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= Using Upstream OpenWrt with Gateworks Products
Gateworks takes an active role in the !OpenSource community and as such continually submits patches to upstream projects like the Linux kernel, the U-Boot bootloader, and OpenWrt. As such pre-built OpenWrt images and packages from the upstream OpenWrt auto-builders generally work very well.

You can find pre-built artifacts at https://downloads.openwrt.org/.

== Image Selector
If you are not sure exactly what your looking for, you can use the image selector at https://firmware-selector.openwrt.org:
 - enter a model to search for 
 - select a release
 - click on the download icon on the image found

The [https://firmware-selector.openwrt.org/ image selector] also allows you to request a custom build tailored to your needs:
 - instead of clicking on the download button you can expand the 'Customize installed packages and/or first boot script' and customize:
  * add packages to the installed package list
  * add a script to run on first boot (click the gear icon for an example and script instructions)

== Release Versions
There are two types of pre-built releases:
 - Stable release branches: OpenWrt tries to create a stable release branch once a year and will have maintenance releases that get pre-built images/packages several times during the life of that branch.
 - nightly development snapshot: builds are against the 'main' development branch with bleeding edge features and thus a moving target. It is advised to use the stable release branches whenever possible.

If using an upstream pre-built image it will be a minimal package install and you can use package management to install pre-built packages in the OpenWrt package feeds:
 * 24.10 / 23.05 stable releases:
  - these use OPKG based on /etc/opkg/distfeeds.conf
  - see [https://openwrt.org/docs/guide-user/additional-software/opkg opkg]
  - examples:
{{{#!bash
# show installed packages
opkg list-installed
# update package feeds (/etc/opkg/distfeeds.conf}
opkg update
# install a kernel config package (enable kernel config in /proc/config.gz)
opkg install kmod-ikconfig
# install ath11k support for qcn9074
opkg install kmod-ath11k-pci ath11k-firmware-qcn9074
}}}
 * SNAPSHOT builds:
  - as of Nov 2024 OpenWrt uses APK (instead of OPKG) based on /etc/apk/repositories.d/distfeeds.list
  - see:
   - [https://forum.openwrt.org/t/major-change-notice-new-package-manager/215682 announcement]
   - [https://openwrt.org/docs/guide-user/additional-software/opkg-to-apk-cheatsheet opkg-to-apk-cheatsheet]
   - [https://openwrt.org/docs/guide-user/additional-software/apk apk]
  - examples:
{{{#!bash
# show installed packages
apk list --installed
# update package feeds (/etc/apk/repositories.d/distfeeds.list)
apk update
# install a kernel config package (enable kernel config in /proc/config.gz)
apk add kmod-ikconfig
# install ath11k support for qcn9074
apk add kmod-ath11k-pci ath11k-firmware-qcn9074
}}}


== Venice
Venice is supported in the nightly development builds (SNAPSHOT) as well as the 24.10 stable releases:
 - !OpenWrt 24.10.0  [https://downloads.openwrt.org/releases/24.10.0/targets/imx/cortexa53/openwrt-24.10.0-imx-cortexa53-gateworks_venice-squashfs-img.gz gateworks_venice-squashfs-img.gz]
 - SNAPSHOT [https://downloads.openwrt.org/snapshots//targets/imx/cortexa53/openwrt-imx-cortexa53-gateworks_venice-squashfs-img.gz gateworks_venice-squashfs-img.gz]

These images are in the form of compressed disk images which are typically installed via U-Boot:
 - [wiki:venice/firmware#disk-images Venice compressed disk image installation]

== Ventana
Ventana is supported in the nightly development builds (SNAPSHOT) as well as the 24.10 and 23.05 stable releases:
 - !OpenWrt 24.10.0:
  * [https://downloads.openwrt.org/releases/24.10.0/targets/imx/cortexa9/openwrt-24.10.0-imx-cortexa9-gateworks_ventana-squashfs-nand.ubi gateworks_ventana-squashfs-nand.ubi]  (For 'normal' FLASH geometries, most boards)
  * [https://downloads.openwrt.org/releases/24.10.0/targets/imx/cortexa9/openwrt-24.10.0-imx-cortexa9-gateworks_ventana-large-squashfs-nand.ubi gateworks_ventana-large-squashfs-nand.ubi] (For 'large' FLASH geometries)
  * [https://downloads.openwrt.org/releases/24.10.0/targets/imx/cortexa9/openwrt-24.10.0-imx-cortexa9-gateworks_ventana-squashfs-img.gz gateworks_ventana-squashfs-img.gz] (for block storage devices such as eMMC, microSD, USB Mass Storage devices)
 - SNAPSHOT:
  * [https://downloads.openwrt.org/snapshots//targets/imx/cortexa9/openwrt-imx-cortexa9-gateworks_ventana-squashfs-nand.ubi gateworks_ventana-squashfs-nand.ubi] (For 'normal' FLASH geometries, most boards)
  * [https://downloads.openwrt.org/snapshots//targets/imx/cortexa9/openwrt-imx-cortexa9-gateworks_ventana-large-squashfs-nand.ubi gateworks_ventana-large-squashfs-nand.ubi] (For 'large' FLASH geometries)
  * [https://downloads.openwrt.org/snapshots//targets/imx/cortexa9/openwrt-imx-cortexa9-gateworks_ventana-squashfs-img.gz gateworks_ventana-squashfs-img.gz] (for block storage devices such as eMMC, microSD, USB Mass Storage devices)

Instructions for installing NAND flash images:
  - [wiki:linux/ubi#UpdatingNANDFLASHwithaUBIimage normal geometry NAND flash]

Instructions for creating Ventana JTAG images from NAND flash images:
{{{#!bash
# fetch mkimage_jtag script and make it executable
wget -N https://dev.gateworks.com/jtag/mkimage_jtag
chmod +x mkimage_jtag
# fetch boot firmware (SPL and U-Boot)
wget -N https://dev.gateworks.com/ventana/images/SPL
wget -N https://dev.gateworks.com/ventana/images/u-boot.img
# create an image for 'normal' flash geometry (most boards including newer 2GiB boards)
./mkimage_jtag SPL u-boot.img gateworks_ventana-squashfs-nand.ubi  > ventana_normal.bin
# create an image for 'large' flash geometry (some older 2GiB boards)
./mkimage_jtag SPL u-boot.img gateworks_ventana-large-squashfs-nand.ubi> ventana_large.bin
}}}


== Upstream OpenWrt 24.10 branch:
The 24.10 branch can be summarized as:
 - Linux 6.6 kernel
 - pre-built image support for Venice (compressed disk image) and Ventana (normal flash geometry ubi)

== Upstream OpenWrt 23.05 branch
The 23.05 branch can be summarized as:
 - Linux 5.15 kernel
 - pre-built image support for Ventana (normal flash geometry ubi)