Hacking Build your own dongle (Research and development thread)

[solitaire4eva]

Just realized I need to use linux to compile from source to use with my router lol.

 

[Wierd_w]

Can i use another brands of 3g/Wifi router ?

If your model is supported by the openwrt build system, yes. Just select it as the target at compile time in the menuconfig.

 

[rafalince]

can i use arduino nano ? Have some tutorial ?

 

[sweetlilmre]

If your model is supported by the openwrt build system, yes. Just select it as the target at compile time in the menuconfig.

This is not entirely correct. While you may be able to build the firmware for your target hardware there is no guarantee that it will work. The TP-Link TL-WR703N and several others have failed in real world testing.
https://github.com/DavidBuchanan314/fusee-lede/issues/3

That said, if there is an OpenWRT target and your hardware is fairly modern you may be OK.

-(e)

 

[sweetlilmre]

can i use arduino nano ? Have some tutorial ?

Please read the thread, this has been answered.

-(e)

 

[solitaire4eva]

Can anyone with LinuX compile a bin for
tplink MR12U?
https://openwrt.org/toh/tp-link/tl-mr12u

Willing to test any bin created for a AR9331 Chip.

 

[toxic9]

Hi guys!

Since lots of people (including me) would like to build their own dongle and there are plenty of topics on this matter, and plenty of confusing information.

Can anyone suggest a reliable dongle (w/ battery) and provide a complete tutorial from the beginning until the end (usable working state) describing:
1- ebay link to the specific device
2- how to flash the device (providing the correct firmware.bin)
3- how to change the default payload to anyone we like, (eg.: ReiNX)

Thank you very much.

 

[Localhorst86]

Hi guys!

Since lots of people (including me) would like to build their own dongle and there are plenty of topics on this matter, and plenty of confusing information.

Can anyone suggest a reliable dongle (w/ battery) and provide a complete tutorial from the beginning until the end (usable working state) describing:
1- ebay link to the specific device
2- how to flash the device (providing the correct firmware.bin)
3- how to change the default payload to anyone we like, (eg.: ReiNX)

Thank you very much.

It's not really this straightforward. Basically, there's the A5-V11 router that comes in variants with and without a built in battery.

Now, the first issue with the device is, that is it never called "A5-V11" on any listing. It's always just called by a generic name like "mini router" or something.

The second issue is the fact that the ebay listings for the battery powered one are very fluctuating. I have bought two devices from different sellers, but they are currently no active listings to be found anywhere on ebay. So really, I can currently only link you to both of the inactive listings of the device i purchased:

https://www.ebay.de/itm/5-in-1-Mini...uter-Hotspot-Mobile-Charger-C-PW/372368429548
https://www.ebay.de/itm/WIFI-USB-3G...er-Phone-Ladegeraet-1800mAh-L5B1/132402680463

which brings us to our next issue: There is no "one-tutorial-to-rule-them-all" on how to put a custom firmware on the device, as pretty much any of these routers will come with a different firmware which requires different steps to get the firmware onto it. Basically you have to check the openWRT page (https://wiki.openwrt.org/toh/unbranded/a5-v11#installation) on the device and see which method you'll have to apply.

Case in point: I got two different devices from two different sellers (as linked above). Both installation processes to get a custom fuse lede firmware (https://github.com/ijuintekka/fusee-a5/) onto the device were entirely different. One allowed me to simply flash the
lede-ramips-rt305x-a5-v11-squashfs-factory.bin file to the device using the web interface, the other required me to telnet to the device and invoke the commands to flash manually.

Here's the firmware people use for this device: https://github.com/ijuintekka/fusee-a5/
and here's a complete thread about it: https://gbatemp.net/threads/fusee-lede-dongle-6-payload-injector.508750/

 

[toxic9]

It's not really this straightforward. Basically, there's the A5-V11 router that comes in variants with and without a built in battery.

Now, the first issue with the device is, that is it never called "A5-V11" on any listing. It's always just called by a generic name like "mini router" or something.

The second issue is the fact that the ebay listings for the battery powered one are very fluctuating. I have bought two devices from different sellers, but they are currently no active listings to be found anywhere on ebay. So really, I can currently only link you to both of the inactive listings of the device i purchased:

https://www.ebay.de/itm/5-in-1-Mini...uter-Hotspot-Mobile-Charger-C-PW/372368429548
https://www.ebay.de/itm/WIFI-USB-3G...er-Phone-Ladegeraet-1800mAh-L5B1/132402680463

which brings us to our next issue: There is no "one-tutorial-to-rule-them-all" on how to put a custom firmware on the device, as pretty much any of these routers will come with a different firmware which requires different steps to get the firmware onto it. Basically you have to check the openWRT page (https://wiki.openwrt.org/toh/unbranded/a5-v11#installation) on the device and see which method you'll have to apply.

Case in point: I got two different devices from two different sellers (as linked above). Both installation processes to get a custom fuse lede firmware (https://github.com/ijuintekka/fusee-a5/) onto the device were entirely different. One allowed me to simply flash the
lede-ramips-rt305x-a5-v11-squashfs-factory.bin file to the device using the web interface, the other required me to telnet to the device and invoke the commands to flash manually.

Here's the firmware people use for this device: https://github.com/ijuintekka/fusee-a5/
and here's a complete thread about it: https://gbatemp.net/threads/fusee-lede-dongle-6-payload-injector.508750/

Thanks!
I just ordered one of each model (With battery, and the onde without battery!)
I will give some feedback after testing!

 

[toxic9]

My feedback with "3G Router".

1- It flashed uboot + firmware OK through Telnet and mounting USB.
2- It booted hekate.
3- I tryed to connect to 192.168.1.1 to change payload. It was impossible. Device not responding correctly. Suddenlly the device is so hot and it burned =(
I don't know why, but it seems my USB charger (that I use to charge my cellphone) blowned it. It's 5V output anyway.

I will buy one more and I have some Questions:
1- Can you tell me what king of power supply do you use to power the device?
2- Is it necessary to flash the uboot?
3- What is the correct firmware.bin ? I found several diferent ones here and on github.

Thanks

 

[solitaire4eva]

This is not entirely correct. While you may be able to build the firmware for your target hardware there is no guarantee that it will work. The TP-Link TL-WR703N and several others have failed in real world testing.
https://github.com/DavidBuchanan314/fusee-lede/issues/3

That said, if there is an OpenWRT target and your hardware is fairly modern you may be OK.

-(e)

Mind sharing your compiled Bin?

 

[BL4Z3D247]

My feedback with "3G Router".

1- It flashed uboot + firmware OK through Telnet and mounting USB.
2- It booted hekate.
3- I tryed to connect to 192.168.1.1 to change payload. It was impossible. Device not responding correctly. Suddenlly the device is so hot and it burned =(
I don't know why, but it seems my USB charger (that I use to charge my cellphone) blowned it. It's 5V output anyway.

Could also mean the outlet it was plugged into is faulty or that it's just a cheaply made device. On the new 3G router I'd try a different USB cable, wallwart and outlet(maybe in a different room?).

1- Can you tell me what king of power supply do you use to power the device?

As far as I can tell, all of these 3g wifi routers take 5v DC to power/charge the device.

This isn't to the exact model but the "4-in-1 3G wifi router without the battery" but here's the quick guide: https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&sou...Vaw1PbHcZyAvIJY_tZOklHU7k&cshid=1534249857427

I'm not sure about your other questions though, sorry. @Wierd_w should be able to asnwer those though, he's well-versed on the subject. Good luck with your new device.

 

[LUCKASS]

Hello guys!
I want to buy my own dongle from an Adafruit trinket m0, but I found that arduino was way cheaper (on AliExpress) so I ordered some of these but I forgot to check if arduino was compatible to inject payloads..

Thanks fully I paid 2$ for each so it's not a big deal.

I ordered an Arduino Mini Pro 3.3v ; an Arduino Lilypad ; and an Arduino Nano Mini.

So, is any one of these compatible to inject payloads?

Thanks!

 

[rrocha]

Hello guys!
I want to buy my own dongle from an Adafruit trinket m0, but I found that arduino was way cheaper (on AliExpress) so I ordered some of these but I forgot to check if arduino was compatible to inject payloads..

Thanks fully I paid 2$ for each so it's not a big deal.

I ordered an Arduino Mini Pro 3.3v ; an Arduino Lilypad ; and an Arduino Nano Mini.

So, is any one of these compatible to inject payloads?

Thanks!

No.

 

[LUCKASS]

No.

Just no
Can you explain more ?

 

[rrocha]

Just no
Can you explain more ?

You can also do a little bit of research. All info is in this forum. But in a nutshell, current implementations for Arduino compatible boards rely on ATSAMD21 microcontrollers (Trinket, Gemma, etc). You bought 3 boards with ATmega328P, so it's a no go. If you did your research, you could have used the money spend on those 3 to buy a trinket. Lessons learned, I guess

 

[BL4Z3D247]

Just no
Can you explain more ?

This thread will more than likely answer your questions:
https://gbatemp.net/threads/question-arduino-to-inject-fusee-payload.503951/

Gotta love those one word answers without any context or explanation to back it, huh?

 

[rrocha]

This thread will more than likely answer your questions:
https://gbatemp.net/threads/question-arduino-to-inject-fusee-payload.503951/

Gotta love those one word answers without any context or explanation to back it, huh?

Gotta love those people who just shoot out questions without spending 2 minutes using the search feature on this forum or even researching on google, huh?

 

[LUCKASS]

Gotta love those people who just shoot out questions without spending 2 minutes using the search feature on this forum or even researching on google, huh?

Ok we get it dude, It's over now. Not " thanks " btw.