Xiaomi Redmi AX6: OpenSSH and OpenWrt Installation

Specifications

|||| |-|-| |CPU|IPQ8071A 4-core A53 1.4GHz + dual-core 1.7GHz NPU| |ROM|128MB| |RAM|512MB| |Router class|AX3000| |Wi-Fi class|2T2R 2.4GHz 574Mbit/s + 4T4R (2T2R-160MHz, 4T4R-80MHz) 2402Mbit/s| |2.4GHz|Qualcomm QCN5024, 2x2 802.11ax, up to 574Mbps| |5GHz|Qualcomm QCN5054, 4x4 802.11ax, up to 2402Mbps| |Antenna|6 external high-gain antennas with external dual-band amplifiers| |Ports|1x 10/100/1000 WAN + 3x 10/100/1000 LAN, Auto MDI/MDIX| |Modulation|DSSS: DBPSK, DQPSK, CCK| |11a/g|OFDM: BPSK, QPSK, 16QAM, 64QAM| |11n: MIMO-OFDM|BPSK, QPSK, 16QAM, 64QAM; MCS0–MCS15| |11ac: MIMO-OFDM|BPSK, QPSK, 16QAM, 64QAM, 256QAM; MCS0–MCS9| |Rate set|MCS0–MCS9, up to 4 streams| |11ax|MIMO-OFDM with BPSK, QPSK, 16QAM, 64QAM, 256QAM, and 1024QAM; MCS0–MCS11|

Stock ROM	Version	Link
		1.1.14 (February 21, 2023)

I. Enable SSH

For the SSH steps, follow the detailed OpenSSH CR660x guide, but skip the pb-boot installation step.

To read boot logs, prepare a USB-to-TTL adapter such as this FT232 adapter. Connect only GND, RX, and TX according to the wiring diagram; do not connect VCC until the voltage is confirmed.

nvram set flag_last_success=0nvram set flag_boot_rootfs=0nvram set flag_boot_success=1nvram set flag_try_sys1_failed=0nvram set flag_try_sys2_railed=0nvram set boot_wait=on  # wait for the user a key on boot for UART accessnvram set uart_en=1     # enable serial port for writenvram set telnet_en=1   # enable telnetnvram set ssh_en=1      # enable sshnvram commit

📂 Screenshot ▼

To create a backup of the rootfs:

mkdir /tmp/syslogbackup/dd if=/dev/mtd9 of=/tmp/syslogbackup/mtd9

📂 Screenshot ▼

Open http://192.168.31.1/backup/log/mtd9 in a browser to download the backup.

II. OpenWrt firmware by Lean (LEDE)

Requirements

• A Redmi AX6 with SSH enabled and PuTTY. Windows PowerShell can also be used without installing PuTTY.
• OpenWrt for Redmi AX6 (RA69): Google Drive download.
• Find newer Redmi AX6 builds on Robimarko’s GitHub.

Source code for building firmware: https://github.com/coolsnowwolf/lede/

Flashing

On Windows, open PowerShell and run:

scp C:\Users\xxxxxx\Desktop\openwrt-ipq807x-nss-redmi_ax6-squashfs-nand-factory.ubi [email protected]:/tmp# IMPORTANT: change C:\Users\xxxxxx\Desktop\ to the actual firmware path.

Use PuTTY, or ssh [email protected] in PowerShell, to log in with root/admin.

Run nvram get flag_boot_rootfs.

• If it returns 1:

ubiformat /dev/mtd12 -y -f /tmp/openwrt-ipq807x-nss-redmi_ax6-squashfs-nand-factory.ubi -s 2048 -O 2048fw_setenv flag_last_success 0fw_setenv flag_boot_rootfs 0reboot

• If it returns 0:

ubiformat /dev/mtd13 -y -f /tmp/openwrt-ipq807x-nss-redmi_ax6-squashfs-nand-factory.ubi -s 2048 -O 2048fw_setenv flag_last_success 1fw_setenv flag_boot_rootfs 1reboot

After reboot, open 192.168.1.1 to access OpenWrt.

III. Unbrick the Redmi AX6

If the router is bricked, download Redmi AX6 stock firmware and use MiWiFiRepair Tools to recover it.

• Download stock firmware 1.0.16 and 1.0.18 here.

---

Good luck. 😉 If you have questions or suggestions, contact me. I will help as far as I can.