I would like to install OpenWRT on a RB411GL or RB433GL. Normally I would boot with serial console attached, then use network boot option to launch DHCP/TFTP. The system would boot from my TFTP server and then I can copy OS to NAND. But without a serial port how can I do this? I do not want to run OpenWRT from metarouter, I want to run it from boot loader as the host OS.

I thought I saw someone was working on a modified version of netinstall for this purpose. Or is there a configuration for DHCP/TFTP that works.

Thanks

You can always enable netbooting via RouterOS itself, in "/system routerboard settings"

Of course, you'll need to make sure that your image contains a working ethernet driver for the board in question, since you won't have a serial console to fall back on...

-- Nathan

Thanks for the suggestion. It was so obvious I should have thought of it, but you pointed me in the right direction.

Still a little scary to play with a RB with no serial. Good probability of bricking with the wrong config. Hopefully the reset button will invoke the bootloader call to PXE properly. That is a leap of faith.

Hopefully the reset button will invoke the bootloader call to PXE properly.

Actually, it does, and I forgot to mention it: page 1 of the quick guide or at the top of page 6 of the RB750 user's manual says that on devices that don't include a serial port, if you hold down the reset button during power-up until the power light goes off, it will invoke PXE/netbooting, so that you can fix a router with borked software via Netinstall that way. (But who reads manuals, right? ) But I see no reason why you couldn't do that to netboot a custom image.

-- Nathan