Alright. I just bought a DIR-505L on a whim because it was cheap ($25) and because I saw I could install OpenWrt on it, from this thread. There are three versions of this thing, as far as I've been able to tell by Googling. These are:

DIR-505LA1 - This is what I got. It's the current standard US model.

DIR-505LA2 - Judging from what I've read, this is identical to the US model, but it has exchangeable electric plugs for the European market

DIR-505 - This is the older model. It doesn't have the "Charger" mode on the side.

Now, I've installed DD-WRT on a couple routers in the past, but that was cakewalk compared to OpenWrt. I've never used OpenWrt, before, so this was my first time trying to get it installed. After screwing up the network settings multiple times requiring factory resets/reflashing, I made a guide for myself and my friends on how to get OpenWrt up and running on this little device. I figured that since I already made the guide for my own use, I might as well post it here for others who are new to OpenWrt. I'm happy to say that this thing is up-and-running perfectly for my setup; but even if you have a complicated environment for yours, by the time you finish my guide, you should be in a good position to understand how to setup and configure your new OpenWrt DIR-505L device.

I actually wrote my guide just as a simple .txt (which I've uploaded to pastebin), but I'll try to reformat it with BBCode for the forums, here.

EDIT: Oh, and if anyone wants to know what the throughput on this little thing is, here are some of my speedtest results.

Ethernet cable plugged directly into my computer:



Ethernet cable plugged into my router; my computer connected via 802.11n wifi:



-----------------------------

How to install OpenWrt on a D-Link 505L:

A. Download the latest D-Link 505L firmware (just in case)

(2012/10/29) ea3a0d0a dir505L_fw_101.bin

B. Download the latest OpenWrt firmware for DIR-505L

(2014/04/17) 99e289c3 OpenWrt-ar71xx-generic-dir-505-a1-squashfs-factory.bin

(2014/04/17) 9f041f8b OpenWrt-ar71xx-generic-dir-505-a1-squashfs-sysupgrade.bin

C. Restart the router and flash the firmware in emergency restore mode

Make sure the router is unplugged. Plug an ethernet cable from your router to your computer Set your PC to have a static IP of 192.168.0.2 and subnet mask of 255.255.255.0

- Control Panel -> Network and Internet -> Network Connections

- Right click on your ethernet adapter -> Properties

- TCP/IPv4 -> Properties

- IP address: 192.168.0.2

- Subnet mask: 255.255.255.0

- Default gateway: blank

- Preferred DNS server: blank

- Alternate DNS server: blank Press and hold the RESET button of the DIR-505L for ~5 seconds. Continue holding the RESET button, and plug the router into a power outlet. Continue holding the RESET button for ~10 seconds, or so, then let go. Open a web browser to 192.168.0.1. You should see an EMERGENCY FLASHING page. Click browse/upload, locate the *dir-505*-factory.bin, and upload it. If the firmware is note accepted, see the NOTE below. Give the router ~several~ minutes to flash the firmware. When it's done, unplug the router from the power outlet. Don't unplug the ethernet cable yet, we will need to communicate with the router via ethernet cable until we can turn the wifi on in the OpenWrt settings. Go back to your TCP/IPv4 properties and set your settings back to "Obtain an IP address automatically", and "Obtain DNS server address automatically". Plug the router back into the power outlet. Open up a commandline window and try to "ping 192.168.1.1". If you get a response, we can communicate with the router. Onto the next step.

NOTE: If the firmware is not accepted, you may have to slightly hex edit the OpenWrt *dir-505*-factory.bin. If you open the official firmware in a hex editor (dir505L_fw_101.bin), you will notice that it says, "505LA1" somewhere around hex offset 0x30. That is your model number. If you look at the same offset in your OpenWrt firmware (*dir-505*-factory.bin), you will notice it says, "505A1", instead. This is an older model number. Simply change the "505A1" into a "505LA1". See below for an example.

dir505L_fw_101.bin:



0x0030 52 35 30 35 4C 41 31 2D 33 00 00 00 00 00 44 45 R505LA1-3.....DE

(old) *dir-505*-factory.bin:



0x0030 52 35 30 35 41 31 2D 33 00 00 00 00 00 00 44 45 R505A1-3......DE

(new) *dir-505*-factory.bin:



0x0030 52 35 30 35 4C 41 31 2D 33 00 00 00 00 00 44 45 R505LA1-3.....DE

D. Open a telnet session with your router

Open up a commandline window and do,

telnet 192.168.1.1 If you connect to the router, set a new password for root by typing,

passwd Once your new password is set, telnet will be disabled and ssh will be enabled. Go ahead and type "exit" to quit your telnet session, and then open up a new ssh session with 192.168.1.1 using your favorite SSH client/utility.

E. Open an SSH session with your router and configure the network

Open a new ssh session with 192.168.1.1 as user root,

ssh root@192.168.1.1 If you successfully open an ssh connection, go to step 3. If you get a "connection refused" error, see the NOTE below. It's time to set up the network. In your SSH terminal, run the following commands to set up your router's ethernet (eth1) to connect to the internet and split your router's LAN and WAN.

uci set network.wan=interface

uci set network.wan.proto=dhcp

uci set network.wan.ifname=eth1

uci del network.lan.ifname

uci commit Now enable wifi by running these commands.

uci set wireless.@wifi-device[0].disabled=0

uci commit wireless

wifi You can disconnect the ethernet cable from the router to your computer. Plug your internet ethernet cable into the router, and then connect to the new "OpenWrt" wifi hotspot. You may have to power cycle the router, your modem, or both, but eventually you should have the internet plugged into the DIR-505L via ethernet, you should be connected to the "OpenWrt" wifi hotspot, and you should be able to use the internet. Now it's time to install the web gui, LuCI.

NOTE: If you get a "connection refused" error, wait a few minutes and try, again. It can take a few minutes for the SSH server to begin working after telnet shuts down. If you can neither connect through telnet or ssh, you may need to do a factory reset. You can try to repeat the steps to get to the EMERGENCY FLASH page, or you can use OpenWrt's built-in failsafe mode. Activate failsafe mode by repeatedly pressing the WPS button on the DIR-505L as soon as you plug it into a power outlet. Failsafe mode will ~NOT~ activate if anything is plugged into the router's ethernet port, so make sure you unplug your ethernet cable before trying to activate failsafe mode. If failsafe mode activates, the green power LED should begin to flash ~very~ rapidly. You will then need to change your ethernet adapter's IP address, similar to before. Set your IP address to 192.168.1.2 with subnet mask 255.255.255.0. You should be able to open a telnet session with 192.168.1.1. Once in failsafe mode with a telnet session open, you should follow the steps, here.

http://wiki.openwrt.org/doc/howto/gener … lsafe.mode

Use these commands in the telnet session to factory reset and reboot your OpenWrt router.

mount_root

firstboot

mtd -r erase rootfs_data

When the router reboots, you'll repeat the process like you just flashed a new OpenWrt. Return your ethernet adapter settings to obtain an IP address and DNS automatically, open a telnet session, use passwd, and try to open an ssh session, again. Continue from the ssh session. If you get "connection refused", again, you may have to delete your SSH authentication certificates. On a *nix system, these might be found in the folder, "~/.ssh/". I had this problem, and I was able to connect via SSH once I deleted ~/.ssh/known_hosts.

F. Install the web GUI, LuCI

You should be connected to your router via wifi. SSH to your router, located at 192.168.1.1, and run the folllowing commands to install LuCI.

opkg update

opkg install luci-ssl When the installation is successful, run these commands to start the web gui and enable it on router boot.

/etc/init.d/uhttpd start

/etc/init.d/uhttpd enable Open your browser to 192.168.1.1, and login to your new web GUI. We're going to update the version of OpenWrt, now by using LuCI to flash the *dir-505*-sysupgrade.bin. Once logged into the web gui, go to System > Backup / Flash Firmware. Flash your *dir-505*-sysupgrade.bin, and make sure to check, "Keep settings". When the firmware is flashed and the router reboots, you need to re-enable the LuCI web gui. After reconnecting to the "OpenWrt" wifi hotspot, simply open an ssh connection to your router (ssh root@192.168.1.1), and run these commands, again.

opkg update

opkg install luci-ssl

/etc/init.d/uhttpd start

/etc/init.d/uhttpd enable Finally, you can exit the ssh session, point your browser to 192.168.1.1, login to your web gui, and configure your router to your liking.

G. Set your router to reboot once per week

If you don't need the router to be connected to the internet without interruption, I recommend setting it up to reboot once per week to maintain stability. To do that, login to LuCI and browse to System > Scheduled Tasks. This page allows you to edit the crontab file. Add the following line to the scheduled tasks textbox (i.e., crontab file),

0 3 * * 0 reboot

The first number denotes the minute (0-59). In this case, 0 represents the top of the hour.

The second number denotes the hour (0-23). In this case, 3 represents 3 AM.

The third number denotes the day of the month (1-31). In this case, * matches any day of the month, so this field is ignored.

The fourth number denotes the month of the year (1-12). In this case, * matches any day of the month, so this field is ignored.

The fifth number denotes the day of the week (0-6) beginning with Sunday. In this case, 0 represents Sunday.

The final item is the command to be run. The crontab runs with root privileges, so it has power to reboot the device.

H. Use alternate DNS servers

You may be interested to use alternate DNS servers instead of your default ISP ones. To do this, open up your LuCI web gui and go to Network > Interfaces > WAN > Edit > Advanced Settings. Uncheck the "Use DNS servers advertised by peer" box, and then enter whichever servers you want in the "Use custom DNS servers" box. Some recommendations include:

Level 3: 4.2.2.1 and 4.2.2.2

Google DNS: 8.8.8.8 and 8.8.4.4

OpenDNS: 208.67.222.222 and 208.67.220.220

DNS Advantage: 156.154.70.1 and 156.154.71.1 Also try GRC's DNS benchmark tool.

https://www.grc.com/dns/Benchmark.htm

I. Install more packages

You might want to install some packages to further enhance your router's features. Useful packages might include:

- UPnP (luci-app-upnp, miniupnpd)

- Dynamic DNS (luci-app-ddns, ddns-scripts)

J. Other Notes

Some people are having problems resolving hostnames from their internal network. For instance, if they plug their network ethernet cable directly into their computer, they can access hostname "example", but if they try to connect to that hostname from their OpenWrt router, it doesn't work. Instead, they have to use the whole domain name, "example.domain.com". To fix this, people have been going to their LuCI web GUI, then to Network > DHCP and DNS. In General Settings, uncheck Domain required, Authoritative, and Rebind protection. Then in Advanced Settings uncheck Filter private. I personally have this hostname resolving problem, but unchecking these options didn't fix it. It seems like it fixed a lot of other people's, though. Your mileage my vary.

(Last edited by masamunecyrus on 21 Apr 2014, 00:56)