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WAS-110 multicast upgrade and community firmware recovery

WAS-110 Recovery

Forgot the root password to a WAS-110 running the 8311 community firmware? Follow along with the reset steps...

If you lack the required networking skills to proceed with this guide, please consider purchasing a SFP Media Buddy and deleting the 8311_root_pwhash environment variable over serial USB within the U-Boot shell.

  1. Press Esc on boot to enter the U-Boot shell

  2. Delete the 8311_root_pwhash environment variable

    env delete 8311_root_pwhash
env save
env save

  3. Continue to boot into OpenWrt

    run bootcmd

The WAS-110 from the Azores factory includes a handy multicast upgrade utility baked into its U-boot bootloader, including models from the following resellers:

  • Azores Networks XSS
  • E.C.I. Networks EN-XGSFPP-OMAC-V2 (Azores Firmware) Incompatible with the EN-XGSFPP-OMAC
  • FiberMall XGSPON-ONU-STICK Incompatible with the XGSPON-ONU-STICK-V8 Potron Bootloader

Upgrade Sequence

The upgrade sequence is tied into the boot delay loop and therefore will not trigger if the U-Boot environment variable bootdelay is less than or equal to zero (0); The default value is three (3).

fw_printenv bootdelay

env print bootdelay

The upgrade sequence will wait 5 seconds for the first magic UDP packet on port 13456. Each packet must include the following header:

block-beta
  block
    columns 1
    ui_sn["Sequence number (4 bytes, starts at 1)"]
    blk_sz["Block size (4 bytes)"]
    unk["Unknown (4 bytes, must not be 0)"]
    img_sz["Image size (4 bytes)"]
    magic["bfw-HGW\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0 (20 byte string)"]
    data["Data block (Block size)"]
  end

An ordered bit-map of the blocks received is updated from the sequence number along with the image size as the packets can be sent and received non-sequentially.

Once all the blocks have been received the upgrade will commence from the final image stored at the hardcoded offset 0x82000000 (U-Boot environment variable loadaddr) with the following command sequence:

nand erase.part system_sw; run ubi_init; run switchbankA && upgrade 0x82000000 0x<size>
run switchbankB && upgrade 0x82000000 0x<size>
ubi remove rootfs_data && ubi create rootfs_data 0x2000000

Image format

The 8311 community firmware archives include the multicast images, skip past to the Upgrade Script to get started!

The multicast image is a concatenated binary blob of the following uImage files: kernel.bin, bootcore.bin, and rootfs.img.

Install packages Debian Linux

sudo apt-get -y install u-boot-tools squashfs-tools 7zip

Blobs

The following blobs can be obtained from the 8311 community firmware archive or personal backups after following the dump & backup firmware guide.

kernel.bin
dumpimage -T kernel kernel.bin -o zImage
7z e -so zImage > vmlinux
mkimage -A MIPS -O Linux -T kernel -a 0xa0020000 -C lzma -e 0xa0020000 -n "PON_1.18.1" -d zImage kernel.bin
bootcore.bin
dumpimage -T kernel bootcore.bin -o u-boot.bin
mkimage -A MIPS -O Linux -T kernel -a 0x88000000 -C none -e 0x88000000 -n "MIPS 4Kec Bootcore" -d u-boot.bin bootcore.bin
rootfs.img
unsquashfs -d rootfs rootfs.img
mksquashfs
mkimage -A MIPS -O Linux -T filesystem -C none -n "<version>" -d rootfs.squashfs rootfs.bin

cat kernel.bin bootcore.bin rootfs.bin > multicast.img

Upgrade Script

Python installation varies by Operating System and has been outlined by the tutors at Real Python — Python 3 Installation & Setup Guide.

Host setup

Download

curl https://gist.github.com/djGrrr/802c5652d3610d3e0a63243fe1119c56/raw/3d9feef42107232e0ef7f2a4c469a00e915a16d3/multicast_upgrader.py
chmod +x multicast_upgrader.py

curl.exe https://gist.github.com/djGrrr/802c5652d3610d3e0a63243fe1119c56/raw/3d9feef42107232e0ef7f2a4c469a00e915a16d3/multicast_upgrader.py

The upgrade script works with the multicast_update.img and multicast_reset.img files from the 8311 community firmware archive, which you can download at:

https://github.com/djGrrr/8311-was-110-firmware-builder/releases/latest

Requirements

10G SFP+ port

A 10-gigabit compatible SFP+ host interface, such as a NIC, media converter, and/or network switch with its port settings forced to 10Gbps. If using a switch, it's important to disable STP on the port(s).

Info

The ethernet side of the WAS-110 is forced to 10GBASE-KR1 in U-Boot as can be observed from the environment variable lan1-xpcs-mode; It won't fallback to 1G.

fw_printenv lan1-xpcs-mode

env print lan1-xpcs-mode

If you are flashing with a 2.5G port (like a switch or a SFP Media Buddy) you must force the SFP+ side to use 2P5G_SGMII_MODE.

fwenv_set lan1-xpcs-mode 2P5G_SGMII_MODE

env set lan1-xpcs-mode 2P5G_SGMII_MODE
env save
env save
Static IP address 192.168.1.2/24
ip address add 192.168.1.2/24 dev <interface>

netsh interface ipv4 set address name="<interface name>" static 192.168.1.2 255.255.255.0 192.168.1.1
Info

The default WAS-110 U-Boot IP address is 192.168.1.1 and can be retrieved from the environment variable ipaddr.

fw_printenv ipaddr

env print ipaddr
Static ARP entry

Unicast (1 to 1)

arp -s 192.168.1.1 00:E0:92:00:01:40

netsh interface ipv4 add neighbors "<interface name>" 192.168.1.1 "00-E0-92-00-01-40"

Multicast

arp -s 192.168.1.1 01:E0:92:00:01:40

netsh interface ipv4 add neighbors "<interface name>" 192.168.1.1 "01-E0-92-00-01-40"
Info

The default WAS-110 U-Boot MAC address is 00:E0:92:00:01:40 and can be retrieved from the environment variable ethaddr.

fw_printenv ethaddr

env print ethaddr

Usage

Without serial access, you'll be running blind. Proceed with caution and take more time between the steps

Upgrade

  1. Remove the WAS-110

  2. Run the multicast_upgrader.py script

    ./multicast_upgrader.py --path=multicast_upgrade.img

    python3.exe multicast_upgrader.py --path=multicast_upgrade.img

  3. Insert the WAS-110

  4. Wait several minutes (3-5)

  5. Press Ctrl+X to end the multicast_upgrader.py script

  6. Reseat the WAS-110

    Run a continuous ping

    To recieve an early indication that the WAS-110 has completed its first boot, run a continuous ping:

    ping 192.168.11.1

Reset

Previous settings will be backed up and stored in /ptconf.

It is advisable to reflash with a regular image afterward, as your settings may be unintentionally restored to their defaults if the backup file is not present or has been removed.

  1. Remove the WAS-110

  2. Run the multicast_upgrader.py script

    ./multicast_upgrader.py --path=multicast_reset.img

    python3.exe multicast_upgrader.py --path=multicast_reset.img

  3. Insert the WAS-110

  4. Wait several minutes (3-5)

  5. Press Ctrl+X to end the multicast_upgrader.py script

  6. Reseat the WAS-110

    Run a continuous ping

    To recieve an early indication that the WAS-110 has completed its first boot, run a continuous ping:

    ping 192.168.11.1

  1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/10_Gigabit_Ethernet#10GBASE-KR ↩