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CatWrt - Customized OpenWrt Smart Gateway

#CatWrt#Openwrt#软路由#硬路由#固件146
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CatWrt is a customized OpenWrt smart gateway project that caters to students and open-source community developers, promoting knowledge exchange without commercial interests. It supports various hardware platforms, including x86 and ARM, and emphasizes strong performance and reliability. Users can easily install applications via the CatWrt software repository using the opkg package manager. The project is based on Lean's LEDE repository and is committed to open-source principles, ensuring no backdoors or monitoring software are included. CatWrt encourages community involvement in compiling and testing the firmware, which is designed for educational purposes and not for commercial use. The project also includes features like system updates and a variety of supported applications, with a focus on fostering a collaborative ecosystem among users. Regular updates are provided, primarily driven by new hardware and community feedback. Users are encouraged to report bugs and share experiences within the CatWrt community.

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CatWrt

Customized OpenWrt Smart Gateway

Install Application | CatWrt Blog | ❤️ Support Miaoer

Project#

  • 👍 Favored by university students and open-source community developers, mutual exchange of OpenWrt knowledge in the community

✅ Verified students: Wuhan University, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Central South University, Hangzhou Dianzi University, Jiangxi University of Science and Technology, and other universities...

  • 🪅 Does not include commercial charging projects, fully embraces free software, easily deploy private applications

  • 🆙 Pursues strong performance and reliability, efficiently enjoys OpenWrt, usability ++

  • 📦 CatWrt software source, uses opkg for native installation, learning Linux starts here...

Note:

  1. The project has not cooperated with official university activities; data is sourced from community users providing university information (infringement will be deleted).

  2. The project is free software, used only for academic exchange, strictly prohibited for commercial use, all operations belong to the user.

CatWrt#

x86_64#

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Applicable to: x86 "soft router", physical installation, virtual machine installation, container (lxc, Docker).

Supports only: x86_64/AMD64/64-bit; does not support: x86_32/386/32-bit

Stable version: v24.9 / Release: CatWrt.v24.9.amd64

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Container version:

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Wireless#

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CatWrt Wireless firmware for routers includes MT7621, Filogic 8x0, both are MediaTek platforms.

CatWrt-v23.8 applicable to: TP-link TL-XDR 4288/6086/6088, Xiaomi Redmi AX6000, Xiaomi WR30U, jcg q30, GL.iNet mt3000~~, H3C nx30Pro~~ large partition version (LEDE/QWRT) hard router firmware.

CatWrt-v24.9.mt7621 applicable to: Xiaomi/Redmi AC2100, New Router 3, and other models...

Stable version: v23.8.mt798x / v24.9.mt7621 || Release: CatWrt.v23.8.mt798x / CatWrt.v24.9.mt7621

ARM#

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Applicable to: FriendlyARM R5s, Electric Rhino r66s

Stable version: v22.12 / Release: CatWrt.v22.12.arm

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Usage#

Update System#

In CatWrt v23.2, we introduced the update check feature. Enter cattools in the CatWrt Terminal to obtain it, manual upgrade as follows.

Here, we demonstrate using the v23.9 version x86 system EFI boot. Enter the following code in the terminal to update the system with one click. Specific update notes are determined by the version blog.

sysupgrade -v https://github.com/miaoermua/CatWrt/releases/download/v24.9/CatWrt.v24.9.amd64-squashfs-combined-efi.img.gz

Install Applications#

CatWrt supports a large number of open-source software installations. Please refer to the following blogs flexibly for your needs. After using the application software source, complete the installation using the package manager opkg.

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Open Source#

CatWrt is an OpenWrt distribution compiled based on the open-source Lean's LEDE repository; you can check the links left in the release blog and the source code address described when this repository is updated.

The project is free software, the compilation process is completely trustworthy, and through communication with the community, you can also compile a completely consistent CatWrt; the firmware does not contain any backdoors or closed-source software that can monitor or hijack your TLS/SSL. CatWrt has displayed and open-sourced all modifications to LEDE. SSL security is the last barrier of the internet; security and cleanliness are what firmware should achieve.

Refer to miaoermua/catwrt_base during compilation, comply with the GPL2.0 agreement, and mark the source for secondary development.

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Q&A#

Called CatWrt, isn't it OpenWrt?
  • Q: Why is it called CatWrt, and why compile manually;

  • A: CatWrt is simply named because we are used to it; Cat is short for Miaoer. It is not recommended to spread or change the name to something like Miaoer firmware, absolutely not! Currently, we are using LEDE for compilation, and there may be opportunities to create CatWrt NEXT based on upstream immortalwrt source code in the future. For now, it can be said that it is just an OpenWrt distribution with a different name, you can also say LEDE/OpenWrt; regarding manually compiling CatWrt, we have always manually compiled and tested before release to minimize stability issues, and we will provide the compiled software source. Automated compilation is either not feasible or has a high threshold and has competitors.


    • Emphasizing students?
  • Q: Why emphasize students.

  • A: Because we are students, we have the opportunity to play with these OpenWrt or other Linux distributions. Additionally, we emphasize students because we only open our CatWrt firmware for mutual exchange and learning among students.


    • Ecology?
  • Q: Why create an ecology?

  • A: Because being independent leads to stability, and everyone can discover and fix problems through mutual exchange and learning. We release some content to share and help more people, and firmware issues can be mutually questioned and answered. Moreover, the firmware will keep up with new things; for example, if something similar to IPTV comes out, we will update related applications. This is what sets us apart from others and can help users learn OpenWrt and even Linux, which is beneficial for the entire open-source community.


    • Effort to create firmware?
  • Q: Why go through the effort to compile a firmware separately? Isn't it better to use existing ones?

  • A: Because the firmware available on the market varies greatly; one version may be stable while the next may not be. The main reason is that I need to use it myself, and secondly, some people pay to support us in device support. Of course, you can also send your device for support.


    • How to not profit?
  • Q: How to profit;

  • A: We do not profit from firmware; it is purely for personal use and sharing. For example, network solutions and other services may require additional payment; this is part of the ecology.


    • Update speed?
  • Q: How is the update speed;

  • A: Updates are irregular, generally when there is time or with new drivers and hardware, x86 is still the mainline update, about 2-3 times a year.


    • Help#

    Firmware support is not perfect, and bugs are inevitable. If you encounter problems, please leave a comment below or join the group to inquire. If you use my firmware, you can ask for simple advice; if it is paid, that would be even better. If you use someone else's firmware, I won't respond!

    Feel free to leave comments to encourage ( ´･･) ﾉ (._.`)

    This article is synchronized to xLog by Mix Space The original link is https://www.miaoer.net/posts/network/catwrt

    Footnotes#

    1. https://www.miaoer.net/posts/network/CatWrt.v24.9.amd64 ↩

    2. https://www.miaoer.net/posts/network/1panel-deploy-catwrt-rootfs ↩

    3. https://www.miaoer.net/posts/network/catwrt-v22.12-arm ↩

    4. https://www.miaoer.net/posts/blog/cattools ↩

    5. https://www.miaoer.net/posts/network/catwrt-install-application ↩

    6. https://www.miaoer.net/posts/network/catwrt-applist ↩

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