Remove / uninstall DD-WRT or 3rd-party firmware and revert back to the original firmware

If you have DD-WRT you can directly revert back to your manufacturer’s firmware using DD-WRT’s web interface. If you are using HotspotWRT or CoovaAP, first you need to upgrade to OpenWRT, then DD-WRT to be able to revert it to original firmware.

If you have DD-WRT on your router you have to do the following:

  1. Download the proper firmware from your manufacturer’s website.
  2. Do a hard reset on the router (hold the reset button for 30 seconds, OR from the GUI, do a reset to factory defaults.
  3. Flash the Linksys firmware in via the GUI taking care not to lose power, reset or otherwise disturb the router during flashing and for 10 MINUTES after it says it’s complete….leave it alone.
  4. After 10 minutes, do another hard reset. This time it’s best to hold the reset button for 30 seconds.
  5. After it boots, open a browswer and browse back to the GUI. In case of a Linksys router, you should see the Linksys firmware page, and your user name and password will have changed to: username = blank, password = admin or username=root, password=admin. You’re done.
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7 Comments

  1. Leonardo

    You can brick some routers if you just upload a stock firwmare with the U BOOT on the file, like some TP-Link routers. Do a better research if you really want to avoid bricking your device.

  2. tftp

    If you are changing the software program in the residence router including tp-link, you want a technique to upload the program on the tp-link router.
    Together with factory software program such as dd-wrt, the manufacturer commonly supplies a
    process while you are currently working accepted software
    program. You make use of any internet browser linked with the
    actual tp-link router for you to upload by TFTP server fresh,
    authorized software right normal place.

  3. sim

    That worked for me to revert to Cisco-Linksys WRT160N. I did the so called ’30-30-30 reset’ to be on the safe side. Then I’ve set a static IP address on my PC to 192.168.1.7 (as with router in FW download mode it doesn’t give DHCP addresses), connected to the router at 192.168.1.1 using my web-browser (you are getting a very basic FW-upload-only page after the reset rather than the regular router configuration page) and uploaded the stock Linksys FW.

  4. Mykle

    I know this is an old thread but I felt my story might help someone else if they found themselves in a similar situation. I bought two Linksys WRT54G routers, used on eBay, for access points around the house. The seller didn’t inform me that he had flashed them with a 3rd party firmware, namely, Broadband Hamnet. For what ever reason, they would not accept a flash back to the original Linksys firmware. I tried for days, using TFTP, and a whole bunch of other firmware flashing utilities. At this point I had nothing to lose so I tried flashing them with the most basic DD-WRT firmware that was compatible with them., To my amazement, they both accepted the firmware rather quickly and easily. Still with nothing to lose, I thought I would try to flash the Linksys firmware again. Well, that did the trick. So, although I didn’t use or want the DD-WRT firmware on my routers, it did make it possible for me to get the routers back to the Linksys firmware that I wanted.

    I don’t have any connection with DD-WRT. I didn’t want to have to learn about their firmware but their site was tremendously helpful to my problem. There is a lot of information there, regarding their firmware, but I got just enough flashing insights to remedy my situation. Their router database is expansive, so it’s likely you’ll find help specific to your own router. I owe them a debt of gratitude.

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