D-link DSL-504T genII - trouble upgrading firmware

[smithi]

Hi,

We bought a near-new D-link DSL-504T "gen II" modem still with its initial 2006 firmware, namely V3.02B01T01.AU-A.20061225 .. which basically works modulo a few annoying warts, but many issues have been resolved in the 7 firmware upgrades since, the last two being V3.02B01T01.AU.20090415 and V3.02B01T01.AU.20100118 .. so I wanted to upgrade it.

After quite a struggle with the D-link .au website I found the correct directories for the correct rev C WEB version, being Firmware_V3.02B01T01.AU.20090415_WEB for downloading file
DLinkAU_DSL-504T_singleimage_kernel_fs_V3.02B01T01.AU.20090415

and Firmware_V3.02B01T01.AU.20100118_WEB for downloading file
DLinkAU_DSL-504T_singleimage_kernel_fs_V3.02B01T01.AU.20100118

However choosing either of these downloaded files for the firmware upgrade procedure only responds with "The file you chosen is invalid" ono and does nothing. There are none of the earlier versions on the website, and in theory any later version than that fitted should work. Yes I did factory-reset the modem first as advised, all done by the book. I downloaded them again and checked their sameness with diff.

I had no trouble upgrading our DSL-G604T in completely similar fashion from the same machine with the downloaded file DLinkAU_DSL-G604T_singleimage_kernel_fs_V2.00B12.AU_20070509

Does anyone have a spare clue to lend me?

cheers, Ian

[devindag]

I would recommend you contact the modem manufacturer, D-link support team to get further instruction on this issue.

[Dazzled]

You need a Linux image to transfer to the device. When I retrieved the files named in your post, one was a Windows executable, and the other was an html file. Neither will swap with the existing image, so perhaps this is the problem.

[edit] If you can get the archive file, you'll find the directions to use the exe in !Router_Recovery_Steps.pdf. Considering that routers have standard file transfer utilities on board, using Windows on a temporary static connection to load firmware seems excessive.

[smithi]

You need a Linux image to transfer to the device. When I retrieved the files named in your post, one was a Windows executable, and the other was an html file. Neither will swap with the existing image, so perhaps this is the problem.

[edit] If you can get the archive file, you'll find the directions to use the exe in !Router_Recovery_Steps.pdf. Considering that routers have standard file transfer utilities on board, using Windows on a temporary static connection to load firmware seems excessive.

Thanks Dazzled, I wondered if you or another of the regulars might catch this ..

No windows here, this is on a FreeBSD system. I guess you must have looked at the .exe version?

The files ending in _WEB are indeed html files, eg Firmware_V3.02B01T01.AU.20100118_WEB contains (saved as text):
300: ftp://files.dlink.com.au/products/DSL-5 ... 100118_WEB
200: filename content-length last-modified file-type
201: "DLinkAU_DSL-504T_singleimage_kernel_fs_V3.02B01T01.AU.20100118" 2539528 Sun%2C%2018%20Jan%200110%2016%3A25%3A00 FI

clicking on which downloads the file from the ftp site. Easier to go there and browse. Anyway all the "singleimage_kernel" files are indeed non-windows binary images, containing the (likely encrypted) firmware image after an LZMA decompressor. Here are the first strings from each of the three files I got, the last for the G604T, which did work fine to upgrade it.

t23% strings DLinkAU_DSL-504T_singleimage_kernel_fs_V3.02B01T01.AU.20100118 | head -7
4DTM
1|PSPBOOT|DSL-504T|DLinkAU|V3.02B01T01.AU.20100118
$&@
$! $
$! $
@H
f0!p

t23% strings DLinkAU_DSL-504T_singleimage_kernel_fs_V3.02B01T01.AU.20090415 | head -7
4DTM
1|PSPBOOT|DSL-504T|DLinkAU|V3.02B01T01.AU.20090415
$&@
$! $
$! $
@H
f0!p

t23% strings DLinkAU_DSL-G604T_singleimage_kernel_fs_V2.00B12.AU_20070509 | head -7
4DTM
NSP 3.5.1 Release
p&`!
d&`!
$&@
$! $
$&x!

So I seem to have the right files. My suspicion is that I may need one of the earlier firmware upgrades from 2007 first, assuming possible bugs in the original 2006 version regarding loading later firmware, but the older ones are no longer available, on the website anyway.

I did look at that How_to_Recover_Router.zip contents. The PDF is for un-bricking the modem after a failed firmware upgrade, but a) it never began the upgrade, rejecting those files before starting, and b) I don't have a windows box accessible anyway. The router is still working.

I will contact D-link as suggested by devindag, though chances of finding someone there clueful about this, especially without resorting to using M$ software, are likely vanishingly small ..

cheers, Ian