Obviously, I agree there are too many never-to-be-supported-devices in the ToH, and some of them are even a bit exotic for OpenWRT (perhaps we got rid of the HP printers and the digital cameras already). And old outdated stuff.

When it comes to routers...

if it is a new device from ASUS/DLink/NetGear/TPLink/Ubiquity (and a few more) I think it is nice if it gets added, even if there is no clue about if/when it is going to be supported. As long as it is added with some meaningful information, of course.

if it is about adding a new unsupported device to brands with no supported devices, I agree with you.

It is important to understand that information is not valuable just because someone put it in the wiki. Less is often better. There is wikidevi and other sources.

So some degree... it boils down to understanding the development process. How does a device get OpenWrt support? It does not happen thanks to the Wiki. Often, it seems to not have very much to do with the activity on this forum either. It is like the wiki and the forum are more like inofficial fan sites. Although of course some developers are here. And some people here occationally submit patches.

Support process for a particular device sometimes is got thanks to different sources: IRC, wiki, forum, mailing list. I helped some people to reach support for a device by making patches and sending them to the mailing list without owning the device, and probably this could be impossible without info like OEM bootlogs, gpios used by leds/buttons, flash type and so on.

Other times info about several boards, even when not supported, on a particular target helps to improve support for the supported ones.

Of course if someone wants to get support for a new particular device, there are more chances to happen if first the target is already supported, and second if he sends the device to a developer or somebody with enough knowledge and with the willingness to make the patches.

For me, bootlogs and board pictures (good quality) of router/devices are extremely valuable info. Wikidevi is OK for this purpose. But more comfortable to check/edit when the info is into openwrt wiki itself.

(Last edited by danitool on 7 Feb 2016, 20:59)

I like this:  https://wiki.openwrt.org/meta/playgroun … vice_page2 People seem to want to add devices to the ToH; this form goes a long way toward helping them provide good information about the status of the support.

Some comments to make the page more clear:

- The Usage list at the top needs to be reworked to match the order of the items below it. It might make sense to add explanation for some of the steps.

- I'd like to see the Status dropdown with this wording, in this order: [ Well supported, WIP, No support (yet) ] (Let's put the desired/most important state at the top)

- The "Template Supported" dropdown might have items of [ Supported, In development, Empty template ]

- I wasn't clear about the Destination. Does "inbox" mean it goes to some administrator?

- It appears that there is only one Destination for each Status selected. Instead of using a dropdown for Destination, perhaps the text of "Select Destination" should simply say:
   - (for Supported) This information will update the Table of Hardware
   - (for Not supported, WIP) This information will go to the inbox/administrator

@richb:
- Usage list updated. Explanations -> "Help" below the form (to be extended a little)
- Status dropdown reordered
- "Template supported" dropdown: If a device is supported, I expect a template to be used that is more than "empty". In the end, we want the devicepages to have some common structure and content. Starting with an empty template does not really support this goal, IMHO.
- Inbox: pages will be created in the inbox, accessible for everybody. -> https://wiki.openwrt.org/inbox/start
- Destination dropdown: Currently needed to get the Destination as variable into the path where the new page should be stored. Otherwise I agree: It makes no sense to provide a select field for only one possible option to select.

It is pretty cool! I have not dared to click "submit" though (is it a safe playground, regardless what i do?).
The choosing-template-thing is a little scary. Am I doing anything irreversible? I guess not, but it could be good to point out that it is only about exposing appropriate fields for the situation (if it is so).

I remember we talked a lot about the status column, and I managed to get it completely discarded
I approve of creating templates for the purpose of making it easier to add new devices in a more correct way.
But lets not get ourselves into the "how much unsupported is it?"

@tmo: The list of brands. Delete QNAP (if possible). There used to be unsupported devices there, now there are none.

Just in case we didn't have enough confusion in the ToH, I wonder if it's appropriate to include another status - "LockedDown".

The new FCC rules appear to be causing router vendors to lock down the firmware so that third-party updates cannot cause wifi signals to be out of spec.  See my topic asking for reports of vendors/routers/etc. at https://forum.openwrt.org/viewtopic.php?pid=312009

Can you clarify whether the "locked down" status means that firmware cannot be update (e.g., with openWrt) or that wifi strength cannot be boosted by updated firmware?

The picture's still becoming clear, but it appears that certain vendors are now shipping models that cannot be upgraded by the standard sysupgrade/factory OpenWrt methods.

The forum thread (above) links to a TP-Link tech support session that seems to have confirmed that firmware cannot be upgraded for several of their newer models.

See also https://wiki.openwrt.org/toh/tp-link/td-w8980 that claims to have been locked down since some time in 2013.

Please add a new manufacturer called "JCG" to the drop down list for new dateentry pages, so that I can add the three router models to the ToH for which I recently submitted patches, which got incorporated already.

Done.

The brand ADI Engineering has been removed from the dropdown on the Create a new device page again!  Although I appreciate the cleanup that has been done, it is frustrating when supported systems are removed making it harder to use the improved templates.  Please add the 'ADI Engineering' brand back to the dropdown and I will complete the Device Page for the Pronghorn SBC250 which has been supported since 8.09

Sorry, that was a sideeffect of a complete database rebuild some weeks ago.
ADI Engineering added again.