TP-LINK Archer D7b v1.x

multiple revisions of this device, use caution

abgn+ac (AC1750)
AC1750 Wireless Dual Band Gigabit ADSL2+ Modem Router (Annex B)
Wikipedia	TP-Link
3rd Party Firmware
dd-wrt	Status Unknown
OpenWrt	Partial Support
Tomato any flavor	Incompatible
Gargoyle	Status Unknown
Platform
Brand • Model • Rev	TP-LINK Archer D7b v1.x
FCC ID	none specified
Type	wireless router, dsl modem
CPU1 Y	Qualcomm Atheros QCA9558
CPU1 Type	MIPS 74Kc
CPU1 Speed	720 MHz
CPU2 Y	Broadcom BCM6318
CPU2 Speed	333 MHz
Flash1 Chip	Spansion Model?
Flash1 Size	16 MiB 16,777,216 B <br />131,072 Kib <br />16,384 KiB <br />128 Mib <br />0.0156 GiB <br /> (SPI NOR)
Flash2 Chip	Winbond Model?
Flash2 Size	8 MiB8,388,608 B <br />65,536 Kib <br />8,192 KiB <br />64 Mib <br />0.00781 GiB <br />
RAM1 Size	128 MiB 134,217,728 B <br />1,048,576 Kib <br />131,072 KiB <br />1,024 Mib <br />0.125 GiB <br /> (DDR2)
RAM1 Chip	Winbond Model? x 2
RAM2 Size	64 MiB67,108,864 B <br />524,288 Kib <br />65,536 KiB <br />512 Mib <br />0.0625 GiB <br />
RAM2 Chip	ESMT
ETH chip1	Qualcomm Atheros QCA9558
Switch	Atheros AR8327N
Ethernet Port Count	1-1GbE-WAN 3-1GbE-LAN
Wired Standard	IEEE 802.3i/3u/3ab
802dot11 OUI: none specified
Stock bootloader	U-Boot
Expansion IF types	USB 2.0
USB ports	2
USB Hub Compatible	Untested
Power	12 VDC, 2.5 A
Connector type	barrel
Serial Port (UART)	yes, 3.3V TTL, (115200 8N1)
Flags: ADSL2+
Other
3rd Party Firmware Support	OpenWrt • (List | Dev | DLs)
Radio 1
Chip1	Qualcomm Atheros QCA9558
Wireless interface OUI	none specified
Antenna Connector Type	none
MIMO status	3x3:3
Wireless Standard	IEEE 802.11b/g/n
802.11n	up to 450 Mbps
802.11g	up to 54 Mbps
802.11b	up to 11 Mbps
WiFi Operating Frequency	2.4 GHz
Radio 2
Chip1	Qualcomm Atheros QCA9880-BR4A
Wireless interface OUI	none specified
Antenna Connector Type	U.FL, RP-SMA
MIMO status	3x3:3
Wireless Standard	IEEE 802.11a/n/ac
802.11ac	up to 1300 Mbps
802.11n	up to 450 Mbps
802.11a	up to 54 Mbps
WiFi Operating Frequency	5 GHz
CPU1 brand Radio1 chip1 brand Radio2 chip1 brand TP-LINK Archer D7 v1.x Qualcomm Atheros Qualcomm Atheros Qualcomm Atheros TP-LINK Archer D7b v1.x Qualcomm Atheros Qualcomm Atheros Qualcomm Atheros

For a list of all currently documented Atheros (QCA) chipsets with specifications, see Atheros.
For a list of all currently documented Broadcom chipsets with specifications, see Broadcom.
For a list of all currently documented Qualcomm Atheros (QCA) chipsets with specifications, see Qualcomm Atheros.

For a list of all currently documented TP-LINK devices with specifications, see TP-LINK.

• 450 Mbps - 3SS 2.4GHz 802.11n (40MHz chan.),

• 1300 Mbps - 3SS 5GHz 802.11ac (80MHz chan.) = AC1750 class

Flashing

Flashing OpenWrt

On the OpenWrt ToH (techdata entry)
On the OpenWrt Wiki

Target: ath79
Subtarget: generic
Package architecture: mips_24kc
Supported Since Commit
Support started version: 21.02.0
Current supported version: 25.12.1

Unsupported Functions:
DSL modem
LAN Hardware: Atheros AR8327N
WLAN Hardware: Qualcomm Atheros QCA9558, Qualcomm Atheros QCA9880-BR4A
WLAN Comment: 2.4Ghz 3x3:3 MIMO, 5Ghz 3x3:3 MIMO
Installation method(s):
U-Boot TFTP + serial recovery, see git-commit
Recovery method(s):
see git-commit
Comment:
DSL section is based on BCM6318 which is unsupported

git • >>

ath79: add support for TP-Link Archer D7/D7b v1 TP-Link Archer D7 v1 is a dual-band AC1750 router + modem. The router section is based on Qualcomm/Atheros QCA9558 + QCA9880. The "DSL" section is based on BCM6318 but it's currently not supported. The Archer D7b seems to differ from the Archer D7 only in the partition table. Router section - Specification: 775/650/258 MHz (CPU/DDR/AHB) 128 MB of RAM (DDR2) 16 MB of FLASH (SPI NOR) 3T3R 2.4 GHz 3T3R 5 GHz 4x 10/100/1000 Mbps Ethernet 7x LED, 2x button UART header on PCB Known issues: - Broadband LED (missing GPIO - probably driven by the BCM6318) - Internet LED (missing GPIO - probably driven by the BCM6318) - WIFI LED (working only for one interface at a time, while in the OEM firmware works for both wifi interfaces; thus, this patch does not set a trigger by default) - DSL not working (eth0) UART connection --------------- J1 HEADER (Qualcomm CPU) . VCC . GND . RX O TX J41 HEADER (Broadcom CPU) . VCC . GND . RX O TX The following instructions require a connection to the J1 UART header and are tested for the Archer D7 v1. For the Archer D7b v1, names should be changed accordingly. Flash instructions under U-Boot, using UART ------------------------------------------ 1. Press "tpl" to stop autobooting and obtain U-Boot CLI access. 2. Setup ip addresses for U-Boot and your tftp server. 3. Issue below commands: tftpboot 0x81000000 openwrt-ath79-generic-tplink_archer-d7-v1-squashfs-sysupgrade.bin erase 0x9f020000 +f90000 cp.b 0x81000000 0x9f020000 0xf90000 reset Initramfs instructions under U-Boot for testing, using UART ---------------------------------------------------------- 1. Press "tpl" to stop autobooting and obtain U-Boot CLI access. 2. Setup ip addresses for U-Boot and your tftp server. 3. Issue below commands: tftpboot 0x81000000 openwrt-ath79-generic-tplink_archer-d7-v1-initramfs-kernel.bin bootm 0x81000000 4. Here you can backup the original firmware and/or flash the sysupgrade openwrt if you want Restore the original firmware ----------------------------- 0. Backup every partition using the OpenWrt web interface 1. Download the OEM firmware from the TP-Link website 2. Extract the bin file in a folder (eg. Archer_D7v1_1.6.0_0.9.1_up_boot(160216)_2016-02-16_15.55.48.bin) 3. Remove the U-Boot and the Broadcom image part from the file. Issue the following command: dd if="Archer_D7v1_1.6.0_0.9.1_up_boot(160216)_2016-02-16_15.55.48.bin" of="Archer_D7v1_1.6.0_0.9.1_up_boot(160216)_2016-02-16_15.55.48.bin.mod" skip=257 bs=512 count=31872 4. Double check the .mod file size. It must be 16318464 bytes. 5. Flash it using the OpenWrt web interface. Force the update if needed. WARNING: Remember to NOT keep settings. 5b. (Alternative to 5.) Flash it using the U-Boot and UART connection. Issue below commands in the U-Boot: tftpboot 0x81000000 Archer_D7v1_1.6.0_0.9.1_up_boot(160216)_2016-02-16_15.55.48.bin.mod erase 0x9f020000 +f90000 cp.b 0x81000000 0x9f020000 0xf90000 reset