[Frage] A couple of questions on upgrading FB7490 [English]?

[sinbrkatetete]

Hello! Sorry for writing in English, my German is far too bad for a normal German speaker to understand me and for me to get anything better than a rough idea what you guys are speaking about in the threads I've visited on this forum and other German sites, and I really need help with my router.

The ISP I use got bought by another ISP and is in the process of disappearing. The FB7490 I got from them is servicing all my communication needs - 3 phone lines (all dect phones), IPTV and VDSL. About a month and a half ago the dl/ul speeds I was getting degraded drastically, I have a 20+/1,5 Mbps contract + IPTV, was getting about 14/1 before and now I'm getting 6Mbps/384kbps on good days. Anyway, the Fritz!Box reports the connection as 33448 kbps / 4096 kbps but the max speed attainable in reality is about 6 Mbps / 384 kbps - 5 times lower in DL, 10 in UL speed (measured by an official program from our government agency, with only one device connected to FB, no vpns, no wifi; through the unifi controller as the only device connected directly to FB and via speedtest.net from a couple of different computers, all with different OS's). Unfortunately, the new company doesn't yet have the infrastructure in place to take over users like me (3 line voip + dect + iptv + vdsl) and I can't change providers because my contract still lasts so I need to do anything I can to remedy the situation as the status quo could last for months.

So, why am I posting this in "modifikationen" section? Well, the technical support guy that was at my house today is convinced there's something wrong with the router itself (as his instruments confirm the max attainable speed of 50+ Mbps DL and 7 Mbps UL and the connection speed of 33/4) but, since the new owner is shutting down the ISP I have a contract with and getting rid of the people and real estate, they don't have any more routers that support dect+vdsl+iptv; he's out hunting for a FB 7360 (the only ones left - the ones they took from customers they switched over to the new ISP) through the warehouses, but is not too optimistic. My thought was to try and upgrade the bugger, see if it changes anything, especially since the FW version installed is pretty old.

Here's the info from "fritz.box/jason_boxinfo.xml"

<j:BoxInfo xmlns:j="http://jason.avm.de/updatecheck/">
<j:Name>FRITZ!Box 7490</j:Name>
<j:HW>185</j:HW>
<j:Version>113.06.10-28926</j:Version>
<j:Revision>28926</j:Revision>
<j:Serial>3810D52270B7</j:Serial>
<j:OEM>avme</j:OEM>
<j:Lang>en</j:Lang>
<j:Annex>B</j:Annex>
<j:Lab/>
<j:Country>0385</j:Country>
<j:Flag>crashreport</j:Flag>
<j:UpdateConfig>1</j:UpdateConfig>
</j:BoxInfo>

And from the "fritz.box//cgi-bin/system_status"

FRITZ!Box 7490-B-231406-010709-327547-366310-787902-1130610-28926-avme-en

And this is what my router says on the version of FW installed:

Of course, the updates are locked if I try to perform them through web-ui (both the "automatic", "automatic download" ones and the "manual" - where I upload the FW previously downloaded from AVM site) - all tries fail with error "An unspecified error occured during the update (8)" and the one I tried by the instructions from https://www.ip-phone-forum.de/threa...-article-number-20002691-english-post.295146/ ends with error (0).

I've managed to extract the VoIP and DSL settings and authentication from the backup made from my router (by using Fritz!BoxJsTool), but I can't find anything on IPTV...

Can anybody tell me, please, is it possible to somehow unlock the possibility to update this router and the steps to do it? Is it possible to unlock the updating somehow, without flashing with ruKernelTool, so the settings (auth and such) stay intact after update? Also, does anyone know what will hapen with IPTV?

Thanks in advance fo any and all help!

 

[PeterPawn]

You're kidding, aren't you?

The installed firmware 06.10-28926 is an international version of a - so called - Labor series, that's the Beta firmware program of AVM.

Its successor was a release version 06.20 and this one was published (or better: was built) on October 18, 2014 - that's more than three years in the past.

Meanwhile many bugs were fixed and many security holes were closed ... it's more than careless to run any "FRITZ!Box 7490" device with this version in present time.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Nevertheless ... your first step should be any attempt to get the "support data" from this device. Call http://fritz.box/support.lua from your browser and store the text file from "get support data" (or anything like this) somewhere - beware to keep it for later researches in a safe place. Find the "firmware_version" and "provider" entry in the beginning of this file and note their values.

Second step: Make a backup of your current FRITZ!Box settings and store this together with the support data file from above.

If there's no "provider" value in your device, you may use the "recovery" program from AVM without any extensive preparation - but you should ensure, that the current firmware remains intact, even if you install a newer version. If there's a provider value, you should take care further and save some additional data ... but that's at the earliest the third or fourth step.

To provide you further information, we should know, what your values are ... it's useless to write-up all possibilities, how to handle your device for a "safe update" to a current version; with an all-times available option, to continue with the currently installed one.

In each case you need a newer firmware from AVM, look for the international version (it's "multi-language") for the 7490 device on the FTP server (ftp.avm.de) and store the firmware image (as one option) and the recovery program (a Windows executable, if you own a Windows system, otherwise you may ignore it without any problem and continue with the mentioned firmware image) in a safe place - if this device is your current router and provides you with your only internet connection, you'll be "offline" on any update attempt.

EDIT: The "firmware_version" value was omitted in my further description, because I saw it (while writing my answer) in the output of "system_status".

 

[sinbrkatetete]

Hi, PeterPawn!

First of all, thank you very much for your time and good will to spend it on me and share the knowledge!

Unfortunately, I'm not kidding. Neither on the ISP going under / new ISP not taking over yet, nether on the FW version. The ISP installed the router at my location with that firmware version and blocked updates and every discussion with their tech support on that matter ended with them either refusing or declaring unable to unlock updates or even update the device themselves. Didn't even occur to me ever to think about finding ways to (circumvent it and) update until I felt the symptoms of what could be FW obsolescence. The router did fine on the VPN/VOiP/FAX/DECT/ANSWERING MACHINE/IPTV front and the LAN is under the USG-3 "jurisdiction" anyway, so... well... yea.... no.

So, here comes the "support data".

##### TITLE Version 113.06.10
##### TITLE SubVersion -28926
##### TITLE Produkt Fritz_Box_HW185
##### TITLE Datum Mon Jan 15 19:25:43 CET 2018
##### BEGIN SECTION Support_Data Supportdata Linux "H1telekom.FritzBox7490" 2.6.32.61 #1 SMP Fri Sep 19 11:52:44 CEST 2014 mips GNU/Linux Version 113.06.10 -28926
Support Data
------------
Mon Jan 15 19:25:44 CET 2018
2.6.32.61
HWRevision    185
HWSubRevision    6
ProductID    Fritz_Box_HW185
SerialNumber    0000000000000000
annex    A
autoload    yes
bootloaderVersion    1.1964
bootserport    tty0
country    0385
cpufrequency    500000000
crash    [0]e1fc65fa,5a1a5e83,3[1]0,0,0[2]0,0,0[3]0,0,0
firstfreeaddress    0x81116240
firmware_info    113.06.10
firmware_version    avme
flashsize    nor_size=0MB sflash_size=1024KB nand_size=512MB
language    en
linux_fs_start    1

... and the first mention of a "provider" value is a couple of lines down, still in "support data" section:

my_ipaddress    192.168.178.1
prompt    Eva_AVM
provider    additive

(the "my_ipaddress" value I pasted only because it's the default one and wrong... mine is at 192.168.10.1, don't know if that signifies anything)
There are a lot more occurrences of "provider" value under different sections through the file, but this is the only one that could be said tthat's at the start of the file (line 43).

The router is my current router that provides the internet connection, but I can always use my cell's "hotspot" if a need arises.

I've downloaded both the new firmware image and the windows rescue exe.

FRITZ.Box_7490.en-de-es-it-fr-pl.113.06.83.image
FRITZ.Box_7490.en-de-es-it-fr-pl.06.83.recover-image.exe

.

Is there any other way to preserve (backup) the current router's config/firmware except making a backup from the backup tab of the system setting in router UI? I've made backups (as FB calls them - exports), both with and without a password, and backed up the file i got from the support page of FB UI.

Since my router obviously has a "provider" value, what should be my next steps?

Thanks in advance!

 

[PeterPawn]

Such a "provider" value exists, if your device stores a special data file (called "provider_additive.tar") in its persistent settings, which will survive each factory reset attempt and contains some pre-defined settings for your provider. This file will not be included into any "export" file.

And it means - at last consequence - that you can't use the recovery program of AVM, because it will abandon as soon as it detects any existing "provider" value ... the value itself doesn't matter.

Some basic facts ... the device contains enough flash memory to store two independent software versions - and the "active" one will be selected by a dual-valued entry (containing "0" (or nothing, what has the same meaning as "0") or "1") named "linux_fs_start" in the bootloader environment.

The firmware may be loaded into device's RAM and started there ... in this case it will detect it's running "from memory" and writes itself into flash memory. But this will be done for the "active system" - so it will overwrite the currently installed firmware version, if you don't switch the device to the other version first.

From a simplified view, the recovery program from AVM does nothing else than loading the firmware into memory and starting it (this is already done by the bootloader, if the transfer process was successful) - the second task (which is first executed in real) would be a complete cleanup of the persistent storage, which would sweep-out the mentioned "provider_additive.tar", too.

The task of the existing "provider" value is to protect this data from being cleared - but it's mostly even unnecessary to cleanup old settings, if your only intention is to update the firmware. AVM's program was developed to get a "really clean device" - that's not our current intention.

Now you should try to find information, how to access the FTP server in AVM's bootloader "EVA" ... there are already some writings in English about the needed steps. Look for "EVA", "fritzbox" and "ftp" (combined with fantasy) and you should find some info.

I've myself provided some script files for Windows users (in PowerShell) or for users of a "bash" shell (Linux, MacOS, BSD) - you may find them in my GitHub repository: https://github.com/PeterPawn/YourFritz/tree/master/eva_tools

Afterwards you should try to get your first working FTP session with the EVA loader of your device ... if you've got enough experience to initiate such a session each time as needed, you may continue to the next step - as long as you don't use any "SETENV" commands (EDIT: including "STOR" commands obviously - no matter, if they're "native" for the server or hidden in a "client command" like "put"), it's nearly impossible to lock anything or to brick the device.

From this point on, you should try to understand, how to set variables (especially the mentioned "linux_fs_start" setting) from the FTP session and in the next step you have to realize, how to use "image2ram" (or any other tool of your choice) to convert AVM's firmware image file to a single file, that may be loaded into device's memory later.

If you've got a proper image file and have set the "linux_fs_start" value to its opposite value (its current value is "1", as shown in your support data file above), you may use "eva_to_memory" or "BootDeviceFromImage" (in the PowerShell version) to load the image into memory ... it will start automatically and install itself (one LED starts blinking very fast and you should not interrupt power until flashing is finished) into persistent flash memory.

After the device restarts once more (now running from the freshly installed version), you may call the "support.lua" page again and here you can - in newer versions - get an "extended version" of support data, containing a complete copy of TFFS data from your device - including the (otherwise "unsaveable") data from "provider_additive.tar".

At any point in this plan, you may decide to switch "linux_fs_start" back to its initial value of "1" and restart your device from the currently installed and activated version. But your own "settings" are managed for both systems at once ... if you return to the 06.10-something version for any reason, after a newer version touched your settings, you should reset the device to its factory settings (the "provider_additive" configuration data aren't affected, as mentioned above) and restore your earlier saved settings - the differences between your version 06.10 and the new 06.83 are really huge, starting with a completely different kernel version and another filesystem format. So your chances to successfully reuse already converted settings with the older version are really tiny.

 

[sinbrkatetete]

Woohooo! Thanks a lot! I'll make sure I read up on all you've "prescribed" and get back to you if/when I get stuck or succesfully manage to upgrade the FW. Thank you very very much.

 

[sinbrkatetete]

Sorry, @PeterPawn for bothering you... It seems I'm stuck.

I've tried and managed to repeatedly successfully connect to the FB (I've found a 7430 from the same ISP, but with 6.30 FW on it so I'm practicing on that one through a Win8 VM with all the precautions you listed in your first post) EVA ftp server and read both with GETENV from cmd ftp and through GetEnvironmentValue from your EVA-FTP-Client PS script.

1. Question
When you said

dual-valued entry (containing "0" (or nothing, what has the same meaning as "0") or "1") named "linux_fs_start" in the bootloader environment.

(and please keep in mind that now I'm speaking about the "practice" router - 7430, that hasn't got the linux_fs_start value in the support file, but has the same "provider" value "additive")

Does this

ftp> quote GETENV linux_fs_start
501 environment variable not set

and this (the fw version part is just to show it's connected)

PS C:\FB\SKRIPTE\YourFritz\eva_tools> .\EVA-FTP-Client.ps1 -ScriptBlock { GetEnv
ironmentValue linux_fs_start }
PS C:\FB\SKRIPTE\YourFritz\eva_tools> .\EVA-FTP-Client.ps1 -ScriptBlock { GetEnv
ironmentValue firmware_version }
avme

mean "nothing" from your, or am I looking in the wrong place? Would the

.\EVA-FTP-Client.ps1 -ScriptBlock { SwitchSystem }

, when I come to that step, create the value and switch it to 1, or should I use quote SETENV or -ScriptBlock { SetEnvironmentValue ...}

2. Question.
Could you please advise on another way to transform the downloaded FW image to "in-memory" image besides your bash script. I'm not highly proficient on Win PC's, but linux is terra incognita for me... I'm seting up an OpenSUSE VM to play with, but I'm not sure if I'll be able to do anything. I'm trying to find posts in English to do it as my little brain really hurts from deciphering German. I do know enough of your language to understand the general context, but I'm not closely proficient enough to trust my comprehension with things like this.

3. Question.
When I finally manage to prepare an "in-memory" image file, the procedure would go like this:
1. Setup FTP session with EVA
2. SwitchSystem *
3. BootDeviceFromImage
4. Profit
* for the 7490 that has linux_fs_start 1 it would change it to 0 and for the 7430 that doesn't have that value it would presumably create it and set it to 1
?

 

[PeterPawn]

mean "nothing" from your, or am I looking in the wrong place?

That's (I'm nearly sure, because the 7430 is only slightly different to a 7490 and its hardware - but it has no SPI flash and uses another TFFS format, do not mix-up any facts or posts regarding this difference) the result of "This device never got an update in its whole lifetime." - so this device starts always from the first system installed.

The missing value should be handled properly by the PowerShell script, according to this line(s): https://github.com/PeterPawn/YourFritz/blob/master/eva_tools/EVA-FTP-Client.ps1#L151

I have no other tool to create the image for an upload to memory ... you could use 7-zip to extract the two needed files (kernel.image and filesystem.image) from the original AVM file.

Because (usually) both of these files contain a CRC32 checksum at their very end, you have to check its presence (look for hexadecimal marker "23 de 53 c4" eight bytes from end of file) and - if the checksum exists - you must truncate the last 8 bytes from the file. It's not as easy in a Windows environment - there's no (automatically installed) tool like "dd" on Windows; at least as far as I know and any other (GUI) tool like a Hex-Editor isn't always able to cut bytes from a file.

Anyway ... this truncation has to be done for both extracted files (if necessary) and the image for uploading is then simply the combination of kernel.image and filesystem.image (in this order) in a single file. If any of the source files has a length, that isn't a multiple of 256, you have to fill the last block up to the next multiple with zeros - but usually the length should be correct, after the checksum was truncated.

As far as I understood your third question, you're right ... maybe you want to restart the boot-loader once more, after you've switched to the other system, before you try to upload the image to memory.

If you really want to practice with the 7430, you have to use the right firmware version there ... but I think, that's obviously.

BTW ... have you ever tried to translate one of my other posts to Hungarian with Google Translator? Is it really as horrible as it sounds? If I try it with a translation from German to English, the results are acceptable most times.

 

[sinbrkatetete]

Thanks for a detailed explanation! SUSE is installing as we speak, so, I'll se what I can learn and do about combining the fw to an "in-memory" image with your script.

The thought that I can't really blindly treat the 7430 the same as the 7490 never even crossed my mind! The different firmware/rescue of course, the backups also, but it never occurred to me to look if it's even possible to approach the problem the same way you detailed for the 7490. It's good I took the cautious approach and asked you for a blessing of sorts. From reading the table you attached, I conclude that, luckily, it seems it's possible to dual boot the 7430 with linux_fs_start switch + in-memory image. Am I correct?

On the matter of Hungarian... I'm not sure why you ask. Mixed up Croatia(n) and Hungar(y/)ian perhaps? I'm Croatian, and the google translation from any "normal" European language into mine is almost always hilariously misleading. Wouldn't know about Hungarian though. It's Klingon for me. I can understand the general context in most bigger European languages, when written, but Hungarian?! Nothing. I believe they took the names of the days in the week from Croatian and thats about everything I can understand.
You are correct on the GER<->ENG translation, it's usually acceptable, as you put it, but unfortunately, it's relatively hard to specifically search for something in German using a translation from what you'd use in an English search.

In any case, thanks for all your help. I hope the next time you hear from me will be another thanks at the end of this thread, while marking it solved, or if you contact me with something I can help you with.

 

[PeterPawn]

I read "h1telekom" somewhere in the past and my first hit was h1telekom.hu - my mistake. Meanwhile I know, that there's also a h1telekom.hr domain ... but you should really learn Hungarian in my opinion. I'll try to learn Cantonese soon ...

You should be able to practice even the "dual boot" feature with your 7430 - at least I don't seen any no-go criteria for this idea.

The question regarding Google Translator was only an attempt to offer you another way to get info ... my posts in German are much more and much more detailed than everything I could write again to answer your questions. That doesn't mean, you should stop questioning ... it could save both of us some time, if I may point you to some posts in German and you can read them in a language with more practice.

 

[sinbrkatetete]

It just dawned on me you were maybe offering to point me in the direction of some of your posts in German so I could read up on the matter at hand. And I didn't even respond. If I interpreted it correctly (your good will), please do... If you have some older posts you think could help me familiarize with Fritz some more, feel free to link 'em my way. If It's not what you meant... Don't. In any case, please don't dedicate any more time to me than you feel comfortable throwing away.

Reading in German could come in as a welcome practice for the brain; I've studied your language for about 9 years or so, in "another time", but haven't used it in so long, I forgot more than I ever knew (which wasn't a lot to start with).

In any case, thanks for your continued help and patience.

 

[PeterPawn]

The intention wasn't a "reading list" for a better "overall knowledge", and let's not include and mix too much themes into one thread, it's harder to find, read and understand for later, independent readers.

I've hoped (and I hope) I would be able to point you to some already existing posts (in German) and could avoid to (re-)write exhaustive descriptions in further answers, if you got more questions.

Your questions aren't surfeiting or annoying me ... it's simply a question of economy to avoid double explanations, only 'cause the languages differ. I was looking for some better solutions ... but as long as this thread will not grow more and more, it's unnecessary to look further.

But please don't hesitate to ask more questions, if you're unsure, whether you may test something yourself in a safe manner.

It would be a pity, if a (unforeseen) mistake would render all of our efforts (our exchange and your precautions) useless.

 

[sinbrkatetete]

Understood.

I'm happy to report I've managed to "dualboot" the 7930 back and forth from 6.30 to 6.83 a couple of times. Extracted the support file, did the backup... Everything seems to be working well.

I must admit, I lost a couple of hours trying to understand what image2ram exactly did (remember, total noob here) especially since the script threw an unexpected operator at lines 44 and 50 ("I95TxA==") when running but despite that spat out an in-memory image file. I've managed to understand the general idea of the steps in the script, but still don't understand what is "I95TxA"? A string with which the checksum starts? In any case, finally running the script with bash instead of sh made it do its job without a sound of complaint.

Now I'm going out for a ritual smoke and then going for the 7490. Won't thank you yet, avoiding jinxing it.

 

[PeterPawn]

Yes, these strings are the Base64 representation of the aforementioned marker for the "TI checksum".

The used command reads four octets at position -8 from end of file and sends them to a Base64 encoder using a pipe. This is done twice ... one check for the kernel and another one for the filesystem.

Encoding data to Base64 first, is an easy approach to check binary data with shell code.

EDIT: OK, the "unexpected operator" is a result of using an (old-style) comparison (double equal-sign) - it's only supported by "bash" or "ash" (from BusyBox). I'll fix it immediately.

EDIT2: OK, have checked-in a new version of "image2ram", which should be "POSIX compliant" now.

 

[sinbrkatetete]

Wooohoo! I (indirectly) contributed a bit!

So, here's the report on my adventures:

1. The "practice" 7430, when booted again, somehow chose an ip of 192.168.179.1 (and DHCP asssigned in that range) and neither the "normal", nor the "emergency" (169.254.1.1) ui were reachable. When checked through EVA ftp - the linux_fs_start was correct for the 6.83 FW version (value "1"). Did reset to factory settings through an analog phone code, the router reset and from then on everything worked as expected. I suspect the problem was me switching the boot "OS" back and forth and somehow the old one (linux_fs_start 0) set something in the settings that confused the new one (linux_fs_start 1). The router seems to happily chug along on the 6.83.

2. The "main" 7490 got 6.83 flashed to boot at "linux_fs_start 0", everything was checked, backups made, got reset to factory defaults, picked up all the ISP settings from ACS (or however is the auto config server called), connected successfully, I've set it up the way it was set at 6.10 and it's happily doing its thing... VDSL, IPTV, VOIP, DECT, all seem to be working OK.

Unfortunately, the problem that made me go looking for a way to upgrade my router's FW wasn't solved by this upgrade. Exchanging my 7490 with the "practice" 7430 and making it connect to my ISP showed the same results the 7490 obtained on both the 6.10 and 6.83 FW - max DSLAM throughput 33448 kbps / 4096 kbps, min DSLAM throughput 7000 kbps / 256 kbps, attainable throughput 48461 kbps / 7184 kbps, current throughput 33447 kbps / 4092 kbps and my realistic (measured with both speedtest.net and my country's official telecomunications agency's speed test tool, measured as a single wired client on router, firewall off, wifi off both on router and pc, vpn disabled) speeds are 6,4 Mbps / 0,3 - 0,4 Mbps. It looks to me that someone somewhere left some kind of a DSL profile on my account even after they switched me to VDSL2, but this forum is not the place to look for those kinds of info.

In any case, PeterPawn, thank you very much for all your help! You're my hero of the month!

Since there's relatively little written on this subject in English, here is the overview of the steps i took to get here, if someone as noobish as I am finds him/herself in a similar situation as mine and also hates the google translation of German to Hungarian. Please be aware that the steps described here were taken to work with my specific model and fw and config of the FRITZ!Box 7490 router; although they may be almost identical for your model, please make an effort to learn as much as possible before attempting anything. Even if you do have the same situation as mine, please at least read this whole thread.
- since I had the luxury of having a "practice" router and 2 ethernet cards in my pc, I did everything through two virtual machines (one windows for powershell scripts, one ubuntu for bash), shared temp (work) folder, and changed connections depending on whether I needed internet access or an ftp connection with the router's bootloader ftp.

1. BACKUP EVERYTHING

a) FB WEB UI -> SYSTEM -> BACKUP -> SAVE (I did it once with the password, once without... don't know if it's possible to export without a pass on the newer FWs, but it is/was on 6.10)

b) http://fritz.box/support.lua -> Support Data -> Generate Support Data (on FWs that have the option of "Generate expanded support data for special analysis" I did one with and one without that option enabled)

c) http://www.mengelke.de/Projekte/FritzBoxJSTool - imported the backup from a), UPLOAD -> UNCRYPT (with pass of backup) -> ACCOUNTS -> DOWNLOAD

- I've backed up everything 3 times, stored one in a backup folder of my pc, one on a server that snapshots the specific dir a couple of times per hour, so I have steps to go back to if I accidentally change something in the backup and placed one in a temp (work) dir /orig I've planed on doing everything in.


2. PREPARE THIGNS

a) visit https://www.ip-phone-forum.de/threa...ezialtabelle-nicht-immer-brandaktuell.279759/, look up if your model is capable, look up if it's possible to do it with your firmware_version, find out as much info on your router and then search the forums / ask did someone else do it on your model or knows of details to look out for

b) visit mr PeterPawn's repository and download either everything or just the eva_tools folder (for this, you're going to need just the scripts from the eva_tools), place everything in temp (work) dir /scripts

c) visit the avm site and download the FW and the recovery image for your model, place in temp (work) dir /fw

d) practice connecting to EVA ftp
- I did it both through cmd prompt with setting a fixed ip for the pc and PeterPawn's powershell scripts, just to get a feeling of how things work
- throughout the practice I avoided any commands that could change anything on the router, kept to the "quote GETENV", quote "REBOOT" with ftp / "-ScriptBlock {GetEnvironmentValue <value_name> }", "-ScriptBlock { RebootTheDevice }" with powershell ftp client script

e) read the readme in eva_tools and each of the scripts to understand what does what, research. I spent hours deciphering things and was still the same level of noob after, but felt a lot more comfortable when following the PeterPawn's instructions knowing at least the general idea of what he was talking about.

e) check the present state of linux_fs_start on your router
- ftp

ftp> quote GETENV linux_fs_start

and/or
- powershell

Code:
PS P:\ATH\TO\SCRIPT> .\EVA-FTP-Client.ps1 -ScriptBlock { GetEnv
ironmentValue linux_fs_start }

compare the result to value in support file you backed up in the first step

f) convert downloaded FW image to an "in-memory" image
- since I'm a total noob, I didn't want to go learning on how to manually remove the crc checksums from the ends of the kernel and filesystem images in the FW and combining those two into one image that could be loaded to the router, all on Windows, I opted for a linux VM to do the converting by using PeterPawn's script image2ram

3. GO

a) connect to EVA ftp

b) change linux_fs_start value to opposite of the original one either through ftp commands or by powershell script; I chose powershell and didn't use the SetEnvironmentValue but the SwitchSystem option like

Code:
PS P:\ATH\TO\SCRIPT> .\EVA-FTP-Client.ps1 -ScriptBlock { SwitchSystem }

then checked the linux_fs_start value

Code:
PS P:\ATH\TO\SCRIPT> .\EVA-FTP-Client.ps1 -ScriptBlock { GetEnv
ironmentValue linux_fs_start }

then rebooted

Code:
PS P:\ATH\TO\SCRIPT> .\EVA-FTP-Client.ps1 -ScriptBlock { RebootTheDevice }

then checked the linux_fs_start value once again to be sure it's the opposite to what it was originally and then uploaded the "in-memory" image

Code:
PS P:\ATH\TO\SCRIPT> .\EVA-FTP-Client.ps1 -ScriptBlock { BootDeviceFromImage <"in-memory" image file> }

then just waited patiently for the router to do its thing (went outside for a smoke) and came back to a working upgraded router.

 

[PeterPawn]

Congratulations ... even if your main problem wasn't solved by the update, your router system software is significantly newer now and less exposed to (well-known) security threats.

But I'm a little bit sad and have to fight my tears ... why didn't you take my C version of "decoder" to decipher your settings from the export file?

Looks like I have to write another comprehensive documentation for this program, now in English (even if the help provided is in English already) - most "searchers" don't know anything about the existence of this project and I should it better advertise - let's start in this thread with my links from above.