Originally Posted by
MaMMiTs
fiver,
Although I've flashed DDWRT many times it seems like one must know what they're doing before flashing OpenWRT but it's hard finding concise directions specifically for the TM04 for a newbie like me to follow, so any help would be great appreciated!
Yes, unfortunately OpenWRT is definitely *not* DD-WRT. It is not user-friendly in the slightest. Even the GUI is obtuse, confusing, and 'breaks' with almost any upgrade- because the Luci GUI is an installable package itself, not part of the base install.
The fundamental fact about OpenWRT is that you must be comfortable using the linux command-line, and even following instructions on the OpenWRT site, you *must* read ahead several steps to ensure you don't paint yourself into a corner. But here are the basic steps for any OpenWRT install:
1. Download the initial firmware package for your device.
2. Ensure you have internet access independent of the device.
3. Flash the device.
4. Connect to the device via SSH.
5. Configure basic network access via command-line.
6. Connect the device to the internet, then update system packages.
7. Install the Luci GUI and any other software packages you want.
7a. Hope there are no broken packages or conflicts with what you want.
8. Reboot and voila- you have a working router with a web-based GUI.