NEW XR500 BETA FIRMWARE: 3.3.535

[Netduma Fraser]

32 minutes ago, PurpleHaze said:

Thanks for the response. Oh true, I just used telnet-enable.py from GitHub, was able to update the VPN server stuff from there, haven't tried it but I used to get real old style configs with settings that are not recommended now. Yeah not taking to long is a bit subjective and it's more the amount of times I have had to do it that makes it a pain because allot of my devices come up as unknown and there is like 2 or 3 I want to keep blocked because I can't ID them, then set up D-DNS and this and that. Not to mention I like to keep 2 or 3 devices on my network blocked because I can't ID them, had unwanted guests so it's not worth the risk. And thanks I have read it's a bit of a nightmare to get back to DumaOS but it's just the fact every time something goes wrong the answer is to factory reset. The only reason I use the router is for the VPN and if it's going to potentially break after every reboot or crash I can't see the point sticking with it. A shame in a way was pretty happy with the beta and the ad blocker. With OpenWRT if I end up going down that path I will get more frequent updates and no offense but probably better support than just "factory reset" at every hiccup and way better VPN anyway, probably even stop that occasional DNS leak I sometimes still get. I still have my XR1000v2 that I was super hyped for years ago when I ordered it untill I set it up and it didn't have HybridVPN so I can use that if I really want DumaOS but I was just going to use that to run a security system cause it's faster wifi ect.

 

Are you able to give me a comparison of the XR1000 and XR500? Also correct me if I'm wrong but the XR500 is the same as the R7800 right?

That's fair enough! Use a mac vendor lookup site to search for the MAC addresses of the devices you're unsure about, they'll give you the manufacturer and you may be able to work them out from there. It's very likely if you have a strong WiFi password that it is devices on your network, happens a lot with smart devices. It's not always a factory reset to fix but with some specific issues that is the only fix unfortunately for the moment. 

The comparison really is the XR1000 has better hardware overall and better WiFi but doesn't have as new firmware as you've seen it doesn't have HybridVPN. The 500 has the more up to date software and has been around for the longest so I would say is generally the most stable out of the XR range but the WiFi/hardware isn't as good as the 1000. Yes the XR500 does have similar architecture/specs to the R7800.

[PurpleHaze]

1 hour ago, Netduma Fraser said:

That's fair enough! Use a mac vendor lookup site to search for the MAC addresses of the devices you're unsure about, they'll give you the manufacturer and you may be able to work them out from there. It's very likely if you have a strong WiFi password that it is devices on your network, happens a lot with smart devices. It's not always a factory reset to fix but with some specific issues that is the only fix unfortunately for the moment. 

The comparison really is the XR1000 has better hardware overall and better WiFi but doesn't have as new firmware as you've seen it doesn't have HybridVPN. The 500 has the more up to date software and has been around for the longest so I would say is generally the most stable out of the XR range but the WiFi/hardware isn't as good as the 1000. Yes the XR500 does have similar architecture/specs to the R7800.

Yeah they could be my devices, I have looked up the MACs but off the top of my head they were generic or not much help, not reputable or identifiable vendors most of my connections are accounted for. Fing didn't even name them all. I do have a strong wifi password, but it's on the sticker on the modem so the unwanted guests that were in my house when I was not may have put stuff around? Unsure but just playing it safe. 

And for the moment? Does that mean there will be more updates in the future? I assumed they had stopped them, also a reason for the change as if there is exploits that need to be fixed I don't want to be on old unpatched software. 

Oh that's good to know about the XR500, I assumed it was maybe a prototype kind of thing that's why Netgear has forgotten about it. If the XR500 has the most stable firmware, and all of a sudden a reboot stopped my hybrid VPN from working then I would say ouch, Netgear need to get their stuff together. Although saying that appart from the hybrid VPN it's pretty stable, I have had issues in the past but none recently enough to pull off the top of my head. It will be a shame to leave the dumaOS behind but it's just too much of an annoyance having to turn off the VPN every time I want to reboot it, then back on. I had rebooted a heap of times even on D3 and never had this issue, the other thing is if it crashes then I might have to factory reset it again just to get the VPN working.

 

Like I said I'm still undecided, is there anyway to enable ssh from telnet? I see dropbear is stripped from the modem and opkg won't update or install anything. Or even just restart r apps from telnet? Because as of right now the pros of switching are seeming to outweigh the pros of staying.

 

Another thing is, unsure how many updates ago it was there was/used to be an option to disable WPS. Is there anyway to disable WPS on the stock firmware that I missed it over looked? I don't like it being enabled because you can get pixie attacked etc...

[Netduma Fraser]

1 hour ago, PurpleHaze said:

Yeah they could be my devices, I have looked up the MACs but off the top of my head they were generic or not much help, not reputable or identifiable vendors most of my connections are accounted for. Fing didn't even name them all. I do have a strong wifi password, but it's on the sticker on the modem so the unwanted guests that were in my house when I was not may have put stuff around? Unsure but just playing it safe. 

And for the moment? Does that mean there will be more updates in the future? I assumed they had stopped them, also a reason for the change as if there is exploits that need to be fixed I don't want to be on old unpatched software. 

Oh that's good to know about the XR500, I assumed it was maybe a prototype kind of thing that's why Netgear has forgotten about it. If the XR500 has the most stable firmware, and all of a sudden a reboot stopped my hybrid VPN from working then I would say ouch, Netgear need to get their stuff together. Although saying that appart from the hybrid VPN it's pretty stable, I have had issues in the past but none recently enough to pull off the top of my head. It will be a shame to leave the dumaOS behind but it's just too much of an annoyance having to turn off the VPN every time I want to reboot it, then back on. I had rebooted a heap of times even on D3 and never had this issue, the other thing is if it crashes then I might have to factory reset it again just to get the VPN working.

Like I said I'm still undecided, is there anyway to enable ssh from telnet? I see dropbear is stripped from the modem and opkg won't update or install anything. Or even just restart r apps from telnet? Because as of right now the pros of switching are seeming to outweigh the pros of staying.

Another thing is, unsure how many updates ago it was there was/used to be an option to disable WPS. Is there anyway to disable WPS on the stock firmware that I missed it over looked? I don't like it being enabled because you can get pixie attacked etc...

NG have marked it end of service, although their main list doesn't show it the actual page for it does: https://www.netgear.com/support/product/xr500/ so main updates have stopped including security updates, there may be some bug fix updates from us in future but nothing certain because of this. The security updates you mentioned are already within this update, I'm quite sure I checked that not too long ago. When a security vulnerability is spoken about is usually much later after it has been fixed. I totally understand your frustrations, especially if that's one of the main features you're using it for. Absolutely no SSH access at all. We can't provide any commands to use with telnet unfortunately. Not that I'm aware of, it would be purely a NG feature so I couldn't even tell you why that was removed. 

[PurpleHaze]

23 hours ago, Netduma Fraser said:

That's fair enough! Use a mac vendor lookup site to search for the MAC addresses of the devices you're unsure about, they'll give you the manufacturer and you may be able to work them out from there. It's very likely if you have a strong WiFi password that it is devices on your network, happens a lot with smart devices. It's not always a factory reset to fix but with some specific issues that is the only fix unfortunately for the moment. 

The comparison really is the XR1000 has better hardware overall and better WiFi but doesn't have as new firmware as you've seen it doesn't have HybridVPN. The 500 has the more up to date software and has been around for the longest so I would say is generally the most stable out of the XR range but the WiFi/hardware isn't as good as the 1000. Yes the XR500 does have similar architecture/specs to the R7800.

Yeah they could be my devices, I have looked up the MACs but off the top of my head they were generic or not much help, not reputable or identifiable vendors most of my connections are accounted for. Fing didn't even name them all. I do have a strong wifi password, but it's on the sticker on the modem so the unwanted guests that were in my house when I was not may have put stuff around? Unsure but just playing it safe. 

And for the moment? Does that mean there will be more updates in the future? I assumed they had stopped them, also a reason for the change as if there is exploits that need to be fixed I don't want to be on old unpatched software. 

Oh that's good to know about the XR500, I assumed it was maybe a prototype kind of thing that's why Netgear has forgotten about it. If the XR500 has the most stable firmware, and all of a sudden a reboot stopped my hybrid VPN from working then I would say ouch, Netgear need to get their stuff together. Although saying that appart from the hybrid VPN it's pretty stable, I have had issues in the past but none recently enough to pull off the top of my head. It will be a shame to leave the dumaOS behind but it's just too much of an annoyance having to turn off the VPN every time I want to reboot it, then back on. I had rebooted a heap of times even on D3 and never had this issue, the other thing is if it crashes then I might have to factory reset it again just to get the VPN working.

 

Like I said I'm still undecided, is there anyway to enable ssh from telnet? I see dropbear is stripped from the modem and opkg won't update or install anything. Or even just restart r apps from telnet? Because as of right now the pros of switching are seeming to outweigh the pros of staying.

[PurpleHaze]

I decided to factory reset it and give it one more go, I done it from the GUI (I assume this was my mistake) it did nothing for agers but flashed lights so tried to do it from the reset button again did nothing. After around what felt like an hour powered down the router and powered it back up but now I only get a USB light and if the eth cable is in the eth light. Think I bricked it? Can't flash with tftpd, opened it up to get at the j1 pins and I have no serial output either so I assume it's not even attempting a boot because the interrupted factory reset? I'm assuming the USB light means nothing not that it wants a usb connection or firmware on USB?

[Netduma Fraser]

41 minutes ago, PurpleHaze said:

I decided to factory reset it and give it one more go, I done it from the GUI (I assume this was my mistake) it did nothing for agers but flashed lights so tried to do it from the reset button again did nothing. After around what felt like an hour powered down the router and powered it back up but now I only get a USB light and if the eth cable is in the eth light. Think I bricked it? Can't flash with tftpd, opened it up to get at the j1 pins and I have no serial output either so I assume it's not even attempting a boot because the interrupted factory reset? I'm assuming the USB light means nothing not that it wants a usb connection or firmware on USB?

That does sound in brick teritory, no the USB port has no functional benefit in this situation, TFTP will be your only hope here, don't give up with it, the timing for it is tricky and can take a few attempts

[PurpleHaze]

59 minutes ago, Netduma Fraser said:

That does sound in brick teritory, no the USB port has no functional benefit in this situation, TFTP will be your only hope here, don't give up with it, the timing for it is tricky and can take a few attempts

Yeah I tried a lot, pretty disappointed in myself as I feel like as tho the reset was hanging I did interrupt it or do something wrong. I tried with ftpd64 and the nmrpflash but the no URAT (to me anyway) suggest that the uboot is corrupted and I don't think tftpd will be a an option at this stage as it's not getting to the sage where it can take it.

 

I messaged a couple repair shops that do spi flashing and hopefully one can just reflash the right chip. I got a soic 8 clip from another project but I don't think it will be much help? Your not able to provide info on the chip that stores the uboot that would need a reflash are you? Cause it would probably be cheaper for me if I can tell them/ point then in the right direction of what chip needs to be done. Hopefully they don't need to pull one from an another XR500 cause I would then need to pay to source it. They still fetch $200+ here 150+ second hand with postage was hoping illd find a cheap one to save the hassle of sending it off.

[Netduma Fraser]

27 minutes ago, PurpleHaze said:

Yeah I tried a lot, pretty disappointed in myself as I feel like as tho the reset was hanging I did interrupt it or do something wrong. I tried with ftpd64 and the nmrpflash but the no URAT (to me anyway) suggest that the uboot is corrupted and I don't think tftpd will be a an option at this stage as it's not getting to the sage where it can take it.

I messaged a couple repair shops that do spi flashing and hopefully one can just reflash the right chip. I got a soic 8 clip from another project but I don't think it will be much help? Your not able to provide info on the chip that stores the uboot that would need a reflash are you? Cause it would probably be cheaper for me if I can tell them/ point then in the right direction of what chip needs to be done. Hopefully they don't need to pull one from an another XR500 cause I would then need to pay to source it. They still fetch $200+ here 150+ second hand with postage was hoping illd find a cheap one to save the hassle of sending it off.

Unfortunately can't provide that information even if I had it, NG sorted the hardware so we didn't have any input, like you said the R7800 is similar so perhaps that part which I'm sure can be found cheaper might be an option, no idea if it would work though honestly, no one has ever gone to that much trouble to repair one as far as I'm aware or if they have they've never mentioned it

[PurpleHaze]

7 hours ago, Netduma Fraser said:

Unfortunately can't provide that information even if I had it, NG sorted the hardware so we didn't have any input, like you said the R7800 is similar so perhaps that part which I'm sure can be found cheaper might be an option, no idea if it would work though honestly, no one has ever gone to that much trouble to repair one as far as I'm aware or if they have they've never mentioned it

Good idea thanks for that. Might be worth a shot.

[PurpleHaze]

The chip is if anyone wants to know, at least on mine is a 

MXICx174514

30uf2618AC-XOI

8C374700

Its under the big heat sync on the bottom held in place by dimples, can be tricky to open.

This requires a nand flash not SPI, so support may be limited, unfortunately you can (I don't think) get a flash clip onto it. Will require desoldering and flashing best done by a professional experienced micro solder.