NETGEAR WNR2000V2 WiFi Router Instructions

Netgear_WNR2000V2 WiFi Router
Instructions

Hardware

Specifications

MTD Partitions

From a dmesg output:
CFE log

Running DD-WRT

Flash Size

DD-WRT replaces the linux partition and adds ddwrt, but board_data and nvram must be preserved.

• Thus the size limit is: 0x3E0000-0x40000=3712 KB
• The CFE vmlinuz loader times out when loading linux, so full build size may not be achievable.

Initial Flash Instructions
THESE INSTRUCTIONS ARE FOR THE VERSION 2 MODEL ONLY! For V3 see HERE.

• Also: V1, V4, and V5 are incompatible devices without u-boot mods (search the forums).
  1. Read the Firmware FAQ and Peacock announcement
  2. Find build links here.
  3. A known good initial flash trailed build is 15962: K2.6_mini-WNR2000v2.chk in the broadcom_K26 directory.

• All trailed builds tested from 21061 and newer fail initial flash

• The broadcom_K3X build directory may list the WNR2000v2, but it is too big to flash!
  4. Attach an Ethernet cable to a router LAN port, and disable wireless on the computer.
  5. Push the reset button on the back of the router until the lights flash (or 30s), then release.
  6. Wait until you have a connection with the router then login to the router at http://192.168.1.1/ 
  7. At the password prompt, put admin/admin or admin/password for the username/password
  8. Go to the Router Upgrade link on the left side of the router gui and click on it
  9. Navigate to and Choose the mini-WNR2000v2.chk file and confirm to upgrade to a different version
  10. Wait FIVE full minutes after the upgrade appears to have finished. You can watch the lights on the front if you need something to do. As long as they are changing, you need to sit quietly and wait! If you screw this up you WILL brick your router. When the green and blue lights, and the connected port light have all stopped blinking, it should be ready as long as you have waited FIVE FULL MINUTES!
  11. Set the username and password by TYPING in the boxes and hitting enter.
  12. Log onto the router at http://192.168.1.1/ 
  13. Reset the router as outlined in note 1 of the peacock announcement. THIS STEP IS IMPORTANT!
  14. Set the password again then configure the router. Click Save on each tab, then when done click Apply
  • Remember to change the browser IP address if it was changed in the router configuration

Upgrade Flash
Flash a K2.6_mini.bin file (not nv60k, nv64k, nor trailed builds) via GUI or CLI: Installation

• Builds after 40723 fail to flash through at least 41418 (test build r40733 is the first to fail)
  NOTE: The reset button code was broken in 40571 and fixed in build 40750.

• Build 42602 flashed from GUI, but required a power off and on

• Build 50218 (test build) is the last working (through 06-06-2023-r52894 so far)

Overclocking

Attempt at your own risk – it is recommended to add a heatsink to the BCM4716 and/or improve cooling.
The BCM4716 uses the pll20mhz_table from hndmips.c, and the CFE allows overclocking.

• Use the GUI (if possible), or for more options set clkfreq based on the pll20mhz_table’s {cpu,ddr,axi} settings.

• If manually setting, the nvram “overclocking” parameter must also be set to the {cpu} speed (or DD will revert it):
  nvram set clkfreq={cpu,ddr,axi}
  nvram set overclocking={cpu}
  nvram commit && reboot

• The Samsung K4H561638?-LCCC RAM (where ? is ‘J’ or ‘N’) is DDR400 CL3: 200 MHz ‘ddr’ speed from hndmips.c.

• Depending on long-term stability, 400,200,100, 373,186,93 or 353,176,88 are good options (with overclocking set appropriately).

Bad Flash Recovery

This defaults to boot_wait=0, and the CFE for this model has fewer commands available than typical. Avoid using nvram erase if the TFTP is not working, as this can make things worse. There are three options for serial recovery with TFTP (see pinouts):
flash : flash1.trx

• This replaces the -ctheader option, to flash trailed builds (OEM or mini-WNR2000v2.chk).
  flash -noheader : flash1.trx

• This works for a bad DD-WRT flash with non-trailed builds so long as nvram erase is not used.
  tftpd

• This puts the CFE into a wait state to receive a file via TFTP. It is the only way to recover to OEM
  firmware, if nothing else works.

If normal TFTP does not work and serial is unavailable, recovering a brick (e.g. from flashing an oversize image) is possible via pin-short to enter TFTP mode. This is not without risk! Read this thread as timing is very important.
Notes
Forum device thread
It has been reported that Tomato firmware must be flashed from DD- WRT. Freshtomato Mini builds (no-USB K2.6 MIPSr2) might fit (unsupported by DD-WRT, and untested), e.g.:

• freshtomato-K26-NVRAM32K_RT-MIPSR2-{version}-Mini
• freshtomato-K26-NVRAM32K_RT-MIPSR2-{version}-MiniIPv6
• Differences: Versus Mini, MiniIPv6 adds IPv6 but removes JFFS and HTTPS
• Mini(Open)VPN and Mini(PPTD)VPN2 builds have size optimizations and lose JFFS, but may be oversized

WNR2000v2 has a known LED bug with firmware through 18777 (and 26490):
LAN ports work properly but the LED (10/100Mb/s) color displays incorrectly:

• LAN1 and LAN2: always amber
• LAN3: always green
• LAN4: displays correctly (amber for 10Mb/s connection, green for 100Mb/s)

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