How to install packages on Asus RT-AC66U with DD-WRT (opkg)

If you are having issues installing packages with the built-in ipkg, this post might help you. Please note that the links that I provide are hardware specific, so you need to find what your hardware is and then find the proper download path here - http://downloads.openwrt.org/attitude_adjustment/12.09/.

Before we start, let's make sure your USB is working. Make sure it's formatted with ext3.

=> 1- USB Setup

1a. Login to your router and go to Services => USB:

1b. Make sure that these options are enabled:
- Core USB Support
- USB Storage Support
- Automatic Drive Mount

1c. Connect to your router via ssh and plug in your USB; then run the command "df -h"

# df -h  Filesystem                Size      Used Available Use% Mounted on  rootfs                   16.0M     16.0M         0 100% /  /dev/root                16.0M     16.0M         0 100% /  none                    512.0K         0    512.0K   0% /dev  /dev/sda1               464.9M     0    464.9M   0% /tmp/mnt/sda1

My USB drive shows as '/dev/sda1' mounted in '/tmp/mnt/sda1'

1d. Create a /opt and /jffs on your USB drive

# mkdir /tmp/mnt/sda1/opt /tmp/mnt/sda1/jffs

1e. Back to your router admin page, go to Administration => Commands. Add a startup command with the following code:

## Sets up USB mount  CURRENT_MOUNT=$(df -h | grep sda | awk '{print $6}')  umount $CURRENT_MOUNT  mount /dev/sda1 /mnt  mount -o bind /mnt/opt /opt  mount -o bind /mnt/jffs /jffs

Note: the command above assumes you have only one USB device and it shows as /dev/sda*

1f. Reboot the router

# reboot

1g. Logon via ssh again and check the mount points

# df -h  Filesystem                Size      Used Available Use% Mounted on  rootfs                   16.0M     16.0M         0 100% /  /dev/root                16.0M     16.0M         0 100% /  none                    512.0K         0    512.0K   0% /dev  /dev/sda1               464.9M     0    464.9M   0% /tmp/mnt  /dev/sda1               464.9M     0    464.9M   0% /opt  /dev/sda1               464.9M     0    464.9M   0% /jffs

=> 2- Install opkg

2a. First let's update the ipkg package list

# ipkg update

2b. Now let's install opkg to '/jffs'

# ipkg -d /jffs install http://downloads.openwrt.org/attitude_adjustment/12.09/brcm47xx/generic/packages/opkg_618-3_brcm47xx.ipk

2c. Set 'dest root' in '/jffs/etc/opkg.conf' to use '/jffs'

# cat /jffs/etc/opkg.conf src/gz attitude_adjustment http://downloads.openwrt.org/attitude_adjustment/12.09/brcm47xx/generic/packages dest root /jffs dest ram /tmp lists_dir ext /var/opkg-lists option overlay_root /overlay

2d. Update opkg

# opkg -f /jffs/etc/opkg.conf update

2e. Install libc (dependency)

# opkg -f /jffs/etc/opkg.conf install http://downloads.openwrt.org/attitude_adjustment/12.09/brcm47xx/generic/packages/libc_0.9.33.2-1_brcm47xx.ipk

2f. Now you can install packages with

# opkg -f /jffs/etc/opkg.conf install [package]