Wifi enabled after reset

Is there a way to have the wifi enabled after performing a factory reset on the GL-AR150. I use this router when traveling and would like the option to be able to reset it when needed but my laptop does not have an Ethernet port. Is there a way to resolve this issue?

@st5

It can be done, but it is non-trivial and depends on if you want to preserve the GL.iNet Web Interface. Alfie might be willing to compile one with your preferred settings, but I can also understand that can be a slippery slope and he might not want to set the precedent. This would preserve the GL.iNet interface.

Second is to extract the squashfs /rom partition from the device and modify the default settings. This requires a linux box and some understanding of how linux file systems work. A good portion is explained here. This also preserves GL.iNet’s interface.

If you don’t mind loosing the GL.iNet web interface, you can compile your own OpenWRT from Trunk (or maybe Chaos Calmer at this point) and put your default versions of network and wireless in trunk/files/etc/config in your build directory… you’ll have to create those folders as they don’t exist by default. Build the system, flash it, and these will become your default settings when you factory default.

M

You do not say why you need to reset your device, but the fact that you are using this on the road would lead to to guess that you are having an issue with your configured STAtion being unavailable, which hangs the devices wireless. This is a known issue. It basically looks like the device is not found after booting You can test this by using Luci to disable the STAtion (only) before you shut it down from a working state. Then take it out of range of the STAtion and reboot. Your laptop should be able to find it and connect to the AP, but you will not have internet (expected).

There are a number of posts on the OpenWRT forum and at least 2, if not 3 on this site.

The simplest one is to kill the STAtion , which can be done with a script to delete the wifi-iface section from the wireless config file. You can do this on boot (everytime), or set it up to work from the button (as needed). This link includes the basic script. OpenWrt Forum Archive

You need to make sure that the wireless config file has the master first, and the STAtion section second, in the wifi-iface sections.

There is also the following solution which is more automated, but it would probably be best to understand why you have to reset the device.

 

@st5 @RangerZ

If returning to known state is all st5 is interested in, why not modify the reset button script? It toggles rfkill right now, but there’s nothing to prevent copying in a known network and wireless file and poking wifi to make it all good. The button is timed so there are a lot of possibilities, or it could be based on GPIO7/8 position.

M

Basically what I was suggesting in paragraph 3.

Attached are my modified \etc\rc.button\reset and \usr\bin\wifirest files. You should backup your original reset file.

Once you download, remove the txt extension. I had to add it to upload the files.

@RangerZ

I’m trying to wrap around the logic of what’s happening here. Is the issue that the STA (client) is not connecting and therefore forcing the AP to the “down” state? I see how the script will address that by deleting the wifi for the STA and it seems like a good solution so long as things remain in the correct order.

I came at it from a different angle. I configured etc/config/network and <span style=“line-height: 1.5;”>etc/config/</span><span style=“line-height: 1.5;”>wireless to my default state and copied them to ~/default/network and wireless. On button press less than 5 second, I copy them to etc/config/ and execute wifi. Now I have a known IP and the AP is ready to connect. That of course removes the rekill that’s in there by default, but I’m not worried about it and can move it to a different time frame if necessary.</span>

Thanks for the reference to the forum post. Learning new things all the time now. :wink:

M