paul248
join:2001-09-04
| I *THINK* I just flashed my DI-524 into a DI-624!
HOLY $#%!
I have a DI-524/C1 at home, and I was reading about the various Atheros chipsets and stuff... long story short, I noticed that the DI-524/C has the same chip as the DI-624/C. Then I came across this thread:
»DWL-G800AP and DWL-G810 interchangeable?
The same technique can be applied to put DI-624 firmware on a DI-524.
Beware that I've only half-tested this... my family just put in a $20 DI-524, and I'm on the other side of the country at the moment, so I did the update remotely because I just HAD to know if it was possible!
I've now got full access to the "DI-624" web interface, with all the extra options visible, and all seems well as far as I can tell. I can't test the wireless tonight, because everyone's asleep over there.
Anyway, if you open the 524 and 624 (revision C) firmwares side by side in a hex editor and scroll to the end, you'll see a "-00" in the 624, and a "-10" in the 524. I changed the 624 firmware to say "-10", and used the checksum program in the link above to get the correct checksum value. Only 2 bytes total had to be changed.
Anyway, here's my resulting hacked firmware:
»web.ics.purdue.edu/~pmarks/files···_270.bin
Use it at your own risk, of course. I'll have to call home when people are awake to make sure I haven't broken anything. Time will tell if the speedbooster actually functions properly, and whether WPA2 support is more stable than the shoddy DI-524 3.20 firmware. |
|
paul248
join:2001-09-04
| Re: I *THINK* I just flashed my DI-524 into a DI-6
Update: I just flashed the DI-624 271b10 firmware onto the router. So, it looks like once you turn it into a 624, it will accept pure 624 update files without complaining.
I suspect that if you wanted to turn it back into a 524, you'd just have to get some 524 firmware and change the "-10" to "-00", then fix the checksum and flash it again. |
|
peter_m
Premium
join:2005-07-13
Canada, QC | Are you able to see any clients requesting IP through DHCP?
Did the time and date adjust it's self in router?
Could give you indications on how well it like the Di-624 firmware... |
|
paul248
join:2001-09-04
| I admit it's probably not best practice to hack the firmware on a device that's sitting 2000 miles away, but I was too impatient to wait the extra 3 days before getting home 
We're currently using the router as an access point only (it's connected behind a Vonage/Linksys RT31P2), so nothing's plugged into the WAN port, and DHCP is disabled. On the Time page, I put in the IP of an ntpd on the LAN, and the time hopped from 2002 to 2005, so that much is working. |
|
peter_m
Premium
join:2005-07-13
Canada, QC | Very cool! Do let us know:) |
|
JTS33
join:2003-05-03
USA
3 edits | Way cool. Finally...someone with the brains to figure this out. And from 2000 miles away too!
The DI-524 Rev. C and DI-624 Rev. C both use the Atheros AR2313A-00 SoC (System-on-a-Chip). If this chip is what's responsible for the SuperG support, then there's a good chance of SuperG working on the 524 with paul248's trick.
Compared to the 624, the 524 Rev. C is neglected when it comes to firmware updates. So being able to use 624 firmware would be especially nice even if only for a stable WPA2 firmware. |
|
FrancoisC
join:2004-11-02
Lachine, QC | reply to paul248
Re: I *THINK* I just flashed my DI-524 into a DI-624!
I tried it just now, and it seems to be working here too! I just don't have any other super-g card to test it out. |
|
w00ters
join:2003-06-23 | reply to paul248
Re: I *THINK* I just flashed my DI-524 into a DI-6
Well this is good news. I bought a DI-524 and was unimpressed with the firmware update frequency. I will definately try this when I get a chance! Thx Paul. |
|
peter_m
Premium
join:2005-07-13
Canada, QC | reply to paul248
Re: I *THINK* I just flashed my DI-524 into a DI-624!
Hell, if d-link can cut cost by using the same hardware in two products, I guess it's only fair that we can save a little money as well...:D |
|
Gem
Premium
join:2005-09-10 | reply to paul248
Re: I *THINK* I just flashed my DI-524 into a DI-6
What does the 624 firmware get the user in addition to WPA-2?
What other options does it provide over the basic 524 firmware? |
|
FrancoisC
join:2004-11-02
Lachine, QC | Maybe it bring 108mbps connection... I'm buying a dwl-g132 just to test it out tonight. |
|
Gem
Premium
join:2005-09-10 | Let us know how it works! |
|
Bender_2k
join:2003-01-12
clubs: 
 ·TekSavvy Solutions..
 ·Rogers Hi-Speed
1 edit | Just tried it on mine and she's working great too  . No SuperG products here either but the firmware itself does work atleast and she reports back as a DI-624 now.
DHCP is still buggered (seems that way on alot of Dlink products) but was still able to hook up my other PC's via WPA and everything appears to be working properly. |
|
JTS33
join:2003-05-03
USA
| said by Bender_2k  :Just tried it on mine and she's working great too . No SuperG products here either but the firmware itself does work atleast and she reports back as a DI-624 now. DHCP is still buggered (seems that way on alot of Dlink products) but was still able to hook up my other PC's via WPA and everything appears to be working properly. Have you tried updating to the DI-624 2.71 Build 10 firmware afterwards? (see 2nd post in this thread).
This is the latest version known in this forum, and some DI-624 owners reported that it fixed the DHCP issues for them.
Here's the link:
»ftp://ftp.dlink.com/Gateway/di624_revC···beta.zip |
|
Bender_2k
join:2003-01-12
clubs:
·TekSavvy Solutions..
·Rogers Hi-Speed
| Yep, I just updated right now to the latest official DI-624 and it still does not appear to be showing all the DHCP users on the LAN. However, I just use static IP's on everybody and disregard the DHCP (easier to organize and forward ports when you know which IP each computer is always supposed to have). |
|
taytong888
join:2005-06-20
Nepean, ON
| reply to paul248
paul248,
Your post is very interesting. This afternoon I was able to find a DI-524 Rev. C unit, but I am still trying to figure out what you did before actually flashing the modified firmware. What I did and my question follow:
1) Download US DI-524C v 3.20 and US DI-624C v 2.70 BIN files.
2) Ditto for CDN DI-524C v C1 and CDN DI-624C v 2.53 (the latest from Canadian DLink, and besides, your XVI32 hex editor program shows Cdn firmware or .BIN files are a bit different from same US version number).
3) Download & install free XVI32 hex editor program.
4) Download & install your (DLink firmware) checksum program.
This is what you must have done:
1) Use XVI32 to modify "-00" in the US 624 firmware into "-10", as shown in the right window pane of the hex editor.
2) Go to the "Checksum" program, browse to the hacked firmware file and click "Calculate".
I calculated the checksum value of your hacked firmware and it shows 07 CA D5 67. This is the same as the checksum value of the orginal di624xxx270.bin file. However, I am confused because the last rows in left window panes of the 2 files are NOT quite the same:
Original US di624xxx270.bin file:
DFFF2: 20 20 20 2D 30 30 00 00 00 00 0(zero?)7 CA D5 67
Your resulting hacked firmware:
DFFF2: 20 20 20 2D 31 30 00 00 00 00 0 (zero?)7 CA D4 67
Please note 31 and D4 in the last row of the hacked file.
My question: How come the two files appear somewhat different but have the same checksum value? I would appreciate your explanations before I flash the Canadian firmwares. Thanks. |
|
JTS33
join:2003-05-03
USA
1 edit | I just flashed my DI-524 Rev. C from 3.02 -> paul248's DI-624 2.70 -> DI-624 2.71b10
And it's working fine. No SuperG devices here to test unfortunately.
I got a couple unexpected reboots so far with the 2.71b10 firmware though.  So I'll have to monitor that to see how often it happens. |
|
Bender_2k
join:2003-01-12
clubs: | reply to paul248
I haven't had any sudden reboots on mine...but gonna keep an eye out for that now. |
|
JTS33
join:2003-05-03
USA
| said by Bender_2k :I haven't had any sudden reboots on mine...but gonna keep an eye out for that now. From powering off/on the router a few times and checking the router logs, I consistently get 2 reboots within 5 minutes of powering on the router. Then it appears to be fine after that. I'm going to leave it on overnight and check the logs in the morning to see if it rebooted at all.
By the way, I am using:
SuperG Mode: Disabled
Extended Range Mode: Disabled
802.11g Only Mode: Enabled
SSID Broadcast: Disabled
Security: WPA2 (AES / PSK) |
|
Bender_2k
join:2003-01-12
clubs:
·TekSavvy Solutions..
·Rogers Hi-Speed
| reply to paul248
I rebooted mine a bunch of times (setting up static DHCP and other settings) but can't do any complete power off's/on's at the moment (everybody seems already fed up with me adjusting settings and just want to be left alone to surf).
Currently set to:
SuperG Mode: Disabled
Extended Range Mode: Enabled
802.11g Only Mode: Disabled
SSID Broadcast: Enabled
Security: WPA (TKIP/PSK) |
|
