This tutorial will walk you every step of the way through flashing your Linksys WRT54G (version 8) router to use the DD-WRT firmware.
According to Wikipedia, the Linksys WRT54G v8.0 is “currently one of the most commonly available (routers) at US retail establishments, such as Best Buy and Target”. Due to hardware limitations, the 8.x versions (8.0, 8.1 and 8.2) are only able to run the “micro” version of the DD-WRT firmware (you can find a firmware version feature comparison chart here). Even so, the micro version of the DD-WRT firmware provides dozens of features, many of which are not available with the default Linksys firmware.
This walkthrough is based on the WRT54G v8.x tutorial on the DD-WRT wiki. The biggest difference between this one and the one on the DD-WRT wiki is that I’ve elaborated a bit, and provided screenshots for each step.
Please make sure you understand each step before you complete this tutorial. If you’re unsure of anything, please leave a comment and I’ll respond as soon as I can. It is possible to brick (render the router unusable) your device if done incorrectly.
- You’ll need to use a wired (not wireless) computer to flash your WRT54G with the DD-WRT firmware. Make sure that computer (doesn’t matter if it’s a Mac or PC running Windows or Linux) is plugged in to Port 1 of your router. Unplug all other devices from the router – you can leave the WAN port plugged in to your cable/DSL modem.
- Download the files vxworkskillerGv8-v3.bin and dd-wrt.v24_micro_generic.bin to the computer you’re going to use to flash your WRT54G (the one plugged in to Port 1 of your router).
- You’ll need to set your computer to use the following static IP settings:
IP Address: 192.168.1.100
Subnet Mask: 255.255.255.0
Gateway: 192.168.1.1 - Unplug the power cord from the WRT54G. Push the Reset button (see image below) while plugging the power cord back in, and hold down the button for about 20 seconds. Use a pencil or ball-point pen to push and hold the Reset button – it’s a bit recessed and very difficult to push and hold with your finger or fingernail.
- Open your browser and enter the address http://192.168.1.1. Use a browser other than Firefox, as issues have been reported with Firefox not being able to flash the device properly. I’ve used Safari and Internet Explorer and both had no problems.
You’ll be presented with a Management Mode Firmware Upgrade page. Click the Choose File button.
- Navigate to the vxworkskillerGv8-v3.bin file, select it, and close Choose (or Open if you’re using IE).
- Make sure that vxworkskillerGv8-v3.bin is listed on the Management Mode Firmware Upgrade page, and click the Apply button.
- Wait for at least two minutes before you go any further. After the 2 minutes is up, if you notice a dialog asking you to reboot the router, do so by unplugging the power cord and plugging it back in again. If you don’t get a message telling you to reboot the router, wait another 3-4 minutes and then reboot the router.
- You should be able to ping 192.168.1.1 (in Linux or OS X open a Terminal and type ping 192.168.1.1. In Windows open a Command Prompt by clicking Start, selecting Run enter cmd and then type ping 192.168.1.1). If the router doesn’t reply you probably haven’t set your network settings correctly (step #3 above).
- Now it’s time to flash the WRT54G with the DD-WRT firmware. To do so, enter the appropriate command for your Operating System:
Windows: (note: Vista users will need to install tftp first) enter tftp -i 192.168.1.1 put dd-wrt.v24_micro_generic.bin from the Command Prompt. Make sure that the dd-wrt.v24_micro_generic.bin file is in the same folder that you’re using the Command Prompt from. For example, if you downloaded dd-wrt.v24_micro_generic.bin to your Desktop, make sure the Command Prompt reads C:\Documents and Settings\your-user-name\Desktop> – where your-user-name is your Windows user name.
Linux: enter tftp -m octet 192.168.1.1 -c put dd-wrt.v24_micro_generic.bin at your shell/terminal. Note: if you get the the message error code 3 while trying to flash it, try atftp. The aftp command is: atftp –option “mode octet” –verbose -p -l dd-wrt.v24_micro_generic.bin 192.168.1.1
OS X: enter tftp -e 192.168.1.1 From the tftp> prompt enter put dd-wrt.v24_micro_generic.bin
Make sure that the dd-wrt.v24_micro_generic.bin file is in the same folder that you’re using the Terminal from. For example, if you downloaded dd-wrt.v24_micro_generic.bin to your Downloads folder, make sure you’re using the Terminal prompt from /Users/your-user-name/Downloads – where your-user-name is your Mac user name.
- The file will be transferred and automatically installed. Once this is done, DD-WRT will automatically boot. After about a minute, you can browse DD-WRT on your router at http://192.168.1.1.
- If you browse away from the main page, you’ll be prompted for a user name and password. The default user name is: root and the default password is: admin. To change the user name and/or password (a very good idea!!) – select the Administration tab and then the Management tab. Enter your new user name and/or password in the spaces provided, and click the Save button at the bottom of the screen.
- When you navigate away from the Management tab, you’ll be prompted to enter your user name and password again. Enter your new user name and/or password to continue.
Hey ya’ll. Just a quick question. Does this version of DDWRT not support VPN? Can I use VPN on a WRT54G v.8 or is that out of the question since the DDWRT firmware is “Mini”?
Escuse me, not “mini” but “Micro”
Buenas noches amigo, te agradezco de verdad la informacion logre realizar la actualizacion, queria comentarte que en el punto 10. la line para correr el comando y cargar el archivo dd-wrt.v24 . . . . .bin esta errado (esto para el usuario de windows xp), luego de analizar la ayuda del comando tftp pude al fin cargar el archivo. Bueno ahora el router esta funcionando pero tengo problemas con la clave que dices que se debe de coloacr para accesar, sera que me puedes ayudar??? nombre de usuario: raíz password: admin. esto no funciona. te agradeceria mucho la info.. gracias
Usuario: root
Password: admin
Siempre me ha funcionado. Me cuentas si necesitas mas ayuda.
Hi, this worked great. Now, I’m able to connect to the internet through wired connections, but not through wireless. I see the wireless network and enter the WEP key, but I’m only given limited local connectivity. I’ve been through all the wireless settings, and they seem ok, but maybe I’m missing something? Any thoughts? Thanks
Scratch that. I was just a moron… Thanks for the great tutorial.
Buenas quisiera actualizar mi dir-300 de d-link pero me da miedo que muera me puedes ayuda en los pasos.
pd mUY BUENO TU MANUAL
anyone having “Error on server : Access violation”. DO NOT USE FIREFOX TO TRY TO FLASH THE ROUTER IT WON’T WORK USE IE
Doesn’t work. Everytime I try to apply the firmware at step 7, I click on the apply button, and IE then tells me that I am no longer connected to the internet.
Oh well. Back to Newegg you to, worthless router!
Ich habe meinen WRT54G-V8 erfolgreich mit der micro Version geflashed und alles klappt hervorragend, außer dass sich der Router mindestens einmal pro Tag aufhängt und nur mehr ein hardreset (Netzstecker ziehen) ihn wieder zum Leben erweckt. Was könnte die Ursache dafür sein und was kann man dagegen tun?
oops-sorry, I did not know that I am in an English forum – here my problem again: I flashed successfully my WRT54G-V8 with the micro version and everything seems to work perfect except the router stops working at least once a day can’t be accessed through the IP address any more so I have to pull the plug for a hard reset. This sucks. Does anyone have an idea what could be wrong there? Thanks
fijate que el traductor automático que usaste también tradujo los comandos del tftp:
tftp-i 192.168.1.1 poner dd-wrt.v24_micro_generic.bin
tenés q tipear:
tftp-i 192.168.1.1 put dd-wrt.v24_micro_generic.bin
Saludos a tod@s;
Excelente el tutorial me sirvio muchisimo, de verdad gracias!!!
This was very helpfull for me. I did it and everything is fine.
I need to flash a motorola sb 4200.
May you tell me please How I do that.
Thank very much, this is the best tutorial ever.
Love it, worked like a charm on my WRT54G v5
btw: those who think they can skip the step to manually set the local computers IP address (instead of using DHCP), your wrong
I tried originally with Safari, but was getting access denial issues. I tried firefox and the steps worked perfectly. I’m now dd-wrt happy.
Thanks for the great tutorial
Saludos,
He tratado de flash el linksys y no he podido ya que no entiendo muy bien lo del comando para transferir el archivo, el paso numero 10. Si pudieran por favor mandármelo gráficamente a mi correo, soy usuario de Windows vista, gracias de ante manos
Nice tutorial, worked perfect for me. Using the DD-WRT software for a repeater. Makes at $20 used router off ebay work like a $500 …
when I put the tftp it tells me that command does no exist or no such file or directory im using a mac and a program called open terminal here cus i dont know how to open terminal from my download folder can enyone help?
Tenho ligado neste aparelho WRT54G v8 dois PC via cabo e dois not via wireless, devo fazer este procedimento em todos os PC`s e Not`s?
Hi! Thank you for the instructions.
I followed the instructions and completed steps 1-13 without encountering any error, but I now cannot connect to the internet via wired or wireless. I restored the IP settings but still not working. Is there anything that I need to do after step 13? Any help will be greatly appreciated. Thanks!
Muito útil, seguindo todos os passos não tem erro.
Thanks.. installed and works!
Excellent tutorial – clear, concise steps. Very easy to follow and great images and screenshots. DD-WRT now works great on my Linksys wireless router. Thanks!
I also got the “Error on server : Access violation” at step 10, but I was able to resolve it by going back to step 4 and instead of following the reset instructions here, I followed the 30/30/30 reset instruction on the dd-wrt website to the letter.
Resuming from there worked perfectly – even go the reboot dialog in step 8 which I didn’t get the first time.
IF AM FLASHING THE ROUTER ON ONE PC DO I HAVE TO CHANGE THE IP TO A STATIC ON THAT PC OR JUST THE ONE THAT I WILL BE USING THE ROUTER WITH. THE PC I AM GOING TO USE IT ON IS NOT CONNECTED TO THE INTERNET. IN OTHER WORDS I AM GOING TO USE MY PC THAT IS ALREADY ON THE INTERNET TO FLASH IT THEN MOVE THE ROUTER TO ANOTHER PC. ONCE ALL STEPS ARE COMPLETED CAN THE ROUTER BE MOVED TO ANY PC IN THE HOUSE AND WORK?
great instructions if you know how to follow them lol good to go thanks
No doubt, an excellent instruction for flashing the router. Thanks to the author, but it seems, that no one who has asked a question in this forum has got any answer or reply. Should we not share experience here?
por favor ayudaaaaa….tengo un probloma lo que pasa que al momento de ingresar la pagina http://192.168.1.1 no me entra a la pagina que me deberia entrar que es para actualizar el firmware…segui todos tus pasos….pero nose que problema tiene este router…es un wrt45g v8 pero no se que pasa…ojalas me puedan ayudar se los agreadeciria…
eso si el turorial esta espectacular….
it works. thanks dude, U`ve got a beer
If step 3 settings are done properly and you have already flashed the router – is there a way to go back to step 3? my router’s (WRT54G v8.2) all lights are steady ON but no connection. Any help will be greatly appreciated
I meant to say if step is Not done
hola buenas noches tengo un rauter wrt54g v8 , entre pagina de linksys para actualizar firmware pero me ocaciono un problema pues no reconoce el rauter, anteriormente prendia una luz naranja donde dice cisco system la cual ya no enciende no se como volver a configurar el rauter si no me lo reconoce . necesito ayuda porfavor.
de antemano gracias
Great tutorial. I found the wikis on this subject confusing and full of info most people would never use. This worked perfect.
Hi, My problem with my router is when I connect it, I see in preference systeme that it’s connected but I can’t open the page with safari.
Can you help me?
necesito de su ayuda… todo hiba muy bienj, unicamente que al momente de entrar al tftp y pasar el archiuvo me sale invalid command …
que podra ser. doy ping y si me contesta.
estoy utilizando mac os 10.6.2
Que puedo hacer?