# GL-AX1800 (Flint) Firmware Research & Guide

This guide provides current (2024/2025) information on building and downloading firmware for the GL.iNet AX1800 (Flint).

## 🛠️ Hardware Specifications
- **SoC**: Qualcomm IPQ6000 (A7 is for ipq40xx, this is A53)
- **Architecture**: `aarch64_cortex-a53`
- **OpenWrt Target**: `qualcommax / ipq60xx` (Note: older models use `ipq40xx`, but the Flint requires `qualcommax`)

## 🧱 Building with `gl-infra-builder`

The official tool used by GL.iNet to build firmware is `gl-infra-builder`.

### ⚠️ Current Status (2024/2025)
- **Codeaurora Shutdown**: Many older SDKs depend on `source.codeaurora.org`, which is now offline. This causes build failures in the `qca-nss-client` and related packages.
- **Access**: GL.iNet has moved the repository to a more private or restricted access model in some cases, often returning 404s on previous public links.

### Build Steps (Updated)
1. **Setup**:
   ```bash
   python3 setup.py -c configs/config-wlan-ap.yml
   cd wlan-ap/openwrt
   ```
2. **Configure**:
   Use the `barebones_ax1800` profile for a clean OpenWrt experience without the GL.iNet proprietary UI:
   ```bash
   ./scripts/gen_config.py target_wlan_ap-gl-ax1800 barebones_ax1800
   ```
3. **Compile**:
   ```bash
   make V=s -j$(nproc)
   ```

## 📦 Firmware Inventory

The following firmwares are organized in the `firmware/flint1/` directory.

### Official GL.iNet (OpenWrt 21.02 based)
- **Latest Stable**: 4.6.8
- **Latest Beta**: 4.8.3
- **Primary Use**: Best for stability and proprietary features (VPN performance, specific hardware drivers).

### Vanilla OpenWrt (Mainline)
- **Status**: Currently only available via **Snapshots**. There is no official 22.03 or 23.05 stable release build for the GL-AX1800 on `downloads.openwrt.org` yet.
- **Snapshot Path**: `qualcommax/ipq60xx`
- **Pros**: Latest kernel (6.x), pure OpenWrt experience.
- **Cons**: No LuCI by default in many snapshots; potentially unstable.

### ImmortalWrt (Community Fork)
- **Status**: Stable builds exist for some models, but AX1800 is primarily in **Snapshots**.
- **Pros**: Often includes more "Chinese-friendly" packages and performance tweaks.

## 📂 Downloaded Files
Local copies are stored in:
- `firmware/flint1/official/`: 4.6.8 stable, 4.8.3 beta
- `firmware/flint1/vanilla/snapshots/`: Mainline OpenWrt
- `firmware/flint1/immortalwrt/`: ImmortalWrt snapshots