Tried to update to openwrt (with the default name downloaded from trunk), against al versions currently avaible from tp-link. (wa850re original tp-link firmware)
3.14.4 Build 130313 Rel.63007n
3.14.8 Build 130922 Rel.53068n
3.14.8 Build 130622 Rel.81738n

And they all went flawless, what I still recommend to do with this error message is to update to the latest tp-link firmware from the tp-link website and then try to upgrade to openwrt.

(Last edited by FriedZombie on 21 Nov 2013, 00:20)

Ok, I already tried this yesterday and now once more. Tried each of the files in the download section of tp-link, getting the same error with all files. But that seems correct for me, because these are for hardware revision 1.2 as of the description and I have hardware revision 1.0.
I'm not quite sure what else I can try right now. Any help is appreciated.

All v1.x devices work with the openwrt firmware (yes tried that). Also try and redownload the openwrt image from the website as well. (if you not have done so so far).

The ring of leds on the device what color are those? Because i'm starting to suspect that you don't have a wa850 but a wa750

(Last edited by FriedZombie on 22 Nov 2013, 18:23)

Sorry, was on vacation the last days and didn't have time to check back.
So, I definitely have a wa850re Ver. 1.0 . A picture of the back of the devices: http://i39.tinypic.com/2z584cp.jpg
Here is a screenshot from the webinterface:
The LEDs are blue, like the ones on your devices. I also redownloaded the image once more and checked the md5 sum. Also tried it with IE8 on Win XP right now, but I get the same error each time. Thanks for your help and all your tips so far, and sorry for asking again.

(Last edited by chai_x on 26 Nov 2013, 15:08)

Well that got me stumped, and I presume downloading and updating the firmware from tp-link doesn't work either?
(you probably did that allready, but I really want to be sure).

also see https://forum.tp-link.com/showthread.ph … gion=china

(Last edited by FriedZombie on 26 Nov 2013, 20:04)

Yeah, I already tried the images from the download page, without any luck. Same error:

Error code: 18005
Upgrade unsuccessfully because the version of the upgraded file was incorrect. Please check the file name.

I found this entry from the support forum as well, thats why I contacted the support too, after trying the files from the support page.
The guy told me, that these updates are not useable for my device. See his answer here (german unfortunally):

..in Ihrem Fall ist es leider dann doch nicht möglich die aktuellere Firmware zu installieren. Ich ging davon aus, dass Ihre Angabe der Hardwareversion sich auf die Angabe im Webinterface des TL-WA850RE bezog, was aber in Ihrem Fall leider nicht ganz so ist bzw. war. Die Schwierigkeit ist bei Ihnen, dass Sie auf den TL-WA850RE noch die allererste Firmware installiert haben, und alle aktuelleren Firmwareversionen nicht mit dieser kompatibel sind und Sie daher kein Update tätigen können.

Its kinda weird and I'm not quite sure what else I can try.

(Last edited by chai_x on 26 Nov 2013, 17:55)

With some toying around with the wayback machine on the internet, I found the firmware you have currently flashed.
it seems there are some mistakes in that.

Try to flash on of these images, you should get the latest version of the tp-link firmware. Afterwards you can flash openwrt:
One of them will probably fail and the other one will work. (if you try the wrong one it simply gives an error and will not brick your device).

Tp-link firmware to fix wa850 hwid85000011 v1.0
Tp-link firmware to fix wa850 hwid08500011 v1.0

(Last edited by FriedZombie on 5 Jan 2014, 03:07)

Tried to install this one, after doing a factory reset on the device, but with no luck either. Still getting the same error message. I also used the wayback machine and found the current installed firmware for download. I could reinstall this one without any problems. I am not quite sure, but it seems that there are some minor changes in the GUI. Anyway, updating to the fix firmware does not work after the update either. :-/

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B5n3Fy … sp=sharing
well this is my final attempt, try this one, flash your wa850 v1.0 and see if it works

(Last edited by FriedZombie on 30 Nov 2013, 14:37)

is that me or you wrote 8500 instead of 0850 as hwid ?

(Last edited by nebbia88 on 30 Nov 2013, 15:04)

You are correct, seems like a typo on the side of tp-link, since there is no board difference between the v1.0 and up.
Also the bootloaders are the same. The issue is only there if your wa850 shipped with the 3.13.27 Build121119 Rel.609994n other 1.0 versions aren't a problem either.

the board id should be, 08500001 but the wa850 mentioned with build121119 expects 85000011 as hwid id.
Also the previous solution I posted I tried it against one of my wa850's that has also v1.0 on the back (and is the one with easy ttl access) and flashed it with the strange tp-link firmware build121119 (with mtd) to see what would work.
Also compared the u-boot part if it was different from other v1.x versions but that wasn't the case either.

i was looking at this:

www.tp-link.com/Resources/software/TL-WA850RE_V1_121119.zip

and it has:

08 50 00 11 00 00 00 01

as 0x40-0x47...

Thnx nebbia88, good find (didn't think to check that one). Also checked the file I downloaded trough the wayback machine. the one archived in December 2012 had the 85 00 0011.

So if the previous one also fails try this one instead: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B5n3Fy … sp=sharing

(Last edited by FriedZombie on 1 Dec 2013, 01:04)

Thx for your help again. Didn't have time yet for the last one. Tried the previous as well without any luck. I'll try the last one today, when I get home. Gonna report later.

EDIT:
Thanks so much for your continuous effort. Using the last modified version worked like a charm. After that I was also able to update to open-wrt without any problems. Gonna play around with now and see how it performs.

(Last edited by chai_x on 2 Dec 2013, 21:02)

How to revert back to original firmware ? What i have is only http://www.tp-link.com/resources/softwa … 30922.zip. How to enter safe mode to upload with tftp?

you can flash this one: https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B5n3Fyw … ZDM3c/edit to go back to stock firmware.

I still have to update the wiki, but in the meantime you could follow this wiki article: http://wiki.openwrt.org/toh/tp-link/tl- … l.firmware

but use the tp-oem firmware in this thread, since it has the boot part cut off.

The only way you could upload it to the device, is to first open it. (and that's not desirable).

(Last edited by FriedZombie on 21 Dec 2013, 20:32)

Hello Guys.
How can i revert to stock firmware from openwrt for my tl-wa750re. Can i use for this image from previous post for tl-wa850re.

hi Guys.
I flashed the firmware from post#1 for the wa850re ... and now ... dead. I get no IP address from my tp-link 850re, so I cannot access it any more.
I only get a 169.254.something with no gateway. :-(
Already tried the reset button, device restarted, but same issue.
Is there a solution how I can get back to original FW ??

try to set a static ip on your pc NIC
192.168.1.2

then try to ping 192.168.1.1 from command prompt (start->cmd under windows)

@evilgod77
Also what leds are on or blinking? and what image did you flash (I linked two in the first post).

@AiX Rein
Not recommended, you can flash this one to revert the wa750 v1 back to tp-link firmware: https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B5n3Fyw … dRd2c/edit

(Last edited by FriedZombie on 21 Dec 2013, 20:36)

@FriedZombie: I installed the file "openwrt-ar71xx-generic-tl-wa850re-v1-squashfs-factory.bin" from the download section. LEDs are on (RE, Power, Ethernet)

@nebbia88: tried - works - ping possible, also telnet.

I can access the device via telnet/putty :-)
Sorry that I am a noob with openwrt, but I thought I get a Webinterface/GUI and now I am here with at a shell/cli. Is there a possibility to get a webinterface ?
How can I go back to orig. Firmware ?

(Last edited by evilgod77 on 21 Dec 2013, 21:19)

in first post you find images with luci included.
you must transfer it to the /tmp folder using an scp client and update with sysupgrade command.

(Last edited by nebbia88 on 21 Dec 2013, 21:20)

hi, many thanks. you helped me a lot. I thought I bricked my device, but now everything is clear for me / device runs fine.

Thanks a lot. It's working. Are you plan to add range extender feature to firmware?

you can always use openwrt as repeater, with any device.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3rbsh2zxPnk