openwrt/docs/ax1800-firmware-guide.md

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:

   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:

   ./scripts/gen_config.py target_wlan_ap-gl-ax1800 barebones_ax1800
   

3. Compile:

   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