How do I flash my access point firmware from a Linux machine?

Question

How do I flash my access point using a Linux machine?

Environment

  • Datto Access Points
  • Datto Networking

Answer

Firmware is the software that makes the access point run. In some cases, you may need to "flash" the access point's firmware to bring it to the current version or solve technical problems.

Make sure to re-pair the access point with your Datto Network after flashing.

Requirements

  • A computer with a physical Ethernet port
  • A network cable to connect the access point to the Ethernet port

Procedure

1. Download the desired firmware version from Access Point Firmware Downloads.

2. Launch the terminal window for your Linux distribution.

3. Type cd Downloads then press Enter to go to the Downloads directory. If you downloaded the flash utility elsewhere, you'll need to navigate to that location instead.

4. Type chmod +x open-mesh-flash-ng then press Enter to make the flash utility executable.

5. Type open-mesh-flash-ng then press Enter. The flash utility will show a numerical list of potential Ethernet adapters. Typically the adapter of interest says "Ethernet" in the name. Note the number of the Ethernet adapter.

If you do not see any Ethernet adapters listed, your computer does not have any Ethernet adapters, or your distribution may not support the utility. You will need to ask the distributors of your Linux version for assistance.

6. Type open-mesh-flash-ng [Etnernet adapter number] then press Enter. Use the Ethernet adapter number you noted in the previous step.

7. Connect your Open-Mesh access point to the Ethernet adapter and power it on. If it was already on, unplug it and plug it back in.

8. The flash will now begin. The output of the flash utility should look similar to the example below. If it does not appear after 10 seconds, power cycle your access point and check that the Ethernet adapter you selected is correct.

  [ac:86:74:02:23:f8]: type 'OM2P router' detected
  [ac:86:74:02:23:f8]: OM2P router: tftp client asks for 'fwupgrade.cfg', serfwupgrade.cfg portion of: embedded image (1 blocks) ...
  [ac:86:74:02:23:f8]: OM2P router: tftp client asks for 'kernel', serving keportion of: embedded image (1861 blocks) ...
  [ac:86:74:02:23:f8]: OM2P router: tftp client asks for 'rootfs', serving roportion of: embedded image (4097 blocks) ...
  [ac:86:74:02:23:f8]: OM2P router: image successfully transmitted - writing to flash ...
  [ac:86:74:02:23:f8]: OM2P router: flash complete. Device ready to unplug.

The process typically takes 3 to 5 minutes. You should see the following message when the process is complete: 

flash complete. Device ready to unplug.

The message "is of type 'redboot' that we have no image for" is common and can be ignored.

9. The flash utility will not exit on its own. You can either plug in another access point and begin the flash process again or use CTRL+C to exit the console and flash utility.

10. After flashing and connecting your access point back to your local network, you may need to re-pair it with your Datto Network. If so, an alert will appear in Datto Network Manager advising you to re-pair the access point once it comes back online.