Can't upgrade Linksys E8450 (UBI)

[fiskvik]

Trying to upgrade OpenWrt 23.05.5 to 24.10, but it won't, and gives the following error:

`Image check failed:

Tue Feb 18 10:53:07 CET 2025 upgrade: The device is supported, but this image is incompatible for sysupgrade based on the image version (1.0->2.0). Tue Feb 18 10:53:07 CET 2025 upgrade: SPI-NAND flash layout changes require bootloader update. Please run the UBI installer version 1.1.0+ (unsigned) first. Image check failed.`

The device is already UBI. What am I being asked to do? I can't go back to scratch, the configuration of this router has taken years to get just right. Would appreciate any help.

[mrkiko]

Hello!! First of all, I would recommend a backupo of your configuration, just in case... May I ask you the OpenWrt version you are running and the output of cat /proc/mtd ? To what version are you trying to upgrade? I am under the impression you are on the "old" UBI layout, and in that case you will need to run the unsigned installer again to switch to the new all-UBI layout.

…

On Tue, Feb 18, 2025 at 02:25:52AM -0800, fiskvik wrote: fiskvik created an issue (dangowrt/owrt-ubi-installer#217) `Image check failed: Tue Feb 18 10:53:07 CET 2025 upgrade: The device is supported, but this image is incompatible for sysupgrade based on the image version (1.0->2.0). Tue Feb 18 10:53:07 CET 2025 upgrade: SPI-NAND flash layout changes require bootloader update. Please run the UBI installer version 1.1.0+ (unsigned) first. Image check failed.` The device is already UBI. What am I being asked to do? I can't go back to scratch, the configuration of this router has taken years to get just right. Would appreciate any help. -- Reply to this email directly or view it on GitHub: #217 You are receiving this because you are subscribed to this thread. Message ID: ***@***.***>

[fiskvik]

root@OpenWrt:~# cat /proc/mtd
dev: size erasesize name
mtd0: 00080000 00020000 "bl2"
mtd1: 00140000 00020000 "fip"
mtd2: 00100000 00020000 "factory"
mtd3: 07d00000 00020000 "ubi"

Trying to upgrade from 23.05.5 to 24.10. How do I "run the unsigned installer again"? On the 'Backup / Flash Firmware' page on the router? or? I can't go back to scratch, I need to keep the package selection / configuration files on the router, I can't spend weeks recreating the config. That's why I tried to use Attended Sysupgrade.

Thank you for your help! :)

[mrkiko]

Hello!! To run the unsigned installer I would make extra sure to pick the correct file, and do a sysupgrade without keeping settings, and with the force option. If all goes well you will have a new bootloader version and different flash layout. That said, I don't know how you may keep the config and package selection. I don't have experience on that. Maybe you can try waiting if someone has experience on this. Sorry.

…

On Tue, Feb 18, 2025 at 02:58:57AM -0800, fiskvik wrote: fiskvik left a comment (dangowrt/owrt-ubi-installer#217) ***@***.***:~# cat /proc/mtd dev: size erasesize name mtd0: 00080000 00020000 "bl2" mtd1: 00140000 00020000 "fip" mtd2: 00100000 00020000 "factory" mtd3: 07d00000 00020000 "ubi" Trying to upgrade from 23.05.5 to 24.10. How do I "run the unsigned installer again"? On the 'Backup / Flash Firmware' page on the router? or? I can't go back to scratch, I need to keep the package selection / configuration files on the router, I can't spend weeks recreating the config. That's why I tried to use Attended Sysupgrade. Thank you for your help! :) -- Reply to this email directly or view it on GitHub: #217 (comment) You are receiving this because you commented. Message ID: ***@***.***>

[KSNDcPP]

OpenWrt 23.05.4 r24012-d8dd03c46f / LuCI openwrt-23.05 branch git-24.086.45142-09d5a38 here running on Linksys E8450 (UBI) and experiencing the same issue. Getting a warning trying to use openwrt-24.10.0-mediatek-mt7622-linksys_e8450-ubi-squashfs-sysupgrade.itb

Could you please point to the guidance for to safely update into 24.10.0 or clarify that it will not be supported?

[CrazyLemon]

There was a comment in release notes about this issue. More on that here https://openwrt.org/toh/linksys/e8450#upgrading_an_ubi_installation_to_new_releases_after_2024-02_includes_all_snapshots_2410-snapshots_24100-rcx_releases_and_all_releases_in_the_foreseable_future

[KSNDcPP]

Thank you. I was able to successfully upgrade using these instructions. It was disappointing to see that configurations had to be wiped as part of the update, but in my case I was able to successfully apply backup configurations from 23.05.4 to 24.10 without any ill effects.

[bananos]

I've followed the instruction on upgrading installer to 1.1.4 but it does not seem to help at all. In the end I am stuck in initramfs mode.

My current config:

root@OpenWrt:/tmp# cat /etc/openwrt_release 
DISTRIB_ID='OpenWrt'
DISTRIB_RELEASE='23.05.4'
DISTRIB_REVISION='r24012-d8dd03c46f'
DISTRIB_TARGET='mediatek/mt7622'
DISTRIB_ARCH='aarch64_cortex-a53'
DISTRIB_DESCRIPTION='OpenWrt 23.05.4 r24012-d8dd03c46f'
DISTRIB_TAINTS=''

root@OpenWrt:/tmp# grep "(release)" /dev/mtd0ro | tail -1
v2.4(release):OpenWrt v2021-05-08-d2c75b21-3 (mt7622-snand-1ddr)

root@OpenWrt:/tmp# fw_printenv ver
ver=U-Boot 2023.07.02-OpenWrt-r24012-d8dd03c46f (Jul 15 2024 - 22:14:18 +0000)

STR:

Step 1

wget -O installer.itb "https://github.com/dangowrt/owrt-ubi-installer/releases/download/v1.1.4/openwrt-24.10.0-mediatek-mt7622-linksys_e8450-ubi-initramfs-recovery-installer.itb"
sysupgrade -F installer.itb
reboot

router goes into initramfs mode

Step 2

wget -O sysupgrade.itb "https://github.com/dangowrt/owrt-ubi-installer/releases/download/v1.1.4/openwrt-24.10.0-mediatek-mt7622-linksys_e8450-ubi-squashfs-sysupgrade.itb"
sysupgrade -v sysupgrade.itb 
Sat Apr 19 19:41:28 UTC 2025 upgrade: The device is supported, but this image is incompatible for sysupgrade based on the image version (1.0->2.0).
Sat Apr 19 19:41:28 UTC 2025 upgrade: SPI-NAND flash layout changes require bootloader update. Please run the UBI installer version 1.1.0+ (unsigned) first.
Image check failed.

Forcing sysupgrade image and ignoring these warnings does not help.

In order to revert everything back and boot normally, here is what helps:

rm /sys/fs/pstore/*
reboot

[dangowrt]

Can you share the content of /sys/fs/pstore/* before deleting it? That could help to resolve the issue.

[tagesuhu]

I'm not sure if the issue I'm seeing is the same one or if I should open a different one, but I'm trying to upgrade from version 24.10.1 to a newer build without success and I'm seeing the same message on the console. Both the previous image and the current one are selfbuilt, but none have local patches and 'target/linux/mediatek/image/mt6722.mk' shows 'DEVICE_COMPAT_VERSION :=2.0' under Device/linksys_e8450-ubi, as expected.

IIRC, I've previously used the installer version 1.1.3 to upgrade from 23.05 to 24.10.

Fri Jul 11 19:49:57 -03 2025 upgrade: The device is supported, but this image is incompatible for sysupgrade based on the image version (1.0->2.0).
Fri Jul 11 19:49:57 -03 2025 upgrade: SPI-NAND flash layout changes require bootloader update. Please run the UBI installer version 1.1.0+ (unsigned) first.
Image check failed.

/etc/openwrt_release

DISTRIB_ID='OpenWrt'
DISTRIB_RELEASE='24.10.1'
DISTRIB_REVISION='r28597-0425664679'
DISTRIB_TARGET='mediatek/mt7622'
DISTRIB_ARCH='aarch64_cortex-a53'
DISTRIB_DESCRIPTION='OpenWrt 24.10.1 r28597-0425664679'
DISTRIB_TAINTS='no-all busybox'

/proc/mtd

dev:    size   erasesize  name
mtd0: 00080000 00020000 "bl2"
mtd1: 07f80000 00020000 "ubi"

/dev/mtd0ro

v2.10.0 (release):OpenWrt v2024.01.17~bacca82a-3 (mt7622-snand-ubi-1ddr)

$ fw_printenv ver
ver=U-Boot 2024.10-OpenWrt-r28427-6df0e3d02a (Feb 03 2025 - 23:09:37 +0000)

Nothing on /sys/fs/pstore

I did not run the installer yet again, as the device wiki warns against it... should I? If the only drawback is losing the previous working image, I can back it up.

Thanks in advance!

[dangowrt]

@tagesuhu You probably restored a configuration backup done with a previous version of OpenWrt (such as 23.05.x). As a result, your configuration still identifies as pre-24.10.x. As you are clearly running 24.10.1 you can safely override the setting using

uci set system.@system[0].compat_version="2.0"
uci commit system

This should allow you to then use sysupgrade to any current or future OpenWrt version.

[tagesuhu]

@dangowrt

Thanks, that did the trick!

[bananos]

Can you share the content of /sys/fs/pstore/* before deleting it? That could help to resolve the issue.

@dangowrt Here you go:

root@OpenWrt:/# cat /sys/fs/pstore/dmesg-ramoops-0

Panic#1 Part1
<7>[    2.103758] pci_bus 0000:00: scanning bus
<6>[    2.107951] pci 0000:00:00.0: [14c3:3258] type 01 class 0x060400
<6>[    2.114141] pci 0000:00:00.0: reg 0x10: [mem 0x00000000-0x1ffffffff 64bit pref]
<7>[    2.124481] pci_bus 0000:00: fixups for bus
<7>[    2.128713] pci 0000:00:00.0: scanning [bus 00-00] behind bridge, pass 0
<6>[    2.135412] pci 0000:00:00.0: bridge configuration invalid ([bus 00-00]), reconfiguring
<7>[    2.143490] pci 0000:00:00.0: scanning [bus 00-00] behind bridge, pass 1
<7>[    2.150626] pci_bus 0000:01: scanning bus
<6>[    2.154792] pci 0000:01:00.0: [14c3:7915] type 00 class 0x000280
<6>[    2.160987] pci 0000:01:00.0: reg 0x10: [mem 0x00000000-0x000fffff 64bit pref]
<6>[    2.168313] pci 0000:01:00.0: reg 0x18: [mem 0x00000000-0x00003fff 64bit pref]
<6>[    2.175645] pci 0000:01:00.0: reg 0x20: [mem 0x00000000-0x00000fff 64bit pref]
<6>[    2.183635] pci 0000:01:00.0: supports D1 D2
<6>[    2.187901] pci 0000:01:00.0: PME# supported from D0 D1 D2 D3hot D3cold
<7>[    2.194540] pci 0000:01:00.0: PME# disabled
<6>[    2.199071] pci 0000:01:00.0: 2.000 Gb/s available PCIe bandwidth, limited by 2.5 GT/s PCIe x1 link at 0000:00:00.0 (capable of 4.000 Gb/s with 5.0 GT/s PCIe x1 link)
<7>[    2.238873] pci_bus 0000:01: fixups for bus
<7>[    2.243079] pci_bus 0000:01: bus scan returning with max=01
<6>[    2.248678] pci_bus 0000:01: busn_res: [bus 01-ff] end is updated to 01
<7>[    2.255307] pci_bus 0000:00: bus scan returning with max=01
<6>[    2.260915] pci 0000:00:00.0: BAR 0: no space for [mem size 0x200000000 64bit pref]
<6>[    2.268577] pci 0000:00:00.0: BAR 0: failed to assign [mem size 0x200000000 64bit pref]
<6>[    2.276600] pci 0000:00:00.0: BAR 8: assigned [mem 0x20000000-0x201fffff]
<6>[    2.283413] pci 0000:01:00.0: BAR 0: assigned [mem 0x20000000-0x200fffff 64bit pref]
<6>[    2.291259] pci 0000:01:00.0: BAR 2: assigned [mem 0x20100000-0x20103fff 64bit pref]
<6>[    2.299122] pci 0000:01:00.0: BAR 4: assigned [mem 0x20104000-0x20104fff 64bit pref]
<6>[    2.306959] pci 0000:00:00.0: PCI bridge to [bus 01]
<6>[    2.311942] pci 0000:00:00.0:   bridge window [mem 0x20000000-0x201fffff]
<6>[    2.318753] pci_bus 0000:00: Some PCI device resources are unassigned, try booting with pci=realloc
<6>[    2.327797] pci_bus 0000:00: resource 4 [mem 0x20000000-0x27ffffff]
<6>[    2.334076] pci_bus 0000:01: resource 1 [mem 0x20000000-0x201fffff]
<7>[    2.340572] pcieport 0000:00:00.0: assign IRQ: got 130
<6>[    2.345726] pcieport 0000:00:00.0: enabling device (0000 -> 0002)
<7>[    2.351859] pcieport 0000:00:00.0: enabling bus mastering
<7>[    2.357354] mtk-pcie 1a143000.pcie: msi#0 address_hi 0x0 address_lo 0x44e7d0c0
<6>[    2.364923] pcieport 0000:00:00.0: PME: Signaling with IRQ 130
<7>[    2.370970] pcieport 0000:00:00.0: save config 0x00: 0x325814c3
<7>[    2.376906] pcieport 0000:00:00.0: save config 0x04: 0x00100006
<7>[    2.382850] pcieport 0000:00:00.0: save config 0x08: 0x06040000
<7>[    2.388791] pcieport 0000:00:00.0: save config 0x0c: 0x00010000
<7>[    2.394715] pcieport 0000:00:00.0: save config 0x10: 0x0000000c
<7>[    2.400646] pcieport 0000:00:00.0: save config 0x14: 0x00000000
<7>[    2.406569] pcieport 0000:00:00.0: save config 0x18: 0x40010100
<7>[    2.412499] pcieport 0000:00:00.0: save config 0x1c: 0x04200000
<7>[    2.418422] pcieport 0000:00:00.0: save config 0x20: 0x20102000
<7>[    2.424361] pcieport 0000:00:00.0: save config 0x24: 0x00000000
<7>[    2.430293] pcieport 0000:00:00.0: save config 0x28: 0x00000000
<7>[    2.436215] pcieport 0000:00:00.0: save config 0x2c: 0x00000000
<7>[    2.442146] pcieport 0000:00:00.0: save config 0x30: 0x00000000
<7>[    2.448068] pcieport 0000:00:00.0: save config 0x34: 0x00000050
<7>[    2.453998] pcieport 0000:00:00.0: save config 0x38: 0x00000000
<7>[    2.459928] pcieport 0000:00:00.0: save config 0x3c: 0x00020182
<6>[    2.466808] mtk-pcie 1a145000.pcie: host bridge /pcie@1a145000 ranges:
<7>[    2.473408] mtk-pcie 1a145000.pcie: Parsing ranges property...
<6>[    2.479277] mtk-pcie 1a145000.pcie:      MEM 0x0028000000..0x002fffffff -> 0x0028000000
<6>[    2.818647] mtk-pcie 1a145000.pcie: Port1 link down
<6>[    2.823760] mtk-pcie 1a145000.pcie: PCI host bridge to bus 0001:00
<6>[    2.829969] pci_bus 0001:00: root bus resource [bus 00-ff]
<6>[    2.835460] pci_bus 0001:00: root bus resource [mem 0x28000000-0x2fffffff]
<7>[    2.842337] pci_bus 0001:00: scanning bus
<7>[    2.847837] pci_bus 0001:00: fixups for bus
<7>[    2.852025] pci_bus 0001:00: bus scan returning with max=00
<6>[    2.857597] pci_bus 0001:00: resource 4 [mem 0x28000000-0x2fffffff]
<6>[    2.864822] mtk_hsdma 1b007000.dma-controller: MediaTek HSDMA driver registered
<6>[    3.130927] clk: Disabling unused clocks
<6>[    3.136047] Freeing unused kernel memory: 448K
<6>[    3.140680] Run /init as init process
<7>[    3.144340]   with arguments:
<7>[    3.147299]     /init
<7>[    3.149577]   with environment:
<7>[    3.152710]     HOME=/
<7>[    3.155062]     TERM=linux
<14>[    3.355711] init: Console is alive
<14>[    3.359792] init: - watchdog -
<14>[    3.367201] kmodloader: loading kernel modules from /etc/modules-boot.d/*
<6>[    3.383106] usbcore: registered new interface driver usbfs
<6>[    3.388724] usbcore: registered new interface driver hub
<6>[    3.394099] usbcore: registered new device driver usb
<4>[    3.399895] gpio_button_hotplug: loading out-of-tree module taints kernel.
<6>[    3.412942] xhci-mtk 1a0c0000.usb: xHCI Host Controller
<6>[    3.418200] xhci-mtk 1a0c0000.usb: new USB bus registered, assigned bus number 1
<6>[    3.427287] xhci-mtk 1a0c0000.usb: hcc params 0x01403198 hci version 0x96 quirks 0x0000000000200010
<6>[    3.436391] xhci-mtk 1a0c0000.usb: irq 133, io mem 0x1a0c0000
<6>[    3.442270] xhci-mtk 1a0c0000.usb: xHCI Host Controller
<6>[    3.447508] xhci-mtk 1a0c0000.usb: new USB bus registered, assigned bus number 2
<6>[    3.454914] xhci-mtk 1a0c0000.usb: Host supports USB 3.0 SuperSpeed
<6>[    3.461645] hub 1-0:1.0: USB hub found
<6>[    3.465460] hub 1-0:1.0: 2 ports detected
<6>[    3.469902] usb usb2: We don't know the algorithms for LPM for this host, disabling LPM.
<6>[    3.478518] hub 2-0:1.0: USB hub found
<6>[    3.482369] hub 2-0:1.0: 1 port detected
<14>[    3.491865] kmodloader: done loading kernel modules from /etc/modules-boot.d/*
<14>[    3.509491] init: - preinit -
<15>[    4.957465] INSTALLER: cannot find Wi-Fi EEPROM data
<6>[    4.963804] sysrq: Trigger a crash
<0>[    4.968478] Kernel panic - not syncing: sysrq triggered crash
<2>[    4.975590] SMP: stopping secondary CPUs
<0>[    4.979506] Kernel Offset: disabled
<0>[    4.982985] CPU features: 0x0,00000004,00000000,0000400b
<0>[    4.988289] Memory Limit: none

Apparently, that's the main culprit:

<14>[    3.509491] init: - preinit -
<15>[    4.957465] INSTALLER: cannot find Wi-Fi EEPROM data

and indeed, I always have random MAC upon every boot.

Also, it's worth mentioning, that the device was restored in service by completely replacing flash chip(resoldering) after OKD and flashing it with U-Boot 2023.07.02-OpenWrt-r24012-d8dd03c46f / 23.05.4 via mtkboot tools.
After that, I've upgraded it to 23.05.5

The issue seems to be related to missing factory partition. Is there a way to restore it via original vendor backups?

I've also did serial connection to router and run Uboot console:

MT7622> ubi list
0: ubootenv
1: ubootenv2
2: fit
3: recovery
4: rootfs_data
MT7622> 


MT7622> mtd list
List of MTD devices:
* spi-nand0
  - device: snand@1100d000
  - parent: root_driver
  - driver: mtk-snand
  - path: /snand@1100d000
  - type: NAND flash
  - block size: 0x20000 bytes
  - min I/O: 0x800 bytes
  - OOB size: 64 bytes
  - OOB available: 28 bytes
  - ECC strength: 4 bits
  - ECC step size: 512 bytes
  - bitflip threshold: 3 bits
  - 0x000000000000-0x000008000000 : "spi-nand0"
          - 0x000000000000-0x000000080000 : "bl2"
          - 0x000000080000-0x0000001c0000 : "fip"
          - 0x0000001c0000-0x0000002c0000 : "factory"
          - 0x0000002c0000-0x000000300000 : "reserved"
          - 0x000000300000-0x000008000000 : "ubi"


MT7622> mtd dump factory
Reading 2048 byte(s) (1 page(s)) at offset 0x00000000

Dump 2048 data bytes from 0x00000000:
0x00000000:     55 42 49 23 01 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 04
0x00000010:     00 00 08 00 00 00 10 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
0x00000020:     00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
0x00000030:     00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 3f 05 d0 a6
.....
0x00000730:     00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
0x00000740:     00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
0x00000750:     00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
0x00000760:     00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
0x00000770:     00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
0x00000780:     00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
0x00000790:     00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
0x000007a0:     00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
0x000007b0:     00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
0x000007c0:     00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
0x000007d0:     00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
0x000007e0:     00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
0x000007f0:     00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00

Factory partition mostly consists of zeroes

[dangowrt]

Yep, that's the problem, there is not WiFi calibration data (and also no MAC addresses). So while the bootloader has been written and is working, service forgot to also populate the factory partition. I guess the only thing you can do is to use the factory data of another device and modify the MAC addresses therein to match what is written on the sticker of yours, and then write that to the flash.

[bananos]

@dangowrt I do have the dumps of original device -- but not sure what kind of backup instructions I've followed (it was years ago, before OKD was discovered)

Here's what I got:

ls -lh mt*
-rw-r--r--  1 bananos  staff   512K Feb 26  2024 mtd0
-rw-r--r--  1 bananos  staff   4.0M Feb 26  2024 mtd1

strings mtd1 | grep _addr=
tee_boot_arg_addr=0x%x
wan_mac_addr=C4:41:1E:XX:XX:XX
lan_mac_addr=C4:41:1E:XX:XX:XX
wifi_2g_mac_addr=C4:41:XX:XX:XX:XX
wifi_5g_mac_addr=C4:41:XX:XX:XX:XX

What are my options? Is there any way to extract data to populate factory partition?

[dangowrt]

It's odd that you don't have a backup of mtd2 as well, because that would be the factory partition. However, it's good that you at least have the MAC addresses themselves. Hence you will need a dump of the factory partition from another identical device, and then use a hex editor to change the MAC addresses. I got a device with a MAC address pretty close to yours, I assume that Linksys E8450 is the same production run and hence should have identical calibration data.
Long story short: I've sent you the factory data with the correct MAC addresses for your device by email.