Wive: a Free/OpenSource Firmware for rtl8186 Based Devices

If you've read my previous post about D-Link DWL-G700AP you should know about the problems. I finally bricked it by installing a wrong firmware. After searching for a flash/jtag solution I found the rtl8186 project which develops the Wive Firmware. A Free/OpenSource Firmware for rtl8186 based devices including DWL-G700AP. Unfortunately there's not enough documentation available, so I had to read the forum. After reading some posts and checking the device, I found out that it was not really bricked since the bootloader was still working (no jtag was needed) and it was possible to upload the firmware using the LAN interface. Here's how it's done:

1. turn off the device (disconnect the power)
2. hold the reset button
3. turn on the device while you're holding the reset button
4. release the reset button after 3 seconds

The device is booted with 192.168.1.6 ip address assigned to it's LAN interface. Now we can upload the firmware (there are 2 revisions available, A and B, you can find out the hardware revision by looking at the bottom of the device):

# ifconfig eth0 192.168.1.1
# tftp 192.168.1.6
tftp> binary
tftp> put wive_rev_b.bin

Wait 1 minute…

you can access the device using ssh (yeah, it has ssh server now):

# ifconfig eth0 192.168.0.1
# ssh root@192.168.0.50

password is: rtl8186

You have full control now. Wive has many features and you can even use the device as a router (which is not possible with the original firmware)

I'll write about configuring and managing in the next post.