Friday, May 04, 2012

DD-WRT on Belkin Share Max N300 (F7D7301)

The Belkin N300 model F7D7301 supports running DD-WRT. This model is also supports running Tomato, another WRT variant.

Upgrading to the DD-WRT firmware from the default manufacturer's firmware

Download the 'mini' build of DD-WRT from the link to the firmware page (see below). It has the following name.

dd-wrt.v24-18946_NEWD-2_K2.6_mini_f7d7301.bin

Access the CFE page using the 30-30-30 method (see below).

Select the firmware file and flash the unit with the DD-WRT firmware. Wait no less than 10 minutes. They may be no signs of activity, but have patience. Do not power off the unit during the flash process.

After a full 10 minutes have elapsed, set the static IP of your computer to 192.168.1.8 with a netmask of 255.255.255.0. Point your web browser to 192.168.1.1. This is the default network of DD-WRT. You should see the DD-WRT page. If you do not, reboot the device by unplugging and plugging the power cord. Try to access 192.168.1.1 again.

Note: After rebooting the device, if you cannot see the DD-WRT page, repeat the procedure starting from accessing the CFE page using the 30-30-30 method. Thanks Sri Chirav for this hint. Don't forget to change your static IP configuration for accessing the CFE page.

Now that the 'mini' build of DD-WRT has been installed, you can upgrade to other DD-WRT versions that suit your needs. Many folks on the Internet use the 'mega' build. If you want NTFS support (see below), you should use the 'big' build. More information on the supported features of each build is available on this page. Make sure you scroll to the section titled V24_pre_sp2 K26. You can update to other versions of DD-WRT through the DD-WRT Administration->Firmware Upgrade page.

Good luck!

File system support for external USB storage

The 'mega' build of DD-WRT supports ext3 and fat filesystems. The 'big' build additionally supports the NTFS filesystem.

The 'big' build has the following name.

dd-wrt.v24-18946_NEWD-2_K2.6_big.bin

The 'mega' build has the following name.

dd-wrt.v24-18946_NEWD-2_K2.6_mega.bin

Mounting USB storage

Make sure the external drive has already been formatted. Connect the external drive to the USB port of the device. Access the DD-WRT configuration and configure USB as well as NAS.

Go to Services->USB
Enable Core USB Support
Enable USB Storage Support
Enable Automatic Drive Mount
Click on Apply Settings
Reboot the device

Go to Services->NAS
Enable Samba
Click on Add Share
The Path drop-down box should contain the mount point for the external drive. Select it. Give it a Name. Make sure the Public check box is selected, and change the Access type to Read/Write.
Click on Apply Settings
Reboot the device

In Windows, you should be able to access the shared drive. The shared drive will not show up automatically when you browse your network. To access it, open a new folder, and set the address of a folder to the following.

\\192.168.1.1\

You will see a folder for each share that you have created in the Samba configuration.

Miscellany

DD-WRT firmware page for the Belkin Share Max N300
http://www.dd-wrt.com/site/support/other-downloads?path=others%2Feko%2FV24-K26%2Fsvn18946%2F

DD-WRT firmware build features (see section titled V24_pre_sp2 K26)
http://www.dd-wrt.com/wiki/index.php/What_is_DD-WRT%3F

Accessing the CFE page using the 30-30-30 method
With the power connected, hold the reset button for 30 seconds. While holding the reset button, unplug the power and hold the reset for another 30 seconds. While still holding the reset button, plug the power into the unit and hold the reset for another 30 seconds. The reset button should be held for a total of approximately 90 seconds.

Set the static IP of your computer to 192.168.2.8 with a netmask of 255.255.255.0. Now point your web browser to 192.168.2.1. You should see the CFE page. If you do not, power off the unit and power it back on. Try to access the page again.

Networks
The default network of the Belkin firmware and CFE is 192.168.2.1 with a netmask of 255.255.255.0. The default network of DD-WRT is 192.168.1.1 with a netmask of 255.255.255.0. If you need to set a static IP, make sure you choose one for the appropriate network.

23 comments:

turtle said...

Followed this guide and it worked like a charm. Thanks for sharing your work! You saved me allot of time.

Unknown said...

I was wondering if anyone call tell me WHY in this article it's suggested to use the file dd-wrt.v24-18946_NEWD-2_K2.6_mini_f7d3301.bin when doing a mini firmware upgrade instead of the file dd-wrt.v24-18946_NEWD-2_K2.6_mini_f7d7301.bin file since the device is model F7D7301 and not F7D3301. Are those files identical?

tsengf said...

The two files are the same. I'll update the blog entry.

airo said...

excellent post. not much more to say. gonna try it all myself later.

PsyberEMT said...

I wanted to thank you for the precise instructions! I do Windows networking for a living, but am just getting into Linux and DD-WRT. Reading the forum posts on this process made it sound WAY more complicated than it actually was. Your instructions got my NAS up in no time, and using DD-WRT let me get a recent firmware on my WNDR3400 WITHOUT that obnoxious blue LED and a lot more control over the router. Thanks!

builder1 said...

Can I ask about setting a static ip? Is that for everyone including cable internet. I thought they changed all the time, wrong?

tsengf said...

builder1, the static IP mentioned in this post is the referring to the IP on the LAN side. I believe you are referring to the IP on the WAN side. These two IPs are completely orthogonal.

SC9182 said...

at the CFE firmware upload web page if it doesn't upload the "mini" firmware image, just keep trying a few times.

During mini upload at CFE, had to try uploading 5-6 times. During first 4-5 attempts - nothing happened (ie, the mini-kernel) CFE did not accept the mini kernel upload. Kept on trying, eventually it accepted the kernel, and did the upgrade to mini DD-WRT. Afterwards update to Mega build was seemless. Just FYI!

tsengf said...

Thanks Sri Chirav, I'll add this hint to the post.

Balaji Ramesh said...

How do I uninstall dd-wrt from F7D7301 once its installed? The upgrade firmware page keeps telling upgrade failed.

tsengf said...

Balaji, to restore the original Belkin firmware, access the CFE page using the 30-30-30 method mentioned above and then select the Belkin firmware which you can download from the Belkin website.

T Graham said...

Must you set the Belkin router settings to their defaults before flashing with "mini" for the first time?

Jeet said...

Im planning to buy "Belkin Share Max N300 F7D7301 300 MBPS Wireless Router". Is this firmware stable on this router?

tsengf said...

Travis Graham, it is my understanding that you do not need set default router settings before flashing a new firmware.

tsengf said...

Jeet, the firmware is extremely stable.

VS said...

i have a peculiar problem - i am using Belkin N300 with dd-wrt mega build for the last 6 months. For some reason i had to change my modem to make the speed work for me. Ever since i did that, my belkin router will not broadcast its SSID unless i turn on another virtual id with it. otherwise it just does'nt broadcast.

Also if i am manipulating with the settings at the admin page- it will allow other devices to register but once i close that page - the other devices do not register...

Not sure what is the problem/ issue but if you have some experience with it - can you advice me as to what should i do?

Fred said...

Note: NEVER use Firefox to do the mini flash. You will waste 8 hours, like I did, until I found a blog post about it. I used Chromium in Ubuntu 12.04 after the 30/30/30. worked fine.

AGAIN NEVER USE FIREFOX TO FLASH MINI.

JEET said...

hello friends i am using Brother J125 printer using belkin original firmware can you please tell me will it work on dd-wrt firmware...

Thanks in advance

Dark said...

I tried doing this, but somehow the CFE mini Web server wouldn't upload my DD-WRT file at all.
I tried waiting and everything buy it didn't budge.

Kevin said...

thx for the great post!

On Mounting USB Storage, my Services -> USB tab shows Disk Info section as:
--- /dev/discs/disc0/disc
Block device, size 931.5 GiB
...
status: Mounted on /opt

Then I went to Services->NAS to enable Samba and add a share by select /opt as the path but *without* specifying server string and workgroup.

When I tried to navigate to \\192.168.1.1\, it says "The network path was not found". Any idea what might cause this?

Bill Ryder said...

Thanks. Big help. One thing I have not seen anywhere else... In my case the 30/30/30 seemed not to be working. A YouTube said just push the reset... hold while unplugging, then replug while continuing to hold for 7 seconds. After that the mom interface still did not come up in IE. I had to fire up Firefox... and that way it came up... As if there was a cache issue on IE ore something. Other say don't use Firefox but it's what I had available besides IE right away... And worked for me.

The other thing of note... No one tells you that after the 30/30/30 or method I used instead... Even though you should be able to connect up to the mini page... No light is on on the router. It looks like it's dead. But, still at the end of that process it should be sitting their ready for you. Even without any lights on.

Unknown said...

Can i use Firefox on Windows 10 for update to mini and big version? or Google Chrome?

Unknown said...

¡Éxito! imposible instalar dd-wrt desde Windows 10 en diferentes equipos con Firefox, Chrome y Internet Explorer, pero bajo Windows 7 sp1 64bits recién instalado y con Internet explorer funcionó! :D