upload and wait for the program to finish.

9. Close the Firmware Restoration program.

10. Reboot router (just unplug and plug power cable)

11. Connect to the "dd-wrt" wireless network.

12. Open http://192.168.1.1 in your browser and enjoy.

--Mooseydoom 22:06, 2 September 2009 (CEST)

Asus WL500W
PLEASE NOTE THAT THERE ARE CERTAIN ISSUES WITH THIS ROUTER THAT MAY CAUSE IT TO TURN INTO A BRICK. ''' See the links to associated forum posting next to summary.
 * Not following installation instructions (use asus tool or be sure to use trx to clear nvram and recovery trx)
 * Not doing 30-30-30
 * Nvram variables, particularly ssh and vpn keys which cause cfe (bootloader) crash in some instances (albeit unknown) cause router to not boot (typical 'bricking'). Here and Here
 * Bad Power Supply and/or Board Filter Capacitors Here

There are a couple of ways to de-brick depending on what the issue is.
 * Nvram Issue
 * Pin 9 trick
 * Console cable setup, cntl-c while plugging router in, nvram erase at cfe console or nvram show, nvram unset variable that is crashing nvram show
 * Power Capacitor Issue
 * Replace power supply/wall wart
 * Replace filter caps on board

Here is the old information including thread links that was very hard to parse and required reading a lot of loooong threads. More info on getting the router to flash when there are a couple of ping responses that go away Here (probably caused by nvram variables) And Here (This is Pock's thread and contains the best overall info regarding getting your router working again) And Here And this thread supplied a solution to which nvram variables cause the CFE to crash - added 07/30/09 And Here Another thread regarding crash of CFE pointing at many key sequences causing the crash at cfe nvram show - added 11/23/09

Bad capacitors in some units - added 08/23/09

Here is a pictorial and video on how to install a serial port into this router, which you will likely need to do if you don't follow these instructions.

http://acid.armkb.com/2009/06/11/asus-wl-500w-serial-port-com/

Windows Instructions

 * Same basic procedure as Deluxe (Asus WL500G Deluxe).
 * Requires v24 RC3 or later (v24-sp2 SVN 11650M Eko STRONGLY RECOMMENDED)

Materials: * Download this file pack which includes the necessary tools for the procedure and unrar it. * Mini-Asus.trx dd-wrt.v24-11650_NEWD_mini_asus.trx * A copy of  dd-wrt.v24-11650_NEWD_mega.bin * TFTP client (e.g. tftpd32 Tfpd32)
 * Computer with ethernet port
 * RJ45 cable in box
 * Downloaded all the images and instructions (tested images are listed):

Preparation:

1. Install the tftp client on computer that will be connected to the Asus WL-500W 2. Connect computer to LAN port 1 with RJ45 cable 3. Boot the router. 4. Verify that DHCP works: <ul>  http://192.168.1.1 </li>  ping 192.168.1.1 should also work </li> </ul> Reconfiguration: 1. Change wired NIC to manual TCP/IP setting on the computer: 192.168.1.10 and 255.255.255.0 for a mask (DHCP address may be lost after a reset of the routers in recovery mode). 2. Make sure you can connect or see the router <ul>  http://192.168.1.1 </li>  ping 192.168.1.1 should also work </li> </ul> 3. (30/30/30) -Press Restore button hold for 30 seconds, unplug router still holding Restore button for 30 seconds, plug router back in still holding Restore button a final 30 seconds...continue to next step 4. Unplug power cord from the router Press and hold restore button (not the setup button) and then insert power cord back into router. When the PWR light starts flashing, release Restore button. Now, the router is in restore mode. 5. Now clear the nvram of the router by tftping the clear-nvram.trx 6. Wait 2-3 minutes afterwards before rebooting. 7. Perform 30/30/30 again (step 3) 8. Unplug power and again enter Restore mode (step 4 go to next step) 9. Select the reconfiguration firmware for the router wl500g-recover.trx from tftp and perform a put "Yes, use the wl500g images or trx files for this." 10. Wait 2-3 minutes afterwards before rebooting. 11. Perform 30/30/30 again (step 3) 12. Unplug power and again enter Restore mode (step 4), this time tftp your mini_asus.trx image. 13. Perform 30/30/30 again (step 3) 14. Power cycle router again then access router at 192.168.1.1 and use the web GUI to update, this time load your mega.bin image... wait 2-3 minutes for it to reboot. NOTE: Flashing via TFTP at this stage may be more reliable. I had serious issues with flashing via the web GUI. Simply put the router into recover mode after you've verified that the mini_asus.trx flash took and tftp the new image onto the device. Performing updates in this fashion may also be more reliable and avoid you from bricking your device or having it always reboot in recovery mode. If you do decide to flash via the web GUI, make sure "Reset to Factory Defaults" is selected. NVRAM on this router doesn't like having anything in it when you flash it, and you are forced to set the user name and password upon first log on in order to flash it, so that writes non-default data to NVRAM.

[NOTE] - observation...on my 500W, when upgrading a Mega or Big build, The "Upgrading firmware....Please Wait XXXs" panel will count down to 0s...but the router is STILL configuring the firmware...it takes about 2-3 minutes past this point before the router comes back with the normal "Upgrade Successful" message panel...wait another 2 minutes past this point before power cycling the router..... redhawk

15. Power Cycle the router after it boots up on its own. 16. Perform a final 30/30/30, then power cycle the router after the last 30 seconds. 17. See if you are you able to connect to the router 192.168.1.1. Logon to DD-WRT web interface with root/admin. 18. Voilà! Done. Reset your computer's ethernet NIC to DHCP or automatically detect IP addres.

Questions/Issues:

Recover from bad flash via Asus Firmware Restoration.

'''Why would I use this router? '''I found Linksys 54GS/L were much easier to use and install. Cannot upgrade the antennas without destroying the case. - But the WL500W is still relatively cheap (under US$ 100 - Apr. 08, $79 - Sep. 08), with 8 MB flash so you have a 4 MB jffs partition. - To use the USB storage, after mounting jffs/cleanfs, follow instruction here. I got my 4 GB USB-key to work easily '''I upgraded my WL-500W, but now it won't boot up and the router reboots over and over or the "AIR" light never comes on. What do I do?''' - This router has a quark where it may not like to boot up if you have cables plugged into the 1-4 ports on the back. If your router's AIR light isn't coming on at all and is unresponsive, or it keeps rebooting over and over, try removing the cables from the switch portion (ports 1-4) and boot it up. It should then boot up properly and you can plug in your cables again. For more information, see this and also take note of this post.

Final Steps
After you have successfully uploaded the final version of DD-WRT and rebooted, do one final power cycle and you should be good to go. You may need to power-cycle your cable or dsl modem to obtain an internet connection.

Finally, reset your computer to automatically detect the IP address. On Ubuntu, left-click on the networking icon in the upper right of the screen and choose "Manual Configuration." Click "Unlock" and enter your password. Click on "Wired Connection," then "Properties." Check the "Enable roaming mode" box.

Asus WL550gE
DD-WRTv23 SP2 ok so far ... Does USB ports still working after instalation?
 * Same as Deluxe.
 * Recover from bad flash via Asus Firmware Restoration.
 * Brick recovery can involve shorting pins. Easy enough if one's hands don't shake, but you void the warranty.